You’ve already answered a lot of questions about whether someone can learn to sing in the right pitch.
This might be the same question, but I don’t think it is. I have a very, very FLAT singing voice. It sounds like talking, but louder. Like a less-exaggerated Lucy Ricardo.
It doesn’t seem like the problem is not being able to hit a certain high note or low note. It seems like no matter what note I sing, they are all very “flat” sounding.
Is that something that I can change?
Reviewing her criteria, I realize that she is writing to an audience specifically seeking a professional career, so a lot of it isn’t necessarily applicable to a 16-year-old. A couple of things to watch out for: people who toot their own horns too much, and people who trash talk other teachers (it’s important to be invested in your own pedagogy and techniques, but at the same time you have to realize that there are many valid approaches).
As an effect (like in “Believe”) I have no particular philosophical objection to it. As a cover up for inadequacies, it’s a terrible, insidious thing. If you can’t sing, for god’s sake learn to sing. I have rather strong opinions on the matter, but lack the eloquence right now to express them.
But it’s bad.
I’m still interested in her criteria (not that I’m contemplating a professional career, but it still seems fascinating to me). What else?
Two questions:
Does that sound even remotely like what is supposed to be/actually going on or am I feeling something different that I have decided must be regulation?
ETA: by the way - thank you very much for starting this thread and patiently answering questions. Pretty much everyone talks and sings (in some form or fashion), so I bet you hear more opinions from amateurs than you know what to do with!
*I am in NO way seeking to compare myself to an opera singer other than we both make air-and-vocal-cord noises come out of similar orifices…
What is the first thing you teach, in the first lesson, to an absolute novice?
Regards,
Shodan
(With the constant caveat that it is difficult to diagnose things without hearing them.)
Sounds like a lack of head involvement. Are you male or female? Can you sing falsetto?
Out-of-tuneness in general is usually a sign of a voice out of balance, either between breath and support, or in register. Your description sounds like you are overly chesty, which is extremely common. We all talk in chest voice, and generally don’t use our head voice (after puberty) unless we are singing. It is probably something that you can work out with proper guidance. I would encourage you to work with a professional, though, since over-chestiness can be damaging if you’re not careful.
I kind of like the image of vibrato as the action of a spring.
Vibrato itself isn’t really a regulatory process. What I suspect is happening is that you found a balance in your voice which allows you to regulate your breath, taking pressure of of you vocal cords, and the vibrato is a byproduct of that balance. Which is more or less what you said. So, yes!
Sort of. Again, the vibrato doesn’t really have to do with it. With the proper direction, you should be able to sing long phrases taking much smaller breaths than you’re used to, but that takes a lot of focused work with the proper guidance. Having a big breath of reserve is, in my opinion, counterproductive because your body just wants to get rid of that air, so it tends to lead to tension and a lack of flexibility which denies you access to that air.
To put it another way; it’s not the size of the breath that matters, it’s how you use it.
My pleasure! I hope I’m at least somewhat informative. Answering questions also helps me refine my understanding, so I’m happy to do it.
Depends on exactly what they can do. The biggest thing most people need to learn is confidence and the willingness to take chances and sometimes fail (sometimes spectacularly). Other than that, everyone is different, so my approach is different.
Very helpful! Hey, I think I figured something out about my singing! Only took me, oh, 30 years 
So - perhaps vocal lessons might’ve reduced that time (no worries, I am a guitar player first; but improving my singing has always been a side goal…).
Thanks again.
Who are some popular singers that you think have poor technique and how would you help them?
Interesting! That’s not what I would’ve guessed was the problem. I’m a woman. My head voice sounds weak and airy. So it does sound right that there’s a lack of balance. I can either sing with my airy weak head voice or my super-flat chest voice, but I don’t know how to combine the two. I wonder if I’ll ever try out a voice coach. I’ve always assumed my whole life that I am a terrrrrrrrrrrible singer and there’s nothing that can be done about that. This thread is enlightening.
Over the years, some of my favorite bands have changed lead singers. The replacements can hit the same notes, but their tonal quality seems a bit different. I’ve had a talent for imitating tone when I sing (I’ve described it as “using different parts of my throat” in casual conversations) but there have been some voices I haven’t been able to get quite right. One day I was zooming down the freeway struggling to imitate a new singer for one of my favorite bands and I hit an unexpected bump on the road. That jolted me in the middle of a sustained vowel and suddenly I was able to imitate the new singer’s tone. I also seem to have gained the ability to sing with greater volume. Unfortunately, that same incident seems to have cut off some of my higher high notes with the richer quality of the previous singer. I can still sing, but I’m wondering if that bump did some damage or somehow changed the way I resonate.
