Can't get the coordination my ear with my voice (frustrated as f...)

Whitesnake

Hello, everyone! I'm sorry, guys, for making this topic again. I'm just frustrated. I did a scales for a 2 hours now (just scales) and thing that just gets me really emotional is I CAN'T...GET...THE PITCH...RIGHT! It's just...guys, really, I'm sorry, I asked about this not so while ago.

You know, the most frustrated part of this: I HEAR that I'm out of pitch! Even when I sing without piano some basic scale, like C-maj "C-E-G-E-C" - I can hear that instead of E I hit F. Or instead of C I hit B. Or instead of G I hit F# or G#. I hear it. But it doesn't help in any way! When my pitch goes lower and instead of hitting C I hit B, I'm like "okay, next time I'll sing a little bit higher", and you know what? I hit C#! It's just laughable! C# and G or E doesn't even sound relate to each other! Why in blue hell my voice decides to go there??

And after 2 hours of doing this I'm really frustrated now. And to improve my pitch I even gave myself a challenge, like everyday I must at least ONE time sing a C major scale without piano at all! I have a tuner with me, so I watch my pitch doing scales. And you know what's funny? When I started doing a scales today, I actually sing a C major scale 5 (!) times without a piano, all notes in pitch. And then I tried to sing a line in a song, which goes "C-G-C-C-B-C" and falls miserably.

[Deleted User]

I suggested this to you before, and I'll do it again.
Invest in a set of tuning forks. Instead of hearing the sound with your ears, the tuning forks will resonate wherever you press them against the body. That way you can not only match the sound, but also feel how it is resonating.

You can get a set of the basic 7 notes, or you can get the full set that includes the sharps, and flats.

Peace, Tony

HuduVudu

Until you have solid control over your voice your pitch will not be perfect. Good singing doesn't require perfect pitch, and what we call perfect pitch isn't even perfect. Focus on building your voice with scales do them over and over and over again. Try to hear and replicate the pitch but don't get lost in it. Once you have a strong voice you can back if you think that it is necessary and fix pitch issues by isolation and repetition.

Whitesnake

@videoace ok, I try that. Thank you!

[Deleted User]

You can get the whole set of 13 from $35 - $150. Just read what your buying first because they come in different octaves. I prefer C4 to C5, and if your not sure what the octave is, they usually give the hertz numbers, and you can google those to see what the octave is.

Peace, Tony

Whitesnake

@HuduVudu Thank you! So what you saying is basically that the pitch will improve over time with just building the voice? I grew up hearing that pitch is the most basic and fundamental things in vocals. And it's hard to argue with that statement. I mean, who will like your singing if you out of pitch?

So I tried to do basic things first and correct my pitch and afterwards start to do some more complex things.

So, if I understand you correctly, I shouldn't focus on that right now and continue to do scales in order to build the voice and not pay too much attention to my pitch? And with time my pitch will improve by itself?

Whitesnake

@videoace it's better to buy those forks that in my register? I mean, right now I sing in 4 octave mostly with my head voice. E4 and F4 is like belting for me right now. So I need to buy from C3 to C4?

[Deleted User]

It really doesn't matter in the big scheme of things because a note is a note whether it's in the third or fourth octave. I just prefer to have them in the fourth because most of my singing will be between the third, and fifth octaves.
If you have more trouble matching pitch to higher notes, I would get the higher octave forks, if it's the lower notes, get the lower octaves.

Peace, Tony

Whitesnake

@videoace thank you! I think I started to get what you saying. When I hit certain note right without piano I get some special vibes, if you like. I don't know how to describe it. It's the feeling that say to you "THAT'S the right note". But when I sing a phrase and I go from note to note pretty quickly, I mostly didn't feel those vibes. It's only when I sing it slowly.

Furious_Phil

On a side note, there are many apps to help with this.
Simply search "Pitch Training" in the appstore.
Typically they will sound a note, and will get you to mimic it. From there you'll see real-time where you are ending up.
Something like this might help you anchor your vocal muscle memory in a little more focused a method?

Just a thought.

Cheers,

Phillip

Whitesnake

@Furious_Phil thank you! Actually I use online tuner for guitar, which shows me in a real time what note I sing and how close I am to an absolute pitch. So I use that to sing without piano. And I know it sounds strange but I go something like "C-E-G#...AND GO BACK TO...E-C". So it's a strange thing. Like if I heard only intervals, then I'd went from G# to F and ended up on C#. But no - I came back into pitch.

Furious_Phil

Good stuff! It'll be allot easier for your brain to decode it when its one note at a time, as opposed to a string of notes that are rapid-fire

Whitesnake

@Furious_Phil I hope that my brain is actually decodes this thing! But it seems like my brain is a laziest thing in the world.

HuduVudu

Pitch is not an absolute thing. When you sing a C4 for instance it is not C4 in totality. It is made up of other notes. This is what gives you your timbre. C4 is a particular sine wave frequency and you as a human can not exactly replicate it. Saying your in pitch has a lot a variation within it, and many times it is dependent on the note that you sang before it. What we call perfect pitch is really relative pitch. It is hard for the human ear to distinguish the exact frequency that makes a note, especially when you add the harmonics from the timbre. It is much easier for us to distinguish the distance between two harmonically similar "pitches". When we sing, close enough is often perfect pitch.

Check out this video on synthesis it is very helpful in explaining how this works.

As to your questions:

1. So what you saying is basically that the pitch will improve over time with just building the voice? Yes.
2. I shouldn't focus on that right now and continue to do scales in order to build the voice and not pay too much attention to my pitch? Yes. Focus on matching the sounds of the notes that you hear, and replicating them, but don't go crazy on being exact.
3. And with time my pitch will improve by itself? Yes. If your practice is focused you will become better adept at matching notes, and that will lead to an improvement of your pitch.

Whitesnake

@HuduVudu thank you! I watched the video that you send there and found this very interesting! I learned a lot from it! I never knew that sound of C4, for example, actually is a combination of other notes. Very informative.