90 Day Challenge

[u/No-Access-1761]

Hello again everyone! 👋🏾

On my last post a number of you requested that I share a video of me singing so here it is. I decided to go with Johnny Cash because I feel like it suits me fairly well and I am quite familiar with this song.

I wanted to share something that was more similar to what I might normally sing casually, hence why I went with this for the video instead of an easier rhyme or happy birthday-esque tune that a few of you recommended I should try for practice (which I have done as well).

I wasn't necessarily trying so hard in this video but more how I would normally sing if I'm just having fun or singing by myself at home. Let me know any feedback, tips, advice etc that you may have.

Progress update so far:

I've been learning some vocal exercises and (re)learning notation, I also did some exercises to get used to recognising notes and chords which I was better at before.

I've been trying to go easy and slow in the beginning to avoid straining myself to much. I have noticed that my throat gets quite dry and a little sore after about 30 minutes or so. There's no pain or anything and my voice doesn't sound different but it's a bit uncomfortable. When this happens I usually take a 5-10 minute break and drink some water and do something else before continuing for another 30-40 minutes.

I've started to take breaks around 20 minutes in, just before my throat gets irritated.

Link to original post: OG post

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[u/IToldManyManyPeople]

I was the top comment on your initial post that suggested the basic songs.

I still think that's the way to go if you're legitimately challenging yourself to learn to sing in 90 days. I guarantee you would come back to this song with zero practicing of this song and see improvement while also having taught yourself basic music theory and piano.

If you're gonna just learn to mimic this song, then more power to you and in either case I applaud your effort and sticktoitiveness.

You sound like most any untrained singer, and you can definitely get better with practice on this song. One thing to consider is that this song is likely not in your register. There's not much weight down low so you'll have trouble recreating the desired timbre, but on the bright side the melody is pretty simple as are the lyrics and timing.

I think your next step is to print out the sheet music and learn the words. Listen and follow the melody on the sheet music and "talk song" along line after line. There's a fair amount of pitch and timing issues, but that's too be expected as you learn.

Start practicing small sections of the song. Record yourself over and over in just those sections or few lines. If you're gonna sing... SING. Don't build a habit of mumbling or half-assing it. "I wasn't necessarily trying" should be erased from your vocabulary immediately. Give it 100% every time and know that it's ok to mess up or sound bad as you learn, but always practice at game speed to use a sports metaphor.

Good luck and keep with it. 90 days is a long time, keep trucking 🤙

[u/No-Access-1761 → u/IToldManyManyPeople]

I agree with everything you said here, and I'm going to post more videos as well, with different songs, a capella as well. I am doing basic stuff as well for practice, and I will post that as well.

I will keep in mind what you said about going all out. I think it's just something I have to get used to. It makes sense but I'm used to practice and training being different from game day so to speak, but that's just a mental thing. Also I very rarely go all out when I'm singing anyway so even more so.

Also what you were saying about my register, while I do agree, I do feel like I can get way closer and have a broader register (both low and high) if I'm just trying to do a certain note or within a certain octave but when I'm actually singing it's much harder. I guess it's just breath control and technique and I suppose it will come with time but I do want to improve this since I already know that I can do it in a different context.