www.youtube.com . . .

That's me singing a song called 'Mo Oilean.' I apologise greatly for the lack of both quality and video, but it's honestly the very best I could do at this time. Once I get my hands on a video camera or a better microphone, a new song will be uploaded ASAP. (The fact that I haven't already is not due to lack of trying!)

Any tips would be appreciated. I'm going to sing this song at an Irish session in a few weeks' time, along with others that have yet to be decided, so I'd really love some tips.

On a last note, I have not had a single voice lesson in my life, I know little to nothing about music theory, and I learned that entirely by ear from the Ragus DVD. So please don't be too harsh.


Thanks in advance!

Sweetheart, I'm sorry but you have what my theatre group calls a princess voice. It very soft and sweet but its not going to make a career. It's GREAT though that you have the guts to sing in public (youtube.) I'm sorry.

^I'm not sure if that was particularly helpful, although I'll address the point brought up in what's hopefully a constructive manner.

The most obvious critique I can give you is that of a lack of breath support and "focus" to your tone (as I believe that's what the above poster is referring to.) I'll try not to get too technical, but something I think that would help you tremendously is to practice some breathing exercises and make certain that you're really engaging your abdomen and using all the muscles in your torso to take deep, low, silent breaths and then use them to sustain your sound. That breathy sound in your voice is because you're allowing a ton of extra air to escape when you sing instead of using it to provide support for your tone. On that note, a bit of work on where you place your sound would also be helpful for you. I'm not sure if you understand what I mean by "placement", but the idea is that, with proper breath support, your voice should resonate through the cavities in your face (you want it to be forward, resonating around your cheekbones, for the fullest sound.) Warm-ups with a lot of humming, using "ng", or buzzing your lips can all help you find that forward placement. I don't mean that you should be looking for a nasal sound, but something a little warmer and fuller.

This is extremely difficult to explain via Internet, which is why I haven't replied earlier, but now I feel compelled to try, so hopefully some of that makes at least a bit of sense to you and you can try to apply it to your singing.

Please let me know if I can explain my points further or if you'd like some suggestions for exercises etc. I'd be happy to help.

A princess voice is not hopeless - Shelby Flint, for example.

But then the song must be geared to the singer.
aimini.net . . .

www.youtube.com . . .

Well. Thanks very much for your comments, everyone - I've learned a lot.

I'm planning on taking voice lessons soon, so hopefully that will help my breath support issue!