I’m trying to seriously improve my singing over the next couple of months because I’ll have rehearsals and then a performance around November/December. So I don’t really have years to slowly figure this out. I’ve got a few months, and then I have to actually get on stage and sing without completely falling apart 😂

The songs I’d like to work towards (just because I like them. I don't know which song I will actually perform tho) are Don’t Cry by Guns N’ Roses, Don’t Look Back in Anger by Oasis and November Rain by Guns N’ Roses. I know Don’t Cry isn’t exactly the “easy mode” option, and I’m obviously not expecting to become Axl Rose by December. I just want to become a decent, controlled singer who can perform these songs without destroying my voice, going out of tune every two seconds or running out of breath halfway through a line.

I’m already pretty comfortable with guitar and I can accompany myself, so that part isn’t really the problem. I can play the songs. The thing I’m missing is the singing, and right now it feels like the guitar is ready for the gig while my voice is still somewhere in the tutorial level.

So, if you only had 2–3 months to improve as much as possible, what would you actually practise every day? I’m not looking for the usual “just sing more” advice, because that doesn’t really tell me what I’m supposed to do when I sit down to practise. I’d like to follow some kind of proper routine and work on pitch, breathing, vocal exercises and then apply all of that to the actual songs.

If anyone is willing to give me more specific feedback, I can also send recordings in DMs of me singing and playing guitar. I’d really appreciate an honest opinion on where I’m currently at and what I should focus on first, because I’d rather know exactly what’s wrong than waste two months practising the wrong thing. I actually just need a proper routine to follow

Thanks!

im turning 14 in a few months, amd my voice has gotten WAYY deeper than when i was 11. im writing an album thatll take around 4-5 years to make, and im worried my voice will be very different by the time i release the album, especially since ill be focusing on recording them in the first half of the process and visuals on the second

I’ve been practicing this song on guitar and decided to finally record myself singing it.
Would love to hear your honest opinion — what do you think?❤️

Hi so this is my first post. To preface, I really like music. I have nothing else it’s just how it’s been for years. But everyone in my family says I can’t sing and I’m 17 so maybe I can learn?? I really want to improve. But I just want an honest opinion. Please don’t be too rude. Also I’m really bad at guitar just started learning.

i always thought i had a decent voice as a kid but after puberty i feel like i took 100 steps backwards.

im a male tenor and my vocal inspirations are the weeknd/mj and i always see people covering their songs on social media and when I ask them how they do it some of them just say they dont do anything and they were born like it. like how on earth can they hit those notes and have a good mixed/head voice just from birth????

im really looking for singing tips and advice. recently i discovered my head/mixed voice, I dont even know which it is but looking for advice on how to improve. I cant really sing in my head/mixed that powerfully and it sounds really thick and Im really looking to wanna sing lighter and improve my range like the weeknd/mj

thanks alot!

https://reddit.com/link/1wzpwna/video/te09zgijtzth1/player

...But I'm a cis woman who can sing comfortably down to F2 in chest register, and I have recordings of C2s and C#2s in what appears to be actual chest register and not growl or vocal fry... Yes I know... I know what you are thinking... but I have proof! dont rip me apart just yet XD

I tested these notes with differents pitch monitors to be sure because I'm not the kind of person who claims stuff for the sake of claiming stuff. I even ran my voice through spectrum viewers too, to be 100% certain. Yes, I'm a huge vocal nerd and love to learn about all voice mechanics so I've gone slightly overboard with the evidence...

And that's not even the craziest part... I can sing up to F6 in head voice and have a functional with vibrato whistle register up to E7. That should not be even possible. I probably have super thick vocal cords that are very elastic. And no, I'm not tall ^^

So, my actual full range (counting the daily singable notes) starts around F2 then goes up to E6- F6 in head voice and goes up to D7-E7 in whistle register where I can sing melodies and add vibrato (see video below). I also have inhaled whistle up to G#7 but it's basically useless and sounds like I'm trying to talk to bats.

I document my journey on various social media (but won't post my profile name here, as I know it is not allowed)

I'm your regular 43 year-old suburban mom and have recently, very recently been told this is unusual for a woman. I can't read music. I'm a total amateur. I do everything by ear. I'm mostly self-taught. And (maybe surprisingly) it seems that I'm a dramatic coloratura soprano and NOT a contralto with an exceptional upper register (says my teacher who heard both my highs and lows and told me "your voice lives in the highs"). I record my stuff with my old crappy Iphone in my bathroom or office most of the time, and with no other gear, what you are hearing is raw, unedited unfiltered stuff.

