For me, writing for my voice is picking up a baritone guitar lol. I think a lot of guys who think they can’t sing really can sing, just not in the range you hear guys on the radio sing. Just because you’re not Robert plant doesn’t mean you can’t sing!
You can sing in any pitch you want so long as you stay within the key. If you're singing low, a lower overall pitch might sound nicer, but that's personal preference.
@@misterknightowlandco Yes but an E chord on a baritone is still an E chord, and the key of E has the same notes in the scale that you would be singing. So it's less about the instrument and more about the key you're singing in.
@@bryanvickers while your correct an E chord is an E chord and Eric’s main point was finding your most comfortable keys to sing in, when I sing, I’m happiest on the lowest notes of the chord. On a baritone you get more of that. Maybe I’m not expressing myself correctly because I fully admit that I don’t know all the right terms for everything, but I feel more comfy singing by myself playing on a baritone. Plus with the longer scale you can tune down, which I like to do a lot, and maintain the stiffness in the strings without having to get weird string gauges like Joey landreth. I don’t want to slap 19’s on a regular fender strat lol. It’s all good and all preferences so no ill will is aimed at anyone.
I am trying to compose a song, I put out one with double tracked & reverby vocals and that fitted in with the drum & bass nature of the song. But I am trying to keep my voice natural and more dynamic in this new song and I hate how flat, weak & boring my voice sounds. But your speech on "Art is about embracing your limitations and finding work arounds" was something I needed to hear. Thank you. 🙌
I feel you! I love doing the double-track thing too! When I do just one track, I totally cop the John Lennon distortion/slapback sound. I can live with that!
Vocal lessons are some of the best investment any musician can make regardless of whether you intend to sing in public! They drastically improve your breath and ear, give you options with what your voice is (or can become), and really help your comping, no matter what your instrument is. One concept that really helps is to know your tessitura, which is your *comfortable* range, where your voice sounds most natural. Most songs you do should be in your tessitura. Allow over a set for a few songs to be out of it and then give yourself a break by going back to your tessitura afterwards. For instance, my tessitura is basically the D below middle C to about F above it (it depends on the day but that's roughly it). I can hang around there without much trouble. I can get up to the C above middle C or even higher and go down to the low E on a guitar but that really requires work and effort and I shouldn't stay there for long. A tune that requires me hitting a lot of low notes over and over will be a problem, but so will a tune that requires a lot of high notes over and over, or a lot of crossing from head to chest. If you can arrange songs for a key that suits your tessitura it's worth it. A lot of rock that uses the more challenging open string vocabulary songs (think Alex Lifeson of Rush or Roger Miller of Mission of Burma) don't lend themselves to that, though. Also, songs that require a wide vocal range or have big interval leaps often don't change key well. You can definitely expand your range but it takes time and if you don't do it well, you can get hurt, for instance if you try to sing through your throat rather than learning how to resonate in your head and blow out your vocal cords. Your voice also changes over your lifetime, so it naturally loses high end over time, although there are folks like Paul Rodgers or Glenn Hughes who've maintained or even grown range over time. Despite both being in their 70s, they are both able to sing their material from the late '60s and early '70s in the original keys. Those guys started out with amazing natural talent and then worked their butts off to still sound amazing. They both know how to arrange songs for their voices, though---they hang around in their tessituras most of the time and saves really big notes for when they make the most impact. This is especially true of Paul Rodgers. Most of his parts are not all that high and he choses his notes very carefully so that he's got enough in the tank to really make an impact when the time comes. You're totally right, though, the character aspect is a big thing, especially for someone singing lead. I know someone who's a very skilled singer but his voice's character is either very plain or nasal. He's an excellent background vocalist but not a good lead singer. Lowell George is one of the greatest lead singers of rock. He didn't have a really big range by any stretch of the imagination but he really knew how to get the most out of the range he had and his voice had great character.
@@dezmodium "The voice is an instrument like any other. It needs to be trained like one." 100% true, and even more than any other instrument it makes your playing way better.
