Wow... it's been a long time since I've updated this!
I've been practicing lots so I have quite a bit to tell you...
Currently, I'm pretty close to uploading my first cover song... It will be "18 and Life" by Skid Row. I know this may not interest some but I like to be pretty technical!
It's a hard song to sing so it's taking a while to master. The original key is in C Minor and if you've heard Sebastian Bach sing it, it's incredibly high... way to high for me being a bass-baritone. I've experimented with transposing they key. I first transposed it to G but I was straining a little so we dropped it to an E (we as in me and my singing teacher who's been helping me). However, towards the end of the song I use the "head voice" but the sound is very disconnected from my lower range so we've decided to transpose it to an F. I've practiced in a few different keys so my pitch is wavering slightly. The big focus for me at the moment is the connection between my "chest" and my "head" voice. Once I've mastered this I will be uploading the cover to youtube. My teacher is creating a backing track for me due to copyright reasons so I'm waiting for that also.
Grade wise I'm working towards my grade 3. I'm currently learning "Crazy" by "Gnarls Barkley". I've found it pretty hard getting into the rhythm and keeping up with the words but I'm practicing!
I think I've waffled on enough but I will be sure to keep this blog updated more regularly to keep you up to date with my progress.
Hope you're all well!
Barry! :)
Tuesday, 4 November 2014
Sunday, 9 February 2014
This Week's Overview!
Thanks the reading x
Saturday, 8 February 2014
I've hit a new high!
Hey all...
I'll add a picture of my latest vocal statistics tomorrow when I get the chance.
Main improvements this week so far, like the title says... I've hit a new high! My high notes in the chest and head register are becoming easier the more I practice... I'm not saying practice makes perfect but it certainly improves you!
Practicing the head register yesterday, I hit a soprano D! (D6). 2 octaves and 1 note above middle C (C4). It's quite sad but I'm pretty chuffed with that! The bigger my range, the more songs I can sing without changing the key!
Just need to improve my keyboard skills and start creating my own backing tracks!
See you all tomorrow x
I'll add a picture of my latest vocal statistics tomorrow when I get the chance.
Main improvements this week so far, like the title says... I've hit a new high! My high notes in the chest and head register are becoming easier the more I practice... I'm not saying practice makes perfect but it certainly improves you!
Practicing the head register yesterday, I hit a soprano D! (D6). 2 octaves and 1 note above middle C (C4). It's quite sad but I'm pretty chuffed with that! The bigger my range, the more songs I can sing without changing the key!
Just need to improve my keyboard skills and start creating my own backing tracks!
See you all tomorrow x
Thursday, 6 February 2014
New songs I'm going to be learning!
Evening...
So, I've not been feeling brilliant the last couple of days so I returned today to do some vocal practice!
No songs, just the workout... I've pretty much mastered Run by Snow Patrol - just need to add my own spin (think I mentioned in the last blog) so I was asked to choose another few songs to learn for my Grade 2 exam. I suggested "Creep" but my teacher thought it was too similar to "Run" and I needed more variety...
So! I've gone with "Help" by the Beatles and "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N Roses - "Help" is a song suggested in the Rock School book. From there, I tried "Wonderwall" but it wasn't well suited to my voice.
I'm going to start singing these 2 more often tomorrow through till the next time I see my teacher and see how it goes!
Hope all is well with everyone x
So, I've not been feeling brilliant the last couple of days so I returned today to do some vocal practice!
No songs, just the workout... I've pretty much mastered Run by Snow Patrol - just need to add my own spin (think I mentioned in the last blog) so I was asked to choose another few songs to learn for my Grade 2 exam. I suggested "Creep" but my teacher thought it was too similar to "Run" and I needed more variety...
So! I've gone with "Help" by the Beatles and "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N Roses - "Help" is a song suggested in the Rock School book. From there, I tried "Wonderwall" but it wasn't well suited to my voice.
I'm going to start singing these 2 more often tomorrow through till the next time I see my teacher and see how it goes!
Hope all is well with everyone x
Tuesday, 4 February 2014
My latest singing lesson 4/2/14
Hi. :)
So today is lesson time again!
Feeling a lot better after my lesson...
We started off with the usual breathing exercises and vocal warm-ups, tried some screaming (the lower ones, not the high pitched ones) and I've struggled a little from this. It's a hard technique trying to add distortion to your tone... so I'm trying to master that without my throat getting tickly!
I was given a few CD's when I 1st started having lessons for vocal warm-ups so we went back to them for a bit and I can certainly tell after a few months of not doing them how much I've improved!
