Help!... Can't sing to save my life..

[Aengland77]

Hi Friends,

I am having trouble singing... I am a worship leader of sorts... I play guitar and my new Seagull Entourage is on the way.. I don't think I am still going through puberty, but it's like I get to a certain height in pitch and I cant hit it.. and if I want to hit it I have to go into this weird little girl almost falsetto sound... .. Does anyone have some advice for singing in worship- or just singing in general? It's like my throat closes up or I don't have enough air... I find myself flat sometimes too... it's kinda hard to sing right and play guitar at the same time..

Please help!
Aubrey

[Tim Armstrong]

I've had similar problems, and almost always because I wasn't breathing right. You really need to support your voice with your breath! Pull it in from down low (feels like you're breathing into your stomach) and you ought to have significantly better volume and control, not to mention range!

Tim

[barncat]

You might want to check out some of the instructional CDs that are available on the net. I've used one called "Singing Success" by Brett Manning (a vocal coach in Nashville), that has added quite a few notes to my vocal range. That particular program does cost $200, but I looked at it like it was still way cheaper than paying for private lessons. There are others that are less expensive, but I have no experience with those.

[still_fiddlin]

Breathing is key. Find a vocal coach or choir director.

Good monitors can help with pitch, once you have control.

And, not every song is in a key that works for every singer. We change keys when necessary to match the lead singer or find a key that the congregation will find more comfortable. A lot of popular songs are set for the performer you hear on the radio, which, not infrequently, is a soprano or tenor, and not easy for the majority of male and female voices.

[GoldieLocks]

I would recommend you try to figure out what kind of singer you are. This might help you (along with proper breathing) to know what your goals are.

Are you a John Lee Hooker or a celine dion? A Kid Rock or a Don henley?

Have you ever heard that clip of Celine singing an AC/DC song? Just nasty. Not everybody is meant to sing every song the same way. Find out what direction your voice naturally wants to go.
Some people have vibrato and some don't. Don't force it too hard if it ain't natural.

I've sat through a few Church services where everyone tried to sing along with the soprano worship leader that added a 3 second vibrato to the end of every phrase. Definitely not for everyone. The simpler the singer the better.

I found that my voice is kinda similar to Delbert McClinton, Todd Snider and Tom Petty. I look to these guys for inspiration, tone and phrasing.

Just something to think about.

[Astro1176]

+1 for breathing - control and using the right muscles/parts to breathe with. I have been struggling with singing for a while - couldn't sing for toffee. Finally a couple of months ago I looked up singing lessons on the web and found the breathing stuff, the improvement in the space of 2 weeks was tremendous. I also did various other singing exercises - consonants, vowels, and stuff too which has also been and continues to help.

[Guitfiddler]

Take at least a handful of lessons. You will learn things that will continue to help you well into the future. Easily worth the dough.

[ravindave_3600]

Lots of good advice here. I try to sing exercises (yes, me-me-me's) every day, working on tone, control, volume, and range. It works!

[pbenn]

Everything might be in the wrong key for you, too. Not that you're going to get everyone else to change, but you may discover you're not as bad a singer as you thought.

But to check it out, next chance you get, try one song in private, capoed at the fifth fret, sung in your easy baritone (but up a fourth).

Then you can experiment by moving the capo up and up until you reach the original key, I guess.

[emiller45]

Originally Posted by pbenn

Everything might be in the wrong key for you, too. Not that you're going to get everyone else to change, but you may discover you're not as bad a singer as you thought.

But to check it out, next chance you get, try one song in private, capoed at the fifth fret, sung in your easy baritone (but up a fourth).

Then you can experiment by moving the capo up and up until you reach the original key, I guess.

This concern for being in a key appropriate to your voice is the first thing that occurred to me. You can determine your range - the highest and lowest notes that you can comfortably sing. You may need to change some keys to accommodate your range and/or choose songs that don't exceed your range.

[telechaser]

Originally Posted by emiller45

This concern for being in a key appropriate to your voice is the first thing that occurred to me. You can determine your range - the highest and lowest notes that you can comfortably sing. You may need to change some keys to accommodate your range and/or choose songs that don't exceed your range.

+1. I always check with the song leaders whether he/she can hit the notes of the particular song. If it's too high or too low, we find the right key and transpose on the spot.

[Ptrallan01]

Recording yourself with no instrumentation. Then play it back and play along on guitar. This will help to give you your natural key. You can then do the do-re-mi thing along with your scales when you practice on the guitar and begin to get an idea of your range.

NEVER drink cold fluids before you sing. Your vocal chords will contract and make things difficult. Never try to sing loud until you learn how to breath so you don't strain your voice.

To learn how to breathe, yeah I know you've been doing it for years but this is different, exhale as much air as you can get out, then put your hand about an inch below your navel and breathe into the area of your abdomen where your hand is. This is a key to developing control of your voice, it isn't in your throat believe it or not. Next sing on the exhale and you should have much more control of your voice. It takes practice to do regularly without thought but what doesn't? The final step for those of us who can't sing is to learn how to breathe in through the nose and sing out through the mouth. This will help to avoid drying your throat by bringing the air to body temperature before you use it and give you the "wind" for lower, higher and longer notes.

I was a terrible vocalist and now am up to mediocre. I had to work hard to get here!!!! So I feel you bro. Don't give up and see if you can get some lessons either formally or informally if you have a "trained" singer around you. Probably the most important is to approach it as though you were learning a new instrument which in fact you are.

[telideli]

First of All,.....stop worrying about it,.....then follow the advice above.

[Wally]

PRoper breathing as mentioned above is the beginning. Knowing your range is important, as mentioned. Finally, it is perfectly natural for a male singer to use falsetto to hit notes that are above the natural range of his voice. IT is not sissy or anything less than manly. The only other alternative IF one wants to sing in those high ranges outside of a normal mature male's range is castration at an early age, and that is a bit drastic, correct? You have already passed the age for that option, anyway. (:^) Castrati fell out of 'favor' early in the last century, IIRC.
NOT being able to hit the high notes is not a sign of 'continuing' puberty. IT is a sign that the male voice has in effect changed. The sign of puberty is when a male is singing ..or speaking...and the voice breaks into a higher pitch in an uncontrolled manner...unwanted manner and pitch, usually. Aengland, I am going to think that you are through with puberty and have not come to grips with the range of your natural voice and also probably need some basic vocal instruction. PRoper instruction could open up your vocal abilities and also prevent injury to your vocal chords. Find someone to help you, read some books on vocalization, buy the course mentioned above....whatever, but somehow come to an understanding of what your vocal abilities and limits are.