Singing on odd days

Subject: Singing on odd days
From: Dorrie
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 06:43 PM

how come i can only sing some days? Is it just me or is there an actual reason for this? i know you will say its a matter of opinion that i can sing but my dad and my friend tom (oh yes and the wilsons said me and my sister are good singers especially big hairy wilson)say i can but they dont hear me on the days that i cant!

d xx

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: catspaw49
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 06:46 PM

Ask yourself this.......Why, on some days, CAN I sing?

Spaw

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: Morticia
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 07:24 PM

tape yourself on both sort of days and then ask yourself if that's actually true....or that somedays you feel better about yourself than others...if you feel it is true, keep a diary and look at what you ate, what you drank, what kind of mood you were in, the conditions you were singing in, what you were singing etc. Bet you soon see a pattern.

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: GUEST,Uncle_DaveO
Date: 17 Mar 02 - 11:01 AM

What do you mean by "can't sing" on certain days?

Do you not have range? Is the quality of your voice tone bad on certain days? Is your pitch placement off? Is your rhythm judgment bad on those days? What?

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: Dorrie
Date: 17 Mar 02 - 01:49 PM

Cheers. i mean a can hear my self and i sound awful but on other days its not that bad i'm confused. i just cant keep in tune sometimes. maybe i can never keep in tune i just kid myself when i'm happy. i think it's about confidence and drinking.

thanx d xx

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: reggie miles
Date: 17 Mar 02 - 04:21 PM

When I'm tired I lose a certain edge to my vocalcalisthenics.

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: Maryrrf
Date: 17 Mar 02 - 04:29 PM

I have good days and bad days - days where nothing seems to come together when I sing, I feel that my voice is off, etc. I think fatigue plays a big part.

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 17 Mar 02 - 06:11 PM

I still wonder. "I sound awful" could refer to an awful lot of defects. Or it could refer to one's own mood on that day, and thus one's perception.

What, pitch? Tone? Timing? Or some or all of the above. "I sound awful" tells us nothing.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: Peg
Date: 17 Mar 02 - 06:58 PM

I find this to be true, too. Seems more psychological than physical, but there are also definitely dyas when I do sound better: clearer tone, wider range, more dexterity, etc. And this is not always due to being warmed up first! I find there is such a thing as singing too much and somehow taking the joy and freshness out of it.

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: John Routledge
Date: 17 Mar 02 - 07:43 PM

Might I re-iterate Morticia's advice in the third post.

Recordings don't lie!!

You mention drinking - Drinking certainly does not improve your ability to judge the quality of your singing although it might increase your confidence :0)

Good Luck -I hope you make progress.

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: Skipjack K8
Date: 18 Mar 02 - 07:36 AM

Whilst I concur with Dorrie, I have tried Morty's prescription, and played tapes of good day and bad day gigs. The two that stick in my mind came out opposite on tape. The dog of a gig sounds great, and one that felt like it flew sounded flat on tape. Odd.

Skipjack

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: RichM
Date: 18 Mar 02 - 08:58 AM

Yeah, I sing on odd days. On even days too...

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Mar 02 - 10:15 AM

If you're going to make a comparison, compare the same time of day. I sing a particular song with a very wide range. If I sing it in the morning, I can pitch it lower than I can in the evening. I sing in a Men's Chorus that sings at 8 in the morning, and it's touch and go whether the range is there, each time. Sometimes my throat hasn't completely cleared at that time. Sometimes my eyes aren't even completely open.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 18 Mar 02 - 12:00 PM

Singing is one of those things that mood can control to quite a large degree, so often it's your motivation that's impaired not your vocal ability.

The time of day can also be critical - most people find that their voice tends to be better later on, athough I knew one soprano who could hit top D's in the morning, but not later.

Of course there is the fact that your hearing might be the variable.
There is an old joke about the man who went to his doctor and said "Docter I suffer from terrible flatulence, but happily my farts are silent and odourless". The doctor prescribed some tablets and told hime to return the following week. The following week the man told him, "Those tablets didn't help at all I'm still continuously farting, but now they smell terrible". "Well", said the doctor, "That's sorted out your sinusitis, now we can work on your deafness.

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: GUEST,JohnB
Date: 18 Mar 02 - 12:05 PM

SMILE, it sometimes can help with pitch. It can't hurt anything either. JohnB

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: Jeri
Date: 18 Mar 02 - 01:04 PM

With me, I believe it's entirely psychological, and mostly has to do with tenseness. I can go into a singing session or weekend of music with a fresh voice, thinking I sound like crap. At the end, my voice is worn out, but I sound better to myself.

There are times when I can hear every slight (and not-so-slight) off pitch note I sing and it drives me nuts because I think I'm physically incapable of singing on pitch. I AM probably singing as close to on pitch as most decent singers can manage, but my brain somehow thinks it's reasonable to believe I can be perfect.

Do the tape thing that Morticia mentioned. Maybe you could make two separate tapes and not label them. A week from when you tape the last one, have a listen, and see if you can even tell which is which.

If you actually DO sound different, there are so many factors that can contribute. Allergies, humidity in the air, smoke, who's listening, what you ate before singing, time of day,...etc. Trying to figure out what makes your voice work better may be easier than trying to figure out what messes it up, but the effects probably still aren't as pronounced as you may think.

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: Dorrie
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 05:49 PM

i'll smile ta xx

Subject: RE: Singing on odd days
From: Margo
Date: 20 Mar 02 - 05:43 PM

Oh. I thought maybe you did something else on the even ones...