# Self-taught singer, any good?



## catherineklug (May 22, 2013)

Hey, I don't train other than what I manage to teach myself.. I'd love to know what you guys think, but please if you don't like it, fine, but don't leave mean remarks. Thanks


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Overall, quite good. You're someone with solid natural talent who should consider professional lessons, even if only for your personal satisfaction. You've also got the potential for singing semi-pro in local opera or choral groups.

Okay, so here goes, as I heard you and as I know from my own association with professional opera singers, and remember, my evaluation is worth exactly what you paid me, exactly nuttin', but I do have about 30 years experience in classical singing and 10 years in opera. This doesn't qualify me and I'm totally okay if you disagree, but you asked, so I'm gonna give you a pretty lengthy response...

First impressions: Smooth tone but not a lot of individual expression of the notes. Good pitch but lacking in sufficient "bite" on certain phrases or syllables. Not a lot of projection, more a "chamber choir" voice right now, a little like what a pro might sing during stage rehearsals, "sotto voce" (soft voice) where the singer intentionally doesn't push. Pronunciation seems fine, rolled the R's well, as is properly done with Italian, but in some cases syllables were a little mushy. Very nice, overall, but now you need to take what you've got and expand on it.

1- get professional classical voice lessons. They'll likely cost you about 20-25 bucks per, 1 hr a week.
2- be prepared to spend hours practicing and enlarging your skill.
3- decide just what you want to do with your voice -- opera is different from choral music, opera requiring lots more projection and adding plenty of "texture" to the notes, whereas in a choral group, blending is more important. Even if you're in an opera chorus, it's different. Chorale is a group of voices blended as one. Opera chorus is a group of voices singing individually but in unison. A slight difference but telling. So if you just want to sing in a choral group, doing Messiah or Mozart's Requiem and so on, all you need is a bit more volume. But if you're genuinely interested in pursuing a semi-pro operatic venture (as I did -- I worked full time as an engineering consultant in high-tech offshore rig design and deepwater drilling techniques all the time I was singing in a local small opera company) you need lessons.

Suggestions for specific technique:
1- open your mouth wider. Do so vertically, not just a wide big mouth sideways. You're already doing the right thing by casting your tones off your upper front teeth. Always keep those front teeth exposed slightly because the tone "breaks" across the edge of your teeth and will be more crisp and precise.
2- your Italian is a bit too "soft" -- we Americans sometimes get, mmm, "over self-conscious" about pronouncing foreign words. Italian isn't as soft a language as you're making it out -- syllables are more crisp and sharp at their initiation, then resonate into open vowels, but that "starting sound" for syllables needs to be sharper.
3- you definitely need more volume. I don't know whether you were deliberately singing quieter for this posting or whether you felt it was enough, but no, it's not enough volume. But don't shout, ever.
4- I think you aren't "pushing" enough with the diaphragm. Nor does your throat seem to be fully open to let the tones resonate. More suggestions about that:

Open your mouth wider, always keep your tongue flat in the bottom of the mouth (if the tongue rises, it can muffle the tone). Now, before you begin to sing, learn to take a huge breath deep within your diaphragm. As my voice teacher told me, "Make your baby" ha ha. That is, don't breathe by lifting your shoulders at all, instead let your abdomen push out in front and the sides. That deep breathing is essential. When you're doing it correctly, your chest and shoulders don't move at all, and instead your abdomen puffs outward very quickly. You also need to learn how to take that deep breath very quickly.

Okay, now when you've gotten a deep breath, open your mouth wider (vertically mostly) and "start to yawn", and okay, sometimes you'll actually trigger a real yawn but that's okay because you're then doing it right. In other words, open your throat deeply as if you're starting to yawn. If you do this properly, you can feel your glottis (soft palate) rising in the back of your throat, literally getting out of the way, your tongue will instinctively flatten into the bottom of your mouth, you'll go "ahhh" and the throat will open very deep and wide. NOW you can try to sing a few scale notes, but always, always, focus on "trying to yawn" or starting to at least. You'll quickly learn how to do this and you'll be amazed at the difference you feel in increased air making a larger sound. Keep this open throat at all times. The difference in the amount of air you can bring to the note will be apparent.

