Very good point! A lot of people think they sound a certain way when they don't. Some pressure is necessary to reach high notes but you don't need to push super extra hard. Too much pushing sends tension up the throat and prevents the larynx to open up and pull the vocal cords properly.

Now to add some grit and You'll avoid sounding like American Idol and more like AXL...

I just said it because I want to get there man, the highest I can go is F#4. I'm green with envy right now as I need to hit that note to sing a song I want.

Besides that, you need to sound more angry, it sounds like you're singing a love song but that's an entire different subject.

maybe he wants to sing a love song? musical taste is all opinion.

now onto the first post, i reckon what you found is the elusive mixed voice! you first encounter glimpses of it whilst doing transcending tone. basically transcending tone is all about developing this mixed voice. it's like the ease of falsetto but with the power of chest. i think a lot of people here who aren't having success are trying to put too much tension on trying to avoid their voice flipping into falsetto, let it happen, and try to get it to smoothly flow into falsetto rather than flipping. you will then find the mixed voice after much practice and it will be powerful. transcending tone exercise is all about this, but really all the exercises are!

Phil m thanks for the info, I guess this is what they call mixed voice now! And I like it :)

Einar Coutin I used to sing high notes almost only with grit but now I have a new approach, I just wanted to find a good basic technique and then I can start adding distortion and more balls when necessary when I know what I'm doing. So far working very well cause singing is much easier now! I used to break my voice too often or just do it wrong and not reach those notes. And hey if I can get there, you can get there too!

Sure I will sing Guns n roses with angry grit eventually! I also like this clean voice very much and I love singing Stevie Wonder kind of stuff too and as said before it's a matter of taste.

that's it mate, you NEVER have to "explain" your music tastes to ANYONE! it's all opinion, and no one likes the same stuff! just do what YOU LIKE TO DO, do what makes YOU happy.

Hey man, I see what and why you're doing. You didn't have to explain it to me but I have to let you know you have just inspired me. The way you are approaching voice is the one that I am doing it too.
I started into RYV by injuring my throat and thinking I had nodules. Luckily I didn't.

Thanks.

P.S. What I mean is that it was a little strange for me to hear the song with such a different approach.
BTW: My brother is learning piano. All that he's been playing is classical music and perhaps some Dream Theater. He's been taking them for less than a year and already can play some Tchaikovsky and Chopin. But he needs that interaction of playing with other people. So yesterday while visiting my parents I sat him to play "She's got a way" by Billy Joel and as he was learning the song I sang along him. I never thought I could actually reach those notes. All that I did was some lip bubbles before hand.The song has such an emotional fascination and vulnerability to it, that has always fascinated me.
Also is an easy Billy Joel song, in piano.
This stuff definitively works.

"I started into RYV by injuring my throat and thinking I had nodules. Luckily I didn't."

I thought so too when I abused my voice in the beginning! And that was like four months ago, tons of improvement after that :)

Last saturday on a gig I sang "Hold the line" by Toto (and many other songs too, Eagles, Foo fighters, Commodores) and man it was awesome! I used grit too quite a lot, it just came naturally. I sang that high B quite many times on that gig :)

I've been playing with this same band quite many gigs since June and they have witnessed my improvement as a singer, they all commented about it after the gig. I'm pretty happy myself but this is just a great beginning!

Guys I just recorded some gn'r again without and with grit.

without grit: http://maihinnousu.net/s/9699
with grit: http://maihinnousu.net/s/9700

Lol my grit sounds quite a lot like Axl. I don't know if I like that sound too much but I'm happy to be able to do that! Although it's not that good, my throat dries up fast while doing that and it feels a bit in the throat. And it sounds very thin and quite pushy. But I like the sound without the grit :) It feels easy to do (but not always if I feel "off").

By the way I made up an exercise myself. I was struggling with some song, I can't remember which, and I started to do this:

http://maihinnousu.net/s/9669

Something clicked right away, because immediately I could hit my whole range again. Kind of just jumping through some notes in every part of my vocal range.

It's funny that on some songs and some exercises I can just sing over 3 octaves easily and in some songs or some days my vocal range just get's cut in half and I lose touch with the upper range. Or it can happen during a gig, at first I sing fine and happily and then as the gig goes on (I propably push too much and all that) I lose touch and my voice get's tired and I can't hit the high notes anymore. Propably some old habits and bad technique there.. I know some singers who never have bad days, they never lose their voices and they either can always hit a note or they can't at all, there is no IF :D I want to get there!

Sooo any tips with the grit? Or hitting the high notes every time and not just some days and some gigs?