Hiikaru
Run.
- Pronoun
- he
I've been told a lot that I have a good singing voice, but I've also picked up a lot of really bad habits. So, what are some ideas for singing well? What kinds of things should you not do while singing? I try every so often to Google different things about singing, but I never really get much of anywhere.
The main thing I've been struggling with is switching keys while singing. I figured out at some point that if I can't hit a note, I can just switch to another key to hit it, and it's really difficult to unlearn that since I realized that you shouldn't. I think you're supposed to avoid this by specifically using head voice or chest voice, but all the information I find on doing that is just "if you're singing in chest voice, you'll feel the vibrations in your chest!" and I have no clue what vibrations are supposed to feel like. So, instead of that I try to guess what my chest voice sounds like (easier and sounds deeper and less strained) and try to visualize where my voice should be coming from. Also we used to have some really echo-y rooms before we moved and that really helped to see when I went off key since I could tell when my voice "matched" the echo (like the same way you can "match" your humming to, say, a washing machine), but now we don't so it's harder. I can't seem to tell in recordings.
I also get out of breath and strain my voice really easily, so I'm always looking for ways to not do that. So far I've read: sit/stand up straight, relax, don't hold your shoulders up, don't curl your tongue back or hold it on the bottom of your mouth (try doing it while humming vs not doing it, it seems easier to hum that way), and open your mouth wider on longer notes.
Also supposedly cold water tightens your vocal cords which is good for high notes but otherwise bad, and warm water's the opposite. And drinking milk at night is supposed to make your voice deeper when you wake up.
And also I've been told that your singing voice is better when you first wake up, but usually my voice sounds terrible for singing in the morning and better later in the day.
Anyway, so, how are other people at singing? What do you try doing to improve?
The main thing I've been struggling with is switching keys while singing. I figured out at some point that if I can't hit a note, I can just switch to another key to hit it, and it's really difficult to unlearn that since I realized that you shouldn't. I think you're supposed to avoid this by specifically using head voice or chest voice, but all the information I find on doing that is just "if you're singing in chest voice, you'll feel the vibrations in your chest!" and I have no clue what vibrations are supposed to feel like. So, instead of that I try to guess what my chest voice sounds like (easier and sounds deeper and less strained) and try to visualize where my voice should be coming from. Also we used to have some really echo-y rooms before we moved and that really helped to see when I went off key since I could tell when my voice "matched" the echo (like the same way you can "match" your humming to, say, a washing machine), but now we don't so it's harder. I can't seem to tell in recordings.
I also get out of breath and strain my voice really easily, so I'm always looking for ways to not do that. So far I've read: sit/stand up straight, relax, don't hold your shoulders up, don't curl your tongue back or hold it on the bottom of your mouth (try doing it while humming vs not doing it, it seems easier to hum that way), and open your mouth wider on longer notes.
Also supposedly cold water tightens your vocal cords which is good for high notes but otherwise bad, and warm water's the opposite. And drinking milk at night is supposed to make your voice deeper when you wake up.
And also I've been told that your singing voice is better when you first wake up, but usually my voice sounds terrible for singing in the morning and better later in the day.
Anyway, so, how are other people at singing? What do you try doing to improve?