Here goes nothing...

strumzilla

Hi folks. I'm new to the forum, and singing in general (not counting in the car/shower). I bought the full program and I've been trying to work in the Stage 1 drills at least 5 days a week. I play a few instruments and between work and practice on those, time management can be a challenge. I'm taking the plunge and uploading a recent run through of the drills and would appreciate any feedback or advice. I've only been practicing these regularly for a few weeks, so I know I need a lot of work. Glad to be here and I appreciate all the expertise on this forum.

KTVA Stage 1 Drills

Amsterdam Cover - just for fun (mine, probably not yours) - this is a "live" piano/vocal (i fixed a couple of piano clams after the fact) and I know it needs work on both parts, I'm still trying to wrap my head around playing/singing. 

highmtn

@strumzilla,

You sound like you're doing well on most of these exercises.  Your lip trills sound like your lips may be tighter than they need to be, but they are loose enough to trill...  Try to relax on them a bit more, but keep the support happening.

Some of the pitches on the trills are a little off, mostly at the end of each scale.  You may be releasing too much of your support before you get to the end of each scale. 

Your "bad" tongue exercise doesn't sound bad to me.  Pretty normal...

Your tone is good on your Lah and Laa scales.  Pitch is good.  You are slurring a little too much on some of the notes, again, especially at the ends of the scales, coming back down.  Try to land on each note individualy.

Your pitch is wandering on the "acrobatic" scale.  You need to slow that one down and be sure you are clear on exactly how the melody of that scale goes, to reduce your wandering. Get that one more precise than it presently is.

Enjoyed your song demo.  You seem to be on a good track.

Keep up the good work!

 

Bob

strumzilla

Thanks for the feedback, Bob. I plan to go back and really analyze each drill one at a time, most likely slowing them down and repeating them until I get them closer to "right", much like I do with instruments. I appreciate that you take the time to listen to these drills all the way through, it's really invaluable for those of us learning this method on our own at home. I know I have a lot of work ahead of me here. I'm going to try and find a way to either run through the drills twice or spend more time reviewing the stage 1 videos each day. I'll try and post another set of these drills after another month or so of practice. 

highmtn

@strumzilla,

A way that I find to be very effective is to have a guitar strapped on while doing the exercises.  When I notice my voice misbehaving at all, I pause the mp3 and work on that glitch until it's not a glitch anymore.  It's a little quicker than taking a mouse and moving back the playback, and I have the option of doing that bit in slow motion, if need be.  Because I have a guitar, I know what notes I'm singing, and I can continue the exercises higher or lower than on the mp3 if I choose to do so.

Since you are a musician, you may already be doing that.  I have a little mixer by my computer, with a mic plugged in, and the computer plugged in.  I use headphones.  I can record anytime I want to listen back.  Listening back helps to learn to hear better in real-time when you're in performance.  I also practice live in the room without the headphones, so I'm not fooling myself about how it sounds one way or the other.

All I'm saying here is that is very helpful to take these exercises and make sure you are doing every element of every exercise just right.

The exercises are the building blocks for your voice, as are the vowels.  If the vowels aren't right, and if the exercises aren't right, you are going to have a hard time taking these techniques into actual singing of songs. 

Keep your eyes on the prize.  Every little particle of tone and technique has value for your voice when it's time to sing.  Never minimize the value of the drills.

: ^ )

 

Bob