Like Jaime says, record yourself is a great way to become a better singer.

My suggestion is to learn the melody with the keyboard or guitar and try to sing along with it. It helps a lot expecially when you have to learn harmonies.

dude, EVERYTHING will show up on a recording, so ease yourself in gently. if it's a hard song for you, don't do it. Record yourself singing happy birthday if you have to - just make sure you get the technique down. Then move onto better things gradually. Singing's a really personal thing so it's easy to get really down if you think you sound rubbish, so keep it simple and work your way up once you can do the easy things PERFECT.

I always tell my students (I'm a school teacher not a voice teacher but it still applies) those two things:

1) Practice makes perfect!
2) When you try your best, it always gets better!

Keep up your good work and good luck!

Great job!!!Now you are your own teacher. Don't be upset. Work harder now:)

JV

Thank you everyone for the encouraging words. The more I think about it,it really wasn't a great time to record myself. I had gotten about 5 hours of sleep total the night before, had to wake up for 2 final exams, and didn't have time to sleep. I also had an extremely stiff neck and a really bad headache which I still have even though I been stretching I think I just need sleep badly. I couldn't sleep last night either so I think I'm just gonna give my voice rest for the day.

Meanwhile I'm gonna start practicing breathing exercises.

You know, it's amazing...

When you first start out singing, you hate the sound of your own voice. I used to sing along with Marilyn Manson and Korn, and Filter, and Nine Inch Nails. One day, I thought it would be cool to do it while I'm listening to the songs on headphones. That day was a defining one for me. When I played it back, I not only sounded off-key, but I also sounded like I was wearing a sweater vest and glasses and trying to be something I'm not. It takes awhile to get yourself into a position of actually liking to hear yourself sing. I still criticize my early stuff (see the thread while I take the mick out of my own music) but I've improved over the years, and now people tell me that out of everything they hear in my music, my voice is their favorite aspect. I think it's important to sing to yourself without music, without distractions, someplace that has an echo. If you can't find that, then cup your hand around your ear and sing into it using your wrist as a sound ramp. That's the best way I can describe it. Only then will be you be truely hearing how you sound to other people. My problem now, is that I probably do that too much. I don't have the guts to sing hard/high or scream without my hand cupped around my ear.

Do you think that's a crutch, Jaime?

Only then will be you be

Buh buh be buh uh be uh be THAT'S ALL, FOLKS!

OMG....J,man... I went through that I while ago .... dude I REALLY know how it feels I had this impression of me having a decent tone and some decent singg skills..... and yeah then I recorded my self and it was awful... it was so weak.... I felt like shit for the rest of the day but then I realized that now that I was aware of my reality it was the time for changing it ... and so I have been trying to improve :) and you know??? it does improve over time but you always gotta have an idea of how it sounds on the outside... it's kind of like the catharsis of the whole process.... It can really bring you down, but it is necessary and is the only real way to improve ...... as Jaime said, now you are your own teacher, and don't be a shity ass teacher like the kind that thinks that his students just suck.... be the kind of teacher that Jaime has proved to be :).....

BEST of wishes for you my friend :D

thanks again. I also do tried that cuping the ear thing and actually I think I sound better in the cup then I do in my head. It also helps keep me on pitch and really listen in. Are you sure this is what others hear on the outside?

Pram,

Like your explanation! As far as a crutch??? Yeah it probably is, but I find myself using that crutch too ;)

JV

I don't care if it's a crutch. I use it -all- the time in choir. If I'm starting to push for volume, I do it to remind myself of how loud I'm already being. If I'm aiming for a high note, I do it to make sure I hit it fully. If I'm not sure I'm on pitch, I do it to double check.

It's a great trick.

Jlk. Of course it's not what people hear. It's the closest you'll ever get to it though without big$ recording equipment :D. You can never hear exactly what everyone else will be hearing because you'll still have the 'head echos', which they wont.

I redid the song the next day. I guess my dad had the sound equipment set up wrong and very low so I could barely hear myself. I sounded a lot better, I guess the pitch something was changed so now I know why I sounded so different. lol kind of funny but yeah glad I tried again the next day.