Training Voice

[Rejuv3]

Hey guys, this is my first post, so I hope I put it in the right section and hopefully you don't yell at me if it's in the wrong one, lol. I'm a 20 year old male. :wave:

Anyways, I love singing. It's probably one of the only things that gets my mind off of everything around me, it just kinda liberates me ya know? I've been singing for quite a long time, but I have always had troubles with hitting high notes and making them sound good, I've also had problems with screaming.

In all my time of singing however I have never done proper breathing, warm ups, and exercises to strengthen my voice. I have just recently started doing this (within the last 2 days), and already have noticed an improvement in my voice, but I am still having troubles with the high notes and the screaming. I also have never taken the time to research the proper ways to sing and what is all involved with singing, I just recently started doing this as well.

Over time, if I keep practicing and use proper techniques to strengthen my voice, will this start coming to me? Also, is it ok to sing everyday for about 4-5 hours a day, or is that to much on the vocal chords and should I be taking breaks every couple of days?

Thanks all, great forum here, I also just bought a Yamaha PAC012 guitar so I can start learning it, should be fun!

[Rejuv3]

Here's a little sample of my voice, it's the beginning to Stand By Me by Ben E. King. It's not that great, I have phlegm in my throat right now, and recorded it with a 15 dollar stand mic, but oh well, should give you a little idea of how it is:

http://media.putfile.com/sbm1

[Knifeboy]

If you keep on training every day, and maybe even get a vocal coach, you'll keep on seeing improvements for many many years to come

[Rejuv3]

If you keep on training every day, and maybe even get a vocal coach, you'll keep on seeing improvements for many many years to come

Cool, thanks man. So everyday training isn't bad for the vocal chords? Take for instance working out, if you train a muscle group the day after you trained the same muscle group, it backfires on you and can make you lose muscle or lead to possible injury. This does not apply to the vocal chords?

[kidthatplaysguitar91]

Cool, thanks man. So everyday training isn't bad for the vocal chords? Take for instance working out, if you train a muscle group the day after you trained the same muscle group, it backfires on you and can make you lose muscle or lead to possible injury. This does not apply to the vocal chords?


Well the vocal cords arent muscles(or at least I dont think they are).

It only relates to weight lifting in the way that, if anything hurts, stop!

If you work up to be able to practice a lot without hurting yourself, do it. I can be singing somewhat aggressively for 3 hours and have my voice be perfectly fine the next day. Just make sure you warm up/warm down.

[the Pope's Hat]

Definitely the rule to anything, if it hurts, you're doing something wrong.

However, about taking breaks. The famed Pavarotti was able to last so long because he would go on prolonged periods (months) without singing to help preserve his voice. You can strain it, and if you over-use it, it will wear out.

However, I'm no singer and you may want to inquire about how much you should practice in one sitting, how often you take breaks, etc.

[Screamin_Demon_Auz]

It all depends on your technique; if your technique is fine, you can sing as long as you want. Its best to take breaks every 2 hours if your going to be practicing that long though, even if your voice is fine. The point in this is to make sure your not losing focus and energy, and therefore letting bad habits creep in.

But yeah, the more you practice correctly, the more things will start coming to you. Singing higher is all about coordinating your breathing so that your vocal cords adduct like they are naturally supposed to when singing higher. If they are adducting you'll be in head voice, if not you will be pulling chest up which can be damaging. When im coaching people, I always start off with very basic stuff that gets your voice working well along with your breathing. You cant rush it; especially when i'm teaching online, I always start everyone off with lip trills, so make sure your doing those. Let your lips vibrate like your imitating a motorboat or horse, then add tone behind it./

[Rejuv3]

It all depends on your technique; if your technique is fine, you can sing as long as you want. Its best to take breaks every 2 hours if your going to be practicing that long though, even if your voice is fine. The point in this is to make sure your not losing focus and energy, and therefore letting bad habits creep in.

But yeah, the more you practice correctly, the more things will start coming to you. Singing higher is all about coordinating your breathing so that your vocal cords adduct like they are naturally supposed to when singing higher. If they are adducting you'll be in head voice, if not you will be pulling chest up which can be damaging. When im coaching people, I always start off with very basic stuff that gets your voice working well along with your breathing. You cant rush it; especially when i'm teaching online, I always start everyone off with lip trills, so make sure your doing those. Let your lips vibrate like your imitating a motorboat or horse, then add tone behind it./

Thanks man, I appreciate it, hearing from a vocal coach helps. I'll continue to practice and do some more research into it and hopefully things start coming to me. I've been having troubles with the trills, just can't seem to get my lips to vibrate right haha, but I'll keep on trying.

[Screamin_Demon_Auz]

Take your fingers and lift your cheeks up when you do the trills and it'll work. Eventually though, you need to be able to do them without the lift, but that will come when you get the right amount of breath pressure coordination going.

[Rejuv3]

Take your fingers and lift your cheeks up when you do the trills and it'll work. Eventually though, you need to be able to do them without the lift, but that will come when you get the right amount of breath pressure coordination going.

I've been doing them throughout the day and I finally got it without using my fingers, which is nice. Do you have any recommendations as far as screaming goes? I've been reading through some of the screaming threads here, but was wondering if there is anything else I should know or read up upon. Should I wait a while after I develop my voice through exercises before I start attempting screaming? Thanks.

[Screamin_Demon_Auz]

Its just all about placement like I said in the article I posted a while back. Also, you have to push down like your using the restroom to keep from tensing in the throat. Other than that, make sure you always warm down afterwards or else any swelling will carry over to the next day.

[kidthatplaysguitar91]

Take your fingers and lift your cheeks up when you do the trills and it'll work. Eventually though, you need to be able to do them without the lift, but that will come when you get the right amount of breath pressure coordination going.

I cant do them at all without the lift. I can barely do them with the lift. I've had a singing teacher and he told me some people just cant do it.

Tongue trills I can do fine.

[Screamin_Demon_Auz]

I can't do tongue trills, and i've only had 1 person come to me before who could do them so it must just be something that not everyone can do, like some people can't roll their tongue haha. I always have people do the lip trills first though since its easy for most people, and its extremely effective, but if you can do tongue trills it kind of cancels out the need for the lip trills.