I started practicing singing seriously about two weeks ago, and I feel like my ears have already improved a little.

Today I found a vocal critique I paid for two years ago, so I listened to the recording I had submitted back then.

Oh my god. I was SO bad !

And then I read the coach’s feedback:

“You have a very beautiful voice, and I can really tell that you love singing.”

I was like… wow. Vocal coaches really are kind people .

To be fair, the rest of the critique was actually very detailed and accurate. She pointed out problems with my low register, pitch, rhythm, breath, vocal attacks, etc. And interestingly, some of those tendencies are the same things my current coaches are noticing.

But it made me realize that a coach saying “you have a beautiful voice” or “you’re doing really well” probably shouldn’t be treated as an objective measurement of your singing level.

A good coach can genuinely find something good in your singing while also hearing ten things that need work.

I think two weeks ago I probably sounded pretty similar to that old recording. Now that my ears are getting a little better, I can finally hear what the coach was hearing back then.

So maybe one sign that your ears are improving is listening to an old recording and thinking:

“…why did nobody stop me?” 😂

Hello !

I've been singing as an amateur for 5-10 years. I've always had a naturally powerful, full voice, but I've struggled with mixing/belting, especially around G4-B4. I could hit those notes, but only with a lot of effort, especially above G4 which is weird because I'm a tenor and not so good tenors can hit those notes quite easily (even with a faulty technique).

I tried working on my technique, doing warm-ups, focusing on support, etc. but nothing really helped. Worse, the more I sang during the day, the raspier my voice became. Listen my voice is naturally raspy, but it got so bad that I couldn't even sing above my passaggio without sounding extremely raspy at times (especially after 1/2 hours of training).

That's actually what led me to see an ENT 3 years ago. He checked my vocal cords and told me nothing was wrong. I was like…huh. Then he told me there had to be something wrong technically speaking if I thought my voice was damaged.

Well, I couldn't get an appointement again because of financial and personal reasons (I had to move out bc of college, getting my bachelor and stuff). So years later after the appointement (3 to be exact), with my voice getting even raspier, I finally realized what was wrong

I was literally breathing TOO MUCH AIR.

I had always seen people emphasize taking deep breaths, so I thought I wasn't supporting enough. The raspier my voice got, the more air I inhaled to compensate. At the beginning it worked but after a lot of years, my voice just couldn't take it anymore. Turns out I was using way more air than I needed, which was drying out my vocal cords and making the raspiness worse.

Now I just take a quick, deep, but not too deep, breath and use less air, and my voice is literally BLOOMING !! The notes I used to have to push for now come naturally. I can belt A4s and even higher without the excessive raspiness. I'm genuinely so happy.

TL;DR : I thought I wasn't supporting enough, so I kept taking deeper breaths and using more air. Turns out I was using WAY too much air, which was making my voice raspier. Using less air completely changed my singing voice.

I recently started learning how to sing. I'm a very shy and insecure person, so this was already a pretty big step for me. My dream job doesn't require singing, but being able to sing would be a huge advantage, so I decided to give it a try.

The weird thing is that when I'm actually singing, I usually like what I hear. I can tell when I'm out of tune, when I miss a note, and I'm starting to understand scales, chords, my vocal range, and how to make things sound good in theory. While I'm singing, it sounds fine to me.

But when I record myself and listen back, I absolutely hate it. I recently recorded myself doing a lip sync over a singing character, but I had removed the character's voice completely. I also lowered the key of the song because the original was higher than my vocal range, so I wasn't trying to force myself to sing in a range I couldn't reach. It was in a key that was comfortable and natural for me. Even though I obviously wasn't going to sound exactly like the original, I thought it should still sound decent. I knew I had hit the first note correctly, at least, but when I listened to the recording, I genuinely couldn't stand it. It sounded horrible to me. This happens with a large majority of the songs I sing.

My singing teacher told me it's normal to dislike your own voice. He actually sings extremely well and still doesn't like listening to himself. I've also heard a lot of other people say the same thing.

So is this really that common? Do most people dislike their own singing voice, regardless of how good they actually are?

I'm completely fine with the possibility that I just sound bad right now. I'm mostly wondering if, with enough practice and experience, it's possible to eventually listen to your own singing and genuinely think, "That sounds good."