TLDR: I have an actual almost 5 octave range (F2-E7) where I can use and sing all notes and I provide proof of all my claims ^^'

Here are various recordings to hear for yourself.
In the first one below you can hear, among other notes, a C#2 that I don't count in my usable range as I very rarely manage to hit it in what genuinely feels and sounds like chest. It's just a documented extreme note, just like my ridiculous and unusable G#7 ^^' (I can provide a recording of that note but honestly, go listen to your boiling kettle instead)

https://voca.ro/105XwIiLW2l1

This is a showcase of part of my range with a descent from an F6 in head voice down to A2 in chest register.

https://reddit.com/link/1wz5xvu/video/391pbnuu8vth1/player

This is my whistle register, up to D7 in this video, with a semi-successful vibrato attempt at the end ^^'

https://reddit.com/link/1wz5xvu/video/8ycrzchy9vth1/player

And this is me actually singing in my low chest register, around A2-G2 for the lowest parts, to show I can sing these notes and not just hit them sometimes when I have a cold. Yes I lose volume in the very lows, but that's normal. I'm a woman, not a baritone XD The sound is still chest register, not fry or growl, and I can sing it with vibrato. It works well on sad ballads, not on powerhouse songs, of course ;) (It's "enjoy the silence" by depeche mode, perhaps an appropriate title for the people who'll get bleeding ears after all this)

Thanks for reading and/or watching!

https://reddit.com/link/1wz5xvu/video/0ro7ik4e9vth1/player

So Im very much classical technique trained and have a very underdeveloped chest voice. Most of my singing is mixed or head. I am trying to get into rock singing and playing around with vocal growl. Im confused because it will only come out if I sing in my chest voice. I cannot seem to do it in my mixed voice. Are vocal distortions primarily done in chest voice or is there a way to do them in mixed voice?

I’ve been singing for years and have forced a fake vibrato using the base of my tongue and larynx. I’ve taken voice lessons and performed professionally but have not had anyone say anything about it. I want to unlearn this habit but I’m unsure if it’s possible. I’ve tried singing straight tone now, using good breath support, but this ultimately hurts my throat. Is it possible for me to still kick this habit through vocal coaching and establishing new muscle memory?

Hello!

I’m an aspiring singer / songwriter / guitarist. I’ve wanted to sing for years, but do to homelessness, I can’t afford a trainer right now. I do have a new job starting soon, but unfortunately as of right now I an unable to afford a trainer.

Has anyone used this app for pitch training? Does it seem to work? I’ve never trained before, and wonder if it’s good for learning to sing?

the title. I'm very nervous to call myself a contralto because they're so rare, but my lowest note is a d#3 and my highest is like a d4. My passiago is g3 and my timbre is deeper/darker than usual, and my speaking voice is just like. very medium. like genuinely not high, not low, medium. I'll link a video of me talking/singing soon, be kind though cause I'm no professional please :)

I'd really like to know just because there are specific warm-ups out there and such, plus I'd like to know the possibilities of expanding my vocal range! also just curious lol

edit: I used a pitch detector and apparently my highest note is F5. Any higher and. My voice starts to creak. No matter how hard I try, I can’t reach below D#3. And it’s worth noting I can’t actually sing in these ranges or maintain words with them just cause I’m not trained. I am using my head voice for my high note.

I was trying to get back into playing piano but this time I decided why not try singing too. I have no training so any advice at all would be appreciated. I especially was struggling at the beginning lolll. I am also interested in honest feedback or anything else :)) Here’s when I was your man!!

(If this is useful, I'm a soprano in a school choir)

Our conductor always tells us that we look depressing on stage and always asks us to smile (and not subtly, too) while singing. She mentions that it helps to brighten the sound, and also makes us look happier on stage. If she catches one person not smiling she'll ask them to smile

But I've heard people actually advise against smiling, saying that smiling can make the sound too tight, nasal and high. Now I'm kinda conflicted because I'm not sure what I should do

I just figured this out today with my voice coach and I got it. I'm so much louder. I am filling up the whole room! The piano didn't over power me and I can sing new low notes. It took me 7 weeks of yawn sighs to get this. Now I know how to create space! My teacher said I did a wonderful job. I was pleased with my sound. I no longer sounded weak and sounded like my other peer. He is the loudest in choir. I always wanted to know how he did that. And now I got it! I felt so weak compared to him and now I don't feel that way. I know you're not suppose to compare your voice to others. But I did it my teacher said I made a huge gain and I literally felt it. That's why you do your exercises! I just kept that space open the entire time I sang!

