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JohnnyzDJohnnyzD Volume 1 Posts: 19
Hey, 

I bought volume 1 and 2 about 2 years ago. Back then I was very young (about 15 years old) and I didn't took the course seriously, so I never practised more than 3 or 4 times. 2 years later I realize how much I love to be a singer (songwriting especially) and I just want to make a career out of my dreams. 

I do realize I need to stay focussed and disciplined and patient. I'm 17 years old and I believe that I can do this! Any tips or advice? Everything is welcome :-) 

PS: I have also no idea what my starting point is. I can sing in key, but I feel that I use way to much air and it hurts my throat a little bit. In the first couple of videos Ken Tamplin talks about using the minimum of air, but I have no idea how to do this. 

Is it useful if I send an sample of me singing? 

Thanks everyone and I'm glad to be onboard again!!!

Comments

  • highmtnhighmtn Administrator, Moderator, Enrolled, Pro, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 15,354

    @Michael97,

    Yes, it would be useful to send a demo of you doing the basic Lah exercise.

    At 17, you still have a great opportunity to grow your voice for a long and fulfilling vocal life.  Just grab the moment now and don't let another 2 years pass you by while you could be digging in and forming a better future for yourself.

    You just said it:  Focus and Discipline.  Pour a good dose of willpower into that and you'll get your motors running.  Taking the course seriously is a great sing of maturity, something many who are a lot older than you could follow your lead.  Maintain your positive attitude towards your success.  There will be periods where you are in-between obvious signs of progress.  You will need to keep going when it looks like you're standing still.  Growth sometimes seems slow.  It can be like watching a tree grow sometimes.  It's still growing, even when you can't tell, or when you feel like you're stuck.  Don't let it die just because you can't see the growth that is happening.  Keep nurturing your voice with the exercises that will bring about that continued growth.

    Your starting point is Volume One.  Start Over.  Make sure you didn't gloss past anything in the foundational material.  Make sure you can and do practice the Volume One workouts until you can do them with ease.  Watch the videos several times, over a period of time.  You will always see or hear something you missed previously.

    If you are using too much air, there is a good chance that you are not using proper cord closure.  Listen to Ken demonstrating "It's the LAH!!! AH!!!  His cords are closed and it gives him this bright, pingy tone.  You don't want any extra air passing the cords, as it will dry them out.  You also need to learn how to implement good breath support.

    Do your exercises and post about a one or two minute demo of you doing one of the basic exercises and that will give us some basis to get you on track.

    I'm so glad you are revving up your engines to do this right this time! 

     

    Good Singing to You!

     

    Bob

  • JohnnyzDJohnnyzD Volume 1 Posts: 19
    edited August 2014
    @highmtn Here is my first attempt of doing the LAH excercise: 

     https://fbcdn-video-a.akamaihd.net/hvideo-ak-xap1/v/t43.1792-2/10590243_1465684640353296_1704347599_n.mp4?oh=b612f4b034f51f736d0c8668d6121e8b&oe=53E7F0CF&__gda__=1407710338_615ca656d08a255598ce4aa9fefe3a87

    This is my first attempt to bare with me haha! Would love to hear feedback. This is my starting point. After this I felt kinda dry in the throat and I had also trouble getting the ' feeling' of good support. Before this, I did a 35 minute warm-up. I did the 2 lip roll and 2 tongue excercises about 3 times each. 

    My total work-out looks like this: 35 minute warm up, 10 minutes practicing support. 40 minutes It's the LAW A! (including the LAH excercise). 

    What do you think? Would love to hear a response. 

    Michael.
  • highmtnhighmtn Administrator, Moderator, Enrolled, Pro, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 15,354

    Your top note in each scale is not on the correct pitch.  As the scale progresses sometimes your beginning note is not on the right pitch.

    Be sure to listen to the pitch of the piano and match it at the beginning of the scale.

