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Baritone singers? PLease help me find songs to practice :(

JonnyquickJonnyquick Pro, 2.0 PRO Posts: 202
I feel like I cant sing any music I want. Everyone damn voice is trained and I cant sing any songs. Its very frustrating. my range is very minimal. I'm a baritone. any song ideas would help a ton. I hate my voice. I hate my range. wish I was born with a better range and voice
very frustrating.

Comments

  • SemiSemi Pro, 2.0 PRO Posts: 153
    edited March 2017
    Hi @Jonnyquick, before KTVA I felt that way too often. I made a long journey to the point where I stand now but there are still mountain peaks I haven`t climbed yet, no matter how hard I tried. It`s quite natural for our minds to set our goals and see the linear way to achieve them, but it`s actually a curve with lots of plateaus, ups and downs, trials and errors, another trials, AHA moments..... So don`t be so harsh on yourself, take it little easier for now.
    How long have you been doing the program and which volume are you on? Did you post the basic LAH scale? Are you sure you got ALL the fundamentals? What kind of songs you would like to sing?

    Sam
  • TommyMTommyM Pro Posts: 270
    @Jonnyquick I'm a baritone too but I can confirm that it's possible to develop your range to levels you'd never thought possible. I've only started Ken's course recently but I've spent around 20 years singing (with bad technique) and had developed 3+ octaves at my peak. Sadly I was doing it all wrong and caused myself more problems in the long run which I'm now resolving and working on via KTVA, so please know that it's completely possible to do it; following Ken's course and the advice of folks on here, you'll be surprised at what's possible.

    Most of us aren't born with naturally great voices, but we can develop them by putting in the time and effort if you're serious about it. Don't be disheartened by seemingly small gains, it'll all come together over time.

    As @Semi says, don't be so harsh on yourself. It'll do you no favours and you'll just short-circuit any good work you do by constantly leaping to harsh self-criticism. It's great to hold yourself to high standards and push yourself to be the best you can, but it's a gradual process and sometimes the results are pretty subtle...UNTIL you find yourself belting out songs you never thought possible!

    Song-wise, it really depends on what sort of stuff you're into. I suck at identifying other singers ranges, but one of my favourite vocalists, Mike Patton, does some really good stuff in the lower range that you might find fun to try out, e.g. Faith No More's version of "Easy" stays within a reasonable range but it's just a song that sounds great regardless and it pretty easy to sing. Also, Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam has some amazing vocals in his lower register, e.g. the track "Oceans" is pretty straightforward but there's some really nice falsetto stuff in there too that'd give you a chance to stretch your voice a bit without pushing it too hard.

    In short, don't beat yourself up. This stuff takes time, commitment and lots of practice but it's ultimately worthwhile if you really want to sing. You've made a serious step already just by buying Ken's course so don't give up, keep on practicing and keep us updated on your progress.

    - Tommy
  • JonnyquickJonnyquick Pro, 2.0 PRO Posts: 202
    edited March 2017
    atm I'm learning creep - stp. trying to find bands in my range
    stp,roy,doors,elvis. just to get down the singing part so I cant apply it to something. Better than just doing scales everyday. I was frustrated because I couldn't sing high songs. well I'm not devolped yet for that range. Its getting better. Like for creep I'm taking the chords and trying to find the notes scott is singing to and it works pretty good but its hard to hear sometimes. THey have so much damn compression and effects in there. How do you guys deal and find ways to find it. Or ill sing the word in his pitch and find it on guitar.
    I talked to a vocal teacher and he said I have a nice tone. I just need pitch and phrasing help. I'm working on. I cant beat myself up to bad I haven't really gave it a 100 % either so. I just get so frustrated. In my heart I wanna sing and make people feel what I sing. I wanna help people. calm down to listening to me sing. may be I want it all fast like the queen song. I see ken do it and it looks so easy. He ,makes it that way. I gotten do baby steps.
    props to both @Semi and @TommyM you guys really hit my heart there. Thank you for taking the time out to read and reply.
  • TommyMTommyM Pro Posts: 270
    Want a laugh? "Creep" was the first song I ever recorded myself singing (when I was 14) and it was the song that made me realize that I actually had a decent voice. Scott Weiland was one of my main influences when I was younger, so I'm very, very familiar with his style and can hopefully offer some suggestions to help in covering "Creep":

    - Weiland's vocals at that point were done in a really unhealthy way, hence the change in delivery on "Purple" compared to "Core", so try to avoid direct imitation. He was doing the whole Vedder-esque 'marble mouth' sound at that point and covering his sound quite a bit, so use your own tone and keep it nice and bright. This will also help massively with your pitching as that Vedder-style approach tends to make you sound quite flat and can make it hard to pitch properly.

