What are your opinions on voice lessons???

[videodrone]

Im thinking of taking voice lessons through the web, im not a good singer but i do plan on singing on my demos until i find a singer.

Have you guys taken lessons or know sumone who has? Does it or will it typically improve your voice? What are the most important things? any recommended sites/exercises or anything else?

thanks!

 

[TexRoadkill]

If you have a good teacher then voice lessons can be great. But through the web? Isn't there anyone locally?

 

[LocusLarsen]

They say a picture paints a thousand words. So seeing some in your living room doing it with you will probably paint one or two more.

Get a real instructor.

 

[mikeh]

Voice lessons with a good teacher can work wonders - but it needs to be face to face. The teacher needs to see your posture and breathing and how you move your jaw, etc. etc.

I took about a dozen lessons and it improved my singing (even though I had been singing rock & roll for many years).

 

[eeldip]

yes, get a teacher, but make sure they know the genre you are working in...

many teachers that have been professionally trained will teach you to sing like a "professional"- that is, like someone singing on broadway or for a crappy new pop song.

they teach you to pronounce consonants that would never ever appear on a decent rock record...

so get a teacher but watch out!

 

[chessparov]

The truth is nothing "improves" your voice.
It is whatever it is...

The value of vocal training is to take whatever you have and make the most of it. Therefore the main focus is removing what obstacles are in the way, and developing vocal coordination/endurance.

That's a terrific book BTW, it's an excellent supplement to whatever coaching you receive.
If you have the time and inclination, singing in a local acapella group will also accelerate your progress dramatically.
Singing in front of other singers is a great learning experience,
plus listening to more advanced ones.


You can tailor your (in person!) lessons by bringing your own material you're working on and receiving coaching based on that
repetoire. That would be a most cost effective method instead of learning 18th century art songs and the like.
And remember, the most important thing is to take care of your voice, unlike a guitar set on fire by Hendrix, it can't be replaced!

Chris

 

[LocusLarsen]

many teachers that have been professionally trained will teach you to sing like a "professional"- that is, like someone singing on broadway or for a crappy new pop song.

But then you could sing anything you wanted

 

[demensia]

I took some lessons for a while and if you want to hear the difference in my voice listen to "shit puddy" and then "Collect the Soil" on my website.

The lessons instill confidence, and confidence is important.

 

[MISTERQCUE]

This question s/b posted in the "EVENT/SINGERS-VOCAL" forum!!

 

[sonusman]

The truth is nothing "improves" your voice.
It is whatever it is...

Man, I gotta disagree with this statement fully!

I have sent quite a few singers off for "lessons" and/or "coaching" after working with them. Without exception, they come back with better:

Tone
Intonation
Diction
Endurance
Increased range and usually a quality tone in all ranges

Sing "e" with your mouth as closed as you possibly can, then sing it with it as open as you possibly can. Try all inbetween. Constrict your throut and then keep it open. Record all of it and listen back. This is just ONE vowel, and only one of thousands of tonal possibilities of your voice.

A good vocal instructor will take you through them all. You will learn the secrets of improve tone in all registers. You will probably learn as much about anatomy as you do about breath control, because it is all related.

Voice CAN be improved through learning the how's and why's tone is produced. Endurance, diction, and intonation CAN improve. Few people lack the ability to have a decent quality singing presentation (if any). It is really a matter of learning what physical things effect your voice, learning how to control them, and diciplining yourself to practice techniques that help produce the type of sound you are after.

Vocal lesson's used to be more common with rock singers long ago when I started playing in bands (early 80's). But with the whole YELLSCREAMSINGOUTOFTUNEWHOTHEFUCKCARESWHATISOUNDLIKE singing approach of today, in whicn the guy that sings for System Of The Down has reached the zenith, who really needs lessons eh? Fuck it, autotune it, and put the good ol' stand by AM Voice plugin on it and you are set!

While I feel that the lyrical content of the average rock singer of today is more "deep" than it was 20 years ago, I sure miss hearing singers that actually have some singing talent, and are multi dimensional in their approach.

Peace

Ed

 

[Michael Jones]

The truth is nothing "improves" your voice.
It is whatever it is...
Chris

I disagree.
You can't belt out a good A# unless you know what an A# sounds like. Vocal training, coupled with good ear training is of paramount importance to good singing. As is technique. I doubt you could get that over the web though.

Any time you have an opportunity to learn something you'll benefit. I say go for it, but find a local teacher.

 

[videodrone]

thanks guys,

you actually inspired me to take local lessons. So far the round about quote is about $200,

does that sound right, also I knwo this would vary, but how many lessons do you think it would take for someone very dedicated and practicing by themselves outside the lessons to learn the basics?

 

[chessparov]

Sorry if my meaning wasn't clear.

It's true that your voice IS your voice.
Singing SKILL, however, can be dramatically improved through lessons.
The concept of "building" the voice is a misleading one.
Rather, nature plots its own course., and we try to do out best to allow
it to do its thing.

Also, over the long haul, as long as a person stays in good health the
voice actually improves as we get older-contrary to popular belief.
There is a tendency for the voice to "drop" about a full step (one) note
over this time. This is mainly a concern for tenors and sopranos in opera
where it can be required for them to have strong high B's and C's in the
score. For the lower voices, basses, baritones, altos, etc., their tone
becomes more resonant. If you listen to recordings of Nat King Cole,
Sinatra, or Bing and compare when they were younger to later on, you'll hear this.

I'm also going through this "change of life" myself (43) where my voice is changing
from a high baritone/2nd tenor to a fuller baritone in timbre. At the stage where the
"correct" tone sounds totally weird to me, but better to an audience.

Chris

 

[chessparov]

video, since I'm assuming that you're taking these lessons oriented around
your material, the degree of challenge inherent in whatever you're writing
will be the key.

For popular music where the typical person can "sing along",
many songwriters will advise you to stay within a an octave and a
couple of notes, whereas R&B singers tend to be more rangy,
let alone a Celine Dion type with over 2 octaves of singing range.

Generally, someone with average vocal coordination can get a pretty
good grasp of the fundamentals within one year of dedicated study
with a competent voice teacher/coach. Your rate of learning isn't always
directly based on how talented or "smart" you are BTW, again it's more
factored on how coordinated the voice is (or isn't!).
Some of us take longer than others.

Is $200 for a certain number of lessons?

Chris

 

[kjam22]

I was gonna take vocal lessons one time. One lesson and the teacher paid me not to come back

 

[chessparov]

As a postscript to my comments above regarding "voice" vs. "singing skill",
a classic (small) book on this is Sergious Kagen's "On Studying Singing".
There is an inexpensive Dover paperback edition available, and it's
highly recommended by yours truly.
Kagen's perspective is somewhat narrower (written 50+ years ago) where
the emphasis is on tonal accuracy and beauty ala classical.
As more modern popular singing also encompasses "character" voices,
as long as you factor that in, it's still relevent today.

The good news (in a sense! is that the beginning singer typically doesn't
have the judgement to determine how "good" their voice is, with rare
exceptions. That's another benefit of working with a good vocal instructor.
There have even been cases of all-time singers like Caruso and Tito Ruffo
being grossly underestimated as to their level of talent.
In fact one early vocal instructor told Caruso he didn't have enough talent,
then years later Caruso hired him to become his cook!
So you may be better than you think...

Chris

 

[AmbrosFriedrich]

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