Have you personally known a terrible singer that got good over time?

[Buddhist#6]

I have gotten better over the years with practice but over the last two years, I have regressed some since I am not singing as often.

Yeh, it’s like working out, if you don’t do it for a while you lose some stamina and the number of reps or whatever, I firmly believe singing is like that, gotta train the muscles, give adequate rest, and keep
Up practicing or else you’ll lose it. Now whether someone’s voice is good is obviously subjective but barring a psychical or mental disability singing can be done in tune, now the character of ones voice is another story imo.

 

[wildschwein]

Don’t personally know him but Hetfield improved a lot:

 

[mlkIII]

Pretty much every great singer started as a very young child who wasn't yet a very good singer.

What most holds back people who think of themselves as unable to sing is an under-developed ear for intervals/relative pitch. Most people aren't going to become great singers. But, if they put in the time to develop their ears, most people can become at least passable-to-good singers.

This! I’m not a great singer but understand intervals and relative pitch well due to the guitar. I don’t see myself being able to front a band nor do I really want to but I can now sing harmonies pretty well and it’s getting better everyday. It’s all about being able to understand and hear those intervals before you sing them. I can hear them in my head now before I sing them and it makes my consistency to hit the harmony so much easier.

 

[Infinite Radius]

My sister once told me when I was just starting to learn to sing and play guitar, that the most important trait of a good singer was actually not their voice, but their ears. I thought she was crazy at the time, but I came to realize she was absolutely right.

 

[KHAN]

No. Every terrible singer I've personally known remained terrible.

The tragedy is that they didn't know it. And they were the most relentless and talented at somehow getting gigs.

 

[Losov]

Yes I ha . . . . uh . . . . come to think of it, no, no I don't, not personally.

 

[Cedar]

This! I’m not a great singer but understand intervals and relative pitch well due to the guitar. I don’t see myself being able to front a band nor do I really want to but I can now sing harmonies pretty well and it’s getting better everyday. It’s all about being able to understand and hear those intervals before you sing them. I can hear them in my head now before I sing them and it makes my consistency to hit the harmony so much easier.

Singing solid, in-tune harmonies is WAY harder than singing lead for most material.

If you can truly sing strong harmonies (not "backups" as they are often called around here) there is no reason you can't sing lead.

I'm from the close-harmony school where the harmony vocal should be as loud and prominent as the lead.

 

[Cedar]

My sister once told me when I was just starting to learn to sing and play guitar, that the most important trait of a good singer was actually not their voice, but their ears. I thought she was crazy at the time, but I came to realize she was absolutely right.

Not sure what that means.

 

[Buddhist#6]

Not sure what that means.

Probably to hear when Your off pitch and correct it.

 

[Cedar]

Probably to hear when Your off pitch and correct it.

Which is the most important aspect of singing (with your voice).

 

[mlkIII]

Singing solid, in-tune harmonies is WAY harder than singing lead for most material.

If you can truly sing strong harmonies (not "backups" as they are often called around here) there is no reason you can't sing lead.

I'm from the close-harmony school where the harmony vocal should be as loud and prominent as the lead.

Right on! I wouldn’t say they’re all strong but some are definitely strong. Maybe I could sing lead but I’m very hard on myself.

With singing (and in anything in life especially music related) it’s all about confidence. You have to really sing loud and be confident about it.

 

[Infinite Radius]

Probably to hear when Your off pitch and correct it.

Exactly!

 

[Cedar]

Right on! I wouldn’t say they’re all strong but some are definitely strong. Maybe I could sing lead but I’m very hard on myself.

With singing (and in anything in life especially music related) it’s all about confidence. You have to really sing loud and be confident about it.

Yes, shamelessness is essential to fronting a band.

For better or for worse, I have that quality.

 

[mlkIII]

I will also say that IEMs made a massive difference for me as a singer. I can really hear myself and can know when I’m on or off. That was huge for me because a lot of times without IEMs, I couldn’t hear my vocals at all really. Part of that is probably on me for not singing loud enough at soundcheck but with IEMs it really made a difference. Especially with the Shure P3RA bodypack with mix mode where I can turn the vocal mix up even louder mid set. I am not usually one to say gear makes that big of a difference but in this situation I do truly believe IEMs made a huge difference for the better for my vocal performances among other things they’re good for…..ya know like saving your hearing lol

 

[ArtDecade]

They have these people known as vocal coaches.... They can help.

 

[Strummerfan]

I can think of a few good singers who got worse over time. I can't sing at all, even the dog leaves the room. And no, @Riffi , this isn't me being over critical. I know the lyrics to everything, and enjoy singing. Just don't sound good. Once my band was rehearsing, and our singer had to skip because his wife was sick. My bandmates said "you know all the lyrics, you sing just so we can still get a rehearsal in." I sang two songs and they said "okay, let's just skip it and call it a night". I once wrote a song for my wife. She never asked me to sing it a second time. If I had to sing for my supper, I'd be the skinniest mofo on the face of the earth.

I really can't sing.

 

[Strummerfan]

Don't be sad for me @Riffi , if I could sing I might never have learned to play guitar!

 

[Buddhist#6]

I can think of a few good singers who got worse over time. I can't sing at all, even the dog leaves the room. And no, @Riffi , this isn't me being over critical. I know the lyrics to everything, and enjoy singing. Just don't sound good. Once my band was rehearsing, and our singer had to skip because his wife was sick. My bandmates said "you know all the lyrics, you sing just so we can still get a rehearsal in." I sang two songs and they said "okay, let's just skip it and call it a night". I once wrote a song for my wife. She never asked me to sing it a second time. If I had to sing for my supper, I'd be the skinniest mofo on the face of the earth.

I really can't sing.

I’m sorry to hear that. At least you still have the playing though. Not to mention the repair skills which I really need to work on. So it’s not all bad. I guess I shouldn’t generalize, as there’s bound to be exceptions. We all have our strengths and we all have our deficiencies, so I’d say embrace your strengths. Best wishes.

 

[Strummerfan]

I’m sorry to hear that. At least you still have the playing though. Not to mention the repair skills which I really need to work on. So it’s not all bad. I guess I shouldn’t generalize, as there’s bound to be exceptions. We all have our strengths and we all have our deficiencies, so I’d say embrace your strengths. Best wishes.

I guess all those years of cigarettes and joints didn't help.

 

[Lopp]

Most people initially hate their recorded voice because that is not what they hear due to the resonance of their head. However, they still may be crappy singers.

For example, regardless of recorded or not, I am a terrible singer.

Allow me to put it in perspective:

I was so bad, I went to a voice/singing coach and she indicated she could not help me because she thought my vocal chords were damaged and I should see a doctor, so I did. The otolaryngologist determined there is NOTHING wrong with my vocal chords.

Yes, I was so bad, a vocal coach thought I was beyond help without medical intervention.

I did a couple of sessions of voice therapy at the hospital, but it was expensive and they were primarily teaching me fundamentals that most vocal coaches would teach.

I have gotten better. The biggest improvement was from choosing and transposing songs so they suit my baritone voice better.

I wasn't going to do it, but screw it... Here's what I sounded like trying to sing a metal version of Dirty Deeds, which is way out of my vocal range:



And that's with a bunch-o-effects. Pretty nasal, muffled, and lacking resonance. I have since been working on singing more from my chest and lifting my soft palate to sound less nasal.