How to Make It in the Music Industry

Many musical people cannot sing like a pro. The reason for this is because, unlike the instruments they play, which are well practiced, often they will have neglected to pay as much attention to their singing as they did to learn their instrument.

Singing is like any skill. Some are born with it, but everybody can learn to do it. The learning of proper technique will correct the vast majority of ‘poor singing’ ailments, notably strain, squeeking, duff tuning or exhaustion. To develop control over your voice, like any instrument, skill, or sport, requires a lot of time and effort, especially to reach a professional level. This is true even of rock and roll singers, such as Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters. Grohl uses his voice in an agressive way but it will never squeeks, pops or sounds strained, and this is because he has learnt to use his voice in this way over a number of years.

The development of the voice is two fold: partially developing the skills (an exercise of the mind and ears), and developing of the muscles. With practice, both will be improved and so will the singing.

How to Improve Your Vocal Range

Improving your vocal range is easy but takes effort. Every day, you should sing notes on a scale, going up, and going down, and listening very carefully to your voice and how it sounds. Use a piano or guitar if you can. You want to eliminate all signs of strain, and make it sound controlled and even throughout the range, right up to as high or low as you can get.

Keep doing this and you will find your range substantially extended in both directions after several weeks, as your muscles develop and you gain new control over them.

Remember, do these exercises slowly. The purpose is to develop control and accuracy. Try and relax. Too much effort will only work against you.
If you have the facility, also try doing this with a microphone and headphones to listen back to yourself simultaneously. This is a very different experience from doing it acoustically and benefits people who make recordings.

Why do this- it’s not very rock and roll

Granted, vocal training is not the same as snorting cocaine off toilet seats. It isn’t rock and roll. But it will make you sound a like a pro, not like an amateur. If you want to be a pro, then you need to put in the work.

I must admit  I still find this difficult. I am not a natural singer, but I have come along way from sounding like a juvenile in a punk band and it has been 100% rewarding all the way. I’m taking vocal training as seriously as any other instrument now and I hope my voice will improve further over time.

This is a simple exercise that my friend, and impromtu vocal coach and producer, imparted to me one night while working late in the studio. The purpose is to help improve the natural transitions in a singer’s voice, particularly from chest voice (normal voice) to falcetto (high pitched and less deep), till they are seemless and smooth. The benefits of this to singing in the long term are practically limitless. Crucially, it helps to develop control over one’s voice, so that when you ‘go for it’, notes come out just the way you expect.

The exercise is simple to learn. Sing or hum as low a note as you can manage. Then slowly and continuously slide the note up until you get to the highest note you can realistically manage, and then, once again, slow and controlled, bring the note back down again to where you started from, hence replicating a siren. Make sure you do it slowly- doing it quick defeats the point. Relax and listen carefully as you do it. The goal is to make sure that as the note slides up or down, there are no ‘jumps’ as your voice transitions, and the movement is perfectly smooth and silky.

Once gain, this takes practice but the improved control is well worth it.

Learning to play new instrument or a very technical line on an instrument you know well can be fraught with frustration. Both complicated instruments and complicated parts have steep learning curves, otherwise they would not be complicated. Many people take up an instrument but give up too early: if they’d committed themselves enough just to learn the basics, they might very well have progressed further.

The reason I write this article is because I am learning to play piano.  I am already an accomplished guitarist, but this is entirely new to me. I am a poor reader of music, and can only read it very slowly. Nevertheless, I practice continuously and to a metronome. My progress so far has been quite astonishing considering my lack of experience, but ‘raw talent’ is something I am having to do without.

One finds frustration in learning many new things, but the difference between success and failure often comes in preventing the frustration from building a barrier. For an instrument, it is usually the feeling that your fingers do not do what you ask of them, or it seems impossible or just sounds terrible. One can tell if they are becoming frustrated if:

• They stop breathing, or breath becomes quite shallow.
• They repeat the bit they’re working on endlessly but while staring into space.
• They feel like they’re getting annoyed or not getting anywhere.

There is nothing wrong with a little frustration. Most new things can lead to a little resistance as we learn them. It’s only important to control it and this is done by not letting it build up. The answer is to stop, periodically, and check one’s breathing. If breathing is shallow, relax and let breathing become normal, and then resume. If it seems like too much effort, have a break of just a few minutes, and then get back to it. Don’t give up or try and put it off, doing so will only make the miserableness last longer!

But remember, practice makes perfect!

All artists need space in which to work. For writers, this is an office. For painters, a studio. It’s an environment where they can work undisturbed and uninhibited. This is true of musicians as well. The difference is that for musicians, the space is an audible space as well as a physical space. It’s pretty hard to write, play or sing in 100% practice mode if you know somebody else is listening. By definition, if somebody is listening, it is a performance, and you will be judged, either consciously or unconsciously.

When I’m really going for it, and practicing, I need my own space. I live in a double glazed, detached house on a quiet suburban road. That means that if nobody’s home, I can go for it as much as possible and not risk feeling stupid if I want to try something that didn’t work.

It’s pretty rare that nobody’s home, so consequently I have to work hard to try and practice around. I practice quietly when I know nobody’s nearby, or I lock myself in the conservatory which means the spill of sound into the house is pretty low.  We are currently renovating another house which stands empty most of the time, and so I can go and practice in there for the time being.

