Does anyone sing with a band?

[Singingintheshoweralldaylong]

I love to sing. I have a musical ear, and people have told me I have a nice sounding singing voice. However, I don't have much range or power, not like a "proper" singer does. I'm an alto, I suppose (certainly not a soprano, anyway), though those terms feel wrong because it's not choral music I'd like to sing.

I thought of getting singing lessons to stretch my voice and make it more powerful and elastic. But I don't know where to start - I can find singing teacher ads, but they usually seem to be geared towards operatic singing or taking exams. What I'd really love to be doing - my secret daydream - is to sing with a band. Various styles, jazz, folk, pop, show tunes. Just for pleasure, melding with the music, expressing the sense of the songs. Not hitting crazy high notes like an X Factor finalist. It's not really about an audience - I wouldn't mind if there was none! Just jamming is fine. The "band" could be me and a bloke with a guitar, at the bottom of the garden 😅

I've joined choirs in the past and that's been nice, but it hasn't taught me the techniques to improve. Also, a bit egotistically perhaps, but much as I enjoy singing in a group, there's a part of me that really wants to sing solo.

Does anyone know what I mean, and does anyone do this kind of thing, and how do you get started? I feel silly approaching singing teachers because I don't really know what to say to them! I'm basically just a grown woman who likes to sing in the shower

I would have thought you would be able to find vocal exercises to do online - and then it's just a case of practise practise practise! Much the same as any exercises, the more you do the more you can do.

When I retired my dream was to learn to sing. I also have alto range. Found amazing singing teacher (expensive but incredible) after extensive research into what singing teachers/choirs are in my area (see whose style you feel drawn to) and she taught me all about breathing and technique. Have been doing it wrong all my life😂I now have way more power and tone and more understanding of how to make my voice better.

But mainly it has given me so much joy. I love singing. Never going to be amazing but like you don’t care about having an audience just love singing and playing music with others. Nothing like that feeling. Am in a band and we all love it. Go for it. If you can find the right teacher and put in the daily practice you will fly.

I don't sing, but our lead singer is an alto (more like a contralto really, getting down to D3, although she doesn't have the top end). We play originals, and also pop and rock covers, and jazz and blues classics. Despite being an experienced vocalist she still has lessons and these are really important to be able to sing without harming yourself. If you want to be singing rock, pop, jazz, blues you need to be able to belt hard, distort, growl, and do fast transitions between chest and head voices - all of this can quickly lead to damage if you are doing it untrained.

Lessons will also teach you to read music (if you don't already) and more importantly for the styles of music you want to sing, follow a chord chart and improvise. They will also teach you mic technique, phrasing and syncopation.

You say you have trouble finding a coach that will teach popular music styles - what are you googling for? You need to search 'vocal coach', not 'singing teacher'. 'Singing teacher' will mostly get you classical singing teachers.

Finding a band is usually easy as a vocalist, especially a female vocalist as a lot of amateur musicians really struggle with singing harmony lines while also playing their instrument - so joining a band as a backing singer is usually a good easy first step. Local venues are a good start - if you get into your local band scene then you will soon get to know people and can literally just ask a band if they want a backing singer. You can also ask around music shops, local practice studios etc. You might also have local music facebook groups advertising gigs etc that you can just post on.

Good luck!

What kinds of choirs have you been in? I sing in a choir and we do lots of work on vocal technique, posture, breathing, projecting when singing, harmonies, etc, etc. We compete though so there's a very different emphasis from community and rock choirs. A number of people in the choir also sing in small groups or with bands.

I'm not sure this is a good idea. Learning to belt and distort properly is something that is more safely done with a teacher. These are both key techniques in the styles of music that OP wants to sing.

Many well-known singers have damaged their voices through poor technique - from Adele to Julie Andrews and many in between.

@NigelHarmansNewWife agreed, and neither of them even really pushed their voices that hard. I always consider this PMJ song to be a fantastic demo of what alto voices can do, and the singers here are doing things that would absolutely destroy an untrained voice: (especially Morgan's belt...)

Yes I sing in more than one band, or musical collaboration. You need to get to know some musicians, ideally a guitarist or keyboard player as your main accompaniment. Maybe seek out some open mic sessions in local pubs. Make friends and ask someone if they'd like to try doing some music together. What you describe as sitting in the garden with a guitarist is the ideal way to start experimenting.

If you have a couple of songs up your sleeve that you'd like to try, that's a useful start. Once you know some musicians they will know others, eg if you start getting a idea of a type of band to bring together.