I’ll add to this that there are things you can do to find a unique voice. Mess around with mouth shape and breathiness and grit. Just record yourself singing in different ways. Find something that you like, is comfortable, and more importantly fun to do.
The biggest benefit I have found recently was hearing playback of my vocals... sometimes cringeworthy but that informs me where I need to make adjustments. Typically I'm not too far off but that little bit of feedback is enough to help polish the vocals it also helps me with how the guitar interacts with the vocals.
I've always found I sing certain artists great and others I have to strain my voice to sing their stuff. But when it's my own music I can always hit the notes I wanna hit because I'm the one making it. Haha
My guitar teacher is having me sing intervals as I play them. I've been playing for just under 3 1/2 years and I swear to god, it's got me feeling like I just started 6 weeks ago. It's SOOO hard! Which is why this video is so timely :) Thanks as always Eric! You're my favorite virtual/youtube teacher.
Hell yeah dude This is crazy relatable for my journey with my voice Once I learned to change keys no matter the songs and I figured out where my vocal strong points are, it increased my songwriting exponentially. It's awesome
I have a pretty strong tenor voice along the lines of Brandon Flowers. Might sound like I'm blowing my own horn, but a lot of the time I find myself wishing I had a deeper voice along the lines of Bowie or something. Just because you wish you sounded like somebody else doesn't mean you sound bad! Learn to love your own voice!
Such good advice. I think singers would do well to remove the ego/insecurity component and concentrate on singing what they can well, and with confidence.
I really appreciate this. I've all but given up on making music in the last couple years, and I think this is at least in part due to me not acknowledging my limits. Might still struggle but I might give it another go. Thanks
I have a very high pitched singing voice but I am also very self conscious when I sing around people so I don't project my voice. Because my singing voice is so high in register it sounds like crap if I don't project my voice and I don't hit the high notes which i found is almost impossible for me if I don't have a certain amount of breath behind my voice. Great video, I like your comment about character 😃
Oh yeah that's tough! It's hard to practice or play things when your voice is naturally high and loud - but that's so useful for recording and performing!
It's a bit like playing guitar. The more you sing, the better you get at it, and the more comfortable you get with your voice. I think a thing is we are often less comfortable to sing where others can hear us than we are to play, so we don't that voice time in
This is a great video, and I agree whole-heartedly. A perfect example who is still going strong to this day is J.Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. He can't even sing, with no lessons or knowledge on even fundamental concepts, but manages to make it work by making the instrumentals go along with his weird voice, sometimes in equally bizarre fashion with it not even being in key, and it ends up making someone who is horrible at singing, sound amazing.
Great advice! I'm one of those typical "won't sing, 'cause I can't sing" guys. But having a guitar, a microphone, and a basic recording setup (audio interface, DAW, and some plugins) makes you curious. While I'll certainly take whatever I've recorded so far to my grave, I did notice that I might not be as hopeless as I thought I was. The problem is mostly with my range. There's a low part where my voice has body and passable character, and a high part where I sound thin, nasal, and a bit whiny. Unfortunately, from a technical perspective the low part has fundamentals just over 100 Hz and the whole body and character live in notoriously overcrowded the lower mids. I'm finding it extremely hard to make my voice sound good and cut through the mix at the same time. Given the limited ambition to express myself lyrically, I don't see myself embracing the restrictions of my voice anytime soon.
all the details in between are really helpful and helped round out my knowledge on this topic Also I usually do simple to intermediate vocal exercises for atleast 5 min a day a few times a week. It’s taken years to notice big results but it’s a must do I think
Hey man, really appreciate your videos as someone who has been taking guitar lessons for a little over a year and feel like I'm moving at a pretty slow pace. Your videos offer some encouragement. Thanks a lot
Thanks man, I really needed this reminder. I've been working on my voice range and accuracy as well as methods to make some weird noises (which I guess would fall into character haha), but I've been beating myself up a bit because I try to do rock and metal and I just naturally have a high voice for a man, it's not uncommon for women to sing lower than I can and it's bothered me. So I really do appreciate this, it's helped me gain my confidence in writing non instrumental pieces again and I will soon be abusing the power of the capo and not stressing over it lol
Just wanted to swing by to say thank you for your truefire course! Just finished it…of course I am gonna spend some months getting really comfortable with it. Can’t wait for your BLUES course 😅
This kind of stuff is important..I hurt my voice a few times and it sucks,...no joke using your voice as an instrument for esp. rockier more distorted sounds.