Next, work on projection. Of course it's all a mental thing, projection, because the "noise" of that singing comes from the voice box and your throat, but "imagine" that the sound is actually forming about a foot beyond your mouth. One trick is to actually "sing at your finger" -- that is, put your forefinger up in front of your face, pointing upright, and sing at the finger, imagining that the notes "break" across the fingertip. Sing at this imaginary "target" and trick yourself in that your tones are actually forming in the open space beyond your mouth. They're not of course, but it's a gimmick to help you focus.

Now, another gimmick to try, another mental gyration that may help your projection... you know what a Kundalini is? It's the energy that's supposedly traveling up your spinal column during Hindi meditation. Whether it's real or not isn't the issue here. It's a simple means of focusing your energy. If you see ancient drawings of Buddha or other sacred figures, you often see the artist drew a sort of geyser of colored energy zooming out from the top of the person's head, toward the back of their skull, like a roman candle.

So visualize this... each note you sing is a font of energy bursting from the top of your head like you had a sparkly roman candle strapped to the back of your neck, and each note is a shower of pure color energy that shoots upward from your head and then sails forward away from you toward the "audience". How this trick works is that it allows you to project your tones outward with more emphasis rather than keeping them bottled up inside your mouth (as you seem to be doing in your video). Yes it's a gimmick and sounds silly but it's like any mental trick, giving you a chance to focus your voice outward. So the "note" arises not from your throat but out the top of your head and then zooms forward in an arc toward the audience. Believe me, it works. Singing at your finger works, too. It's all meant to increase your projection and allow you to push then note out better.

So... 1- take a deep diaphragm breath, 2- open your mouth wide like you were starting to yawn, 3- remember to keep your upper front teeth visible, 4- push the note out toward your finger held upright about a foot in front of your face or push the note out of the top of your roman candle head, or both. 5- always maintain "support" for your tones by pushing the notes out of your abdomen, never the chest or throat. 6- don't tense up -- remain relaxed and easy, the only "tight" thing you have is your diaphragm, never your throat or chest or vocal chords, never hunch your shoulders or brace yourself there. 7- hit your syllable beginnings crisply then get off that and let the vowel soar, but be sure to "sound" each syllable crisply first -- Italian pronunciation is sharper than you were singing, it's never "soft" at the beginning, only during the vowel portion.

I think you'll be amazed at the increase in volume you have and how your tone is still clean.

Be sure to give me some feedback and ask as many questions as you can. I'm happy to help.


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

More...

always warm up before singing. And always start your warmups singing "bocca chiusa" (mouth closed) by humming the notes.

when warming up, start softly but always, always, with a full deep diaphragm breath and full support for that note, soft or loud, regardless. At first sing open vowels like "la la la" or "tee tee tee"

sing some scales, chromatic or whatever, up and down, till your voice seems smooth and natural.

also practice quick syllables up and down the scale, like "bobby baby bobby baby" or "makey mockey makey mockey". To help your Italian, sing "mee ohh mee ohh" up and down.

I know there are tons of great books on singing technique but I'd recommend that you take a look at Renee Fleming's autobiography "The Inner Voice" because it's a fine, entertaining book and tells the inside story of her career, but also her discussion of vocal technique is spot on.


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## catherineklug (May 22, 2013)

Wow, thank you for all of that! I was thinking about it all as I was reading it and it really makes a lot of sense! You certainly know what you're doing 
I actually wouldn't class myself as an opera singer, just because I have had next to no training, and I think it would take me, what, like until I'm 30 for my voice to develop as one? I'm 22 now so I got some time I guess.. I'm not totally sure if I'm interested in turning semi-pro or pro as an opera singer, I'm much more at ease just singing classical pieces or hymns, like Pie Jesu (John Rutter's version, although I love Andrew Lloyd Webber's too), La Nuit, The Lord is My Shepherd, Bread of Heaven, Danny Boy, Cymru Fach, stuff like that. But I will definitely remember what you said for those ones as well!! I think I'm generally louder with them too - my camera isn't the best so I might have been subconsciously quieting my voice down so that the sound wouldn't get distorted.. Might have to invest in a better camera.. Lol
My entire YouTube channel is quite varied, I sing lots of stuff on there from Opera to One Direction lol. I like singing all kinds of stuff, but classical is what I love. I know I've got quite a ways to go with the opera, so I thank you very much for your advice! I'll definitely let you know if I've got any more questions!


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Let me tell about myself... I grew up singing as a choirboy in a large Episcopal church with a first rate musical director, so I was reading music and singing Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Handel from the start. My voice matured into what I thought was a decent baritone and as an adult I continued to sing in church choirs (mostly "high" Episcopal/Anglican) in San Fran and elsewhere. And I was also lucky to have near perfect pitch. This means that if you say "sing an E flat" I can get pretty close a capella and totally off the top of my head.

I sang in chorales and so on, loved the music, also developed a love for opera and at the recommendation of a pal (who was a pro bass) I auditioned for a small local opera company, and was accepted into the chorus. I immediately felt like I was "home" and loved it, but felt I was just pushing at some invisible barrier. So I asked around and got started taking professional lessons. Within a month the change was incredible! I extended my range up and down, and learned to form the tones and to open my throat, and use the diaphragm properly for the first time. Turns out that although I had some decent natural talent and thankfully the brains to apply that, I'd merely been scratching at the door! Within 6 months my voice had totally changed, and my confidence grew too. As my singing progressed I was later offered solo roles in the opera productions and also began to sing at weddings and so on, being paid "real money" for this.

I'm telling you this because I see in your video a basic talent that I'm very sure you'd turn handsprings to make progress with. My recommendation is to look for private lessons and search for a decent teacher, someone who sings or has sung professionally or is known as a good operatic teacher. You're 22 and that's fine -- your body is fully "matured" now and you won't be sounding like Minnie Mouse (ha ha). You're at the perfect age to take this talent to the next level. And I hate to bring this up because we're in an age of political correctness but you're also a fairly attractive young woman and that cannot hurt if you're looking for an opportunity to sing in an opera company. Don't fixate on that, of course, but let it be a background thought if you eventually decide to audition.

My recommendation is to not wait. The fact that you've taken the time to learn songs and arias, and put them on YouTube indicates that you're genuinely interested in moving forward. So please don't hide your light under a bushel and instead try to find a voice teacher, hopefully one who has "connections" in the classical singing groups in your area. Here in Houston we've got the luxury of the world-ranked Houston Grand Opera and Houston Symphony Chorus, but also 3 small opera companies and a number of choral societies. Depending on where you live your venues may be greater or smaller. But don't let that concern you -- strike forward and do something beyond just "singing in the shower" because I'm certain that you'll enjoy the challenge, if only for your own personal growth.


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

If you're only interested in singing choral works as you say -- although you're not sure of this-- a few lessons will still be fine, and will cement in your mind the idea of joining a semi-pro choral group that gives concerts. I tell you this, the feeling you will have, standing among your peers, and singing the great fugue "Kyrie" in Mozart's Requiem is like an electric current running in your body. A few years back our choral group sang Carmina Burana and that was a thrill, too.

But nothing compares with being in the chorus of a legitimate (albeit small) semi-pro opera company, rehearsing till you're dog tired, learning the Italian or French or whatever, then stepping onstage with your fellow chorus members and singing in Magic Flute or Marriage of Figaro or Tosca or whatever!

When you go to a voice teacher for lessons, you may be asked to audition. Yes, some teachers don't take on total beginners but require that you already know how to read music and can sing a bit.

Choose 2 songs or arias to take to the voice teacher. The Cherubino aria you posted would be fine. Then pick maybe a Broadway classic song that perhaps shows off another aspect of your voice, higher register or whatever. Take the sheet music and find that teacher. You'll never regret it.

And be sure to keep us posted, okay?


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Reading your bio, you said that you don't read music. Girl, you gotta gotta totally learn that stuff!

You obviously have good natural pitch -- you can stay on key throughout an entire song and don't drift up or down, which is a start. And you seem to be bright and energetic. So get thee to a "liberry" or bookstore and get a book on how to read music and learn, gal!

