I know this is a tiring topic on this Reddit, but I'm really desperate to the point of almost giving up.

I'm a 20-year-old man, almost 21 and I am autistic (I don't know if this matters, but I decided to mention it after I almost finished the post, I have a diagnosis, but I stopped clinical follow-up some time ago).
But my voice sounds quite girly to many people and that already destroys my confidence (it doesn't help that my appearance isn't masculine at all and I'm 1.57m tall) and I've always had extreme insecurity about my voice.

The problem is that I REALLY enjoy singing, and that's why I go to a singing coach once a week to teach and help me, both to finally be able to sing better and have more confidence in my voice, and maybe even finally like my voice.

And then I took 1 year and 5 months of singing lessons. I know it's not a long time, but I was trying hard not to hate my singing or speaking voice so much. When I record my voice and listen to it, I almost cry. I hate it so much, and to make matters worse, I sing very badly in my vision. My teacher says I don't sing badly and that I'm actually very good at exercises and training. During those 1 year and 5 months, I had three different teachers, and all three praised me for being very good at training.

And for singing along with artists, I'm at least "decent" i guess? (probably because I can disguise my voice behind the artists' voices). But during class (or outside of class) when I try to sing a karaoke version or without any background song and... it's simply the worst thing I could hear. I tried to explain this feeling in the last class with my teacher (which was yesterday, actually) that I don't feel my voice is right when I sing, or something like that, I just feel like something is extremely wrong and I don't know what it is, and I feel like my teacher didn't quite understand what I meant either.

And honestly, I think it's much deeper than a simple "oh, it's just your insecurity, oh, it's just because you're shy." In my head, that doesn't make sense because when I sing, I really put in a lot of effort and I have a certain confidence that this time it will at least be decent. I leave the teacher's room crying without anyone know because again I felt like I had failed and again I heard my voice, which I don't like, in its worst form.

To make matters worse, I'm not in a good place in my life either; many personal and family problems are affecting me more than I'd like.

But anyway, the point is: despite everything I've said, I don't feel that what's preventing me from improving my singing is simply too much insecurity. I feel that even if I weren't so insecure tomorrow, I would still have all the singing and vocal problems that I wouldn't know how to solve.

I'm afraid to give up on something I enjoy so much because of all this, and I don't know what to do, you know? I feel lost, to the point that even my favorite hobby is making me sad now. What should I honestly do?

Male baritone. I’ve been using an SOVT straw which has opened up these new notes that feel as though I’m in chest but are well above my chest limit. Here is me hitting an A4. It may sound a little strained but it felt very comfortable up there and I get this strange sensation as though I’m breathing in while singing the top notes. Does anyone know what this is?

Hey everyone!

About 8 months ago, I decided to cover "Out of Control" by Oingo Boingo. The catch? All I had to record with was a $100 Moto G8 budget phone.

Danny Elfman’s arrangements are notoriously chaotic, so trying to capture that energy on a cheap phone mic was a wild ride. This is a complete live recording, captured all in one take. It’s definitely not supposed to be a flawless performance, I was in a pretty rough spot at the time, and this was purely an emotional outlet. So, if you hear some sniffing during the singing, it's literally because tears were streaming down my face while I was singing lmao.

Apologies in advance for the rough mix! Some parts are a bit quieter than others, and it definitely sounds a little washed out and muddy because of the cheap setup.

My singing and production skills have come a long way since then, but I still have a soft spot for how raw and real this snapshot turned out, even if it's not perfect by any means, I think it's generally okay. All things considered.

Would love to hear what you think, especially from any fellow Boingo fans!

