RE: [Harp-L] Learning to Sing

["Bradford Trainham" <bradford.trainham@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,
Make sure you're right that your problem isn't breath support.  If you have
a mic that responds to your specific voice, and it's mixed well enough into
the board and you're
Providing the requisite amount of air to your singing, you'll be surprised
how much your range might be extended. 
(Harp content, and this will help you be more fluid on your harping too.)
I know we all have a top end to our ranges, but I've learned, (painfully)
that I can sing songs in keys I'd have never thought possible and I don't
run screaming from the room when the recording is played back. 
If what you're dealing with is indeed a question of range limits, then you
shouldn't sing those songs for that band because you'll damage your
throat/vocal chords and then you won't have a range.
For me, the "breath support" part of singing (and harp playing) is like
developing a muscle you haven't used enough.
At first, I just couldn't do it and I'd strain my throat, but if you
practice anticipating the phrases that will need a lot of air and breathing
as you sing accordingly, gradually, you get into this zone where you're
Subconsciously oxygenating yourself as you approach the critical passages in
the song. 
Or at least, that's what happens to me.
Good luck!!
Brad Trainham
 

-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Seth Galitzer
Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2010 12:49 PM
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Learning to Sing

So what do you guys/gals do about bands that refuse to play in keys that you
can sing in?  I've been fighting this with my band since our conception 3+
years ago.  By the end of a gig I have no voice left, and won't recover for
a day or two.  I've been singing since high school and playing music since
before then, so my problem isn't with breath support, it's with forcing
myself so sing way out of my range for an extended period.

Seth

On Sun, Jan 10, 2010 at 2:09 AM, Daniel Gage <dan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Bill,
>
> One of the best things one can do for one's harmonica playing is to learn
to sing (and lead a band).  Far too often, I've watched decent harp players
stifled at jams because they were overlooked by some ego-maniac on
guitar/vocals.  Singing gets you to the center of attention really quick.
 It also means that you get to decide how long the harmonica solos will be.
>
> I realized this in 2001.  I had been in a band with three soloists and I
always felt like I was competing for space onstage.  After the band
imploded, I started going to jams.  Now, I was REALLY competing for space.
 I decided to learn to sing because I was sick of feeling like an ornament.
>
> Figuring that I was probably only lucky enough to learn one thing w/o
lessons. . . I went looking for voice lessons.  This was pre-craigslist, so
the closest I could find was in NYC (from central CT).  I thought it over
for a while, and then I decided to call up the local liberal arts college
music department.  They put me in touch with someone who taught beginners.
>
> It was one of the most frightening things ever for me to walk into that
studio.  I'd never sung a word for anyone.  It turned out to be one of the
best experiences of my life.  It was costly, but worth every penny.
>
> The lessons were like going to the gym.  I had to prepare physically and
mentally for the butt-kicking I got every week.  I was surprised by the
other poster who said they laid on their back on the floor pushing a book
with the diaphragm.  I laid on my front, pushing my body weight AGAINST the
floor.
>
> It was all technique-based.  I never sang a single word in 6 years of
lessons.  Why?  Because my teacher didn't know blues and I didn't want to do
opera.  She gave me the tools.  It was up to me to learn to use them.
>
> My first public singing experience was in the winter of 2002 (I think).
 Ryan Hartt made me sing with his band and I STUNK.  I spent the next
several years singing at jams, learning to dial myself in.  Once I started
fronting a band I recorded and listened to every show.  Tom Ball was right.
 There is no better feedback than the recordings.
>
> So, to answer your question on fiding a teacher, a good voice teacher
won't teach you myths. There is a lot of anecdotal nonsense out there about
singing.  My teacher taught me that if I could stand, I could sing.  I did a
gig hunched over with my back out, and a few gigs with bad colds. I sang
strong.
>
> They should train you so that singing never hurts/damages your throat.
 (my muscles got sore, but my throat never hurt).  Finally, they should be
able to teach you to breathe.  It's really difficult to explain diaphragm
breathing.  I already knew, from my vibrato, but she could separate the
different parts of my body very easily with her instruction.  If anyone is
near central Connecticut, I'll put you in touch.
>
> Voice lessons will do amazing things for your range, power, stamina, etc,
but one lesson for any novice singer is to sing with your own voice.  It's
so easy to sing along to a record and try to match pitch note for note.
 Sometimes you'll find a recording that's in your vocal sweet-spot.
 Sometimes you'll try to match a bassy voice to Whitney Houston (or Dave
Mathews)and sound like a caterwalling mess.  I hear people do this all the
time.  Singing in key, yet in the right register will keep you from going
places you cannot get to.  It's almost as easy as talking.
>
> Hanging out with people who sing might be a good low-cost solution.  It's
hard to take the first step, but it gets easier every time.
>
> Good luck. Singing is worth the effort.
>
> Dan Gage
> "12gagedan" on youtube

--
The beatings will continue until morale has improved.

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