Please critique my voice :)

David9321

These are 3 short samples from some of my greatest inspirations

1st is a Skyfall cover by Trevor Wentworth

2nd is Better Together by Jack Johnson

the 3rd is a Radioactive cover by Scott Hoying

My awful rendition of the above samples (I apologize in advance haha)

A recording of the lah exercise:

A recording of the final Volume 1 exercise:

I absolutely love the way these 3 guys sing. I'm also a huge fan of singers like Chris Cornell, Jared Leto, Bruno Mars, and Adam Levine. I know I can never sound exactly like someone else, but I still want to develop the same level of technique. 

I have a couple of questions:

1. Many of these guys have been singing since they were children. I've been playing piano and guitar since I was 8 so I have a decent ear, but I've only just started KTVA. Is it too late for me to develop this level of vocal mastery? 

2. Ken briefly mentioned that it is possible to perform the exercises 2-3 times per day. I've been doing Volume 1 twice a day for a little more than 4 weeks. How long should I practice and for how many days out of the week?

Thank you!

highmtn

@Xiphos, 

Your demos actually sound pretty good. 

You could use a little more support.  Sometimes your notes are a little tentative or unsure.  Increased support would help to make more consistency in your notes and your tone.  It can be the glue that holds your voice together. 

On your song demos, it would be better if we could hear the accompaniment part at a low volume for pitch reference.  Also, your naked vocal without any cover is going to show every flaw and magnify that aspect.  It would be a more realistic picture of your voice to hear it placed in the song you are singing with some instrumentation.  Acapella is great, but trying to hear the accuracy of your voice can be better served in the context of the song as a whole, with at least a bit of backing tracks.  We DO want to hear your voice as the dominant sound on the recording.  Just a suggestion that would help us to give you feedback.

You are doing a good job of paring back your tone as your voice ascends in pitch, and adding the tone back as you go back down. 

1. There are students here that started in their 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's.  Some are in their 70's.  I don't know if there are any above that age, but whatever your age is, it's not too late to learn to sing properly.

Sure, it would have been nice if we all had started when we were young lads and lasses, but that's no reason to delay getting started now. 

I didn't pursue serious improvement of my voice until I was 50-something, and it took me a while to find KTVA.  I've been on a steady diet of gradual improvement since I started using Ken's methods.  The same will be true for you.  You will be doing these exercises (and the harder ones that come later) for the rest of your singing life, and as a result, you will constantly be noticing areas of improvement.  Some improvements take a long time, and some come more quickly.

2.  It's up to you how much you want to or are able to work out.  As long as you don't oversing, as in too much air or air pressure, you can sing all day long just about every day.  Some serious students sing five to eight hours per day.  Obviously they are going to be pinpointing many fine items and honing their skills at a faster rate than those who don't have that much time to spend on their voice.  Ken starts warming up his voice from the moment he gets up and sings until late at night most nights.  He is an early riser, and uses his voice daily.  

You just need to learn the limitations of your voice and cruise along just under the surface of oversinging or irritating the cords.  Your voice would get tired if you just started singing all day all at once, but if you build up your stamina, you will have the strength to keep going and to keep building your voice.  Take your time with adding additional notes.  You can't force them, but they will sprout up on their own if you keep working out on the exercises.  You have to allow time, and allow yourself to ease into the notes rather than force your way to them.

If you could do four hours for five or six day per week, that would be awesome.  Anything you can afford to do on a regular basis will come back to you as skill improvement if you actively listen to yourself and assess yourself as you sing.  Another important thing to do is to always record yourself and do self-evaluation.  Listen to what you are doing right and do more of that, and figure out what you are doing wrong and do less of that, striving to correct things that are fixable.  That will really speed your progress up.  Sing, practice, record, listen to playback, make assessments, make corrections, practice on the weak areas, and be forgiving with your weaknesses, so you can convert them into strengths. 

You have a good start.  You have the rest of your life to keep improving.  

Go for it.

All the Best.

Bob

David9321

I am thrilled to hear that it's possible to spend several hours working on the voice. I've wanted to sing for so long but always settled for other instruments because I was convinced I wasn't capable, so I'm more than willing to dedicate that much time practicing on a daily basis to make up for all of this lost time (of course I will still listen to my body to make sure I don't overdo it). I'll make a note of everything you've told me and I'll make sure to post a backing track with my next demo. Thank you so much for your advice and encouragement!

Kristonsingh

Xiphos! Hello, you have a really nice voice, what is your name?