We finished the lesson off with a run through of "Run by Snow Patrol" which went well. My task for next lesson (in 2 weeks) is to find some more songs for my Grade 2 exam (think I need about 4) and start adding my own spin to the Run track.
It's all a slow process but I'm making steady progress... not quite reading to record but gradually getting there. :)
Lastly, after a bit of browsing... I've come across a band called Steelheart - the singer is incredible!
It was very interesting reading about them - they're a hair metal band and during a concert in 1992 the lead singer suffered serious head injuries, a broken jaw and a broken nose after he attempted a climb a tower on stage which wasn't securely fitted. He's made a comeback a good few years later but the music style has changed slightly. Interesting!
I've ordered an album of there's anyway, check them out! :)
Also, Rhydian has a new album coming out this March so check that out too! :)
Love x
So today is lesson time again!
Feeling a lot better after my lesson...
We started off with the usual breathing exercises and vocal warm-ups, tried some screaming (the lower ones, not the high pitched ones) and I've struggled a little from this. It's a hard technique trying to add distortion to your tone... so I'm trying to master that without my throat getting tickly!
I was given a few CD's when I 1st started having lessons for vocal warm-ups so we went back to them for a bit and I can certainly tell after a few months of not doing them how much I've improved!
We finished the lesson off with a run through of "Run by Snow Patrol" which went well. My task for next lesson (in 2 weeks) is to find some more songs for my Grade 2 exam (think I need about 4) and start adding my own spin to the Run track.
It's all a slow process but I'm making steady progress... not quite reading to record but gradually getting there. :)
Lastly, after a bit of browsing... I've come across a band called Steelheart - the singer is incredible!
It was very interesting reading about them - they're a hair metal band and during a concert in 1992 the lead singer suffered serious head injuries, a broken jaw and a broken nose after he attempted a climb a tower on stage which wasn't securely fitted. He's made a comeback a good few years later but the music style has changed slightly. Interesting!
I've ordered an album of there's anyway, check them out! :)
Also, Rhydian has a new album coming out this March so check that out too! :)
Love x
Saturday, 1 February 2014
This Week's Overview
Here's an Overview of this weeks statistics...
Always good to keep track of your progress... one big plus this week is that I'm regularly hitting the C6 when it comes to screams when it was more hit and miss before!
The A4 is becoming easier for me to hit in full voice... maybe attempt a tenor high B next week (B4) ??!!
Always good to keep track of your progress... one big plus this week is that I'm regularly hitting the C6 when it comes to screams when it was more hit and miss before!
The A4 is becoming easier for me to hit in full voice... maybe attempt a tenor high B next week (B4) ??!!
Hope you're all having a lovely weekend! :)
Friday, 31 January 2014
NEVER sing with a hoarse throat!
Hello... I haven't been on for a few days!
I've not been well the last couple of days... today and yesterday has consisted of lots of rest but tonight I 'attempted' some singing... Did my vocal workout and it went well... throat started to feel slightly hoarse after a few songs so I decided to cut it fairly short. ALWAYS stop singing when your throat is feeling hoarse - if you don't then it'll damage you in the long run!
Anyway, I went back to a couple of old songs... Bring me to life by Evanescence and Dream on by Aerosmith... Not the best practice I've ever had and probably foolish to take on big songs when not entirely 100%
Still, I'm hoping I improve tomorrow and have some more to report back on!
Hope you're all well x
I've not been well the last couple of days... today and yesterday has consisted of lots of rest but tonight I 'attempted' some singing... Did my vocal workout and it went well... throat started to feel slightly hoarse after a few songs so I decided to cut it fairly short. ALWAYS stop singing when your throat is feeling hoarse - if you don't then it'll damage you in the long run!
Anyway, I went back to a couple of old songs... Bring me to life by Evanescence and Dream on by Aerosmith... Not the best practice I've ever had and probably foolish to take on big songs when not entirely 100%
Still, I'm hoping I improve tomorrow and have some more to report back on!
Hope you're all well x
Wednesday, 29 January 2014
My Daily Breathing Workout Explained
The Breathing Workout!
So, the table looks like this...
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
Abdominal Release #1 25
Abdominal Release #2 4
Breath Capacity #1 57
Breath Capacity #2 20
Breath Release #1 8
Breath Release #2 5E
Sustain #1 44
Sustain #2 17
Sustain #3 17
So this is what today's table looks like for me! I haven't done my breathing workout for a while so this is a good way for me to keep track of my progress!
So I'm going to go down the list again explaining what to do for each one...
Abdominal Release #1 - Sustain a "sss" and mark down the sustain time.