Hi!! I have a vocal jazz audition tomorrow at my college and was wondering how this sounds. I’ve never thought I really had a “jazzy voice” but wanted to give it a try. If anyone’s an expert in jazz vocal styles specifically and they had any advice for me, I would appreciate it so much. Picture of me as well ❤️

HELP!!! I am wondering possibilities for why I am now singing sharp. For reference, I (24M) used to be top tenor in high school state choir as well as top 10 in NAFME all eastern choir, and I am confident my pitch finding was good. Since then, I have sung for fun with friends, by myself, and bands, but overall, I stopped singing in groups.

For some reason I decided to sing in front of a tuner, and found I am consistently sharp! I've done a few blind tests and I am still sharp, while in my head it my relative feeling SOUNDS correct.

I'm not sure how else to describe it so here we go: the way I know my pitches, like the feeling / imagery I hold in my head and throat and body, seem to be the same in my head, but when I compare them to the tuner, I'm consistently a quarter tone - half tone sharp.

Is there some term for how I could have become biased to hear what I am hearing? Do I have hearing loss? I can tell when someone is a little off with the accompaniment, IE sharp or flat... but now I'm wondering if I was the one hearing it wrong. Maybe I think they are flat, but in reality, they are perfect!

CRISIS! HELP!!!

PSA: Not sure if this is the right flair! I’ve been playing uke for 10 years, but only started singing a few years ago.
Hey everyone! I play standard and baritone ukulele (self-taught, never had any music or vocal lessons). I'm finally trying to push past the nerves and get over cringing at my own voice.
Here’s a cover of "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" by The Smiths.
I’d love your honest thoughts and critique, good or bad! Also feel free to drop any song or genre suggestions you think would fit my voice or setup. Thanks for listening!

I have had 3 or 4 lessons now so early days but wonder what I should expect? My goal is to work on my overall technique (improve diction, belting, breathing, trying to find my head voice and learn to use, increase my range). Never had lessons before so am a newbie. I have a few songs to practice at home and a couple of tips / pointers but should I be being given more exercises and routines to do at home like specific warmups? Or will this likely come when I am further into my learning. Don’t feel like I have really learnt anything yet and want to progress generally not just with a song I do each time

i sing mostly in japanese this song is a japanese song with a few english in it.
i train my voice for 4 months now(128 days) ,
and i feel im getting better than 4 months ago overall
my dream to become a singer in a music group.
i began singing since i was 12 years old, so i work on my voice, train, and record everyday.
can i be a singer, is my voice pretty
thank you x

I love this song

Help! I'm losing my voice and have an audition on the 12th. I normally practice for 45 minutes and need exercises that don't strain my voice box much so I can let it rest. Does anyone have suggestions for vocal exercises with less strain, plus ideas to fill the practice time? Any recommendations appreciated!

Small. Narrow. Open vowels. Not Turned.

I felt the shift and narrowing inside. The vowels are still too wide, imo, but much more manageable than before.

It seems that width and support go hand-in-hand. Horn players call it blowing out, and I suspect the vocal equivalent is blowing wide. Probably a chicken and egg thing, but they seem to be inseparable.

Hello everybody!

My background is in growled vocals (think Lamb of God etc) but lately I’ve been trying to get into some high power falsetto singing. The problem is that the way I’ve always applied grit to my voice doesn’t really work in that register as it’s way too volatile for even the smallest changes in support and projection of the voice.

To those who have managed to pull off Halford/Yannis style vocals, how do you keep it consistent without breaking the grit/distortion?

Here is me trying to sing some Beast in Black for reference:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KIPLYQ64LVXPEQ6Sm3rfOj08niUEsQ7F/view?usp=drivesdk

when I tried to ask for tips in the past, the responses were kinda mean (I had taken a few lessons for a couple months). now I’m back again. My voice is not perfect but I think it’s getting to where I want it to be

Hello, everyone!

Thank you for having me. I need to write down my experiences, my feelings. (Sorry for my bad English.)

