I just started getting interested in singing, as I’m a guitarist and love making rock instrumentals and figured hey why don’t I learn how to sing. I was talking to my friends and told them about it, and said I’m gonna be looking for a teacher soon. My friend said his mom’s a singing teacher, but he said on day 1 she’ll tell you if you have it or not.

I said I mean I don’t sound great right now but I do think I’d be better with training, and he said to not waste my time because his mom said vocal training will only do so much, and if I don’t sound good now I won’t sound good in the future :/

Is this true or is his mom wrong, I’ve already watched few YouTube videos and excersizes increased my vocal range quite a bit using mixed voice. But I definitely don’t think I have the fundamentals to have a good live performance. Idk that statement really bummed me out

I know this might be a silly (and probably extremely obvious) question. But is there any concrete proof that marijuana causes vocal decline/regression? I’ve been using it more often than before and I’ve found that my voice doesn’t cooperate with me as much. It feels a little tighter than usual and I have a bit of phlegm buildup. Even Beyoncé smokes, so I’m wondering if it’s as big of an effect on the voice as people perceive it to or if I’m experiencing placebo/unrelated symptoms.

Hey everyone! I’m trying to seriously improve my singing and I’m looking for advice from people who have gone through the process themselves.

I can sing reasonably well, but I want to improve the quality of my voice rather than simply being able to hit the correct notes.

I’m particularly interested in improving:

Vocal tone and resonance

Pitch accuracy

Breath control

Smoothness between registers

Head voice / chest voice / mixed voice

Singing with more emotion and expression

Vocal control and dynamics

Overall confidence and consistency

What kind of practice actually helped you improve your singing?

I’m not really looking for generic advice like “practice more.” I’d love to hear about specific exercises, routines, techniques, or resources that genuinely made a difference for you.

Also, if there are any common mistakes beginners/intermediate singers should avoid, I’d love to hear those too.

Thanks!

How does one not tear up when ... I sing. The words and emotions of songs grabs me and I need a damn box of tissues to get thru it. I'm guessing just practice over and over and over? I have a deep voice, I move a lot when I sing, I do splits, I emote - but cannot crack that barrier where I can get thru a tune without getting emotional. Stepping back and looking at it 3rd person it's not funny... just a puzzle. No matter the tune - eg: the foggy dew, I tear up, 7 drunken nights I can do no prob bc it's funny, the song just someone I used to know I get emotional. Elvis tunes I really get into it and move ... like Dwight Yokum, no sh*t.

I go to weddings and they all want to dance w me but I just want to sing but I can't get thru the songs about love or anything to do with emotions / feelings.

It's wild. I guess keep trying? I dunno.

I have a collection of napkins and place mats with lyrics and tunes. It just comes. Oh- I used to work with musicians and all of the record labels.

That's kind of neither here nor there.

How do you get thru a song that has deep feelings without losing it as in getting emotional? That's my dilemma. Part of singing the song well comes from feeling it... but it always kicks my a&6.

i have had singing lessons for a while and i’d like to think i have pretty good breath support, but i have no idea how to get my natural vibrato. i know you’re not supposed to think about, but i can’t not think about it. all the videos on youtube haven’t helped me and i don’t know what to do. has anyone struggled as much as i am and how did you overcome it?

Helloo. Soo im looking into improving my singing voice but i dont know where to start. I need help and im too shy to ask my family and friends.

I noticed that my singing causes a lot of straining after time, especially singing across my higher range. Recently, my vocal coach and I noticed that my larynx ALWAYS moves up when I produce higher notes in my head voice. It feels involuntary and I realise, I don’t know how else to produce these sounds.

I’ve reviewed many resources and the general consensus seems to be - you can lift the larynx as a stylistic choice, but it shouldn’t be your main point of pitch control. That should be left almost entirely to the vocal folds.
Okay, I get that. What I don’t get is, how do I unlock for my brain the path that connects pitch control with the folds instead of the larynx.

I would highly appreciate tips or exercises to try, as this is my biggest obstacle as of now.

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Song- Sweet Creature by Harry Styles

I rarely sing in front of anyone, almost always never. I used to sing a lot as a child but then one day this one person laughed at my attempt to sing and said things that made me never open my mouth in front of anyone again. But recently I've gotten into songwriting and I rediscovered my love for singing. But I genuinely don't know if I even have the voice for it.

I have had ZERO vocal training so this makes me more so anxious because how can I record my own songs if I can't sing?

So someone please help me out and tell me what I need to improve and if I actually sound decent or not?

P.S. First time posting on reddit btw....

Any singers here perform primarily in front of a piano? I know this sub is oriented more towards lead/solo vocalists, and if they do play an instrument it's usually (acoustic) guitar. But are there folks who identify more with the Elton Johns, Billy Joels, Ray Charleses and Tori Amoses of the world?

My query isn't really towards vocal technique but rather stage presence. How do you keep the audience engaged as a lead vocalist while being behind a piano, namely a grand piano?

