How to start voice training

[Kairi]

Apologies if this has been asked many times before but I have no clue how to start voice training. I have found a few resources and tips but I have no idea how to put them together into good use. So far, I have in my voice training notes...

- Andrea James - Finding your female voice
- Kathe Perez's voice CD
- CandyFla's voice videos on YouTube
- Karmatic1110 videos on YouTube
- Using a spectograph to monitor your voice progress
- Using a piano and try to match your voice with the keys
- Meowing at a cat  (does it seriously work???)

All I need to know is that I should be doing first and if anybody has purchased the resources from the two authors in the first two bullet points?

[JenniL]

Kathe Perez's CDs are pretty good. The first CD walks you through warming and practicing words and phrases. I can only recommend this one as I have not used Andrea James. Maybe I will get them next.

The only other thing you may or may not want to put on your list is a chromatic tuner. Helps with seeing where vocal range is at when you practice. Very useful in the car to practice in traffic and such too and from places and they are relatively cheap.

And last don't over do it. You can damage your vocals by overdoing it.

Jennifer

[AbraCadabra]

I think my voice in "the open" seems to pass alright, yet it also depends on my mood and the form of the day in general.

B U T, on the telephone I am AWAYS clocked. At my age also most female voices go quite a bit lower in range. In fact Christine Aguilera's range seems close to mine, I do sing along, I LOVE IT! :-) and she is in no way my age --- I wish I was her age. Yeah, I know...

Question: In anyone's voice training experience did it make your phone voice get "un-clocked" i.e. not getting "sired" all the time. WHAT IS IT WITH THE PHONE?

All I seem to achieve is to sound like a screaming Queen rather (not really but to make my point) and it does make NO difference.

To mention my ex, 2 1/2 years my junior often get taken to be male over the phone. She is tiny and very femme, but her voice is actually lower then mine (likes smoking, booze and late nights :-) but being GG she couldn't give a hoot, being the tough cookie she is.

Axelle

[Kairi]

Kathe Perez's CDs are pretty good. The first CD walks you through warming and practicing words and phrases. I can only recommend this one as I have not used Andrea James. Maybe I will get them next.

Thanks for that. I'll look into ordering the set tomorrow. I assume these are the ones? http://www.voicefeminization.com/

As luck would have it, there is a 30% summer sale on the CD's too.

[Princess of Hearts]

You know how you never really know how others hear your voice or even how your own voice really sounds to you?    Well I was dismayed this week to learn that I have a basso cantante *speaking voice.  Think of Ezio Pinza and Cesare Siepi.   Last weekend I started listening to my Pimsleur Italian course and the Pimsleur method gets you speaking the target language out loud right from the very start.    So, today I was intoning: 'Signorina, Lei vorrebbe mangiare qualcosa?' and her reply ' No signore io vorrei bere qualcosa' and ' dove Lei vorrebbe bere, da me?'    Oh well it could have been worse I could have been a basso profondo.   


* means literally 'singing bass' but it means in reality a bass with a lyrical voice.

[JenniL]

Most know this but if you don,t make sure to record yourself as well. Totally different if you hear from the recording (this gives you an idea what people actually hear) versus the head voice you hear when you speak.