I've been learning how to sing since 2022 with some missings. I was 29. My singing teacher is very patient, very nice, she is the best. Her singing is awesome. But when I sing, I have a lot of troubles, and unfortunately I can't fix them. I can't lift my soft palate, because of it my voice is bad, very bad, plus I spell the wovels in the wrong way, but this is okay, when I speak. So it's very hard. I tried my best, but in vain. I cried a lot, sometimes during my singing lessons. But I love sing. My teacher showed me some techniques to strengthen my muscles around and in my soft palate, and how to be independent my tongue against my chin. Sometimes I did make these exercises, but I have a very strong revulsion towards them. I'm afraid I do it badly, and I think, it doesn't matter if I do these, because I'm helpless, I just can't sing. Period. We was in a studio with my teacher singing Japanese covers a year ago, and my teacher helped me a lot, but it was fucking hard. I was so focused, I could't enjoy the process, I was sad because of the lot of new recording and I tried being hopeful, but I couldn't. Here are the two songs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgwB36-mJn4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P27_4p7Z3nk

I just don't know what to do. Could I just make the exercises and hope the best, or I'm so untalented, and I'm just wasting my time? Are you/ Have you been in a similar situation? What are your thoughts? Thank you for reading my post, and thank you for commenting. I appreciate it a lot.

hi, i'm a mezzo-soprano teenager and a singer. during the point of my life where i sang and belted every day, my voice was extremely powerful and controlled, and i was able to sing tricky musical theatre songs such as dead girl walking and candy store from heathers, etcetera. sadly i lost my belt box and became busy, so i haven't really sang at my "usual" level in a few months. i've been trying to warm up my voice recently, and noticed that it feels tired and significantly weaker than i remember. is that normal? what do i need to do to get back to my old skill level? how do i know where the line is between straining and doing something difficult? i'm self taught but with a lot of choir experience and i'm joining local theatre very soon.

I just want feedback on my voice. My friends and sister say im good but like, they are my friends and sister so my mind tells me they are just being nice. Please be brutality honest, I am doing vocal lessons as well!

hey guys Im 15 years old mezzo soprano begginer singer.Even though my voice isn't fully settled yet, it's more or less getting there, and I have high goals for myself. Where should I start?

Hi everyone!

I have joined my school musical because I was getting too much FOMO as I worked backstage and all my friends are actors, and now I have to sing almost every single song in the musical since I’m in ensemble.

The thing is, I’ve never actually tried to sing well, and I also have somewhat severe rhinitis that requires nasal cleansing twice as day or else I can’t breathe. It had been that way since I was 7 so for ten years. I still have that nasal voice as my baseline speaking voice even with the cleansing treatment and sometimes I have to do three times a day and still sound like my nose is blocked.

Is this something that’ll make singing harder or sound nasal forever? I don’t want to make the whole ensemble sound horrible.

If this helps, I like singing while strumming on guitar but I only like singing songs that are unconventional like Tim I Wish You Were Born a Girl or I’m Cool(I love the Will Roland version). I don’t think I’m that bad at tone hearing but I still can’t ear tune my guitar after 5 years of playing it so maybe mildly bad?

And those who are wondering, it’s not allergic rhinitis! My specialist doctor(in my country nasal-ear-throat special doctor is a thing) told me it is likely chronic.

Thanks!

I have no doubt of my singing and my accent and that it's natural. I've practiced and have a gift for fluent speaking despite my non-native background. The hard thing for me to figure out is what type of accent I lean towards in my singing. Being a non-native speaker means that I've never really had any long-term exposure to any given accent. And that my accent is a mix of what I've picked up on over the years on the internet and other forms of media. It seems like I change my singing drastically depending on the song. Although if you were to average it out my singing kinda sounds like a crooner-esque American sounding thing with a subtle English flair with the 'th' sounds and extended vowels. I just need help on whether I should stop overthinking this or look into it a little further

Hello Reddit,

Could you please give me some honest feedback on how I sound.

I was singing in the tenor range not to long ago but recently switched to the bass range.

What would you rate my singing out of 10?

W

Hi, I'm an amateur singer and I'm always interested in feedback about my voice: what I can improve, what I'm doing well, etc. Any help would be appreciated🥹

Some people say it is and others say it isn‘t. Some say many teachers require bi-weekly sessions.