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I'm new to singing and music and I'd like to be a great singer one day but I can't always sing; that wouldn't be healthy for my voice.
(Also at some point if I have to sing 'Holy' again I might just become unsanctified.) Are there other computer guided ways to practice singing that are low impact? I know about ear training but I'm a baritone and most software only supports tenor and bass.
If singing feels "high-impact," there might be some part of your vocal instrument that you are "over-handling." Singing should feel "low-impact" when done with proper technique. You should feel the resonance on your lips far more than anywhere internal. Aim to have speaking and singing feel the same. A voice coach is highly recommended.
Hey I'm also pretty new to singing and have aspirations of excellence. I've learned a few things and they have helped a lot. I would say number one before technique is to do it everyday. Your vocal chords are muscles and probably have not been properly exercised if you didn't sing when you were young like me.
To deal with keeping your chords from wearing out is a key awareness of your body. Try singing low and focus on how it feels. You should feel a resonance in your chest. Now try raising the pitch and you should feel the resonance move higher and higher into your head. There's actually a nasal cavity right behind your nose that goes off when you get really high.
The key is not to strain your throat or neck muscles as you raise your pitch, or going lower for that matter, but it is much more common for people to strain on the high notes. You can hear a stained note and it doesn't sound good. You want to support your pitch with proper head/chest resonance. It is exactly the same as the "lift with your knees, not your back" technique. You want your body to support it easily and not injure yourself. If you master this people will be amazed and how powerful your voice can be without too much effort. Don't push your range too much without warming up and easing into it. That is another injury pitfall.
One last thing because I think it is important for what I just said. If you take a breath you probably puff out your chest because that is the normal thing to do. You can actually use your lower diaphragm to fill your lungs at the belly first. "why the zeus would I do that?" you ask? Well, if your fill your chest first you cut off that lower part of your lungs and if you fill up the bottom first you make a solid foundation of air. A pillar of vocal strength. There's no need to take an overly large breath because that just creates muscle tension which as we now know is bad. But having a good supply of ammunition always helps.
That was a lot but if your like me you can't afford vocal techniques right now and the teacher selection is not that great where you live anyway, so I wanted to share a lot. I bought a keyboard for warming up my voice. I sing up and down with the keys in lots of silly ways until my range expands. There's lots of the scales to do. I sing a chord to the fifth most of the time and then move up or down a semi-tone and repeat. Oh ya! At first focus on one technique at a time. If you try to do all these things at once perfectly it will drive you crazy! Happy singing!
Can't understand why singing wouldn't be healthy for a voice.If one can talk, shout etc., then one can sing.If you're baritone, surely the software can be made to change key to produce a tessitura that matches your range.'Holy' - Try other two syllable words. There are plenty to choose from - words don't HAVE to make sense. (Sometimes they don't anyhow).Hum - this involves keeping to the key, without straining parts of the mouth. Scat sing, over any track you like.There are many solutions, it's surprising no others are forthcoming.
