Singing

maltingsaudio

1,Ask someone if they can play guitar and the usual answer is yes can strum a few chords, ask them if they can sing and the usual answer is you wouldn't want to hear me.

2, Percieved wisdom is Girls have nicer/better voices than boys yet music is dominated by male vocals

I think I've over stretched myself at this point due to alcohol but why is it so many musicians just don't want to sing?

RocknRollDave

Because singing makes me feels more exposed, it

feels more personal than playing guitar. Having an instrument 'between' me and the audience gives me a sense that there's a protective level of distance between us. Doesn't mean I don't get nervous playing guitar, but I do feel more comfortable.

mike_l

I have a shite singing voice, hence I don't sing. Besides I struggle enough playing guitar alone.... :-S

digitalscream

I don't sing because I can't hit a note. Well, not the right note.

I actually learned to play guitar specifically because I couldn't sing - back at my primary school, everybody had to do a recital in assembly during their last year. I knew I couldn't sing, and I was utterly terrified after seeing some kid make a total hash of it with the whole school laughing at him. I was about 7 at the time...my dad got me a guitar shortly after and I started learning. I believe I did Classical Gas in the end; nobody laughed, which was kinda the point

spacecadet

I'm a pretty confident backing singer but I'm also very confident I'm not a lead singer. I'd love to take the lead sometimes but my vocal tone just isn't great. Suits harmonies well though. I'd like to be somewhere vocally between Richie Sambora and Ritchie Kotzen.

octatonic

I can sing backups- after a lot of work to get it passably ok.

I don't like singing lead- I've tried a couple of times- I prefer playing guitar and drums.

I just don't have the voice- singing is different to guitar playing- you can work on guitar playing and get pretty good.

So much of singing is down to the voice you are given- sure you can work it but some people just have better sounding voices than other people.

This doesn't mean you can't be a frontman or bandleader - look at Knopfler- terrible voice, good lyrics and amazing writing- he's done pretty well.

EricTheWeary

I really do have an awful singing voice but I've always done shouty bv's and even the odd song ( where a John Lee Hookeresque mumble was okay).In the ska band it used to peeve me that the keyboard player wouldn't add any bv's ( although we knew she actually had a very good singing voice - indeed, sang as part of her day job as a music teacher) and that the sax player wouldn't either.Now, you can't play sax and sing at the same time but there were parts of songs and the odd whole song where he had nothing to do and some extra shouty bv's would have been good. Big guy, generally very self confident/arrogant but terrified of putting his mouth to a mic.

RocknRollDave

octatonic said:

...singing is different to guitar playing- you can work on guitar playing and get pretty good.

So much of singing is down to the voice you are given - sure you can work it but some people just have better sounding voices than other people.

Spot on - totally agree with this,

BenSirAmos

I'm a shite guitarist - but I've always got into bands because I can sing. Bands generally put up with my guitaring - they let me do all the poses behind the guitar - as long as I deliver on the vocals. No matter how much I work on guitar playing, I'm still shite shite shite at it. 

EricTheWeary

BenSirAmos said:

I'm a shite guitarist - but I've always got into bands because I can sing. Bands generally put up with my guitaring - they let me do all the poses behind the guitar - as long as I deliver on the vocals. No matter how much I work on guitar playing, I'm still shite shite shite at it. 

I find always bringing biscuits to rehearsal is a similar thing and my 3 chord ineptitude gets overlooked.

chrisj1602

I wish I could sing then I could do my own thing, sing and play, record songs, not just demos, do an album etc. But I can't, so I always need a singer. And obviously the less people you need in a band, the easier a band is (or should be!) to manage.

RocknRollDave

I find that my ability to sing well varies dramatically - Depending on nerves, weather conditions, what I've eaten, how little sleep I've had etc etc...I mean, I have days when I play better or worse guitar, but the variation in quality of my singing would terrify me if I had to front a band.

jaygtr

It's like dancing- I can't, so I don't !

TTony

maltingsaudio said:

I think I've over stretched myself at this point due to alcohol but why is it so many musicians just don't want to sing?

