Hello All

jasondotj

Hello, my name is Jason. I have been looking at online programs for quite some time now. A little history, I've been playing guitar now for 25 years. I've always loved to sing even before I started playing guitar. Music has always been in my heart and soul. I'm 42 years old and I remember listening to records of classic rock when I was 8 years old in the early 80's. I tried to record some demo songs probably around 2001. Man, my voice was horrific. I tried taking some singing lessons at a local church many years ago. I only went for a few months. That helped me a little. I have slowly progressed over the years, but I still struggle with a lot of things. I looked into a program of DVD's years and years ago (competitor who I won't mention), but thought, gosh, that's expensive! I kind of just kept practicing with songs I loved to sing, but still found I was having trouble in a lot of key areas. I do "okay" now. I still struggle with breath support, pitch, power, and other things. I just realized recently I was mistaking power for singing "higher". I love to sing rock. I don't necessarily want to sing like Steve Perry, Freddie Mercury, or Robert Plant. I'm more of a "baritenor" from what I've been told. My influences include a lot of 90's artists, especially Eddie Vedder, Chris Cornell, Kevin Martin of Candlebox (great range there - I'd love to see Ken singing a Candlebox tune), and even John Rzeznik and Trent Reznor. I also like some post-grunge singers, especially Corey Taylor, Shaun Morgan, and Aaron Lewis.

About six months ago, I found KTVA after thinking, wow, I should do some research and see if I can't find help online for my singing. No offense, but at first I thought why does this guy have so many YouTube videos of him singing all these different songs?

Well, the "proof is in the singing" right? I looked into other individuals with free lessons and warm ups on YouTube, and I found some songs as well as videos. Not a horrible voice, but really not a great voice either. Pitch is fine, but tone is just "not my style". I also found another program which is WAAAAAY cheaper than KTVA.... however you get what you pay for. I found videos of the individual teaching this other program and did not really like the voice either. But, I have to admit, Ken Tamplin has an amazing voice.

I want to improve my power without trying to "jump" octaves (which is exactly what I've been doing). I want to improve my breath support and tone. I want to be able to extend my range as well as remain on pitch.

I understand music, not formally trained, but I do play guitar. I can hear pitch a LOT better than I could 15 years ago. But I still need to improve. I want to be able to sing a song and have people enjoy listening to me. I've played in bands before and sang some back-up. Again, I have SLOWLY improved over the years. I want to be able to sit in the living room and sing songs on my acoustic (maybe record videos of my covers and place them on YouTube). I want to be able to sing in a local restaurant or coffee shop, or other gigs just me and my acoustic and have people actually WANT to listen to me. I'm an okay singer. I hit pitch around 90% of the time. But I want to be better.

highmtn

Welcome home, Jason. You'll find everything you've been looking for here at KTVA. Only thing is, you're going to start kicking yourself for taking so long to jump in and go for it. That's what I did.

The important part is you're here now, and you're finally on the right road. It's a long journey, one that will last you the rest of your singing life. But it really helps to be on the right road when you're on an important journey.

Get the program and get crackin'!

Good singing to you!

Bob

jasondotj

Thank you @highmtn . I did get the program, the Pro Bundle, but there's something wrong with my access this morning and I emailed Lynette about it just now. Last night, I was perusing the forums and was blown away at how much extra information was in the Pro level access.

I spent extra time watching the exercise videos for volume 1 yesterday afternoon. I got through the "LAW" exercises. I learned a lot more from these few videos than I learned in a few months of singing lessons and 15 years of trying to be "self-taught" and just practicing on my own. It's like it's a secret a lot of teachers won't tell you, and Ken just lays it all out there for you to hear and practice. I never understood diaphragmatic breathing and expanded rib cage until Ken explained it so perfectly. I watched those a couple of times each. Also, I never knew about the tongue and the soft palate either. There's so much to learn and I want to make sure I'm doing it well. I'm going to absorb the way to do the exercises before I even start working the exercises. I also plan to avoid singing along to my favorite songs in the car or with my guitar until I get through Volume 1 and really start cracking on the exercises so I don't relearn old habits.

I can already tell this is the best investment I've ever made for my music. You're right, I should've done it a long time ago.

I don't want to become a professional singer. Like I said, I just want to be able to sit with my guitar and sing songs and actually have people enjoy listening to me.

highmtn

You're going to like what is about to happen to your voice. I respect you reading up and watching the videos before beginning practice. You will eliminate many misconceptions that way. Many different people have different ways that they learn the best. I think you know the most effective ways to lay the groundwork for your own understanding.

Ken does lay out a huge amount of information in a very short amount of time. By the time you get through all of the lessons, he has set you up with info that took him about 30 years to put together. Talk about efficiency. You and I get all that info in about a year or two instead of 25 or 30 years. He gives us the direct route.