    Stop and listen to the notes in the melody of the scale, and be sure you can sing this basic melody correctly.  You'll be using it a lot, so that's important.  Until you can sing this scale on the correct notes on any given note, you should not move on to the next scale.  Stop the mp3 and get each scale correct before moving on.  Do it a few times to be sure you are doing it right.  Can you hear what I'm talking about regarding your pitch when you listen to yourself on this recording?  You should record yourself a lot and listen often.  It's one of the best forms of feedback available to you.

    You are listed as a "member" on the forums.  You should have your forums status upgraded to reflect the level of KTVA Volumes you have purchased.  All students have available to them Ken's BASIC PITCH program.  If you get your status upgraded you can access this program at no charge.  I recommend you take some time and do the workouts in Basic Pitch before going much further.  You will have to get your pitch working for you to be a successful singer.

    You need to send proof of purchase to ktvaforums@gmail.com to demonstrate what KTVA programs you have purchased, and your status will then be upgraded accordingly.  Copy and paste into your email your paypal or other payment receipts to verifiy that information.

    You will do OK after you get your pitch dialed-in.  That's something that can't be skipped over.

     

    All the Best!

     

    Bob

     

     

     

     

  • JohnnyzDJohnnyzD Volume 1 Posts: 19
    @highmtn Thanks, when I hear the recording back I think I'm singing in key, what's wrong with my hearing? And I already have the pitch program. Awhile ago I bought the whole course (while I already had volume 1 and 2) I wanted to know if all those bonusses and volume 3 added value to me. It didn't so I refunded it. I kept the volume 1 basic pitch audio file (felt kinda like a thief though, but now I know it's free for download for those who bought volume 1 or 2 haha). 

    What do you recommend in regards to practicing all the excercises? Which one should I do and which one don't? Because as you hear I'm just getting started. How should my ideal training schedule look like? I want this sooo bad, so I'm willing to put the hours in. Do you mind setting up a training schedule in regards to my beginners level? Then I can follow that schedule untill I get the hang of everything and then I move on to the next couple of videos. I would love it if you give me a 2 hour + workout to get all this implemented in my brain! I want to succeed and I'm making this happen. 

    Thanks in advance :-) 
  • highmtnhighmtn Administrator, Moderator, Enrolled, Pro, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 15,354

    So you have the Pitch Program?  How much time did you practice the exercises in it? 

    Your Lah exercise is all over the map, pitch-wise.  You should be able to hear, if you listen, to your pitch not matching exactly the pitch of the piano and the pitch of Ken's voice.  They are not the same.  They have to be the same.  If they're not the same, somebody's pitch is not right. 

    The Basic Pitch program should teach you that. 

    Perhaps you should do the Basic Pitch Program and Record yourself performing the pitch exercises.  Listen carefully to you singing along with the pitch exercises.  They should sound exactly right, or you should stay on each exercise until you get that one right. 

    It may not be what's wrong with your hearing.  It may be what's wrong with your listening.  You have to listen, sing, compare, etc.

    You should be able to "hear" the correct note before you sing it, and your voice muscles should be forming the proper cord tension before you even apply the air to the cords.  The correct note should happen, by muscle memory, from your practice singing the scales correctly.  You have to constantly listen to the notes you are singing and compare them to the note that must be matched.  This is a basic skill that all singers must master.  If you believe that you are singing in tune with the exercise on your demo, you need to listen more carefully.  And you need to hear what you are doing.   If that's good enough for you, then no worries!  You are already about as good as you will ever be able to get if you can't or won't listen to each and every note you are singing.

    I suggest your current practice schedule be to repeat the Basic Pitch program until you begin to sing the pitch that is being called for when it is time to sing it.  

    Follow the instructions Ken gives in the Video. 

     

    All the Best!

     

    Bob

  • JohnnyzDJohnnyzD Volume 1 Posts: 19
    edited August 2014
    I've actually never practiced the basic ptich program, I just have it. I thought I was staying on pitch the whole time, so it shouldn't be a problem for me. WRONG!! Ok, so now I'm going to do the basic pitch training ONLY and after I finished that I'll post another demo of me singing and after I get permission to move on I'll appreciate it if I can make a schedule together with one of the moderators.