    - His style has a sort of drawl to it which seems to influence how he uses his vowels, e.g. (hopefully this makes sense...)

    "Forward yesterday, makes me wanna stay" sounds more like "Foh-wud yes-ta-day-ee, meks mi waw-nah stay-ee", so when you're singing it I'd suggest you may find it easier to, rather than singing "day-ee" and "stay-ee", try singing "day-ay"/"stay-ay" with the sustained "ay" sound rather than bending the note towards the more closed off "ee" sound. Keeping the sound open might make it easier for you to control your pitch too.

    - Make sure you've got your support right; take in enough breath to hold the sustained bits comfortably, e.g. using the opening lyric as an example:

    [Breath and prepare for the note] Forward yesterday [breath]
    Makes me wanna stay [breath]
    What they said was real [breath]
    Makes me wanna feel [breath]

    Look at the lyrics and listen to how Scott places his breath on the recording.

    - The melody in that song is pretty simple, so try to work it out on guitar then try to sing the notes along with that bare accompaniment before trying it over the full chords.

    - Record yourself again and again, even if it's just on your phone. Hearing yourself back is immeasurably helpful.

    With regards to your comment on the use of effects, stuff like compression and EQ are typically quite transparent on a recording and don't alter the pitch. "Creep" is a very 'dry' recording with the exception of the backing vocal and the middle 8 section which is kinda drenched in reverb but with the pitch still audible. Don't let processing put you off, it's just a standard part of the mixing process but shouldn't really interfere with your ability to hear the pitch of the vocals.

    If you can, try to get a quick recording of yourself uploaded to Soundcloud or something 'cause it'd be easier for the more experienced folks on here to gauge your level of development and provide some more specific advice.
  • JonnyquickJonnyquick Pro, 2.0 PRO Posts: 202
    edited March 2017
    ty. the only prob I have is take time with a wounded hand. what I hear and it's not as clear as the verse. take time with a is oopen string g
    then wounded hand cause it would be ab same string. then like to steal would be 4 open I'm not in from of my guitar atm.. that's how I try to find the pitch.

    like forward yesterday. day is c this kind of helps me find pitch. wish I had a piano. your right doesnt change the pitch. I'm half the man I used to be is still A then dawn fades to grey but is B.

    also found out before yesterday I was using my diaphragm totally wrong. when I use my diaphragm my singing is low. stp, pearl jam except for his high notes, Alice in chains, silver chair, Trent,
    when I watch kens. his is very bright. it just confused me. so I'm trying to fig this all out. hopefully this week I can get all this fig out. my range is so minimal that it will take s long time. I'm ok with that. I just want to understand what I love and half in my heart to do.
    I'm listening more and really breaking it down to get the breathing. what I need is a check list for any song I wanna learn. you do that? easy melody songs are perfect for me. just to learn basics.
    thanks again for the advice.
    I do record my self and I can pick out where I'm like oh what was that. haha. good. seems. I'm on the right path.
  • KevinGremKevinGrem Pro Posts: 217
    Hey Jonnyquick, people aren't really "born" with a good range and a good voice. It takes years of developing over time. Let me give you an example of what I mean.

    When I first started singing I was told that I didn't have a good tone. Several years later after years of practice, a vocal instructor told me "You have natural gift for good tone. You must have been born with that". Little did he know that I had no such tone to my voice in prior years. It took years of developing.

    The same is largely true with respect to your vocal range. Look at Ken Tamplin. He's a baritone. He wasn't born with a broad range. He's had decades of singing experience to build that range.

    I understand it can sometimes be a frustrating process struggling to get to where you want to go, but you need to understand that anyone can train themselves to develop better singing and better range with enough time.

    As for your question, just sing along with stuff you like. If you're really passionate about something you will just naturally have the urge to sing and want to train yourself to sing the things you love and admire. What kind of stuff do you like?
  • stratmanstratman Pro, 2.0 PRO Posts: 364
    I think that once you conquer your bridge area, just about any typical rock song is possible. There will be a few extreme exceptions but most will be achievable by you. I once thought I'd never sing above D4 ... now I can get to A5! I now have 3.5 octaves to play with D2-A5. It's taken me 2.5 years but I think anyone that dedicates themselves to practicing Ken's method will also achieve what they once thought impossible.
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