Hey guys, I've decided to try and do a vocal...just for fun. I "think" my voice is pretty good, but I want to get your opinions on it.

I'll share it once I'm done...I'm not sure what song I'm going to sing yet, but do u have any tips or suggestions for me?

I've heard many of you guys sing out here and you have these "butter smooth" voices, so don't expect anything like that from me in the beginning! I'm just starting out! lol

Please keep that in mind.

Ryan

I guess my first advice would be to accept your voice.... don't try to make it do something it doesn't want to.

While we all have an idea in our head about what we would LIKE to sound like, it is rarely the same as what we DO sound like. While we all have our favorite style of music, sometimes our voice's strengths are better at a different style. You may prefer to sing music like Tony Bennett, but if you sound like Hank Williams, you'll do better by singing country!

Start to record yourself singing bits of this and that, and then, on playback, ask yourself 'who do I sound like?'. Ask some (VERY!) close friends what they think you sound like.

You are going to find it MUCH easier to sing what your voice wants to, than trying to make it sound like what YOU want to!

OK...... that, and - breathe much deeper than you think you need to...! Tone, power, control, all of these depend on good support from the lungs. Find EVERY opportunity to breathe in during the song, even when you think you don't need to. You'll probably need it later in the phrase.

Hope this helps....

Ryan,

The best advice I can give anyone is to go to the local community college and sign up for vocal lessons. You'll learn how to breathe properly while singing, expand your range, improve your timing, and lots of other neat things that you just cannot learn without training. Once done, you'll be amazed how much better you will sound/

And, I wholeheatedly agree that you should record yourself singing, then play back the tape, CD, etc, and listen carefully to what you are doing. Essentially, you'll be hearing what others hear--not what you hear while singing.

Finally, if you are married, and have been married to the same woman for a long time, have her evaluate your singing. Believe me when I tell you that after nearly five decades of being married to the same woman she has absolutely no qualms about telling me exactly what she thinks, hears and what I should or should not do. Most of the time she is right. Fortunately, she does not read the posts on this forum!

Finally, record and post something here so we can hear and evaluate your vocals. The folks here are not nearly as tough as my wife, but they tend not to be bashful either.

Cheers,

Gary

Good Luck,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy