Hello, and welcome to Groove Singh and All The Things.
I'm your host Amy Halstone.
Today on the podcast, I have a question for you.
Are you an aspiring singer? But you hate the sound of your voice recorded.
Let's talk about it.
If we haven't met yet, my name's Amy Halstone.
I'm a guitar teacher and a vocal performance coach, and the artist myself.
I've been teaching a har for over thirty years, and I've been a vocal and performance coach for nearly a decade.
I'm so happy you're here today with me.
Let's jump into the episode and talk about that question.
So are you a singer? But you just cringe at the sound of your recorded voice? Well, you're not alone in that.
I mean, many singers go through that.
So we've all heard about actors or actresses that just cringe when they see themselves on camera, or they don't watch the dailies, or they don't watch their movies, or their projects they've been in.
Well, I'm sure singers can relate to that, especially newer singers.
After all, we don't hear our voice exactly the way others do.
We are experiencing the sound completely different than those outside of us.
And we are hearing it back to us in from an outside source.
So, you know, what's a singer to do? What do you do? Well, here's what you do.
You toughen up buttercup because you gotta be thankful for every note that you sing.
And just get used to it.
We're so used to hearing like slick vocals coming in, you know, off of, uh, streaming services or whatever it is, the the fully recorded projects that we're listening to, those are slick.
Those have all the auto tune and reverb and really great delays just to make things sound big and lush.
It's a different experience.
Than just hearing a singer live.
But what you don't wanna do is go into your first project and be in the recording studio and be like, oh, I hate my voice because that kind of, honestly, it just screams amateur.
So just go in, already act like you are experienced with the sound of your voice.
This isn't your first rodeo.
It might be your first rodeo, but obviously, you've heard your voice recorded back, whether it's you're just practicing into your phone or you see a video.
Somebody recorded you when you performed or something, just be okay with it.
Learn to love it because as someone who has spent time at the Vanderbilt voice center and witnessed other people with very serious vocal ailments and really struggling to communicate.
I'm very thankful every day that my voice is strong and healthy and that I can use it in the way that I want to.
Don't compare your natural voice against a fully produced track.
Also, these singer singers that were listening to on those slick recordings, they had to go through this process as well.
You have to learn your confidence along the way.
So just start now.
The singers think they need to be perfect from the start.
Uh, again, not many crafts do people just like, oh, yeah.
I'm supposed to just know how to do that.
No.
You're not.
Singing is a learned skill, and so is being okay with the way your voice sounds, and actually learning to love the way your voice sounds, yes, you will go through a growing process of accepting the way you sound outside of your own head, but that's what we all do.
Everyone that has ever learned a skill has to go through a growing process and acceptance.
We have to put ourselves out there into the world without assurance of how we'll be received.
I mean, that's art.
That's any kind of art.
So I did a quick search, um, something like singers who don't like the sound of their own voice.
I found one article that was written by it was more scientific based, um, which I will link in my blog post about this subject, but I found a plethora of just articles that you could just tell were just AI slop.
But I do want to help you in your singing journey and offer you some friendly advice.
Again, it's simple.
Just love your voice.
It's special.
There's only one of you.
I'm sure you've heard this so many times.
There's only one of you in the entire universe.
Like, the odds of that are astronomical, obviously.
So embrace what you have to offer the world.
And I remember my coach offering me this advice.
I'm paraphrasing, but it was basically, love every note that comes out of your mouth.
Because I was working on my technique at the time, just really doubting everything.
And the concept kinda blew my mind, but I have taken that to heart, and I've worked on that I don't think too much about the sound of my voice.
I'm I just assume it's gonna be there for me for all the things that I've worked on through my voice.
While I didn't hate the sound of my own voice, I didn't have confidence in it.
I didn't love it.
And he there's so many things that he taught me, but that was one that, again, like, there's so many eye openers, but I was like, whoa, what what would happen if I actually Did love my voice? So the concept applies throughout your musical career.
Love your voice, love your art, love your songs.
I mean, don't be weird about it, you know, songs are they're near and dear to our hearts, but we have to be willing to make changes, accept criticisms, whatever our art is.
If we're playing guitar, we need to take feedback from other people, but but we're still loving the experience of playing.
We're loving the fact that we can make music.
This might sound like a little bit cheesy.
Like, I'm a cheerleader.
Like, I kinda am your cheerleader.
Okay? Just get over yourself.
If you're in your own way, which let's face it most singers are, most artists are, just try to have more fun on the journey.
Just like, don't take everything so seriously.
And I can only sit here now and tell you that because I was that person overthinking everything.
So maybe I can help you just think about things a little bit differently right now if you're struggling with loving the sound of your voice or being wrapped up in your technique, and just just let it go.
Just try to have fun every time you sing.
Be thankful that you can communicate, that you can learn new things every day, And if you're a new singer or even an inter intermediate singer, everybody needs to learn certain coordinations and exercises.
And I have a video for the singers out there.
Just go to amyhailstone.
com/3secrets.
And you'll get access to the video three sequence and exercises, how to find more freedom and less tension in your singing.
If you're a new guitar player setting out on your playing journey, I've got a video for you that could probably be really helpful.
Just go to amyhailstone.
com/5things.
You will get access to the video five things every new guitarist needs to know.
So that's it.
That's all I have for you this week.
Try to love your voice.
Try to appreciate what you have, what you have to offer that you have as freedom to learn new things every day and communicate every day.
Please visit me at amyhalstone.
com if you're interested in booking a vocal or guitar lesson with me.
And thanks for joining me on the podcast today, and we'll see you in the next episode of Groove sing and all the things