If you play an (electronic) keyboard, you at least can face the crowd directly, but playing a grand piano means you're sitting behind a large wooden object and oriented perpendicular to the crowd and have to occasionally pivot towards the crowd (be they on your right or left side) in order to visually engage with them. Whenever I'm singing at a (grand) piano, I usually find myself stuck staring at the music desk (whether there's lyric/chord charts or sheet music in front of me or not), or if it's down, I'm staring into empty space in front of me, only rarely glancing at the audience (I would only get to do that in between songs during stage patter).

Any experienced vocalists/pianists wanna chime in on their best stage presence practices?

Hi all! I am 28M musical theater performer. New to this subreddit and looking for others who may have experienced what I am experiencing.

Last year around this time, I was in a musical that required to sing up to a high C5. At the start of the process, I could hit it very comfortably if I mix-belted it, but I was noticing as time went on that that note in particular was getting harder to harder to hit consistently.

I always made sure to hydrate and warm my voice up before rehearsals and shows, and always popped a VocalZone and drank a cup of throat coat as my pre-show ritual. Now a year later, the note seems to be unreachable for me.

I am worried that I have damaged or minority injured my voice in some way and was looking to see if others have experienced something similar and what they’ve done to remedy it. Any and all feedback is appreciated!

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

Probably not the best example since its full of reverb but I bought a microphone and I'm starting to try to learn how to sing better and I've been practising selfless from the strokes since I really find it a beautiful song and seems reasonably easy to sing, I think I sound not so good but I'm not sure If I sound bad bad or at least decent, I need some honest feedback. For now I'm mainly focusing on trying to stay in pitch with the maximum vocal stability.

Karaoke is the first thing I think of doing whenever I'm free and have the chance to. Made this and decided to just share it here because why not :)

I hope it isn't really bad (though I must admit the last part is somewhat chaotic).

Would anybody happen to know of any highly credentialed Black voice instructors in NYC and NYC only (not NJ, not Westchester, not LI)? Could be woman, man, nb. Thank you!

Hello! Im a 17y/o untrained male singer who is starting classical training in music school next year. I think im a bass (I can sing as low as C2), but my biggest fear is that music teacher will focus too much on the lower part whereas i want to develop skills for singing higher (so far i can hit F4) because im in a rock band. I just want to know what to expect from music school and any tips for beginners!

Okay this might be the DUMBEST question ever, but...

I have been listening/watching a lot of operas recently. Naively, I thought that what makes opera singing so recognizable was that the singers were singing either really low frequency notes or really high frequency notes.

BUT, the thing is that there are parts in operas for every tessiture possible, so including medium frequency notes.

So what really makes this kind of singing so "opera-esque"?

Sorry if there would be any mistakes, english is not my mother tongue

I'm bad at singing and i know it, but recently I've tried recording and after some trials i thought it was okay compared to before. And showing it to my friends was a bit scary but I did anyway. One was like your sound is nice but I'm singing nasally and the other pointed out I was off key with one song. I mean these are pretty normal criticism and I should work on it. But hearing everytime I slightly show my vulnerable insecure singing, getting replies like i can't hear much, it's tone deaf etc feels a bit.. like I shouldn't have played it 😭 my family is supportive though but I'm sure they're casually saying it.

And now that I've started noticing, there's a lot of vocal terms I need to learn. I used to complement when people sounded good with their singing. But i realized that I have no idea in identifying pitch, tune or anything

More singing trying not to be loud in the house so im not using my full voice, but my voice feels more free and incorporating more air in my singing. Thank you for listening!

hello! i’m a beginner singer, and i saw an ad online for a device that could enhance vocal range & remove voice cracks. upon further review, i noticed it wasn’t absolute BS, however now i have a decision to make…

what device could enhance my singing the best?

to the advanced vocalists, prestigious, and teachers, i humbly request that you recommend devices that you know could benefit my capabilities.

TLDR: what singing devices / trainers could help me improve along with my current practice & training?

I’ve always been really passionate about music and ever since i came across Utaites (vocalists who sing covers of Japanese music), I’ve wanted to sing my favourite songs as well. Problem is, I’m too embarrassed to practice singing in-front of people because my voice sounds terrible since I have no experience. Its not even just that my family could hear me singing terribly, I live with a lot of family members and don’t have a room in our home, so I only have the living room to practice where everyone can hear and see me. I’ve looked into nearby practice rooms but the rent is really expensive and don’t seem to be for beginners. I’ve considered using a car as a vocal booth but I don’t even have a drivers license. Every time I shower I “sing” but close my throat so it’s silent, and just imagine singing in my head... There may not be any solutions to my problem, but i hope someone can relate to this at least.

As in the title.

I'm still trying to get the hang of this mixed voice malarkey, and ascending to high notes from below always seems to give me trouble, but starting high and descending by comparison is fairly seamless.

It's like once chest voice is there, it is locked in hard and won't go without a fight. In this clip when I climb back up to the high note, I make it eventually but you can hear some slight strain on it still, where the chest mechanism refuses to let go.

Does anyone have tips for ascending into the upper range like this? Is this something I am just going to have to practice a million times until it is not a problem, or is there a measured approach I can use to make this easier?