Singing techniques & advice

[non3ko]

I need some tips and pointers when it comes to singing. I have an average talking voice--not sure if that has anything to do with singing. I don't have a problem singing songs of a higher pitch, but when it comes to singing at a lower pitch my voice sometimes cuts off. :/ The only way I can go deep is if I talk-sing and it doesn't sound right. When I try to sing lower it's not strong, instead it's light and like a whisper. When I yell or try to resonate my voice, I sound like a little girl because it comes out high pitched. How do I sing lower notes stronger? Surreal is a song I've always had a problem with because it's so low, and I sound off pitch--I'm not even sure what key she's singing in. Songs that require power like Duty are hard for me to sing, versus something like Hanabi which is soft. Is it because I don't have a powerful voice? Also, how do I open my voice up more, because I notice I strain and sing with a tight throat. I'm not familiar with musical terms, so this is hard for me to explain...

[tenez]

Hm. Well, for singing in general... practice x 10232392093. lol. If you already do this (yay) you can add more exercises; do scales going lower as opposed to lower. Even if you cut out, keep going. Don't worry too much about your voice going weaker as you go lower on the scale... that's pretty normal. It'll hopefully start to get better as time goes by.

Keep in mind, I haven't done any serious lessons/singing lately, so there will definitely be more helpful advice out there. But I do this regularly, and it's helpful for all types of singing.

Oh yes, and you can go online and find some good...lessons, of sorts. YouTube videos and Podcasts are available too. ^^

[Crystal_Ageha]

Oh my, you don't realise it, but you're doing it right, hah!!

You see, in the lower register, one can only go so low, especially a female. And everybody has their limits. And when you reach your limit in the lower register with "regular" singing, you have to pretty much speak-sing, otherwise you'll probably directly go into a vocal fry, or nothing may come out at all because it's simply not possible for you. It does sound kinda weird, but it's right. Then again, you can only go so deep that way, too, before you hit the vocal fry, or your limit.

It sounds to me like you just have a fairly high voice, though you want a deeper one... It is possible to extend the range of your lower notes, but it's usually much harder. All you can do is practise each day, using your modal register to speak-sing and work on increasing the volume and/or range of those lower notes. Like Tenez said, do scales every day and work on it like that. But - and this is with everybody - low notes honestly aren't meant to be belted, and it's natural for somebody's very high or low notes to even be close to a whisper.

Also, just be careful with this. Trying too hard to extend your lower notes or singing too much in a range of notes you aren't comfortable with, or by practising the wrong way, will not only risk damaging your vocal chords a bit, but it can also shorten your range of higher notes.


My advise to you would be to actually embrace your higher voice and work on the higher notes. And if you're worried about not being able to sing certain things - like those Ayumi songs - learn to adjust your voice accordingly. This could mean changing your pitch to match your voice with the song, or it could mean completely singing in another register.

I know, it can be very frustrating whenever your notes don't match up with what you want them to... I actually have the complete opposite of you. Since my voice is very deep, the verses in Duty, for example, are terribly easy for me, but then I have to focus for the end of the chorus.



About the tightening of your throat.... Does this happen with only the low notes, or does it happen all the time? If it's just with the low notes, that's natural. It means you've reached your limit (at least in that register) and need to take it kinda easy. But if your throat often tightens up, no matter how high or how low, you're probably singing wrong. D:

[PinkShinigami]

Well, just try some different singers.. ayu, Shakira, and a bit Amano Tsukiko is the singers that has "learned" me the most, by singing along to their songs..

[noidea]

For low notes everybody has a fixed limit and you can't get any lower than that no matter how much you practise(or let's say it's VERY hard to develop a lower voice, much harder than a higher one), if your limit is at fairly high low notes than you just have bad luck I guess

[waterballoon]

Can I ask a related question? I'm a guy and my range is kinda horrendous lol... I can't reach high notes actually... there are moments where I can "squeeze" out high notes but they sound horrendous... and is it normal/right that only when I use falsetto can I be singing the same notes as some of the TVXQ songs?! :O

[noidea]

You just haven't developed your high notes yet and your voice may be low in general. Some guys can just hit the notes using Falsetto, others can belt them out because they have a higher voice, you might be able to hit lower notes than they, how about singing the song an octave lower than on the recording? For a boygroup the reason you can't sing it properly is 5 guys with different ranges and you trying to sing all of their lines instead of the one that fits your voice best properly

[non3ko]

Thank you for your tips guys!

tenez
I will definitely be checking out those videos on youtube.