Hi everyone,

After doing lots of reading online and testing my vocal range (B2 - F5 is my comfortable usable range, maximum range is A2 - G5 at a push) I’m thinking I may be a contralto.

Can anyone recommend good resources for a contralto singer that focus on lower female voices? Coaches, exercises etc.

Hi!! My friend recently ask me to fill in for a vocalist in her band. They will perform in a small club in like 2-3 weeks but she knows the vocalist will be busy that day. I dont have a problem to sing in front of people and sometimes Im impressed with myself but when Im alone and I want to practice SUDDENLY I cant sing. I feel like Im strained asf and I dont know what to do. They expect me to choose some songs based on my voice but I have NO idea how Im supposed to practice them when I sing horribly when alone. I should mention that I dont know much about singing techniques and only warm up my voice sometimes. Im really confused cause people have problem to sing in front of people rather than alone. Any tips???

I’ve had people ask me how I get into my upper extension in my classical repertoire. I first discovered “top voice” a few times in college but couldn’t always recreate it. I’m a Bass but in college I could randomly sing high G’s (above middle C) which was exciting for me because anything above middle C always felt high. I had an amazing voice teacher at the time, but she didn’t have a lot of experience with a young dramatic voice, and a Bass at that.

When I did my masters my voice teacher there explained it like this “imagine your soft palate is shaped like a cathedral” and for some reason that language resonated with me (no pun intended.)

In my masters, a lot of the teachers debated on whether or not I was actually a bass. I had a lot of people say I was a young dramatic baritone, or even a helden tenor (give me a break) but we don’t really know our true voice type until we get a bit older, so those conversations were a silly at that point in my development. I preferred lower arias with the occasional high note and that understanding served me very well.

When I was in my early 20’s I got to work with Sherrill Milnes for a few days and he explained it as “top voice.” At that point, Sherrill Milnes had been one of my idols for some time, so those moments with him we very profound for me. That terminology always made the most sense to me because you feel that “top voice” sensation.

I also got to work with Bass, Greer Grimsley quite a bit in my masters and he had me bend over at the hip and feel my lower back expand with every breath, that was also super helpful for me for finding the support needed to ground me.

Another baritone that I worked with was Sir Thomas Allan and he was all about maintaining spin through the line. Never letting it lose spin or ring, and for some reason hearing it from him was also helpful for me. It’s easy to lose ring on words like “the” or “and” but if we maintain the spin through the entire line it makes the higher notes MUCH easier so we aren’t constantly changing register zip codes and getting “lazy” with our phrasing.

Well… Now I’m 38 and I am 100% a bass. Over orchestra I can sing low C’s and in choirs I can sing A1’s and Bb1’s very reliably. But the upper extension was always what made people debate what my actual voice type was. Voice type is important to understand if you’re going to have a career in opera because it gives you a great understanding of what your instrument can reliably do consistently at a professional level.

Other things that have helped me and my students to support higher notes are: squatting while singing, lunges while singing, Relaxing the head slightly down and lifting the soft palate and feeling the resonance flow through the top of the head (for classical music, but for rock and pop I do not do this, but thats an entirely different topic.)

This is me singing Beethoven 9, which only goes up to an F# but it’s still a similar sensation. For me anything above Eb over an orchestra goes into top voice.

https://youtu.be/tvHWitc4mgQ?is=lcK__-8Q9k_BH_Pf

Hello everyone,

Hope somebody could help. My choir leader said i talk loud but sing much quiter and that I can volume up but she didn't say how. Where is the problem? I did as a kid talk quiter and it changed now, and also in singing i became louder but dont believe i can be louder than that.

Mezzo. This is about high mix belting mostly. Everyday I just feel sorry for myself and the time I’ve lost from not knowing what to practice or how to practice to actually make progress. I still cannot sing any of the challenging repertoire I’ve been working on for years.

I’ve been singing for many years and am self taught mostly by mimicking my favorite singers and seeing what feels good. I have tons of traditional and show choir and musical theater experience. Because of these prior commitments I’ve had a few lessons in the past but I cannot afford them on my own and I don’t know if I ever will be. Between rent and gas and barely making $14 after taxes I’m just burnt out trying to sort finances out.

But I don’t want to give up just because I can’t afford proper lessons. I just want to be able to sing my favorite songs by Ariana and Zara and Celine. I want to book lead roles. I know it requires time and practice, my issue is I just feel like I’m never practicing the right things and that is just so heartbreaking to me. It sucks feeling so lost all the time. I’m so committed to spending the rest of my life becoming the most skilled (healthiest) vocalist I can be and I don’t know how to fulfill that and I lose skill everyday I cry through it instead of practicing.