Definitely play around with moving the keys to where your voice is strong! Try covering songs by talk singers like Lou Reed - it's a great way to gain confidence in what you've got!
I have kind of a good problem with a lot of things I write. I have a pretty large range which means I spend a long time going through various keys to find where a particular song sits best. It's worth it in the end but it's quite a bit of head fuckery for want of a better word!
Idea for a cool progression video. Terry Reid: All I Have to Do is Dream of the album Rogue Waves. A great singer/songwriter interpretation of the evenly brothers classic.
I've been enjoying these recent videos! I've been working on trying to write and sing my own material over this past year and it's definitely been a challenge, but I'm trying to avoid putting too much pressure to write something amazing and just enjoy the process. It does get a little frustrating when I have ideas of what I want the songs to be about, but struggle to actually put it in words
I suspect Tallest Man On Earth could have a "good" voice if he wanted, but I do agree with you all the same. Just because he's deliberately dirtying it up (I think) doesn't invalidate him as a good example of this principle.
as time goes on I feel that people ask: "who doesnt sing bad"? for me its easier to list folks who sing good live: "enya" "tears for fears" "beyonce" etc.
There are a few problems when I want to have vocals in a song: 1st: I want a female voice, I'm not a female... Using a voice changer solved this problem, but the result is not always good, sometimes some tweaks can improve the result tho... 2nd: I'm bad at writing lyrics, I can't seem to get ideas to flow into my head... Strangely, ideas usually flow better when I write lyrics in Japanese... The problem is I can't speak Japanese... My approach is using Google Translate + my very limited knowledge of Japanese + r/translator (lol) to help me write lyrics... It's a lot of effort, so most of the time I just write instrumental...
Hey Eric, I’m not even sure if I can write or sing but this series is definitely intriguing. I was thinking the other day about the video you did on playing bass. What about a video for someone wanting to perform their own drum parts? You started on drums right?
On trumpet! Then guitar, bass, and drums. Drums are so hard to mic up and get the sound right - you probably won't see me do vids on those until I have a much nicer studio :-)
This is great! If Nick Cave could pull it off, so can you. Somehow, I was never super impressed with "great" singers, you know, the athletes of singing. Give me OLD Johnny Cash, Tom Waits (he sang "old" at age 30), k d lang any day over some AGT winner. Well, k d lang is kind of a "great" singer. Sorry about that. Here are a few singers with unbelievable character: Julia Fordham, David Sylvian, Jon Astley, Kelly Joe Phelps, Joan Armatrading, Sam Brown.
Hey man. I really think you should talk to a singing teacher before approaching this topic in a video. You've given some pretty bad singing advice there, some of which could be misconstrued and cause people to hurt themselves when they sing. It's worth noting that note accuracy and tonal character are things that you can absolutely change in your voice, and really great singers can alter those things to fit the song rather than the other way around. The most important thing I can tell anybody about this is GET SINGING LESSONS. Even a couple lessons can greatly change your understanding of how your voice works and you can get a lot more out of your singing 🙂
Over the years I've managed to work out where my voice sounds best. Out back well away from anyone. I don't even like the tone while I'm singing, let alone hearing it back. Shhhh ...(whisper) sometimes (no, always) I wish Axl Rose had been so self deprecating.
Hey, here's a question: How can I keep my guitar playing from stepping over my voice? Sometimes I feel as if I need to play the bass notes, but then my vocal line gets muddied since it's in the same range
Depends on how loud you're playing guitar - sometimes students just need to dial it back a bit to make room. Now, if you're a baritone like me, you gotta really play the gtr quiet to leave room. It's possible though - look at Leonard Cohen! (One of my all time faves)
I would like to sing my hole life...i have a strong voice but nonmatter what i am doing i cant match the pitch...not one note is correct when i am singing...so that makes me realy a bad singer😂😅
I do believe that if we can hear that we're a little off, we can learn to get better and better! The only folks who are truly hopeless are the tone deaf - I know some folks like that. They love music, but if they sing they have no control between going up or down.