Sometimes I also practice in the earshot of people. I tend to practice pieces I’m already happy with, particularly ones that I have not performed out. I usually do this to fish for compliments and to gauge the reaction of people. It makes pretty good performance practice and can help to both highlight potential problems and improve confidence.

If somebody does catch you, and then mocks you or laughs at your expense, just ignore it. They aren’t any better than you; if they were, they wouldn’t laugh but would encourage you, so don’t be knocked down by it.

So in conclusion, if you find you can’t practice while others are around, do whatever you can in your power to find the time to practice while people are not around, and make the most of the time you do get.

It is very common to hear aspiring musicians say “I want to concentrate on my own music.” Usually this has one of two consequences, the person ends up practicing endlessly in their bedroom, with no audience, and no band, or the musician ends up spending hours dilly dallying in front of the computer trying to record their songs, or a combination of the two.

Neither of these are a bad thing, BUT, few people succeed on their own. There’s a lot to be said to for getting the vibe when playing a band that suddenly fills people with inspiration. For example, the drummer will play a beat and suddenly the guitarist joins in with a fantastic part that just naturally fits. This sort of thing happens all the time when playing with others. It’s rarely possible for one person to have all the ideas, and often good musicians can take mediocre tunes and turn them into masterpieces.

A second reason for working with other people is that its social. Getting signed is as much a matter of who you know as how good you are. If there are two of you, the number of contacts you have has suddenly doubled, 5 of you, 5x time the contacts & opportunity. For example, here is what happened to me last week:

I replied to an ad on www.gumtree.com looking for an acoustic guitarist to play along with a soul singer. I thought why not, in the worst case I’ll meet an attractive girl and in the best case she’ll be an amazing singer too. Turns out she was amazing (and attractive though attached). While rehearsing, I played one of my songs to her and her flatmate. Turns out her flatmate is a p/a for a leading music law firm in London. What are the odds? A music law firm has a big interest in getting artists signed as they can recruit them as clients. She said the tune I played was top 40 for sure, and she’d take my demo and play it round. I know better than to take compliments like that easily, but now there is an opportunity which occurred just because I followed a social path and made a connection.

Another good reason for playing with other people is that they can be better than you. For example, I can play the guitar quite well; I’ve been playing for years. But I’m unlikely to be able to kick out a solo like Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb solo anyday soon. But somebody else certainly will be able to, and if they did it on my tunes, all the better. I like to surround myself with really good musicians who are better than me, they can make my tunes sound amazing. Usually they’re all too happy to play if I lead them and write the material.

Performing as a band is far more interesting than a solo performer. There is only so long that an anonymous solo artist, performing orginal material, can hold the interest of the audience. A band can let you explore territory that just isn’t possible on your own.

Recording as a band is also brilliant. Records that have been to a click, with sampled drums (even very good sampled drums) sound lifeless, and nothing like a live record, which usually sounds ‘hot’.

My compadres and I have realised (and voiced it) that no one of us is good enough to make it alone. We realise that if we help each other, and bring our particular skills together, we stand a much better chance. I’m more than happy to play other people’s songs if they write them!

In truth though, the best reason to play with others, more than any other, is that it’s damn good fun, and you will have many adventures together that will be memorable in years to come. I fill my life with colour and music and I love it for that reason.

One of the things that seperates a pro from an amateur is to be able to do the easy stuff right. Often you will find a guitarist who appears technically fluent, can shred notes at light speed and can show you 46 different inversions of a jazz chord, cannot nail the basics. This means playing in time, to the click of a metronome.

Most people who can’t play to a click will argue that they don’t need to play to a click. They argue that bands don’t play to a click, that there isn’t a click when they perform, and so on.  Often they will say that it makes the music rigid, soul-less, empt or robotic. These people haven’t realised the benefits of learning to play to a click, and is a sign of an immature musician. All musical professionals can play to click, and if you can’t already, most players would be wise to learn.

Buy a metronome, or use the one on your computer/keyboard/guitar effects etc. It doesn’t need to be very advanced. If it has a light or something that moves, turn it over so you can’t see it. This is because we want to train our ears, not our eyes. Try to play a song in time with the click. Most tunes can be quite easily played at around about 120bpm.  If this is your first time, it’s pretty unlikely you’ll be able to play perfectly to a click.

Don’t get frustrated. This is extremely frustrating practice by nature, especially when starting out. The key aspect is practice, practice, practice. You should try and do a bit every day, even if it’s just for a few minutes. You will find it becomes easier with time, and soon after you will start to find your playing naturally improving beyond your own expectations.

If you sing as well as play your instrument, progress onto singing and playing simultaneously. Likewise if you are a singer alone, still practice to a click. It’s amazing how much tighter this discipline will make you, even when you’re not playing to a click.

If you find it hard, don’t fret, it is hard. It doesn’t happen overnight but it doesn’t take years either. Keep trying. A little bit of practice every day and you will soon look back and laugh.

These days I find playing to a click almost second nature. It’s a pretty essential skill in the studio, and helps when playing with other musicians too, so do make sure you’ve got it down.