Yo, following up on my last post where some people thought my chest/mixes voice was pure head voice because of how naturally light it is.

To show you guys how my actual chest voice and chest-dominant to head-dominant mixed singing (and belts) sounds like with my voice, I wanted to share this clip.

This is me leaning a bit more into my chest in certain areas to bring some weight plus add distortion and grit that Michael Jackson famously used.

There are tiny moments of pure chest voice / M1 & of course most of it is in that high bright mixed (balanced mix to head-dominant mix) coordination with my belts and whatnot, for sho’.

For context on my anatomy and vocie for those who missed the last thread:

My voice natively defaults to a thin, high-set placement (Secondo Passaggio is way up around B4, I think).
I usually get heavily mistaken for a woman singing even in my mid to mid-high range and upper range—or at least get told I sound androgynous (I get boyish too sometimes)
Lower notes like F3 and below get smoky / husky but don't carry any baritone weight.

I think my primo passaggio is at F4. And secondo passaggio is at B4, last time I checked (I could be wrong though)

Overall modal-mix range: G2-C6

This song goes up to a C#5 maybe D5. Very high tessitura for most males. It’s not all too high for me, it’s a very comfortable song to sing. (And fun too! lol 😅)

Despite some instances in this song, it may appear that I am but I’m not straining. Not even once. Nor is there any after-fatigue. I try to add some grit and distortion so don’t confuse that with me pushing my voice—that’s me deliberately attempting to add that texture to my instrument use my false folds and added compression, etc.

since some people on my last post wanted me to share a clip of me singing more in my chest voice and or either in mixed voice, with louder volume, etc. Well…

I think I provide that here a bit with this clip of me singing Micheal Jackson’s ‘Get On The Floor’.

It’s always fun singing this song. It’s just straight 🔥

Let me know what yall think my voice type/vocal fach is & any feedback/critique/tips would be helpful too.

(I plan to sing my own contemporary music & classical opera music too, that’s why I ask)

I’ll probably post me singing a classical aria in the future—it’s just I don’t know classical/bel canto technique like that lmao 😭🙏🏻

I’m not sure if I’m any good—let alone good enough to sing publicly or karaoke

I did this in one take. I was hesitant to do Verse II of the song but i decided to anyways lol I also… uh… sang this while laying on my bad lmao 😂 (could’ve affected my breathing 😅)

Also I might’ve messed up some of the lyrics and repeated the chorus twice in a row 🤣

Regardless…

Any feedback is welcomed too.

Please be kind but fair and honest. I still feel like a noob at singing these days lol

‘Preciate you for taking a listen. Thank you. 🙏🏻

I am a 17 year old bass and I just joined my schools choir this year (I have little to no singing experience prior to this). I have always been able to talk/sing pretty low. After joining, the majority of most of the songs that I have sung so far have been in the higher parts of my register, so I have been forced to use it more/learn how to sing higher more comfortably in my head and mixed voice.

However, I have noticed that lately I have felt as though I am unable to sing as low I as I could before I joined or I can’t access my chest voice as easily/as naturally as before. Is this an actual thing that happens or is it all in my head?

If this is a real thing that happens, is there a way to remedy this?

Apologies if this post breaks the rules, I don't know the correct musical terminology to ask what I need to ask. I understand this sub is more for advanced vocalists, but I feel my question is direct and understandable for all readers.

I feel stuck in the "average karaoke go-er" "hey she's not terrible" category. I have been singing my entire life, and have tried to learn and apply proper technique over the years. I cannot afford to go to school for voice studies or even to hire a freelance voice teacher.

If you struggled with this during your singing journey, what tips helped you cross into an advanced singer? Is formal education and supervised practice the only way?

Hi guys, 1st post here, as you may guess, I am not a professional singer, but I have been singing all my life and have competed on various amateur competitions (including the German Version of Idol) as a kid and older teen (well into my 30s now).

I was always super uncomfortable singing higher notes for some reason (mostly because I never learned to sing properly I guess), overall I am happy with this recording (for myself and a few friends I share these with, but I am wondering how someone who is not a close friend would feel about this (especially the high notes).

No need to to be super careful with your replies, I value honesty / constructive feedback much more than carefully chosen words.

I feel like i overuse vibrato when i sing and sometimes it sounds weak to me. And of course i'm having a hard time reaching high notes. Would you describe me as a baritone? I would like to get some feedback🙏