Lessons are always good, but won't help you find a musical collaborator, unless you ask your teacher for contacts and to help put you in touch. Volume isn't everything, especially with microphones. Practising singing in tune is the priority!!

Thanks so much to everyone who's replied! I felt a bit foolish before posting, so I'm glad of the encouragement and tips.

@Mistlebough - that's lovely and inspiring to hear! Feels like a message from my future self, perhaps 😊

@puncheur - that's all incredibly helpful, thank you so much. I have just been searching for "singing teacher", wouldn't have thought of "vocal coach". I will have to get more into my local music scene too, encouraging to know that backing singers could be in demand, and I do love a harmony!

@NigelHarmansNewWife I've just done community choirs, not a proper chorale type thing. Think a few dozen women and a handful of men, singing a harmonised version of a pop song in their lunch hour, doing the odd show to collect coins for charity! It's all probably been awful for my vocal technique, and I've always wished for more guidance. I didn't know there were choirs that compete - interesting.

I'm a singing teacher, definitely get some lessons. Most teachers will advertise that they teach classical singing but many will happily help you with technique for singing in other styles. If you can find someone who specialises in popular styles that's obviously ideal, but the basic technique of singing healthily is the same across different genres. I mostly teach children/classical and musical theatre, but I've had the odd adult who wanted help with pop singing. Don't feel silly at all about approaching teachers, there's absolutely nothing wrong with not wanting to do classical singing.

When it comes to finding people to jam with - not particularly easy, I suppose the easiest way to do this would be to advertise locally or try to set up your own little group. Alternatively join a choir again and see if you can find any like minded instrumentalists there.

@Singingintheshoweralldaylong yep, getting into your local music scene is key. Do you have local open mics? Just go along every week or month or whatever and talk to people - there will always be people who would be happy to add an extra voice.

And just saw your very helpful post @MsMcGonagall - thank you! Yes, I do definitely need to get out there, out of that shower (maybe pop a bathrobe on first 😂) and meet some musicians. It's funny, I always unconsciously assume that everyone would want to sing and that I shouldn't put myself forward, but then I did talk to someone recently who was passionate about improving his guitar technique in order to be able to play songs for someone to sing to! (Sadly he lives nowhere near me!)

And good point about volume and microphones, actually - luckily I can sing in tune pretty well, so at least that's a start!

I think there are, yes - never been, but I think I'll have to carve out the time to go to this kind of thing and talk to people, make it a New Year's resolution!

Thanks @cinnamonbiscuit , it's good to have the teacher's perspective! I'm glad it wouldn't seem silly 😊

Go to open mic nights in local pubs and get to know people. There will be plenty of musicians & singers about, and they are the folks you need to chat to. You'll learn a lot from seeing other bands and vocalists as well.

I sing with a barbershop chorus - not a musical style I had any interest in when I joined. And I can't say I'm a massive fan of the traditional stuff now! I joined because it was female acapella singing. Four part harmony. I saw them at a charity event and wanted to join. The sound we produce is amazing and we sing pop songs, show tunes, songs from films, etc. There's a lot of work on performance too. Some members have private singing lessons. We have professional coaching several times a year. The MD is a qualified coach and a competition judge. I'm a mezzo soprano so sing lead in the chorus. A lot of chorus members are musical in terms of playing instruments and we have total.

I started singing at school but had a long hiatus before I decided to join a choir as an adult.

Joining a band is a bit like dating - you have to find people you get on with both musically and personally. Music nights and open mics at local venues will be your best bet when starting out, even if it’s just spectating to begin with. I can guarantee there will be some shy musicians there who would rather not sing - you just need to get chatting to people to find out, and be patient until you find the right match.

Find people who like similar styles of music to you, and arrange a jam session to test the waters. And don’t worry if it doesn’t work out immediately! I’ve played in many bands over the years (to a pro level) and most/all of my music contacts came through meeting good people at live gigs.

Another bit of advice - practice singing harms in addition to top line. Pick a song that doesn't have any vocal harmonies and just improvise one. If you can do that effectively, then it will really up your value to any band looking for backing singers.

Thanks @furtivetussling , definitely seems like the way to go! I want to make more friends locally anyway, so hopefully the two things can go hand in hand. (And funny you should make the dating analogy, @SnacksToTheMax , as that's another thing I might start doing next year, and I have been trying to think of good real-life outlets that aren't the dreaded apps - but that's another story!).

@NigelHarmansNewWife that's fascinating! I love the sound of barbershop and didn't realise that was a thing here! Good for you 😁

@puncheur thanks for the tip! That's the kind of thing I like to do when singing along to the radio, so it's good to know it's something useful to build on!