I asked the teacher and was recommended to stick to the warm up exercises using the piano instead of trying to learn to do them on the ukulele, so that’s what I will do. I did want to record a bit of my journey with the vocals too though, so I’ll try to document some of my main takeaways here. Be aware that the advice I’m getting from my teacher is tailored to me and my situation, so it may or may not be relevant to your journey.
If you are interested in taking singing seriously though, I can highly recommend investing in some private lessons (after reading Singing for Dummies and trying to implement the ideas on your own for a bit first). It’s expensive, but I would be so much further along if I had had these three lessons I’ve taken so far 5 years ago. This are my thoughts and takeaways after about one month of lessons.
So, the first big idea was that the voice is a unique instrument and that it needs to be treated as such. Like most wind instruments, there is a point of resonance that sounds the “fullest” because all the air is moving through the instrument in just the right way to create that effect.
The voice is no different. If we pay attention, we can choose where the sound “rests” when coming out of our mouth. We can move it forward and make it nasal-y, or backward to be more open. So my first big idea was to move my tone to a point where it sounds naturally full.
And to keep it there. In fact, I was instructed to pay attention to the way that I speak to develop the habit of placing my voice in the pocket by default. Now, I don’t speak much in general since I spend most of my time alone in bed in my room, but it’s certainly a new exercise to try to be away and maintain control in every single conversation. It makes perfect sense though. Being a proper good singer is an entire lifestyle choice.
Next, a lot of the issues I have are actually very similar to what I faced in the unitar exercises: paying attention to the attack, release, and tone of my notes. With singing there’s several unique layers of challenge. Of course we need to hit the right note, but we also need to use the right consonant and vowel sounds, with the right dynamic, and the appropriate attack for the music. And follow that by holding the pitch with the right tone for the proper duration. Then end the note on time in the way that sounds best.
So, how do we get there? Vocal exercises. The captain of the ship Serious who facilitated the unitar exercise could tell immediately that I did not do any proper vocal warm ups or training. And my voice teacher has quickly honed in that the best thing for me to do is expand the set of exercises that I go through daily to work on these fundamental aspects of singing.
We’re partially working off the Bel Canto Method, but not in the exact numerical order of the method file I was provided. So far I’ve been assigned two note scales, three note scales, chromatic half steps, major arpeggios, and three-count tones. Mostly on an “ah” vowel, sometimes also on “ee.”
Also lip trills while humming to practice moving air a higher speeds. In hindsight it shouldn’t be surprising how physical the activity is, but apparently singing very much a practical athletic endeavor.
I’m paying close attention to how I start my notes, how I hold them, and how I end them. Honestly it’s pretty mentally taxing. I’m trying to apply these lessons to the songs I’ve been singing, and I feel like my brain doesn’t have enough bandwidth to properly compute. But I trust that with time and practice things will improve. It hasn’t even been a month of lessons yet, and I already feel like I’m poised to make great strides in this field.
At the same time I’m also seeing just how far this field goes. I mean, obviously it’s a long and well explored discipline, but I naively believed that I was maybe getting halfway to decent just by doing whatever felt right. If you noticed, I’m more of a book learner than a youtube learner, and actually mostly prefer to try to figure things out on my own. But taking a closer look with an actual expert, it’s clear that I’m more like halfway to halfway decent. A little bit of tailored expert guidance surely goes a long way.
The road ahead seems long, but also like a fun and rewarding journey. I never really thought I had the ambition to be a good singer, but it seems I have grown to enjoy it and actually do want to get good. Having a good teacher is giving me hope that it may be possible. The motto of this year rings true as ever: you can get it if you really want, but you must try, try and try, try and try… You’ll succeed at last!