Another thing, I know your supposed to warm up but I never do. I just go straight into singing, so I don't practice as often as I should. ^.^'


Crystal_Ageha
My range is medium to high. I like being able to sing high notes, but I'd also like to be able to have a smooth, deep voice like Mika Nakashima for instance. I definitely don't want to shorten my already short range by damaging my chords. I guess I'll take it easy for a while.

I'm lost with these vocal terms. What's the difference between pitch and register?

I only tighten my throat when I try to sing either louder or lower, so I guess I may be singing incorrectly. :/ I've never had lessons so...

[Crystal_Ageha]

It's not the end of the world if you don't do scales, but at least warm up with easy songs; don't rush into anything you really have to reach for.


But yeah.

Pitch is, in simple and general terms, the standard notes you hear. You know, A through G on the piano, etc. A lot of people don't realise that they may actually be singing something wrong, so it's important to learn your pitches exactly.
Of course, one person is bound to have a different pitch than the next, and some have dramatically higher or lower pitches than others. In this case, whenever, for example, a very high pitched voice tries to sing a song that requires very low pitch, a key change is probably needed. This means, basically, to change the pitch to a different set of notes, so that your voice can try to match. It's like a compromise between the song's pitch and your voice. It's important, however, to choose a correct key change, and not just randomly change the pitch, so that it's still the same song. Key changes are usually done in fifths. Or in other words, for example, a C would raise to a G; you count five notes, including the first and last (C, D, E, F, G).

Sorry, that was a little confusing. :X I tried, hah. ^^'


But uh... Registers!
A music register is pretty much a section of your voice. There are four registers:
1. pulse (a.k.a. vocal fry/glottal register) - this is the lowest register; it barely has any volume to it, because it's more of the sound of your vocal chords beginning to vibrate, rather than "normal" sound
2. modal - this is the register you use for your "normal" voice; it's the register that is most comfortable to use
3. falsetto - both males and females have a general falsetto, technically; though, some vocal teachers argue whether or not it exists in singing for females...
4. whistle - this is, of course, the highest register, and usually by far the hardest to use and control
So yeah, like I said, the registers are different sections of your voice. Learning how to use and switch between the different registers is crucial in singing, especially for increasing your range to its maximum.

If you want to know anything else about them, just let me know. I'll try my best to explain them simply. ^^'


Now, your throat tightening... Since it's only with extremes on high or low notes, there's good and bad news.
The good news: You're probably singing correctly in at least your modal register, which is a great start. The bad news: You probably don't know how to effectively control your voice and throat muscles in order to achieve the proper techniques needed to sing in other registers, or to hit more difficult notes. Of course, maybe you're just pushing yourself too far. Do you know what your exact range is? Like, two and a half octaves, or three? Have you ever tried seeing how far you can go? (B before Middle C through High C, etc.)

[noidea]

^ I doubt she knows how to transcribe it 5 notes xD Remember that 99,8% of humanity don't even have absolute pitch, which is pretty much essential for doing that without having the notesheets or an instrument(and even with the notesheets you need to be able to sing it somehow, so at least a trained relative pitch needs to be there)

[Not~Yet]

Well, some basics if they're any help; keep your spine straight, relax your whole body and keep your shoulders low. Don't open your mouth wide when singing low notes. Visualizing in your mind can often help, especially if you have trouble with your breath support (which could be the reason for your throat straining); take a deep breath and imagine how your voice comes from inside. You can also try going step-by-step, first sing as low as you can when it still feels good and then while trying to keep it natural and not forced go lower just one note at time. That can take time, but when repeated on a daily basis you will probably learn how to pick up lower notes right away without going step-by-step. Hope this helped It could be that you have reached your limit, but I've heard people claim that with correct training they've widened their range. But like Crystal said before pursuing lower register can take away from the higher so be careful. You could also study a little about singing from internet by yourself (but only professional sites), things like how to warm up correctly and where exactly your voice comes when singing certain notes (throat, head, stomach etc). ^^

[Crystal_Ageha]

