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Strangeland · 14th February 2012

I never took vocal lessons, so being 100% self-taught I can let you know what worked for me. I think that trying to sing like someone else is a bad idea. In my early teens, I always tried to imitate whoever I was listening to even if their range was significantly different from mine. This was always a let down as you can imagine.

Since, I'm a guitar player, I first found it useful to tune up my voice by doing a bunch of oh's, and ah's, and iee's along with a scale, usually two octaves of G major and then a single octave of D major backwards and forwards increasing the tempo until the vocal notes stopped sounding distinct. My range is more akin to say Michael Stipe than Lane Staley so this are felt most comfortable to me.

I have to say that the most important thing that helped me improve was listening to myself sing over my own songs. This is where you hear and correct the things you are doing wrong, both consciously and subconsciously. At first, it was difficult for me to sing at an appropriate volume because I knew I didn't sound very good. This was mostly in my parent's house when I was a teenager. When I became a better singer sometime later, my dad said to me, "You mother used to say what the hell is he singing, but she doesn't ask that anymore." So I guess it is helpful to have someone serve as a gauge for your progress.

I would recommend singing in your car, maybe at night, to get a little more comfortable and to train your voice to work at regular volumes. I make it a point to practice a few scales every morning when driving to work. If anything, it helps to get the hoarseness out when you have to talk to people first thing in the morning. These are the things that worked for me and I never went the route of formal voice training, not that I wouldn't benefit from actual voice lessons, but for what I write and where I perform, I get by okay. Good luck!

14th February 2012	#14
Strangeland Gear maniac Joined: Feb 2010 Posts: 166	I never took vocal lessons, so being 100% self-taught I can let you know what worked for me. I think that trying to sing like someone else is a bad idea. In my early teens, I always tried to imitate whoever I was listening to even if their range was significantly different from mine. This was always a let down as you can imagine. Since, I'm a guitar player, I first found it useful to tune up my voice by doing a bunch of oh's, and ah's, and iee's along with a scale, usually two octaves of G major and then a single octave of D major backwards and forwards increasing the tempo until the vocal notes stopped sounding distinct. My range is more akin to say Michael Stipe than Lane Staley so this are felt most comfortable to me. I have to say that the most important thing that helped me improve was listening to myself sing over my own songs. This is where you hear and correct the things you are doing wrong, both consciously and subconsciously. At first, it was difficult for me to sing at an appropriate volume because I knew I didn't sound very good. This was mostly in my parent's house when I was a teenager. When I became a better singer sometime later, my dad said to me, "You mother used to say what the hell is he singing, but she doesn't ask that anymore." So I guess it is helpful to have someone serve as a gauge for your progress. I would recommend singing in your car, maybe at night, to get a little more comfortable and to train your voice to work at regular volumes. I make it a point to practice a few scales every morning when driving to work. If anything, it helps to get the hoarseness out when you have to talk to people first thing in the morning. These are the things that worked for me and I never went the route of formal voice training, not that I wouldn't benefit from actual voice lessons, but for what I write and where I perform, I get by okay. Good luck!