You're the Bob Ross of guitar mentors. Thank you
bruh i was literally gonna comment that
Oh my god I was thinking this the whole time
Any chance this dude is on the Calm App or reads bedtime stories
What about Paul Davids?
perfect description, just found Eric awesome. I'll be expecting him to say that solos lives in your hands just push it out.
For me, writing for my voice is picking up a baritone guitar lol. I think a lot of guys who think they can’t sing really can sing, just not in the range you hear guys on the radio sing. Just because you’re not Robert plant doesn’t mean you can’t sing!
Baritone guitars play in all the same keys as a standard guitar.
@@bryanvickers yes they are but the voicing is deeper is it not?
You can sing in any pitch you want so long as you stay within the key.
If you're singing low, a lower overall pitch might sound nicer, but that's personal preference.
@@misterknightowlandco Yes but an E chord on a baritone is still an E chord, and the key of E has the same notes in the scale that you would be singing. So it's less about the instrument and more about the key you're singing in.
@@bryanvickers while your correct an E chord is an E chord and Eric’s main point was finding your most comfortable keys to sing in, when I sing, I’m happiest on the lowest notes of the chord. On a baritone you get more of that. Maybe I’m not expressing myself correctly because I fully admit that I don’t know all the right terms for everything, but I feel more comfy singing by myself playing on a baritone. Plus with the longer scale you can tune down, which I like to do a lot, and maintain the stiffness in the strings without having to get weird string gauges like Joey landreth. I don’t want to slap 19’s on a regular fender strat lol. It’s all good and all preferences so no ill will is aimed at anyone.
I am trying to compose a song, I put out one with double tracked & reverby vocals and that fitted in with the drum & bass nature of the song. But I am trying to keep my voice natural and more dynamic in this new song and I hate how flat, weak & boring my voice sounds. But your speech on "Art is about embracing your limitations and finding work arounds" was something I needed to hear.
Thank you.
🙌
I feel you!
I love doing the double-track thing too!
When I do just one track, I totally cop the John Lennon distortion/slapback sound. I can live with that!
Vocal lessons are some of the best investment any musician can make regardless of whether you intend to sing in public! They drastically improve your breath and ear, give you options with what your voice is (or can become), and really help your comping, no matter what your instrument is.
One concept that really helps is to know your tessitura, which is your *comfortable* range, where your voice sounds most natural. Most songs you do should be in your tessitura. Allow over a set for a few songs to be out of it and then give yourself a break by going back to your tessitura afterwards. For instance, my tessitura is basically the D below middle C to about F above it (it depends on the day but that's roughly it). I can hang around there without much trouble. I can get up to the C above middle C or even higher and go down to the low E on a guitar but that really requires work and effort and I shouldn't stay there for long. A tune that requires me hitting a lot of low notes over and over will be a problem, but so will a tune that requires a lot of high notes over and over, or a lot of crossing from head to chest. If you can arrange songs for a key that suits your tessitura it's worth it. A lot of rock that uses the more challenging open string vocabulary songs (think Alex Lifeson of Rush or Roger Miller of Mission of Burma) don't lend themselves to that, though. Also, songs that require a wide vocal range or have big interval leaps often don't change key well.
You can definitely expand your range but it takes time and if you don't do it well, you can get hurt, for instance if you try to sing through your throat rather than learning how to resonate in your head and blow out your vocal cords. Your voice also changes over your lifetime, so it naturally loses high end over time, although there are folks like Paul Rodgers or Glenn Hughes who've maintained or even grown range over time. Despite both being in their 70s, they are both able to sing their material from the late '60s and early '70s in the original keys. Those guys started out with amazing natural talent and then worked their butts off to still sound amazing. They both know how to arrange songs for their voices, though---they hang around in their tessituras most of the time and saves really big notes for when they make the most impact. This is especially true of Paul Rodgers. Most of his parts are not all that high and he choses his notes very carefully so that he's got enough in the tank to really make an impact when the time comes.
