Who can Sing??

[Wedgebill]

Thanks Beau, having always regarded myself as a singer who played guitar a bit I logged on to Riffcaster a while back and discovered my guitar playing skills were a non-starter compared to most of the guys on here, now I find I can also regard myself as an also ran in the singing department as well............


Seems you're a tough nut to crack so I better try harder or maybe retire gracefully and go back to tending my flock of dead pigeons and counting my dustbins........


I better not let my missus see this thread as she only sings and can't play a note on the guitar........................


Seriously though, in my many years of experience of both singing and playing I would offer this piece of (possibly unwanted) advice to guitarists who think they can't sing. Most guitarists I have met tend to play in the easy keys like E, A, D or are doing covers of other peoples material in the original key etc and then attempt to sing along in a key that very probably doesn't suit their range and then resign themselves to being a non-singer, which is quite possibly not the case at all. Trying a different approach by moving away from STD keys, maybe even trying a capo, which is a method I used many years ago when my missus sang songs written for male voice or we were altering keys to fit 3 harmony voices, can sometimes have quite amazing results.

Budding singers, please don't give up trying I say......... =)


Uncle Bill

[a345stud]

and thats the other side of the story

[beauzeau]

Trying a different approach by moving away from STD

I couldn't agree more Bill!

[beauzeau]

Certainly no disrespect meant or anything by that post ya know. Like I said, most guys who do the singing on rifflink CAN sing. I just haven't heard an American Idol voice yet is all I'm saying.

But you're right about the key thing. I do like to get out of those STD keys. D and G are always fun. But alot of the guitarists likely steer towards those "open" keys for simplicity's sake. A lot less barre chords!

[scott]

Trying a different approach by moving away from STD keys, maybe even trying a capo,

The mind boggles! :/ STD from keys? Capo = Dutch cap????
Is this some new form of sexual health promotion from the Cambridgeshire Health Trust?!

[blue4u]

Good discussion guys! Figured I'd throw 2 cents in the can here...

It's hardly worth trying to judge anyone's voice as good or bad because everyone's got such a unique tone. If you can hit the notes and make them work with the song and it's pleasing to your ear and perhaps someone else's then you are a good singer. Beyond that it's not even worth the debate. Plenty of people think that Bob Dylan and Neil Young have great singing voices. I trained with a session singer who taught at M.I. in Hollywood (and sang like an angel) who absolutely loved Neil Young. Go figure!

BTW, some of the most soul-less singers have ranked pretty high on American Idol. That show almost makes me dislike "proper technique" singing for it's shameless exploitation of it. No question that many have sang with excellent pitch, tone and a strong voice but in many cases the emotion isn't there. If someone has a great tone when they sing but I can't feel or believe in the emotion they are conveying then for me, they are a bad singer. To be fair though, American Idol has had some amazing talent show up as well.

I would rather someone sing with courage, spirit, and an open heart while missing notes and having "bad tone" than to hear a trained voice "sing the blues" when they can't even FEEL the blues!

Good singers allow themselves to be vulnerable in their expression and wear their heart on their sleeve (so to speak). You have to be open and sing from a deep place otherwise people just don't buy it. Even decidedly non-musical people will hear the difference.

I think everyone on Rifflink should try to sing something there at least once. Why not?!? GO FOR IT!!

Rich

[strat]

You made some good points blue4u...everyone should try and sing a tune...except me... 34.55.943 of the Florida penal code prohibits me from singing within 300 yards of humans and/or livestock..

[Wedgebill]

No offence taken Beau, just kiddin' ya.

Well said Rich, there you have it, one mans meat is another mans poison etc. Your voice is the one musical instrument that comes from somewhere deep inside and it's gold plated machine heads and pearl inlays and lowered action and whammy bar attachments etc can't be seen. Just about everyone knows when they've been touched by someone singing and I doubt that it was note perfection or technique that touched them, more likely to be kindred spirits talking. Souls talking to souls maybe.

Singing without soul don't cut it for me, maybe Scotty singing in his hot pants, wearing everone elses support, a dutch cap on his head and having a weird relationship with his keys is the answer

I'm also led to believe that aural sex is listening to someone else doing it, is that right Scotty ?, I'm sure you'll come up with the answer.

Talkin' bout American Idol, no-one ever touched my soul like Fantasia did, then they put her on cd and completely lost the plot for me.

And Strat should maybe go and sing near Strat94 as I think he's probably a Martian

Uncle Bill

[gatorjj]

You made some good points blue4u...everyone should try and sing a tune...except me... 34.55.943 of the Florida penal code prohibits me from singing within 300 yards of humans and/or livestock..

But not snook!

[Wedgebill]

Perhaps we should have a singing RiffRumble, anyone know if Jim Golden can sing ?

Uncle Bill.

[mickeymix]

Perhaps we should have a singing RiffRumble, anyone know if Jim Golden can sing ?

Uncle Bill.

Now that's funny............ Strat for what it's worth .... I think you've got a cool voice that would be well suited for blues or Keith Richards covers =D

[Wedgebill]

Keith Richards was banned from looking at livestock because he's such an ugly bugger, let alone sing near em !!!!!!!!!

Uncle Bill.

[beauzeau]

I agree too, that the voice (as well as ANY instrument for that matter) is a subjective thing. But the first time I heard Mariah Carey, there was no subjectivity in sight. Same with Eddie Vedder, or Chris Cornell. But it does still hold true that another may not have felt that way when hearing these singers. I know my mom probably couldn't handle a soundgarden tune for more then ten seconds, no matter how rich Chris' voice is!