Abdominal Release #2 - Exhale all of your air, exhale all of your air again and again as much as possible and write down the amount of times you do it.
Breath Capacity #1 - Take a deep belly breath and hold for as long as you can. Write down the sustain time.
Breath Capacity #2 - Exhale and then hold onto an empty set of lungs. Write down the sustain time.
Breath Release #1 - Count to ten as many times as possible in 1 breath. Write down the amount of times.
Breath Release #2 - Say your ABC's as many times as you can in a row in 1 breath. Write down the amount of times and the letter last time through.
Sustain #1 - Count as high as you can while vocalizing the numbers on a sustained pitch. Write down how high and the pitch.
Sustain #2 - Hum "mmmmm" as long as you can in 1 breath. Write down the sustain time.
Sustain #3 - Sustain the "A" vowel for as long as possible on one breath. Write down the pitch and sustain time.
So there you go, that's my Daily Breathing Workout which I vow to stick to from now on! It's extremely useful - breath support is something that a lot of beginners take for granted but these exercises really do help. :)
Hope you found this interesting and thanks for reading!
Barry x
So, the table looks like this...
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
Abdominal Release #1 25
Abdominal Release #2 4
Breath Capacity #1 57
Breath Capacity #2 20
Breath Release #1 8
Breath Release #2 5E
Sustain #1 44
Sustain #2 17
Sustain #3 17
So this is what today's table looks like for me! I haven't done my breathing workout for a while so this is a good way for me to keep track of my progress!
So I'm going to go down the list again explaining what to do for each one...
Abdominal Release #1 - Sustain a "sss" and mark down the sustain time.
Abdominal Release #2 - Exhale all of your air, exhale all of your air again and again as much as possible and write down the amount of times you do it.
Breath Capacity #1 - Take a deep belly breath and hold for as long as you can. Write down the sustain time.
Breath Capacity #2 - Exhale and then hold onto an empty set of lungs. Write down the sustain time.
Breath Release #1 - Count to ten as many times as possible in 1 breath. Write down the amount of times.
Breath Release #2 - Say your ABC's as many times as you can in a row in 1 breath. Write down the amount of times and the letter last time through.
Sustain #1 - Count as high as you can while vocalizing the numbers on a sustained pitch. Write down how high and the pitch.
Sustain #2 - Hum "mmmmm" as long as you can in 1 breath. Write down the sustain time.
Sustain #3 - Sustain the "A" vowel for as long as possible on one breath. Write down the pitch and sustain time.
So there you go, that's my Daily Breathing Workout which I vow to stick to from now on! It's extremely useful - breath support is something that a lot of beginners take for granted but these exercises really do help. :)
Hope you found this interesting and thanks for reading!
Barry x
Tuesday, 28 January 2014
My Daily Vocal Workout in more depth
Hello again!
1st thing I'm going to do is cover the areas that I didn't cover yesterday...
So VSR? What is that? Well is stands for Vocal Stress Release. In other words, it's the ultimate vocal warm-up.... but from my last blog, you'll notice is has a cross by it. The reason for that is because this warm-up involves lots of massaging, stretches and whilst I'm Ok with the massages, the stretches really take their toll on me due to suffering with M.E. I get aches and pains which are worsened by stretching so instead, I do a whole octave of scales in the 7 different keys.
Next up... vibrato... Why have I left this blank? Well for measuring vibrato, I have to count the beats per minute which is not an easy thing to do. I have been natural developing my vibrato... a technique I 1st used is typically known as the 'starting a car'. Basically you imitate the rev of an engine! Another technique I was taught is alternating between 2 notes on the piano and progressively doing it quicker each time. Really, vibrato is one of the hardest things to teach in singing as really it's a natural thing.
I mentioned yesterday that I would go into the benefits of doing the 'bullfrog'. Well simply putting it, it helps to keep the larynx from rising into the throat. One of the main keys here is to maintain a yawning sensation and focusing the voice into the palate. It helps develops the muscles for larynx control.
Daily dose - this really is just a way to make sure you're keeping healthy with your diet, vitamins etc. The book also recommends doing lots of sit ups to strengthen the abdominal muscles.
So there we go, a little more information for you all!
Lastly, I'll briefly go over my vocal workout today. I did it earlier than usual and I'm reaching the A4 in full voice more comfortably now. When I 1st started a G4 was my absolute limit. (My aim is to hit the tenor high C which is a C5 just 2 notes above an A4 so I'm hoping after lots of daily practice I can increase my range even more)
Hope you're all well and tomorrow I'll be moving onto the breathing workout. :)
Barry x
1st thing I'm going to do is cover the areas that I didn't cover yesterday...