Originally Posted by noidea

^ I doubt she knows how to transcribe it 5 notes xD Remember that 99,8% of humanity don't even have absolute pitch, which is pretty much essential for doing that without having the notesheets or an instrument(and even with the notesheets you need to be able to sing it somehow, so at least a trained relative pitch needs to be there)

Aa, yeah, I guess I was assuming she had a keyboard like I do. :X

Well, for anybody who stumbles across this, who doesn't have a keyboard to use but would like one, here's the best virtual keyboard I've found. (It's free, doesn't need downloaded, has five octaves, and even teaches you how to play Moonlight Sonata! XD --Whoo!)
http://www.cmagics.com/beta/piano/

[noidea]

^ Well, you can still use audacity to change the pitch, it's probably the easiest method and you can choose exactly how many notes difference you want.(BTW, even with Keyboard most musically unexperiences people have problems matching sung notes with played ones, especially from an actual song where the notes are held for a very short time only, hell, even I have problems with that and I play the Guitar for 2 years now, Keyboard for a half, Bass for a half and sing xD)

[jean-baptiste]

this thread alone is making me excited for the next karaoke contest.
i'm taking all of this into consideration.

[Crystal_Ageha]

^ Aaaaa, I'm so excited for that, too! It's gonna be a lot of fun. I hope we have one soon, and maybe another later this year. *.....hint for staff *

Originally Posted by noidea

^ Well, you can still use audacity to change the pitch, it's probably the easiest method and you can choose exactly how many notes difference you want.(BTW, even with Keyboard most musically unexperiences people have problems matching sung notes with played ones, especially from an actual song where the notes are held for a very short time only, hell, even I have problems with that and I play the Guitar for 2 years now, Keyboard for a half, Bass for a half and sing xD)

I always forget about Audacity doing that! I'm gonna go mess around with it now, hah.
And man, I also wanted to play bass... I looooove bass... But my hands are waaaaayyy too small to play guitar right, so...

[waterballoon]

Originally Posted by noidea

You just haven't developed your high notes yet and your voice may be low in general. Some guys can just hit the notes using Falsetto, others can belt them out because they have a higher voice, you might be able to hit lower notes than they, how about singing the song an octave lower than on the recording? For a boygroup the reason you can't sing it properly is 5 guys with different ranges and you trying to sing all of their lines instead of the one that fits your voice best properly

Thank you. Yeah the range varies a lot for different people, so maybe that's why... and oh are there any exercises that I can do to develop my high notes? I must say my low notes are pretty solid since I use my diaghrpam for playing a trumpet, much less singing lol.

and oh... what counts as 'warm up' for your vocals? I heard of a few, like singing "HA, HA" loudly or something like that for example...

and one last question lol. before I got around listening to TVXQ, I've always been using falsetto to sing cos I only listen to female singers like Ayu/Kuu for example, so as a result my falsetto has been pretty much my 'default' singing voice, and yeah it goes pretty high and all that but I've always wondered if I have damaged my vocal chords along the way...

[noidea]

^ I'll better wait until a real expert answers your questions, I know a little about singing theory, but not too much

Originally Posted by Crystal_Ageha

^ Aaaaa, I'm so excited for that, too! It's gonna be a lot of fun. I hope we have one soon, and maybe another later this year. *.....hint for staff *


I always forget about Audacity doing that! I'm gonna go mess around with it now, hah.
And man, I also wanted to play bass... I looooove bass... But my hands are waaaaayyy too small to play guitar right, so...

If you have small hands you can get it custom made, so it can be played with small hands as well, Bass is mostly about the lenght of your arms anyway...xD Even with small hands it's no big problem(I have very small hands and short fingers)

[wildconnetta]

I don't know why, but...I can reach TVXQ low, but not Michael Jackson low...

[noidea]

As far as I know Micheal can sing pretty damn low at times, so that might be the reason(and his songs are 10000x harder than any Boygroup song in general)

[Michiko]

I used to sing a lot, so ..

When I wanted to reach lower notes..yes, you have to be really careful, as others have said. Your voice is unique to you and although it's possible to extend your range lower and higher, every voice has its limits. If you're natural a higher-note singer you'll find it hard to reach lower notes logically.

Being the same, I used to just..practice lower-key songs...watch singer peformances and how they would sing those lower notes..I managed to get a lot better but still, I'll always be naturally better at higher notes. I don't struggle as much anymore though.

Good luck~