Hi, guys
I'm really discouraged right now. I was doing pretty well, I thought. But lately I haven't had the time that I would like to practice. And by 'lately', I mean the last freakin' year. (College bites.) Anyway, I just finished recovered from a simultaneous encounter with the flu and a head cold. After I recovered, I found that I had lost pretty much all progress that I had gained since starting. All four notes. (I know, pathetic, right?) I actually have developed MORE bad habits than before I discovered RYV. (Tightening, cracking or just not have any sound come out at all, etc.) I feel I might have well spent the last year banging my head against a wall. I used to have a lot of natural ability, but it seems that I've lost that, too. I just don't know what to do. Just drop it and move on? Or keep going and risk ruining my voice? I'm just very confused right now. (I'm 19 , go fig, huh?) Also, my family keeps telling me 'Isaac, you sound like a girl', 'Isaac, that sounds horrible, why don't you just sing stuff in your range?', 'Isaac, you're NEVER going to be able to hit those notes, just give up.' I'm beginning to agree with them. I just... don't know what to do, and I'm beginning to think this was all just a waste of my time. Has anybody else gone through this, or is currently going through this? I really need either some encouragement or a confirmation that I should just stop before I hurt myself. I'll post a recording later, my family's asleep right now.

here comes phil with his two dollars, everyone groans.

so you've reached a plateaau. change vocal courses, try a different one, stop fighting what clearly isnt' working for you. i reached a plateau with RYV, jaime's method works, but the ability to be able to convey what he means through language is limited to one's understanding. in otherwords, if you don't understand what he's saying exactly, then your going to be doing things wrong in some way, this is the nature of communication.

i changed to singing success, and really payed attention when he says DONT STRAIN, DONT PUSH, DONT FORCE, JUST LET THE SOUND COME OUT HOW IT DOES. you may be surprised at the results. i came away after 3 weeks practice with all my breaks smoothed out, now its just a matter of adding power. i've been working on kevin richards break the chains course as of yesterday.

take what works, and when it stops working move ont o something else, because different courses explain things differently, some things resonate better with you and give you a better understanding. my problem with RYV was that when he says "full voice" that always translated to me that I have to get my chest voice up to my high notes, which now i realise you need to let the voice zip up through mix and head, then work on strengthening the SOUND of mix and head so it SOUNDS LIKE IT HAS CHEST POWER. at first your mix and head voice will sound just like falsetto, but they will feel "connected". you'll quickly realize you CAN hit all the notes you want, just not with power YET.

Soon I will return to RYV with the new understanding I have now.

It sounds like you're constantly under a barrage of NEGATIVE AFFIRMATIONS. people constantly saying negative things to you. the thing about repetition is that it's a form of conditioning. over time, your brain will take it in, it's evident from your post that it's already happened. changing your mindset will change what actions you take, as the mind leads the body. your actions will always reflect what mindset your in. since you are under a barrage of repetitious negative statements, you should counter-act these with positive affirmations, and repeat them to yourself MORE, so you drill in positive thoughts. these soon turn to actions by themselves.

Whenever you think a negative thought, immediately catch it out, and correct it and replace it with a positive one. even if you think it's bull**** and think your lying to yourself at first, don't worry, its because your current state of mind is conditioned in a negative state and won't accept anything positive. but over time you will. you will broaden your horizons and believe that you can do anything, because you can, if you put in the time and distance. this is for eveyrthing, not just singing.

instead of "man my range is gone" change it to "my range is improving every day and i'm getting better" sure you may not believe it now, but repeat it a million times and see what happens. words are powerful, theres a reason why they call it "spelling", you'r changing your mindset. ask any successfull millionaire who built his way to success, they'll tell you its all about your mindset. i know, i've spoken to plenty of them. you can have whatever you want in this world, the first step is to work on your mindset, and your thoughts. these will automatically change your actions. in your reality, you will only ever see what you have accepted is true.

It's good to see that you know and talk about mindset stuff and affirmations! I've been studying mindset and success stuff on my own and to be honest I was just in a need of a reminder of how important and effective it actually is after having couple of mentally tuff and depressing days behind me. So thanks Phil :)

And bartitenor take this affirmation thing seriously cause it seems to me too that you're taking in much negative ideas and accepting them. That stuff is powerful. Everybody thought that Vince Neil couldn't sing when he started as a teenager but what did he care? He never questioned himself and he actually discovered / developed his cool voice and range. Rockstars tend to have a strong mindset, otherwise they wouldn't be rockstars you know ;)

Excellent post, phil. take his advice, Baritenor.

Great post Phil!
Baritenor, you've got to realize that stuff like this will often happen to you in other aspects of your life too such as school, work and such. Always look forward to reaching your goals no matter what he odds are. Its always an uphill battle and people will always try to hold on to you. Think of crabs in a bucket. Take it slow and practice safely. Follow the basics always and start building that momentum again, and you'll make progress again.

I wanted to thank all of you for your great advice. Especially Phil. I'm really working on my attitude, as you can tell, positivity isn't my strong suit. My resolution for 2011 is to stop looking at what's wrong with my voice, and start focusing on what's right with it, and the potential that I still have. I just remembered that, voice-wise, I'm only a year out of my change. You guys helped me remember that my vocal development isn't over, it's just begun. Thank you again, and I hope that you all had a great Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and every other holiday that falls on this chilly month. :) I wish you all a happy new year, full of excitement and discovery. God bless!

"My resolution for 2011 is to stop looking at what's wrong with my voice, and start focusing on what's right with it, and the potential that I still have."

Right on! Also when facing problems, or in other words challenges, remember to look at the solution, not the problem. You'll notice that you will be sailing much more smoothly (and faster) through it. Focus only on the solution or finding it and you'll soon even forget that there is a "problem" :)