You're totally right, though, the character aspect is a big thing, especially for someone singing lead. I know someone who's a very skilled singer but his voice's character is either very plain or nasal. He's an excellent background vocalist but not a good lead singer. Lowell George is one of the greatest lead singers of rock. He didn't have a really big range by any stretch of the imagination but he really knew how to get the most out of the range he had and his voice had great character.
fantastic comment
@@danielrice5577 Thanks. I got a ton from vocal lessons.
Awesome comment! The voice is an instrument like any other. It needs to be trained like one.
@@dezmodium "The voice is an instrument like any other. It needs to be trained like one."
100% true, and even more than any other instrument it makes your playing way better.
I’ll add to this that there are things you can do to find a unique voice. Mess around with mouth shape and breathiness and grit. Just record yourself singing in different ways. Find something that you like, is comfortable, and more importantly fun to do.
The biggest benefit I have found recently was hearing playback of my vocals... sometimes cringeworthy but that informs me where I need to make adjustments. Typically I'm not too far off but that little bit of feedback is enough to help polish the vocals it also helps me with how the guitar interacts with the vocals.
Absolutely.
I've always found I sing certain artists great and others I have to strain my voice to sing their stuff. But when it's my own music I can always hit the notes I wanna hit because I'm the one making it. Haha
My guitar teacher is having me sing intervals as I play them. I've been playing for just under 3 1/2 years and I swear to god, it's got me feeling like I just started 6 weeks ago. It's SOOO hard! Which is why this video is so timely :) Thanks as always Eric! You're my favorite virtual/youtube teacher.
That's such a good thing to work on!
Feeling how vibrations and intervals work makes your playing (and singing) so much better!
Just the video title alone is so important
"You're not a bad singer." I'm glad Eric hasn't asked me to sing in lessons. Range- fail Accuracy- fail Character- fail
I'm lucky I can just talk.
Hell yeah dude
This is crazy relatable for my journey with my voice
Once I learned to change keys no matter the songs and I figured out where my vocal strong points are, it increased my songwriting exponentially. It's awesome
Yeah! There' a lot of wisdom/power in recognizing our limits!
I have a pretty strong tenor voice along the lines of Brandon Flowers. Might sound like I'm blowing my own horn, but a lot of the time I find myself wishing I had a deeper voice along the lines of Bowie or something. Just because you wish you sounded like somebody else doesn't mean you sound bad! Learn to love your own voice!
I just feel like 90% of hits/popular music with male singer is tenor.
@@michaelblue7852 Yeah, but ya boi ain't writing hits.
Such good advice. I think singers would do well to remove the ego/insecurity component and concentrate on singing what they can well, and with confidence.
Great advice Eric. As a baritone I really know that feeling of just not cutting through on a rocky song and having to push to the top of my range.
that’s why James Taylor capos up and plays smaller voicings-gives his baritone voice a space to sit
Me too!
I really appreciate this. I've all but given up on making music in the last couple years, and I think this is at least in part due to me not acknowledging my limits. Might still struggle but I might give it another go. Thanks
It's never easy! But in the end it's so rewarding!
Just stumbled across this and I really dig your vibe. I’m gonna keep watching you my man. Peace and love.
Thanks Tom!
I try to keep it chill - and useful!
that's beautiful - i like what you had to say about limitations
Brilliant in its simplicity.
I'm super excited now, versus just beating myself up.
That's what I love to hear!
Life's tough enough - there's no need for us to make it harder for ourselves!
I have a very high pitched singing voice but I am also very self conscious when I sing around people so I don't project my voice. Because my singing voice is so high in register it sounds like crap if I don't project my voice and I don't hit the high notes which i found is almost impossible for me if I don't have a certain amount of breath behind my voice. Great video, I like your comment about character 😃
Oh yeah that's tough! It's hard to practice or play things when your voice is naturally high and loud - but that's so useful for recording and performing!
