[Curly72]

Hey Guys,

Long time lurker and first time poster. I am 16 and the Dead are the reason I started to play guitar. I have been playing for about a year and a half but started to attempt learning how to sing rather recently. I'd really appreciate any tips you can give on my voice, as I don't really care for it as is. The internet is a great resource for music but there is so much info on here about singing I'm not really sure what to believe and it's been frustrating. Thought I'd cover a song I thought really showcased Jerry's great singing to give you a template to constructively criticize me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey89eadqNRc

Thanks for your time.

PS: Try not to make fun of my hair

[Billbbill]

PS: Try not to make fun of my hair

lol! Dude, there are guys AND girls that'd KILL for your hair! lol!

But I digress....
w/o guitar in hand and singing along with you I hear a few things. First, if you can't sing an octave higher (high notes out of range?) you should look into transposing to a key that allows you're voice's emotion to stretch out a bit. And next, and truth be told probably first and before you look to transpose, sounds to me like for the most part you're singing a harmony line. Before looking to transpose make sure you're singng the MELODY - unless your plan was to sing the harmony. I could be wrong as I don't have guitar in hand and my singing along with you may not be as I suspect - but sounds like the harmony. Either way you need to find a register where you feel more comfortable - and can thus belt it out more with some felling! Not bad though - when I was your age I'd yet to even touch a guitar!! I transposed my last YT vid from A where jerry sang it to G as I couldn't hit the high notes well enough. Nothing to be ashamed of although you may ge some looks from folks you're playing with who'd have to adjust!

Here's mine

[Curly72]

Hi Bill

Lol thanks for the tips and the hair comment.

About the harmony/melody thing... I don't really know anything about singing yet so I sort of tried to just hear it out I guess. When you go to learn to sing a song do you have to learn every note the singer is hitting? I just kinda did what I thought would sound ok rather than learning all the notes Jerry sang.

Thanks for the advice man and your vid was great btw

[tcsned]

You've got a good swing going, that's important with Dead music. With vocals, whether or not you choose to sing the melody or a harmony line, it's a good idea to learn the molody. You seem to have a lower baritone voice. It might mean you have shift keys to a comfortable spot for you. Keep it up!

[Billbbill]

as tcsned noted no matter what it is a good idea to learn and get used to learning the melody - both from a vocal and musical standpoint. I do think it's important to 'get all the notes' and learn the melody 'right' first. Once you know how it's 'supposed' to be done you can then take some liberties here and there adding your own 'imprint' but it's much better to ad lib and improvise from the position of knowing the actual melody - and frankly harmonies as well. And I agree with tcsned, you have 'a good swing going'! Good luck! And thanks for the kind words.

[Curly72]

Thanks again for the help guys. How would I go about learning the vocal melody of a song though? Is it just the root of whatever chord I'm singing over?

[tigerstrat]

Thanks again for the help guys. How would I go about learning the vocal melody of a song though? Is it just the root of whatever chord I'm singing over?

It's the notes you are singing, whether they go from the root to the 5th, to the 2nd or 7th, and wherever they go in the scale.