What to do if my confidence level is below the basement?

TonyT99

Hi! I've been searching to grow my voice, and though I can't really afford KTVA just now, I will work my way towards it.

My problem is, everyone recommends recording myself, even during practice, but my problem is that I have great problems with being in tune. Top that with the general "I hate my voice" phenomenon, and you get the absolute turnoff regarding any attempt to sing whatsoever.

What I'm trying to do is I hit a note on my piano, I try to replicate it, and when I think I've got it, I bust out a tuner app on my phone and adjust with that.

What are the pros and cons with each method (recording vs tuner) that you can think of?

Thanks in advance,
Tony

sambo

I started out using a tuner app and it took me a while before I could actually hear pitch. So both is great method. Since starting off you won’t know if u are on pitch, the tuner helps a lot. It’s like a crutch for now, and then when you do it more and more , you will gradually start to hear that you sound good. It just takes time and focus on hearing that’s all.

Chris82

Hi there @TonyT99 ! I think both trying to match pitch with the piano and using a pitch detection app to check yourself are both great exercises to help you improve your pitch. It's going to take some time and committed practice on your part though before you really start noticing any pitch improvements. The most important thing you can do is keep at it daily for however long it takes.

That said I think it's also important for your growth to frequently record yourself singing and practicing. It's hard for us to hear what we really sound like by using ear alone, recordings give us a better idea of what other people hear and can help us identify areas of our voice we want to improve.

Klaus_T

hi, the tuner approach is not bad in itself, but to me it sounds like it does not teach you to hit the right note right off the bat (you say you adjust it as you go). after a while of proper pitch and ear training, you will be able to hear if the note is in tune, and won't need the tuner. the thing you have about recording yourself, you can easily overcome it by just recording yourself often, you don't even need to listen back to it in the beginning, just get used to the idea of being recorded. you will notice it gets easier every time. there is more to singing than just pitch, and your approach does not take any of the other things into account. also, the recording is the smallest bit of the exercises we do, the scales are the actual workout, and to monitor our progress, we record and listen back to it, but it does not replace the practicing.

consider joining KTVA if you want to learn how to sing well. on my profile, I have a "sample routine" you could try, to see if the course is for you. i noticed an improvement after about 1-2 weeks already on these exercises.

also, use tonedear.com for ear training, it is free

DrHypno

Hello
Besides the aforementioned advice, you can do a few more things.

Record yourself in an ambient environment like a stairwell, the reverb will smear imperfections, like a commercial recording does.

Raw uncompressed naked recordings are brutal for all of us.

Learn to not give a f***ck.

you are what you are, it is what it
Is

no one has a perfect voice, this doesn’t exist, all we can do is continue to polish and refine it.

This Is art, and art is never finished.

Emanuele

Hi!

I used to have a beautiful voice but I was super tone deaf and out of tune when singing. All my family told me to stop trying to learn to sing but I persisted.

Now after 7 months of ktva they are all amazed by my result. It is not easy, and I question myself often. But if you want you can learn to sing, like to paint, to write or to dance, if you like!

A more practical advice: try to relax and find the correct posture to have a bright sound of voice.

Use a folder in front of your face when you sing, the sound will bounce on the surface and come back to your ears and you will be able to listen yourself better.

Hope it helps!

jaclynser

Hi @TonyT99

Everyone hates their own voice at some point in their life. Whether it's just in the beginning when learning to sing, or even all throughout ones life. Even trained singers can hate their own voice. I've been singing professionally for about 14 years and for many of those years I didn't like my own voice. You are definitely not alone with that.

Try to remember that you are in the beginning stages of your vocal journey. I find it helps to sort of change your own perspective of your voice. Rather than saying "I hate the sound of my voice, I sound bad" change that to, "Okay this is where my voice is at right now, these are things that I know needs work." If you start to train yourself to think of your voice as a positive thing that is "in the works", it may help you to get over that hump of "I just hate my voice because I sound bad".

Recording yourself in my opinion is absolutely necessary. You need to get used to hearing yourself outside of your own head. It will give you a very clear idea of what you actually sound like. You will hate what you hear at first, but again, everyone does in the beginning. Again, just treat it as a tool to hear your mistakes, which will help you correct them.

Using a tuner, for example a guitar tuner....eeeh I can see why you would want to try it so you can see when the tuner "goes green" to show you are on pitch, but some tuners are better than others and it can give you a false sense of security with your pitch. It's an additional tool for sure, but don't put all of your reliance on it. Use your piano and sing quietly while working on pitch.

Happy singing!
Jackie

Gidpicker

Don't give up.

Nobody likes the sound of his/her
own voice.

I enjoyed playing guitar when I had to sing because
I had something to hide behind.

The strange thing was other people liked my voice!
Reality to you is what you think in your own mind.
Most of the time we lie to ourselves!

HumanRobot

TonyT99 said:

Hi! I've been searching to grow my voice, and though I can't really afford KTVA just now, I will work my way towards it.

My problem is, everyone recommends recording myself, even during practice, but my problem is that I have great problems with being in tune. Top that with the general "I hate my voice" phenomenon, and you get the absolute turnoff regarding any attempt to sing whatsoever.

What I'm trying to do is I hit a note on my piano, I try to replicate it, and when I think I've got it, I bust out a tuner app on my phone and adjust with that.

What are the pros and cons with each method (recording vs tuner) that you can think of?

Thanks in advance,
Tony

HI

I don't understand "not being in tune" very easily as I hear the notes So I'm probablly not the best person to give advice. I think recording your voice is a good idea. Again I mainly know the piano so again it depends what instrument you have to hand I guess but singing scales is a good way to familiarise yourself with the notes I guess.

I hope that helps

Human Robot

esequibo

for me i think around 2017 i stopped caring about singing cuz some people told me i couldn't sing.
but somehow i'm very persistant in stuff and after 1 year and half of break i came back to it and now i do think i'm way better than before.
sometimes it's true what paulo cohelo said in the alchemist: the universe conspires in your favour. it happened for me at least in singing lol, i've somehow experienced big improvements: sure there is a explanation for this but at the core what i'm saying is you just keep trying and trying and trying until u get it.

What are the pros and cons with each method (recording vs tuner) that you can think of?

imo i think the best method is to get yourself a mic and a basic music daw and practice singing over actual music tracks. you can find instrumentals on youtube too easily. then it's just a matter of time and practice.