You got the greatest view on music. Which always makes you advance understanding of oneself
It's a bit like playing guitar. The more you sing, the better you get at it, and the more comfortable you get with your voice. I think a thing is we are often less comfortable to sing where others can hear us than we are to play, so we don't that voice time in
This is an inspiring short video. I am starting singing lessons tomorrow.
great concept, love it
This is a great video, and I agree whole-heartedly. A perfect example who is still going strong to this day is J.Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. He can't even sing, with no lessons or knowledge on even fundamental concepts, but manages to make it work by making the instrumentals go along with his weird voice, sometimes in equally bizarre fashion with it not even being in key, and it ends up making someone who is horrible at singing, sound amazing.
Yes! A perfect example of a dude making it work with what he's got!
Thanks for the discussion ... and that Tele sounds dreamy through that Supro.
Your song Bundle up is a really good song. 🔥Amazing work , keep it up.
Thanks so much!
I'm listening to your album now, it's freaking awesome man!
Thanks so much Sander!
I've listened to it two times, today. Love it 👊
Lovely reminder
As Always, Thank you for your passion ,
and your greatest natural ability, second only to your Musical prowess, your natural ability to teach…
Thanks Joshua!
When people ask me what I'm working on, my answer is always "...being a better teacher."
Appreciated this lesson! Thank you
Thanks Eric!
Wonderful advice., as always. Thanks Eric. Best wishes mate! 😃👍
Great advice! I'm one of those typical "won't sing, 'cause I can't sing" guys. But having a guitar, a microphone, and a basic recording setup (audio interface, DAW, and some plugins) makes you curious. While I'll certainly take whatever I've recorded so far to my grave, I did notice that I might not be as hopeless as I thought I was. The problem is mostly with my range. There's a low part where my voice has body and passable character, and a high part where I sound thin, nasal, and a bit whiny.
Unfortunately, from a technical perspective the low part has fundamentals just over 100 Hz and the whole body and character live in notoriously overcrowded the lower mids. I'm finding it extremely hard to make my voice sound good and cut through the mix at the same time. Given the limited ambition to express myself lyrically, I don't see myself embracing the restrictions of my voice anytime soon.
all the details in between are really helpful and helped round out my knowledge on this topic
Also I usually do simple to intermediate vocal exercises for atleast 5 min a day a few times a week. It’s taken years to notice big results but it’s a must do I think
The vocal exercises are to help extend my range and improve the quality / accuracy of my existing range
Just downloaded your album on Apple Music, excited to listen! thanks for the video and the confidence to sing!
Yay! Thanks man!
Hey man, really appreciate your videos as someone who has been taking guitar lessons for a little over a year and feel like I'm moving at a pretty slow pace. Your videos offer some encouragement. Thanks a lot
Stay slow! That's actually the smartest way to get better faster!
I love this man. Thanks dude. I need this.
Love your work ... thank you Eric!
Love your videos man. I always leave feeling encouraged and inspired. Thanks for all you do.
That's what I love to hear!
Wonderful video and a very important concept. Sending love!
What a pleasant guy
You’re seriously the best too listen to when it comes to coaching. Humble approach.
Thanks man - I try to keep it real!
Hey, this is my favorite series of yours, your doing great!
The Zen of Screaming by Melissa Cross is an excellent for unlocking your voice.
Thanks man, I really needed this reminder. I've been working on my voice range and accuracy as well as methods to make some weird noises (which I guess would fall into character haha), but I've been beating myself up a bit because I try to do rock and metal and I just naturally have a high voice for a man, it's not uncommon for women to sing lower than I can and it's bothered me. So I really do appreciate this, it's helped me gain my confidence in writing non instrumental pieces again and I will soon be abusing the power of the capo and not stressing over it lol
Hell yea Dio style!
That's the cool thing - your voice is your voice and no one else has it!
ive watched 2 videos and already love you
Thanks man!
Very good video, thank you!! I really like your Style of explaning and your calmness. :) Greetings from Germany!
