Have to agree with Richard here... Man don't put no negative thoughts out there...period....
I have not followed this string so pardon me for butting in.
Heard a great interview of Peter Rowan the other day.
He spoke about the great Bill Monroe.....etc.
While with old and in the way., Back stage the guys were expressing their critical remarks about the set
they just played and were waiting to go out there again..."I could of done it this way and that way..."
Jerry Garcia just said it flat out "no thoughts".and walked away.
He did not want to discuss it ..just wanted to do it....
When it comes to singing...just the least amount of negative self speak will set you back.
Let alone the stuff your friends might say...
It took me about 20 years and a lot of miles between my old friends who used to say " what ya do with the money
mom gave you for singing lessons?"...funny joke....not really...that is the kind of stuff that makes people quit trying.
My mom used to say .."sounds great" to any noise that came out an instrument.." That's a great approach for singing.
Works in sports too.....
I will say....singing to me is as much about style than it is about pitch, which does reflect attitude...
some people have great attitude.....and they tend to make great singers...takes confidence.
Best way to build confidence...
is in the doing....not the over analyzing.
If you really are tone deaf...good musicians will find the key you are singing in..and move to that key...
Try not to keep changing keys mid song because you are self conscious.
We used to back up a 98 year old man who has lost his sense of what key it was...we just moved with him.
The audience loved the guy...old Zeno ...killed em.... ( other bands made fun of him when he sat in...we just listened...and enjoyed.)
Went to see Steve Earle recently...Not your classic opera voice...but I love the way he puts it out there.
Maybe not the guy you would pick as the singer for your band....to each his own.
He just tells the story......and I love it.....
anyway..my two cents.
Singing is an art...why sit and wonder what your natural ability is...you can't change that anyway.
Relax and be yourself...by yourself and practice, practice practice...without judgement....
try to imitate the sound of the bird ...the train...sound matching and my favorite is singing into the waves or River...
No one else to hear or judge you...(including yourself)...feels silly....by yourself....even "silly" is judging...iet go...
Here is the Peter Rowan interview...PBS has absolutely nothing to do with harmonica...or this subject.. buy explains a lot about singing harmony in bluegrass. Thought it was interesting.Historically...and Musically.
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/23/131545079/the-fresh-air-interview- peter-rowan-bluegrass-band?ft=1&f=13
Sorry for going on so long...
Grant Walters
On Nov 27, 2010, at 9:49 AM, Richard Sleigh wrote:
Dear John,
I need to make this short, so I'm sorry if this crosses the line into too blunt.
"In my case, I can't sing a lick, and cannot play anything by ear to save my life. I can play melodies by reading the tabs, but have great difficulty in remembering or memorizing the tabs, and so cannot play the melody of a given song without reading the tabs."
These are literally "death sentences" and they will kill your efforts to do anything effective about learning how to sing or play music the way you want to.
You gotta stop saying things like this if you want to get anywhere with your practice. You are deciding ahead of time that you can't do these things. Is it any wonder that you are frustrated?
How about replacing these sentences with questions like "how can I learn how to do this?" who can tell me how to do this?" or statements like " i know there is a way and I am going to find it".
There is a book "The Listening Book" by W.A. Mathieu (ISBN 0-87773-610-3) that deals directly with "tone deaf" people learning how to sing. Page 128 is the beginning of the relevant chapter.
Check it out!
Richard Sleigh
P.O. Box 23 Boalsburg PA 16827
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