Learning how to sing

[davidmpires]

Hi guys

This is a strange question but bass related nonethless.

I've been out of bands since April and am slowly going back to playing I'm enjoying but I'm playing very aimlessly. I strugle to learn songs by ear and I believe that one of the reasons for it is because I can't sing to save my life, I'm really horrible, so I thought that singing lessons would help me working on my hearing which in turn will help me with my bass playing.

Am I bonkers? Is this a good idea.

Please comment

David

[icastle]

I can't sing, or at least I [b]think[/b] I can't, but I have no problem playing or learning by ear - I've always done it that way!

[chris_b]

Learning to sing is a good idea for every musician, but playing by ear doesn't need singing to improve just practice.

Edited December 7, 2010 by chris_b

[HMX]

I wouldn't think being able to sing a certain note would have any correlation on having a good ear? Could be wrong, of course.

[thunderbird13]

[quote name='davidmpires' post='1050387' date='Dec 7 2010, 12:04 PM']Hi guys

This is a strange question but bass related nonethless.

I've been out of bands since April and am slowly going back to playing I'm enjoying but I'm playing very aimlessly. I strugle to learn songs by ear and I believe that one of the reasons for it is because I can't sing to save my life, I'm really horrible, so I thought that singing lessons would help me working on my hearing which in turn will help me with my bass playing.

Am I bonkers? Is this a good idea.

Please comment

David[/quote]

Can't help you much but I'm in the same boat as I can't sing either - I practice singing scales in the bath and can't even get up to one octave and it just sounds horrible

[xilddx]

[quote name='davidmpires' post='1050387' date='Dec 7 2010, 12:04 PM']Hi guys

This is a strange question but bass related nonethless.

I've been out of bands since April and am slowly going back to playing I'm enjoying but I'm playing very aimlessly. I strugle to learn songs by ear and I believe that one of the reasons for it is because I can't sing to save my life, I'm really horrible, so I thought that singing lessons would help me working on my hearing which in turn will help me with my bass playing.

Am I bonkers? Is this a good idea.

Please comment

David[/quote]
It depends. Can you sing in your head, and your problem is simply singing out loud? Generally it's an excellent idea.

I love singing (even though I don't like my singing voice) and being able to improvise harmonies, even quite complex ones with counterpoint things going on, definitely informs my note choices when composing bass lines. I think singing is a great conduit tieing your musical imagination to your instrument. If you can sing what you imagine, then play what you sing, you are onto a winner. The real journey is expanding your musical imagination and good taste. From that comes your style, because what you imagine is not tied to technique or theory, it's a much truer reflection of you. It's funny though, after 30 years of playing, I am only just realising I have a bit of a playing style so there is a lot of self analysis and awareness involved.

[davidmpires]

So it seems like there's a common opinion that to learn how to play by ear, I don't need the ability to sing. So I guess I'll have to look at ways to learn tunes by ear, albeit this is something I find very difficult.

Silddx that is very good and it is one the things I'd love to be able to do. Richard Bona does it fantastically I was amazed when I saw him doing that at the Jazz Cafe.

[lojo]

I agree, there are many people that have great ears, but are not blessed with a tuneful voice, they seem to be unconnected

If you know you cant sing, then its your ears telling you so, sadly we see plenty of examples on our TVs of people who cant sing, but don't have good ears to tell them so either

I doubt it works the other way round

[McCat]

[quote name='davidmpires']I strugle to learn songs by ear and I believe that one of the reasons for it is because I can't sing to save my life, I'm really horrible, so I thought that singing lessons would help me working on my hearing which in turn will help me with my bass playing.[/quote]

I don't think being able to sing has anything to do at all with your 'ear'. Having a sound to instantly correspond with the note you're trying to match is, I find, invaluable but - it sure as hell doesn't have to be singing. Humming or whistling helps just as well. Humming's probably a better method for bass players since you can generally hum lower than you can sing/whistle comfortably.

However, ear training's just like anything else. Just needs practice.

There's an ear training program for Windows call 'Auralia' which i've tried and does help.

[xilddx]

[quote name='McCat' post='1051019' date='Dec 7 2010, 08:49 PM']I don't think being able to sing has anything to do at all with your 'ear'. Having a sound to instantly correspond with the note you're trying to match is, I find, invaluable but - it sure as hell doesn't have to be singing. Humming or whistling helps just as well. [b]Humming's probably a better method for bass players since you can generally hum lower than you can sing/whistle comfortably.[/b]

However, ear training's just like anything else. Just needs practice.

There's an ear training program for Windows call 'Auralia' which i've tried and does help.[/quote]
Humming is a great way of practicing singing quietly but you can't hum to a lower pitch, it only sounds like that because of the absence of the higher frequencies.

It's probably best to get some lessons, for all sorts of reasons. Most of the problem with learning to sing is confidence. Good vocal technique is critical to overcoming any confidence problems, and save your vocal folds from damage.

I like putting a good singalong CD on, anything from ABBA to Zappa, and singing vocal harmonies or unison to it. You should know if the sounds you make please you or not. If they do, you are on the way. Unless you really can't hear if it's out of tune, in which case you definitely need some ear training and recognising dissonance from consonance.

Think of your favourite song in your head, can you hear the melodies, and possibly the harmonies? Then you just need to train your voice to execute it in reality and your brain to recognise if it's right or wrong.