    Thanks for your time and good night! (it's 0:23 AM here).

    MIchael.

    PS: Took another listen at the demo and I'm embarassed. I hear where I am off key, you're right I need to listen more carefully. And the yodel in the middle makes me even more embarassed! But it takes time, it's like learning how to walk.
  • Asim_HussainAsim_Hussain Pro Posts: 27
    edited August 2014
    Michael97 said:
    @highmtn

    What do you recommend in regards to practicing all the excercises? Which one should I do and which one don't? Because as you hear I'm just getting started. How should my ideal training schedule look like? I want this sooo bad, so I'm willing to put the hours in. Do you mind setting up a training schedule in regards to my beginners level? Then I can follow that schedule untill I get the hang of everything and then I move on to the next couple of videos. I would love it if you give me a 2 hour + workout to get all this implemented in my brain! I want to succeed and I'm making this happen. 

    Thanks in advance :-) 
    Don't put in 2 hours if you're doing it wrong. There's no need to ingrain bad habits like poor pitch. 20 minutes of doing it right is better than 2 hours of so-so.
  • highmtnhighmtn Administrator, Moderator, Enrolled, Pro, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 15,354

    First things first.

    We're getting somewhere if you are beginning to realize that you must listen very carefully in order to ensure that your pitch is in-tune and on the correct note.  Without that, you have nothing.  You can have wonderful tone, but if you are off-key, you have to correct that.

    Many new, inexperienced singers walk in the door with no issues regarding pitch.  They may have poor support, need to correct their tone, or whatever, but they can sing pitch with accuracy.

    Others have not yet learned to sing pitch correctly.

    I am not one of those persons who believes that pitch cannot be learned. That doesn't mean it's easy for everybody, but I believe anyone who wants to learn better pitch CAN learn to discern it.  There is a very small percentage of the population who simply cannot hear pitch, but most simply havent' yet realized that their pitch is inaccurate, and that they must take responsibility and ownership to do the work to improve it.

    I'm happy to help by gently pointing that out and asking students to do their part to work on the skill.

    Watch the new videos of @kaulfers.  He is doing what every student that is having problems with pitch should do.  He is teaching himself to find the pitch by careful listening and comparing and feeling what the feeling of each note is when it is on pitch.

    He is making progress, and he is doing so by his own initiative.  He asked for feedback, it was given, and he is taking action to correct his voice.  He will be successful by overcoming something that would otherwise cripple his dreams of hearing applause when he finishes a song.

    You don't want to be the only person in the room who doesn't know you just sounded awful by singing the song in the wrong key.

    And if people already have you pegged as someone who is a terrible singer, because you haven't got any idea how to sing on pitch, you can blow their minds by showing up and singing spot-on in perfect pitch, if you will tackle this important issue.

    It cannot be ignored.

    Tackle it.

    All the Best!


    Bob

  • JohnnyzDJohnnyzD Volume 1 Posts: 19
    @Highmtn Hey an quick update. Don't know what went wrong with the audio sample, but I did the whole basic pitch program and recorded every single excercise a couple of times and I'm exactly in pitch, besides the fact that I'm a little darker on the sound sometimes. I really like the idea of the airplane engines, it is exactly the same for finding the correct note.

    Should I upload another sample to show that I'm in correct key? I think that I was obsessed with hitting the high note before that I screwed my pitch and rhytm up. @Asim I think I've corrected my 'pitch problem' have done the whole basic pitch program and recorded every single excercise. 

    For now I'm doing the lipp roll, support practicing, the tongue excercise and lots of mirror practicing with the LAH excercise. I'm thinking to do those excercises all over the place during the day to really brainwash the principles in my mind and at night I practise everything as an workout.

    Any pointers?

    Michael.
  • highmtnhighmtn Administrator, Moderator, Enrolled, Pro, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 15,354
    edited August 2014

    I'd like to hear you again.

    Thank you for working on this.  It's important.  I want to be sure you are ready to move on.

    Sounds like you're doing what you need to do to get tuned up.  We'll see how you're doing and go from there.


    Bob

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