GD's tips #1: Sing in tune

[gtrdr]

GD's tips for singing. My credentials: singing seriously for 17 years, lessons for 3 years during high school. Sang in every select choir from middle school through college: NJ High School All-State Chorus (twice selected), Emory University Concert Choir (all 4 years), Emory Jazz Ensemble (sang for 2 years, guitar for all 4). I've sung in premier jam sessions and complimented/asked to return by hosts and listeners, including the Blue Note and BB King's in NYC. And I sang for my rock band in high school (classic rock covers). Now I would like to share some tips with you all.


#1 - sing in tune. Even the greatest voices sound like shit if they're off pitch, and because the human ear will dwell on a single mistake from 1000's of notes sung in a given night, make sure you don't waver. It's harder for some than for others (i.e. "tone-deaf"), but any musician can improve his/her intonation with work, no matter how good or bad the baseline is. It's all about the feedback from voice to ear and back and forth - you train your voice and your ear simultaneously, and the whole is only as good as the weakest link.

NOTE: You don't need perfect pitch - you are developing your RELATIVE pitch. I don't have perfect pitch but I have dead-on-balls accurate relative pitch (it's an industry term). I can do and have repeatedly done everything I am about to mention, and I'm not a musical genius. You can do it too.

Basic - sing along with everything, and have someone tell you when you're off. Record you voice, play it back and ask "Is this in tune?" Rinse, Repeat. Go over scales or arpeggios, make sure the octaves line up, then go to intervals, than individual notes. DO SCALES WITH PIANO, and don't settle for a bad run. Keep practicing.

Intermediate - listen to everyone else, and hear when they're off pitch. Get into the quarter-tones and slight sharps and flats (more often flats). Tune your guitar compulsively and WITHOUT A TUNER (those things fucking suck anyway). Sing along with your tunings to 'tune up' your voice. Try singing a capella and really listen to yourself while singing and on playback. TRY to sing sharper or flatter just for the sake of knowing how and when it's happening. Sing chromatic and whole-note scales in tune.

Advanced - Don't settle for anything; be obsessed with your pitch. Try to transcribe tunes by ear directly into notation using only your voice to guide you. Try to identify blind intervals (have a buddy play on piano). Sight-sing - there are many good books for this (i used Melodia). Try to really hear and sing the pitches between the half steps, go by quartersteps or smaller - one of my conductors could get us to sing in eigth-steps: C, semitone, quartertone, semitone, C#, semitone, quartertone, semitone, D, etc - it helps to have someone guide you in this, or have reference pitches to help you (do it with piano). Sing harmonies slowly in a live room and hear the intervals ring - and then SING the OVERTONES (i can whistle 6th and 7th harmonic overtones from my acoustic, because I listen for them). Then sing the harmonies quickly and make sure you keep listening, keep staying in tune. Make sure your vibrato is centered on pitch or oscillates sharp of pitch (flat is a NO-NO, and you;re asking for the vibrato to pull you flat overall). Scat/Improvise in tune - scat bebop melodies in tune - SCAT FAMOUS BEBOP RECORDED SOLOS IN TUNE! Sing along with every solo, every instrument (including drums - IN TUNE), sing the really deep tracks, the bass, the piano fills, the back-up vocals, the crazy stuff (a la The Wrecking Crew, Pet Sounds sessions stuff, Pink Floyd stuff, Radiohead stuff). SING IN TUNE ALONG WITH BOB DYLAN RECORDS - this one is fun and you can actually do it, including matching his dives and swells, and try to do it in your own voice as much as possible (i.e. don't sound like a bad imitation).

Good luck, and feel free to add suggestions and feedback/criticisms.

[NoBreaks]

Thanks for the tips!
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[Jared Kubokawa]

Thanks gtrdr! Those are some great tips. Can you actually sing along with Dylan in tune?

[smopo24]

Originally Posted by Jared Kubokawa

Thanks gtrdr! Those are some great tips. Can you actually sing along with Dylan in tune?

Ha Ha, I like his vocals because they are more of a vehicle for the feeling and cadence of his words than qualities of what people would consider a "good singer" to have. I do a great Dylan impression, btw. Still, Freddie Mercury has some killer pipes; he could wipe the floor with any crap Idol contender.

[dolivas]

Just to touch on Dylan for a bit, I believe even he himself doesn't sing in tune to his own recorded songs. He keeps changing up keys and tuning on tracks he's recorded in the live format. It's a joy to hear his singing eventhough he doesn't have the voice of songbird. Another similar voice would be Leonard Cohen who pulls out so much emotion out of what limited range he has vocally.

[smopo24]

Originally Posted by dolivas

Just to touch on Dylan for a bit, I believe even he himself doesn't sing in tune to his own recorded songs. He keeps changing up keys and tuning on tracks he's recorded in the live format. It's a joy to hear his singing eventhough he doesn't have the voice of songbird. Another similar voice would be Leonard Cohen who pulls out so much emotion out of what limited range he has vocally.

I totally forgot about Leonard Cohen! Kudos to you for bringing him up! That's a perfect comparison! I feel the same way about Lou Reed and Elvis Costello. They may not have great vocal abilities, but I think that the way they sing suits their songs and helps to tell the tale.

[dolivas]

Originally Posted by smopo24

I totally forgot about Leonard Cohen! Kudos to you for bringing him up! That's a perfect comparison! I feel the same way about Lou Reed and Elvis Costello. They may not have great vocal abilities, but I think that the way they sing suits their songs and helps to tell the tale.

Yeah have to agree here as well. The thing Ive noticed is that with voices like those when they do in fact attempt to sing in a more "melodic" fashion ie. Velvet Underground's Sunday Morning or Dylan's Nashville Skyline album you can tell they can sing in beautiful voices. However, what makes them unique is their own natural voices which convey so much better through their own music. Just listen to most Dylan covers out there. I mean most people fail miserably to capture what makes the original unique and it's the whole package, music, voice etc.

[smopo24]

Originally Posted by dolivas

However, what makes them unique is their own natural voices which convey so much better through their own music. Just listen to most Dylan covers out there. I mean most people fail miserably to capture what makes the original unique and it's the whole package, music, voice etc.

Very true! Character and personality go a long way in selling a song. Funny though, how most of Dylan's songs are only hits when other people cover them!