So VSR? What is that? Well is stands for Vocal Stress Release. In other words, it's the ultimate vocal warm-up.... but from my last blog, you'll notice is has a cross by it. The reason for that is because this warm-up involves lots of massaging, stretches and whilst I'm Ok with the massages, the stretches really take their toll on me due to suffering with M.E. I get aches and pains which are worsened by stretching so instead, I do a whole octave of scales in the 7 different keys.
Next up... vibrato... Why have I left this blank? Well for measuring vibrato, I have to count the beats per minute which is not an easy thing to do. I have been natural developing my vibrato... a technique I 1st used is typically known as the 'starting a car'. Basically you imitate the rev of an engine! Another technique I was taught is alternating between 2 notes on the piano and progressively doing it quicker each time. Really, vibrato is one of the hardest things to teach in singing as really it's a natural thing.
I mentioned yesterday that I would go into the benefits of doing the 'bullfrog'. Well simply putting it, it helps to keep the larynx from rising into the throat. One of the main keys here is to maintain a yawning sensation and focusing the voice into the palate. It helps develops the muscles for larynx control.
Daily dose - this really is just a way to make sure you're keeping healthy with your diet, vitamins etc. The book also recommends doing lots of sit ups to strengthen the abdominal muscles.
So there we go, a little more information for you all!
Lastly, I'll briefly go over my vocal workout today. I did it earlier than usual and I'm reaching the A4 in full voice more comfortably now. When I 1st started a G4 was my absolute limit. (My aim is to hit the tenor high C which is a C5 just 2 notes above an A4 so I'm hoping after lots of daily practice I can increase my range even more)
Hope you're all well and tomorrow I'll be moving onto the breathing workout. :)
Barry x
Monday, 27 January 2014
An insight to my Daily Workout!
Hello!
I'll be looking to update this blog a lot more often now with my latest progress...
As I've mentioned before, I follow Jaime Vendera's books which include breathing exercises as well as vocal exercises.
Today, I'm focusing on 'The Ultimate Vocal Workout Diary' which helps to keep track of your progress.
Very basic tables are involved listing down the rows the different exercises - how to do them can be found in Jamie Vendera's Raise Your Voice book. Along the columns are the days 'Monday - Sunday'.
For example, this is what today's table looks like for me:
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
VSR X
Falsetto
Upscale- G5
Downscale- G3
Transcending
Tone
Upscale- G4
Downscale- C4
Full Voice
Upscale- A4
Downscale- A1
Vibrato
Pitch, Larynx
Stomach, Jaw
Non-Vocal
(Bullfrogs, Bullfrog x 60
Tongue Pushups)
Advanced
(Scream, Grit, Scream - C6
Growl Whistle)
Daily Dose
Now this all seems very technical stuff... and it is, but it helps an awful lot if you want to learn to sing properly.
Today, I'll briefly go over the different sections of the table and tomorrow I'll go into more detail about it.
VSR is something I will cover tomorrow!
...For all of these exercises I use a 'yay' sound. For the falsetto, I use C4 (middle C on the piano) as a starting point. I then slide up from a C4 to a C5 using a 'yay' sound and keep repeating this till my highest falsetto note without straining. So after the C, I go from a D4 to a D5 and so on. It's the same for the down scale except I slide down rather than up!
It's the same for full voice too. But as the 'full voice' is deeper than the falsetto, I use a C3 as my starting reference.
With the transcending down (I struggle with this one) it's a case of staying on that same note whilst going from full voice into falsetto.
Vibrato I have left blank as I need an extra piece of equipment for this which I will go into more tomorrow.
For the non-vocal exercises I do the bullfrog! Basically, you move your Adams Apple back and forth so you look like a bullfrog... again, I'll explain more tomorrow the benefits of this!
Lastly, the advanced exercises as explained in the brackets are things like screams, growls etc. I've only tried the scream as that's more my sort of thing. I love the glam rock era, the 80's hair metal etc so that's the sort of sound I'm looking for when it comes to screaming. As you can see, this is one of my stronger techniques... When I 1st started out I could scream to a G5 but not hold onto it. Now I can scream out a C6 (2 octaves above middle C) and add vibrato without wavering out of tune so I'm pretty chuffed with that!
Daily Dose... again, I will come to that tomorrow!
After I've covered these areas in more details, I will go onto the breathing exercises. :)
Hope you found this informative and hope you're all well!
Barry. :)
I'll be looking to update this blog a lot more often now with my latest progress...
