Singing From Scratch

By: Michael Graves
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  • Summary

  • Learn How To Sing Like A Pro!
    2019
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Episodes
  • Using Your Hands to Recognize Pitch (Part 1 & 2)

    Using Your Hands to Recognize Pitch (Part 1 & 2)
    Sep 15 2024

    Key Concepts:
    • Singing in tune: Matching or harmonizing with a pitch
    • Tone deafness: Only affects about 4% of the population
    • Pitch recognition: Ability to differentiate between rising and falling pitches
    The Four-Step Drill:
    1. Imagine: Visualize the vibration of an object
    2. Listen: Focus on the sound and vibration
    3. Feel: Physically touch the vibrating object
    4. Match: Align your imagination with reality
    Part 1: Vibration Recognition
    • Use everyday objects (e.g., fans, refrigerators) to practice recognizing vibrations
    • Train your mind to connect imagined frequencies with actual vibrations
    Part 2: Fine-tuning with Musical Notes
    • Utilizes organ notes played through speakers
    • Steps: Listen, Imagine, Feel, Match
    • Explains the physics of sound waves and frequency
    Advanced Technique:
    • Place one hand on the speaker, another on your throat
    • Adjust your voice to match the vibration felt in both hands
    Key Takeaways:
    • Pitch is a frequency of vibration
    • Singing in tune is matching that frequency with your voice
    • Practice rewires your brain to recognize and reproduce pitch accurately

    This episode provides a unique approach to vocal training, combining tactile sensations with auditory learning to improve pitch recognition and singing ability.
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    10 mins
  • Why We Like Musc

    Why We Like Musc
    Jun 21 2024
    In this episode I talk about why I was gone so long, why we like music, and how it ties into a life pattern that flows through every living thing and every book, movie, and tv show. If you learn this you, you will be a better singer and connect with your audience on a visceral level.
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    16 mins
  • Why Singing Lessons Don’t Work

    Why Singing Lessons Don’t Work
    Aug 27 2019
    Instead of giving you a synopsis of this episode on Why Singing Lessons Don’t Work, I’m including a transcript.  It’s that important.  So here it goes! Introduction I’m going to get a little controversial with you and probably step on some toes, and feelings in the process. But hey, maybe I’ll help some people at the same time. And that’s the important part. To me it’s worth a few hurt feelings and squashed toes. Today, I’m going to tell you why most singing lessons don’t work. I’m going to start off with a little mental demonstration. Image if you will. You’ve just boarded a small plane in Miami or somewhere on your way to Barbados for a vacation. You’re about halfway there when the pilot and copilot come walking through the cabin and then jump with the last two parachutes. Well, obviously somebody’s gotta land the plane. And that somebody is you. But all you have to rely on for training is a video game flight simulator you once played, or movies you’ve watched where a passenger ‘magically’ lands the plane saving everyone on board. You think ‘Ok. I’ve seen snakes on a plane, how hard can it be right?’ So, without any understanding about taking off, landing, how the controls work, the navigation, gauges, wind speed, surface speed, approach speed, angle of approach, how to put on the brakes etc., basically all the necessary fundamentals on flying, you’re supposed to land this plane safely. Right… That’d be terrifying. Well, for some it’s just as terrifying to sing on stage in front of a live audience. And that is simply due to poor singing fundamentals or no fundamentals at all. The Why A LOT of vocal coaches skip the fundamentals. Most of your most popular online singing courses do as well. They go straight to the sexy shiny tips and tricks.  Or they skim the top of the important stuff giving you just enough information to be dangerous so to speak, using the airplane example from before. Or even more disastrous, you take these lessons, think you have it all under control, go out and sing, fail a little bit, if not miserably, and then give up singing for good.  For the rest of your life.  You decide that you just can’t sing.  That you don’t have “it”. And it’s over before it even starts. They use catch phrases like “Better Vocal Control”, “More Accurate Pitch”, “Improving Tone”, “Improved Power”, “Vocal Agility”. Ok fine. Let’s take a look at a few of those. Marketing Catch Phrases Better Vocal Control – How about vocal control at all?  How about knowing exactly what vocal control is? What IS actually doing the ‘controlling’? More Accurate Pitch – Of course they’re assuming the student can even sing in tune to get more accurate from. Better yet, what IS singing in tune and why is it important to understand what pitch even is? Improving Tone – How can you improve tone when you don’t even have a knowledge of tone to improve.  What is tone? What are the mechanics behind it? How about we learn how to create tone before we try to improve it? Huh? Vocal Agility – This one is a funny one to me. Ever have a spouse, partner, parent, friend, teacher, anybody chew you out for something?  In the middle you usually hear a phrase like ‘and another thing…’ or something like that. Context aside, think about what their voice was doing throughout it all. Goes something like this. “I can’t even BELIEVE you would even think about doing something like that!  Seriously? What in the world were you thinking? Obviously you weren’t or you wouldn’t have done it in the first place!” Going up and down, and loud then soft, then jumping high then low. That’s some serious vocal agility there. But it certainly isn’t singing. So how about we teach the student how to sing notes first before bunching them all up and attacking vocal agility? Tips and Tricks Now as you know it’s true.  I do give several tips and tricks so to speak in my free YouTube videos, FB Posts, and my podcast.  But everything I do is to help you start down the road to REALLY learning how to sing and learning the basics.  I don’t stop with just tips and tricks.  My courses are not about tips and tricks. Those are shortcuts. Shortcuts to helping you sing one thing in one specific way. You leave all happy with your progress and your new trick. But then what? Are you actually ready for the stage?  Are you actually ready to walk into the vocal booth and nail it? There are no shortcuts that work.  You have to know the basics. So, before you take any lessons from a vocal coach, check THEIR understanding of the basics. Otherwise you are learning how to fly from someone who doesn’t have a pilots license. I’m not saying this because I want you to take vocal lessons from me instead of them.  I don’t even give new students vocal lessons. Period. And I will explain in a minute. I will explain why I think it would be ripping them off if I did....
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    14 mins

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