Should I wait joining a band until I have trained longer, or should I just jump into it?

Trine

Dear Ken,

I ask this question on the forum, as it might have relevance for others as well. Everybody, please feel free to answer. I want your opinion too.

After I posted some "before KTVA" tracks on my facebook, I have got requests from a band with good and experienced musicians to be their vocalist. Will it destroy the process I have begun if I start singing "for real" too early? I really want to start singing with them. 

I have only been enrolled for one week, but practice one to two hours a day. I understand all the concepts so far, and feel that I can incorporate them when I sing the excersises. When I sing a song it is more difficult, but I do it slowly and with awareness, first with vocals only, and then I slowly add consonants. However, I think that if I suddenly stood there with a band, it would be more difficult to remember all of this and at the same time sing.

Here are the "before" tracks. I am working on these issues, that I know shine very well through in these tracks: less consonants and air and more support and open throat.

http://soundcloud.com/simmot/another-little-trine

http://soundcloud.com/simmot/alone-trine

http://soundcloud.com/simmot/rolling-in-the-deep-trine

Is there a golden middleway?

What would you have done?

 Kind regards,

Trine

highmtn

Trine,

Many of us here have been in bands since we were little kids, and we sang incorrectly until we found KTVA.  It did not destroy us.  Fortunately, in my case, I did not ruin my vocal cords. I have come very close, and have had many nights that I went hoarse.  I brutalized my cords in those days, but now, after over a year studying with KTVA, I am at my best ever, and becoming more resilient week-by-week. 

I think you will be alright to dive in, but PLEASE do not abandon your KTVA studies.  The KTVA method will enable you to BELT for YEARS and preserve and strengthen your voice.  This study will be a lifelong process for you that will continue to pay off in vocal advances.  Being in a band will be a good experience for you to apply what you are learning from your lessons.  Your workouts will grow your voice and be beneficial for your live performance voice. 

I am fortunate to be in a band that has played over a hundred gigs per year for the last five years.  That's a lot of gigs for someone who also has a full-time day job.  That means I have the benefit of being able to work out to my KTVA training continuously, and I always am just a few days from my next gig, at the longest.  So, I get to keep striving for improvements, and then prove them out in front of a live audience, again and again.  Then, it's back to the Salt Mines for me...

This is a good opportunity for you.  If you've never been in a band before, you may have a great experience or you may get dumped.  Many of my best friends in life have been brother and sister musicians.  That said, there are also a lot of sketchy people that are also attracted to the music world, and you have to do what you can to avoid those that are into drugs, alcoholism, and dishonest dealings. 

Hopefully this will be a good experience for you that will reinforce your KTVA journey.  We will be here to bounce ideas off of, and cheer for you from the sidelines.

Good luck and good singing to you, Trine!

Bob 

Trine

Thank you @highmtn. It is so good to get comments from guys like you with experience and knowledge about singing and about the business. I will definitely not let go of the KTVA, I even use it when I read for my girls, or when I shout to get them home for dinner. My new opening throat is soooo effective:-). When I get into something that feels right for me, I really go for it, whatever it takes.

Luckily, this band is made up of guys I know, so it will be a soft transition because they know I am new and still want to work with me. Back to the salt mines? Great, I am a geologist, so we work with rock also when we are not singing.

I love this supportive KTVA environment. Really LOVE it!!!

Trine

Guevara

Hi Trine, This is a great question and I am very interested to hear what Ken would advise;

My own advice would be to get as much real experience of actually working with other musicians in a band situation or as a duo (working with your guitarist for example) and start doing as many live gigs as you can; I believe that is where the real learning takes place, on stage in front of an audience. 

Keep working the program and gradually you will unconsciously (and consciously) incorporate what you are learning into actual singing and performing situations.

One last thing; choose the right band to work with and make sure that you are set up to hear your own voice correctly when playing live (or rehearsing) as this will make a huge difference to your own and the audiences experience.

Go for it Trine! You sound great and I would love to go to one of your gigs; you totally rock!

highmtn

Haha! I'll bet your girls wonder where mom's story voice and dinnertime voice got so BIG!!! Just wait until you start practicing building more support and your CALL VOICE!!!

When things heat up for me at work I sometimes wonder if I'm at the basalt mines!

Bob

sspatrick

I think you could jump on in....as Ken says"the proof is in the singing". From what I've heard from your demos, you are more than ready. As far as the technical aspect of singing, if we waited until we have perfect technique you may never do it. Work the program and it will integrate into your performance. It takes time, but actual experience and stage time will improve your voice just as much as scales and exercises.