As I've mentioned before, I follow Jaime Vendera's books which include breathing exercises as well as vocal exercises.
Today, I'm focusing on 'The Ultimate Vocal Workout Diary' which helps to keep track of your progress.
Very basic tables are involved listing down the rows the different exercises - how to do them can be found in Jamie Vendera's Raise Your Voice book. Along the columns are the days 'Monday - Sunday'.
For example, this is what today's table looks like for me:
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
VSR X
Falsetto
Upscale- G5
Downscale- G3
Transcending
Tone
Upscale- G4
Downscale- C4
Full Voice
Upscale- A4
Downscale- A1
Vibrato
Pitch, Larynx
Stomach, Jaw
Non-Vocal
(Bullfrogs, Bullfrog x 60
Tongue Pushups)
Advanced
(Scream, Grit, Scream - C6
Growl Whistle)
Daily Dose
Now this all seems very technical stuff... and it is, but it helps an awful lot if you want to learn to sing properly.
Today, I'll briefly go over the different sections of the table and tomorrow I'll go into more detail about it.
VSR is something I will cover tomorrow!
...For all of these exercises I use a 'yay' sound. For the falsetto, I use C4 (middle C on the piano) as a starting point. I then slide up from a C4 to a C5 using a 'yay' sound and keep repeating this till my highest falsetto note without straining. So after the C, I go from a D4 to a D5 and so on. It's the same for the down scale except I slide down rather than up!
It's the same for full voice too. But as the 'full voice' is deeper than the falsetto, I use a C3 as my starting reference.
With the transcending down (I struggle with this one) it's a case of staying on that same note whilst going from full voice into falsetto.
Vibrato I have left blank as I need an extra piece of equipment for this which I will go into more tomorrow.
For the non-vocal exercises I do the bullfrog! Basically, you move your Adams Apple back and forth so you look like a bullfrog... again, I'll explain more tomorrow the benefits of this!
Lastly, the advanced exercises as explained in the brackets are things like screams, growls etc. I've only tried the scream as that's more my sort of thing. I love the glam rock era, the 80's hair metal etc so that's the sort of sound I'm looking for when it comes to screaming. As you can see, this is one of my stronger techniques... When I 1st started out I could scream to a G5 but not hold onto it. Now I can scream out a C6 (2 octaves above middle C) and add vibrato without wavering out of tune so I'm pretty chuffed with that!
Daily Dose... again, I will come to that tomorrow!
After I've covered these areas in more details, I will go onto the breathing exercises. :)
Hope you found this informative and hope you're all well!
Barry. :)
Tuesday, 21 January 2014
An update on how it's all going
Hello there! I haven't posted since December so Happy New Year to you all!
I thought I'd keep you all updated on how my singing is going... pretty well!
By no means am I the 'finished article' but it's all about progress, if you're making progress then you're doing well!
Last blog I mentioned a new package that had arrived... I've been having lots of fun with my microphone though the stand I bought has proven to be a bit flimsy! I have however got a PA system and my teacher went through a few mic skills with me. Taking breaths away from the mic, singing close to the mic when singing quiet and pulling the mic away when belting etc etc. He came round today actually which is what inspired me to update this blog! We've been working on a song for my Grade 2... Run by Snow Patrol which is sounding pretty good. Just in the right key too which is useful! There's a few pronunciation of vowels I need to improve and very slightly alter the tone in the higher range of the chorus, in his own words he was being very picky so I'm very pleased with the progress I've made so far and a recorded cover from me shouldn't be too far away!
My plan this week is to get my head back into the Jaime Vendera books and make even more progress!
I shall be back soon with another update on how it's all going. :)
Barry x
I thought I'd keep you all updated on how my singing is going... pretty well!
By no means am I the 'finished article' but it's all about progress, if you're making progress then you're doing well!
Last blog I mentioned a new package that had arrived... I've been having lots of fun with my microphone though the stand I bought has proven to be a bit flimsy! I have however got a PA system and my teacher went through a few mic skills with me. Taking breaths away from the mic, singing close to the mic when singing quiet and pulling the mic away when belting etc etc. He came round today actually which is what inspired me to update this blog! We've been working on a song for my Grade 2... Run by Snow Patrol which is sounding pretty good. Just in the right key too which is useful! There's a few pronunciation of vowels I need to improve and very slightly alter the tone in the higher range of the chorus, in his own words he was being very picky so I'm very pleased with the progress I've made so far and a recorded cover from me shouldn't be too far away!
My plan this week is to get my head back into the Jaime Vendera books and make even more progress!
I shall be back soon with another update on how it's all going. :)
Barry x
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