Also, is it natural for one to lose high and/or low range over time? I’ve noticed some of my favorite singers are writing songs with a narrower range and either down-tuning old songs when they play them or dropping them from their performances altogether. How does one prevent the loss of range?
Thoughts?
–G?
I just watched a performance today by someone who wants to sing/act professionally. She has a fairly significant lisp. I thought the performance was a little cringe worthy, but there was lots of potential there. Have you ever needed to tell someone they should look into speech therapy, on top of the singing lessons? Do you have any techniques that help people with issues like lisping? I’m curious because I took an adult continuing ed class on speaking professionally (many moons ago) with a talented vocal coach. One of the young women in the class had a lisp that the coach showed her how to lose in about 5 minutes, and told her she just needed to practice after that if she wanted to lose the lisp for good. It was remarkable. (and probably not possible if it had been a physical impediment, but the teacher was able to suss that out during those 5 minutes)
So I’m wondering if stuff like that comes up with any of your singing students.
Thanks for your answer. That is not something I had ever thought about.
How important is breathing properly and is it the kind of thing that some people learn how to do naturally or is training necessary?
Hi folks! Sorry I’ve been a little slow to answer the last few days; I’ve been a bit slammed.
Without aping her book directly, here are the basic points:
What to look for:
[ul]
[li]Good reputation[/li][li]Interest in you as an individual[/li][li]Adequate time for you[/li][li]In touch with the industry[/li][li]Knowledgable about voice categories (Fachs) and repertoire[/li][li]Works well with your voice type[/li][li]Patience [/li][li]Ability to guide you through your changes and direct you to appropriate auditions and competitions for your level[/li][/ul]
What to watch out for:
[ul]
[li]Teachers who are overly possessive (not wanting you to try other teachers or work with only specific coaches)[/li][li]Tell you you’ll be the next big star (she specifies “at the Met”)[/li][li]Claim to be able to prepare you for major auditions and jobs in a very short time[/li][li]Intimidate or abuse you vocally or psychologically[/li][/ul]
Hard question to answer. I tend not to listen to popular singers functionally. I either enjoy them or tune them out. Often I also have no idea who they actually are.
The thing is, generally when a popular singer has a serous technical flaw that really sticks out, like a rasp or something, it suits them too much for me to want to fix it. It’s part of their signature. I mean, I could take someone like Adele, who had to have surgery to fix the abuse she was inflicting on her voice, and teach her to sing in a way that didn’t put so much strain on her voice, but then she wouldn’t be Adele any more.
Do you know what happens physiologically that seems to reach lower notes after waking up in the morning? For me, anyway, it seems to be related to how dry my throat is. When I drink any beverage, I tend to lose those notes very quickly. An eight ounce drink raises my bottom note from a C or Bb below the staff to an F just below the staff.
I know it’s not just me, though. That university voice teacher I mentioned earlier would drop to an A from her normal low of a bass clef C.
It’s hard to imagine that hitting a bump could have caused any damage, but it could have changed the alignment and shape of your vocal tract (at that moment, at least). Why you haven’t been able to find other alignments that you were able to before is hard to speculate on, but I bet if you play around with moving things around in the back of your mouth/top of your throat, you’ll be able to find new (and perhaps old) ways of doing things.
That said, I’m not a proponent of imitating anyone’s sound. I teach people to find their own sound and work with what they have, rather than try to make themselves something they’re not.
As to range changes with age, singing is a muscular activity, and there will always be some loss of flexibility and strength with age. How much things change is down to that particular singer’s physiology. Some lose more range than others. Placido Domingo has begun singing baritone roles in his 70s, while other tenors have kept their high Cs well into their 90s.
I don’t have specific exercises that deal with lisping. Sometimes information regarding consonant formation can be useful (type of consonants: plosives, fricatives, affricates, etc.; voiced vs. unvoiced; points of articulation), but I’m not a speech therapist and would never claim to be able to help anyone with such an issue comprehensively. If it were a problem, I would refer them to a speech therapist if they weren’t already working with one. I haven’t had it come up.
I did once have a stutterer. He did not stutter when singing, which I found fascinating, but it didn’t cure his speech any.