u/LegsTwelve

I understand vibrato is a byproduct of correct technique, and obviously it will vary from person to person, yadda yadda, but I’m curious how long it took until you personally started to sing with vibrato— even if you didn’t necessarily know how to control it or sustain it, etc. What does it feel like?

I lurked this subreddit for a loooooong time before I was brave enough to start my ~singing journey~, and just wanted to share my experience after taking weekly lessons for a month for anyone else who is also lurking and wondering what it might be like.

I take weekly, hour long, in person lessons with a vocal coach. Each lesson is 98CAD so I practice every day and really put my all into it as omg 🥲💸

I AM STILL NOT A “GOOD” SINGER!!! If you were to hear me sing you wouldn’t know I was taking lessons, so please understand that this is a long term project if you are an absolute adult beginner like myself.

However, there have been huge improvements to my technique and my confidence that couldn’t have been achieved through following a YouTube video and I’m excited to develop my voice more with my teacher.

Biggest changes:

1. Pitch - Before I would think I was singing the right note but in reality I was nowhere near it. Now I can tell when I’m not doing something right and what the note should “feel” like. I still tend to sing flat but it’s leagues better than it was a month ago and I can sing higher/lower than I could before.
2. Breath support - My singing was very breathy and my throat would burn after one or two songs. I’m much better at supporting my voice now and it sounds much more powerful. My throat can still be tense but I’m not running out of breath at the end of every phrase. I can also sing (and talk) much louder than before.
3. Placement - Before I could never understand what it meant to “place“ your voice as I was basically singing in head voice only. Now I can feel the resonance in my chest and face/head and when I switch between them. The shift between them is getting smoother and I don’t have as many voice cracks.
4. Confidence - I was SOOOO shy and embarrassed by my singing voice to the point I thought I was going to throw up the first time I sang in front of my teacher. I didn’t know how I’d be able to practice at home when I was so afraid of people hearing me, but there’s something about the silly and strange noises you make during a lesson that rip the bandaid off for you. You’ll spend your lessons crying like a baby and laughing like a witch, so going home and practicing doesn’t feel as strange anymore because you’ve already embarrassed yourself past the point of return lol. If anything, it’s cool to see what your voice can do when you’re not constrained by trying to sound “good”. My neighbours will just have to hear me sound terrible before they can enjoy my beautiful voice in the future 😘

If you’re on the fence about taking lessons, I implore you to at least give it a month and see how you feel. My lessons are the highlight of my week but it also feels like I’m learning how to speak a foreign language whilst doing ab exercises and rubbing my belly/patting my head all at the same time lol

I still don’t like my singing voice at all and I wish I could snap my fingers and sound like my favourite singers, so I try and focus on the positive improvements I've made in a short period of time and stay motivated by what my voice could sound like as I keep practicing. 😌