I have some good friends in Berlin! Electronic producer Jeremy Black - he's a sweeeet dude.
War on drugs vs Zepp. Two different priorities, distinctive styles. Both rock.
i found your comment on limitations very inspiring. thank you
Yes! Befriend our limitations! That’s the way!
Thank You. Peas, Love and Las Vegas
Thank you, Eric 🙏
Be good to you ✌🍕
This is facts, write for your voice 👌🏽 💯
Just wanted to swing by to say thank you for your truefire course! Just finished it…of course I am gonna spend some months getting really comfortable with it. Can’t wait for your BLUES course 😅
Yay!
The next truefire course is gonna be a deeper dive into the doublestops part of that first bundle! Coming in Nov!
@@EricHaugenGuitar Sweet! I will be on the lookout for it!
I love Randy Newman. And the guy from Cake.
This is awesome advice man - thanks so much!
Happy Holidays Brother
You too Kent!
great vid
Thank you Yes you have cool guitars !
This kind of stuff is important..I hurt my voice a few times and it sucks,...no joke using your voice as an instrument for esp. rockier more distorted sounds.
you are incredible, thank you for this wonderful lesson. you deserve more views :)
Thanks man!
The vocal cords are muscles: if you exercise regularly you can increase range and accuracy.
Thanks for the encouragement. I've been trying to sing like the Hocus Pocus guy until now :)
Eric, I have a bad voice mate.... It burns me, all I've ever wanted is to sing and play something.
Definitely play around with moving the keys to where your voice is strong!
Try covering songs by talk singers like Lou Reed - it's a great way to gain confidence in what you've got!
I have kind of a good problem with a lot of things I write. I have a pretty large range which means I spend a long time going through various keys to find where a particular song sits best.
It's worth it in the end but it's quite a bit of head fuckery for want of a better word!
Hey that's a good problem to have!
Thanks Eric!!! ✌️🙂🎸
Great video
Idea for a cool progression video. Terry Reid: All I Have to Do is Dream of the album Rogue Waves. A great singer/songwriter interpretation of the evenly brothers classic.
1:02 hey that was a cool C chord trick you did there 👀
I've been enjoying these recent videos! I've been working on trying to write and sing my own material over this past year and it's definitely been a challenge, but I'm trying to avoid putting too much pressure to write something amazing and just enjoy the process. It does get a little frustrating when I have ideas of what I want the songs to be about, but struggle to actually put it in words
Yeah! It's quite the process - I have to remind myself "...this is fun, right??"
Cool, you managed to cover the topic without singing a song. I like the spooky solo at the end.
Noah And The Whale is a great example of a "bad singer" singing beautifully, also Tallest Man On Earth
I suspect Tallest Man On Earth could have a "good" voice if he wanted, but I do agree with you all the same. Just because he's deliberately dirtying it up (I think) doesn't invalidate him as a good example of this principle.
I like the guitar parts you play on your vids more than the ones on your albums. I don’t know why that is.
The Diplomat is a solid track. 👍
Thanks Tommy!
as time goes on I feel that people ask: "who doesnt sing bad"? for me its easier to list folks who sing good live: "enya" "tears for fears" "beyonce" etc.
just found you , love the vids man , very talented yet humble and honest !!!
Thanks Duane - I try to keep it real!
There are a few problems when I want to have vocals in a song:
1st: I want a female voice, I'm not a female... Using a voice changer solved this problem, but the result is not always good, sometimes some tweaks can improve the result tho...
2nd: I'm bad at writing lyrics, I can't seem to get ideas to flow into my head... Strangely, ideas usually flow better when I write lyrics in Japanese... The problem is I can't speak Japanese... My approach is using Google Translate + my very limited knowledge of Japanese + r/translator (lol) to help me write lyrics...
It's a lot of effort, so most of the time I just write instrumental...
Oh leave them in Japanese! I could see that being really cool!
W intro, "here's all my stuff" then got to the point
I try to keep it chill, and to the point! That way, even if folks only watch 20 seconds of the vid they get the message ✊
timing Eric - 2 days ago I was at the keyboard (again) trying to nail what is my range !! thanks [is this the right octave?]