It's not all that difficult. Notes go up or down on the staff, you learn a bit about whole notes, half notes, quarter, etc. Then key signatures, like B, E, A, D (one, two, three, four flats) and so on. If you don't already have one, get yourself a cheap keyboard thingie, battery operated. And I'm not kidding, a big chain toystore is where to go! Get an inexpensive piano keyboard that only covers mid-range and learn how to pick out the piano keys vs notes on the musical score.

Then buy (probably internet online order of sheet scores) some sheet music. Depending on whether you live near/in a big city (Toronto? -- I don't think you'd be singing Eliz II's God Save the Queen if you were in Quebec, ha ha) you may find sheet music at a store, but you may need to order it online.

Myself, I've got a big stack of arias and classic Broadway songs (Some Enchanted Evening, September Song, Sunrise Sunset) and other stuff that bass-baritones sing. Over the course of my singing "career" I've learned a couple dozen legit operatic arias and the same number of Broadway classics.

You really, really, really need to learn to read music, my friend. Really. It's yet another door opening and once you learn that -- and I tell you it'll be quick, as you already have good natural pitch which will transfer to a music score easily -- you'll be moving on.

Don't languish as a perpetual wanna-be. You've got a good beginner's voice and some excellent talent with which to improve on it. But knowing how to read music is essential. There are plenty of good books on the subject, some that come with a CD. They all start with the C scale (no flats or sharps) and go from there.

Browse the books in a big chain store and you'll find a couple of good ones. And be self-taught in that, too. You HAVE to know how to read music to sing in a chorale or opera, as you certainly already know.

But don't get "scared" and be put off by needing to know that F-major or E-minor is. It will come to you, a skill to be learned. Heck, if I could do it, anybody can...


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## Roland (Mar 13, 2013)

Catherine, I listened to your video. I enjoyed your voice and your singing kept my interest. I really think you hit gold with katdad, he gives some great advice. It's clear that you enjoy singing, I would second his advice and ask you to take your talent to the next level.


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Just wait till Catherine gets my huge consultation bill! heh heh, send the check right to my Houston headquarters to avoid messy collections (ha ha).

Really, thanks for the compliment. I can hopefully give her and others advice because although I sang for many years in a choir and chorale, it wasn't until much later that I began professional private lessons and my whole voice opened up, amazing me. My voice teacher cleverly recorded my singing some scales and other easy stuff during my first lesson, then about 6 months later, played them back alongside a new recording of my singing the same stuff. Like night and day. So I'm telling our friend to the north (north of me, anyway) that she needs to move up to the next step and she'll never regret this.


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## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

Pretty voice, Miss Catherine; gee, I wish I'd had some advice as good as you have here when I was 20 odd.
I'm doing a lot of the things Mr. Katdad suggests 40 years too late, & many of them still work, so practise hard at them & good luck !


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

... it's EEYORE! Excellent.


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## catherineklug (May 22, 2013)

Whoa whoa, I signed nothing, this is a free website!! 

And I really appreciate all the advice, thank you!


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## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

It is - 'thank you for noticing little me' !


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

catherineklug said:


> Whoa whoa, I signed nothing, this is a free website!!


"Curses, foiled again!" he said, twisting his mustache and stalking off into the night. "Now to foreclose on Little Nell's startup website! Heh, heh..."


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Glancing over what I'd written previously, I see that I recommended keeping the edge of the upper front teeth exposed so that the tone "breaks" across them for better, sharper initial diction. Modifying that...

Naturally I meant the "open" vowel sounds only, like "eee" or "teee" or whatever. Of course, "closed" vowels like "mooo" are made by pursing the lips in a oval in which the teeth are hidden. Sorry for that.

Regardless, don't let your lips muffle the tone. If vowel is closed, like "uuu" or "ooo", don't let the lips be a teeny round hole through which the sound can scarcely escape, like you were getting ready to sip a soda straw. Instead, even for closed vowel sounds, open your mouth in an oval (not circular) -- always open the mouth wide top to bottom, not side to side -- and form a wide smooth channel for the note.

Browse through YouTube videos of major opera stars, male and female, and watch how they use their lips and teeth to govern the tones, and how they carefully manipulate those tones.

Keep in touch and let us know your next moves, and yeah, again, you gotta learn to read music, girl.


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