I've done it, but mainly in my youth, when I figured that doing both lead vocals AND lead guitar, could only double my chances. 

More recently (ie the last 30-odd years) I've declined any vocalling at all, preferring to just focus on trying to play the guitar properly, rather than attempting to do both and failing to do either.

Until I got fed up of the efforts of our bassist/vocalist (so he described himself) that I thought I could do no worse and stepped in to do a couple.  At least until we find a proper vocalist.  Evidence.

I still prefer to just do the guitaring though.

 

 

Cirrus

I don't think the tone of your voice matters at all really. Or, it shouldn't. As long as you can be true to yourself and connect with other people it just doesn't matter.

Mark Knopfler has already been cited but I'd like to add Hendrix, Dylan and Roger Waters to that camp. They have totally normal voices but they just got on with it and did some songs that are worth listening to regardless. That's the key part - writing songs that connect with people.

Most people, if gifted with the voice of Hendrix, would say "Oh well, I'll never be a frontman" and because they limited themselves based on the ideas of popular music (that are known by everyone who doesn't actually understand music) they wouldn't bother.

It's all about the songs, baby.

And look at Anthony Kiedis. He can't even sing in tune most of the time and has about a half octave range.

benvall

My speaking voice is monotone. My singing voice is bad, so bad I'm not allowed near a mic in my current band. The singer has a vocal harmony pedal, that covers the backing.

RocknRollDave

Cirrus said:

I don't think the tone of your voice matters at all really. Or, it shouldn't. As long as you can be true to yourself and connect with other people it just doesn't matter.

Mark Knopfler has already been cited but I'd like to add Hendrix, Dylan and Roger Waters to that camp. They have totally normal voices but they just got on with it and did some songs that are worth listening to regardless. That's the key part - writing songs that connect with people.

Most people, if gifted with the voice of Hendrix, would say "Oh well, I'll never be a frontman" and because they limited themselves based on the ideas of popular music (that are known by everyone who doesn't actually understand music) they wouldn't bother.

It's all about the songs, baby.

And look at Anthony Kiedis. He can't even sing in tune most of the time and has about a half octave range.

Problem with your argument is that Dylan's voice is absolutely unlistenable, and Roger Waters isn't much better.
Hendrix was a decent singer, and had a decent tone to his voice...I'm no Hendrix fan, I have to be honest, but he doesn't belong with those other two in your list, IMO.

vasselmeyer

I think you have to distinguish between a vocalist and a singer. Dylan's voice makes him a terrible singer but he puts across the emotion of his sings which makes him a great vocalist.

There are innumerable examples in rock. For example, Bon Scott would never be counted as a great singer but he puts the message across perfectly in his vocals.

Cirrus

RocknRollDave said:

Problem with your argument is that Dylan's voice is absolutely unlistenable, and Roger Waters isn't much better.
Hendrix was a decent singer, and had a decent tone to his voice...I'm no Hendrix fan, I have to be honest, but he doesn't belong with those other two in your list, IMO.

Nah, that's just, like, your opinion man. What I'm trying to say is that they've all done vocal performances that have moved a lot of people, even if you personally don't like them. I can't stand Dylan but I'm not blind to the fact that he does have lots of fans.

octatonic

I don't it is necessarily good to use the 'old guard' as examples in contemporary contexts (despite doing it myself earlier in the thread).

Modern singers usually have more technique than many of the old guard.

There are exceptions, of course.

Cirrus

Well sure, but what's the aim? If we're talking fronting a backing track on a wednesday morning breakfast show and blowing away all the mums with your vocal prowess then yep, it's definitely possible that having a shitty croaky voice will hold you back.

If we're just talking about making music that is actually "good", which is what I'm talking about (even if my music is in fact a horrible pile of wank...), then I don't think having a "weak" voice is a limitation in the slightest. You can still perform a vocal that people will choose to listen to, the difficulty is emotionally connecting with people rather than how well you can sing with a pure head voice, perfect pitch and cartoonishly accurate inflections.