Very true. That’s why I don’t play covers 😎 only KELLER MACHINE 😍😍😍
I can only cover Lou Reed!
I really thought you were gonna sing us a song at the end…🙃. Nonetheless great as we’ve come to expect. Have a nice day Eric.
Hey Eric,
I’m not even sure if I can write or sing but this series is definitely intriguing.
I was thinking the other day about the video you did on playing bass. What about a video for someone wanting to perform their own drum parts? You started on drums right?
On trumpet!
Then guitar, bass, and drums.
Drums are so hard to mic up and get the sound right - you probably won't see me do vids on those until I have a much nicer studio :-)
@@EricHaugenGuitar Trumpet truefire series when??
nice
So true
This is great! If Nick Cave could pull it off, so can you. Somehow, I was never super impressed with "great" singers, you know, the athletes of singing. Give me OLD Johnny Cash, Tom Waits (he sang "old" at age 30), k d lang any day over some AGT winner.
Well, k d lang is kind of a "great" singer. Sorry about that.
Here are a few singers with unbelievable character: Julia Fordham, David Sylvian, Jon Astley, Kelly Joe Phelps, Joan Armatrading, Sam Brown.
I read somewhere that Jimi Hendrix's dad didn't think he was a good singer. You've got to not care what other people think about you! It's tough!
Yeah! Lots of people say he wasn't great but I LOVE HIM!
Just try to imagine anyone else singing with that music - he's perfect!
Hey man. I really think you should talk to a singing teacher before approaching this topic in a video. You've given some pretty bad singing advice there, some of which could be misconstrued and cause people to hurt themselves when they sing.
It's worth noting that note accuracy and tonal character are things that you can absolutely change in your voice, and really great singers can alter those things to fit the song rather than the other way around. The most important thing I can tell anybody about this is GET SINGING LESSONS. Even a couple lessons can greatly change your understanding of how your voice works and you can get a lot more out of your singing 🙂
Great video. First exposure. Subscribed. I really like your guitar too. Would you tell me about it? Thanks!
Welcome Joseph!
I always list all the gadgets in the description box below the vid - that's my trusty 90s CIJ tele with Factory Bigsby!
I *think* there's a "superlike" button that lets people do that - but I can't see it on my creator side of the interface :-)
Over the years I've managed to work out where my voice sounds best.
Out back well away from anyone. I don't even like the tone while I'm singing, let alone hearing it back.
Shhhh ...(whisper) sometimes (no, always) I wish Axl Rose had been so self deprecating.
That a tele with a bigsby? Never seen one of those
Yeah! The vintera series they make has em!
Hey, here's a question: How can I keep my guitar playing from stepping over my voice? Sometimes I feel as if I need to play the bass notes, but then my vocal line gets muddied since it's
in the same range
Depends on how loud you're playing guitar - sometimes students just need to dial it back a bit to make room.
Now, if you're a baritone like me, you gotta really play the gtr quiet to leave room. It's possible though - look at Leonard Cohen! (One of my all time faves)
Accuracy...???🤣🤣🤣
It ain't me babe. Na, na, na. That ain't me babe🤣🤣🤣
😎👍❤🖖
He makes up for it with buckets of character, buckets of tears, buckets of character coming out of his ears…
@@Whitewallsessions
🤣😁😎👍
😎👍❤🖖
😂 you’ve clearly never heard me “sing”
Alright let's finish a song 😤
I'm afraid currently the best I can do is stick to singing in the shower, and when there's nobody else home.
excellent advice.. thank you! and i did eat pizza also!!
Why are you wearing a toque indoors?
Malfoy?
I would like to sing my hole life...i have a strong voice but nonmatter what i am doing i cant match the pitch...not one note is correct when i am singing...so that makes me realy a bad singer😂😅
I do believe that if we can hear that we're a little off, we can learn to get better and better!
The only folks who are truly hopeless are the tone deaf - I know some folks like that. They love music, but if they sing they have no control between going up or down.
Bob ross of guitar