In a little over a year I will be teaching a Javanese gamelan group, and that means I’ll probably need to sing a little to help people learn. In high school I was an (undistinguished) alto in the school choir, but it’s been decades since then. I figure I’d better prepare a little, as my singing voice is not exactly robust these days.
This is what I need to focus on, in order of importance:
[ul]
[li]Pitch. I need to be able to sing in tune. (The gamelan uses non-Western scales, although I don’t think that matters.)[/li][li]Range. As a teenager I had pretty decent range (alto bordering on contralto) but I swear, I’m down to an octave or so now. Seems like I can’t sing along with any tune without having to switch octaves or have my voice give out.[/li][li]Volume. I should be able to sing loudly enough to be heard over a variety of instruments.[/li][/ul]
Things I don’t particularly care about are:
[ul]
[li]Timbre. Sadly, I do not have a lovely voice. (My husband will be glad to confirm this for you if you doubt me. )But it’s irrelevant in this case; I’m just trying to help people hear the notes they need to play. (Anyway, the Javanese have a completely different aesthetic for singing, so sounding “pretty” from a Western standpoint wouldn’t matter.)[/li][li]Breathing technique. Again, I don’t need to sound beautiful (and dynamics aren’t a concern). I just need to convey tonal/rhythmic information.[/li][/ul]
Any suggestions? Are their on-line singing exercises I ought to do? How much time do I need to devote to this?
I can’t sing decently, but from a guitar standpoint, I surf YouTube looking for tutorial videos. I’d check there for vocal training series and see whose approach I liked.
I’m a singer, but I’m old-school and prefer voice lessons. So I can’t really help, except to strongly recommend that you move “breathing technique” to the top of the list: it will help with both pitch and volume, and is pretty critical. IMO.
Straw training is a standard in singing lessons nowadays. Though in singing, as opposed to speaking, we usually use arpeggiations and thirds instead of the stuff he does. The trick is to start with a long, thick straw (like a bendy straw) and after you’re warmed up move to a long, thin straw (like a stirring straw). It strengthens your voice a lot and makes it easier to match pitch.
Thanks to all for your suggestions and good wishes.
[QUOTE=Misnomer]
recommend that you move “breathing technique” to the top of the list: it will help with both pitch and volume, and is pretty critical. IMO.
[/QUOTE]
)But it’s irrelevant in this case; I’m just trying to help people hear the notes they need to play. (Anyway, the Javanese have a completely different aesthetic for singing, so sounding “pretty” from a Western standpoint wouldn’t matter.)[/li][li]Breathing technique. Again, I don’t need to sound beautiful (and dynamics aren’t a concern). I just need to convey tonal/rhythmic information.[/li][/ul]