As part of my preparations to record my album, Something For Everyone, I decided to take singing lessons. This was partly to build up my voice so I could deliver the best possible vocal performance in the recordings. I felt that my previous recordings had lacked power and precision.
Using a vocal coach was also intended to help me to ‘find my voice.’ I’d been listening to people who seemed to adopt a singing voice that wasn’t their natural voice but was perhaps a sound that they thought would be impactful. I wondered whether I needed to do that.
It was with these thoughts that I enrolled at a local music school and went along for my first private lesson.
The person I met, Mags – my singing teacher – made a big impact on me straight away. She was challenging from the start and had a frankness that I was to value. She taught me how to breathe properly for singing, how to project my voice, and we did scales and many other vocal exercises. Lots of them! This was a good thing. As with most musicianship, practice makes perfect. Or, in my case, practice made me better.
I could go through a lot more detail of my six months of lessons, but there are two things I want to highlight.
Firstly, I had hoped that I could extend my upper range. Despite Mags’s and my best efforts, this did not happen. I can still only reach D# and occasionally squeak an E. I used to be able to reach G, but now it’s like those ‘keys’ on a piano are missing.
Secondly, Mags did help me find my voice. It turned out to be my natural voice – how I sing without trying to change the style and tone. So what you hear on my album is how I am.
Wonderful Life, by Black
This recording was just five weeks into my lessons. I still had a long way to go, but there was already a marked improvement.
For these ‘covers’ recordings, I only did two takes. This is very different from my album recordings, where I would typically record up to a dozen takes and then combine the best bits.
I decided to go Full Pop Star on the video, for fun. I hope you enjoy
Hurt, by Nine Inch Nails (Johnny Cash version)
I made this recording in April 2019, so after probably about 12 lessons. Mags and I found that, although I couldn’t sing high, I still had a two octave voice, due to being able to sing low-ish.
Because my voice was is quieter for the lowest notes in my range, I was singing less than an inch from the microphone.