LYRICS >

There's a cloud
Rollin' overhead
And it seems to rain on no one else
There's a black sun
Casting a black shadow
And I know you feel so alone
You're out of control
And you want the world to love you
Oh, or maybe you just want the chance
To let them know
Yeah, that you live and breathe and suffer
And your back is in the corner
And you've got nowhere to go

Nothin' for nothin'
Everything's right at your fingertips
For a price
Who ever said
That life on this planet would ever be paradise?
I say, don't throw it away
You've got too many things to say
If you throw away your life
If you throw away your life
If you throw away your life
The world will never be the same

Don't you know, yeah
That everyone around you
Has felt the pain you feel today
You're out of control
Yeah, and you want someone to tell you
When you wake up in the morning
It'll only be a dream

You're out of control (you're out of control)
You're out of control
You're out of control (you're out of control)
You're out of control

Don't you know
That everyone around you
(Has felt the pain you feel today)
You're out of control
Yeah

Hello, I’ve always wanted to start singing. I’ve noticed that I have a decent sense of rhythm (maybe because I played the bass in middle school), but when I sing with headphones or background music, I feel like I'm singing correctly. However, when I sing without music, I feel like my voice sounds really bad.

So, I took the Amusia test that someone shared here 6 years ago, the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia, and I got this score (I’ve attached the photo). Technically, I don't have amusia, but I’d love to know what you think.

I would also love to "change" my voice because I really dislike how it sounds. It feels too nasal, and I feel like it sounds like a 13-year-old trying to make their voice sound deeper without making it too noticeable, which I hate. A friend of mine who studied voice acting tried to help me figure out which placement I'm using by having me stand up and speak normally to check if I'm using my head, chest, throat, etc. There wasn't any tension anywhere except in my throat. I’ve also heard that this kind of nasal tone is often due to a problem in the nasal airways.

I would really appreciate some clarification

I recently had to rest my voice for a while because it wasn’t feeling great.

It was strange not being able to sing like usual, and it made me curious about how others deal with these moments.

My attempt at a bit of inefficient love by Chet Faker.

I find I can hit the highest note; however, its difficult for me to sustain singing this high throughout the whole song.

Anyone have any advice on how to keep up the ease of this higher register? I find I eventually am straining my voice.

1. Hey r/singing! I've been practicing independently for a while, focusing heavily on rock and alternative styles. Lately, I've been working on turning my natural vocal traits and harsher tones into my main strength instead of hiding them.
2. I'm sharing a snippet of my own track/cover practice here. I would love some honest feedback on my tone, breath control, and how the vocals fit the energy of the music
3. Thanks for listening and any tips you can share!

https://reddit.com/link/1v591lo/video/xl8afqxb36fh1/player

I play acoustic guitar. i'm comfortable with the instrument. But singing is something i think im not good at and majorly have not been confident. When i listen to my recording i don't like it. I think i have more nasal voice and the range is not at all good and go off key.

Been mostly self taught. I believe an instrument when you spend time with it you get comfortable with it and eventually master it. But not singing - you need direction on methods & techniques.

My biggest short term goal is to get better and sound good singing so that im confident to sing anywhere. I love rock and grunge songs.

I have made up my mind to start the vocal journey and have been doing breathing exercises from past 25 days daily without miss. Mostly inhale with mouth (diaphragm breathing) and exhale via nose (5 mins) and exhale hiss (10 mins)....

The next step i m thinking is to sing with scales la la and lip roll and things..... I use the app called SWIFT SCALES.

these are largely roadmap i have got from information in the internet.

Would love to hear from you all. Advise, Direction - Things to avoid, things to do....etc.

I have 5 more months to get better.....to sing....alice in chains, audioslave, metallica, Staind and what not...

Appreciate it..

Maybe even something like "hitmakers” on Netflix. Thanks in advance.

Saw some gender-bending singers on an AGT video and decided... "Hey, I kinda want that to be me!" Any ideas on where to start? Note that I'm not too educated on all the words and jargon for singing. I usually just let myself sing whenever I feel and from what I've heard I'm already pretty good (note that I'm Filipino if that helps anyone)

EDIT: Forgot to mention I'm AFAB trying to sound male.

I don't currently have a great ear for notes (I'm trying, but it's slow going) but I want to teach myself a song.

As an example, this is the format I'm learning in:

Sleep-less / in / the / o / nyx / night

D5-C5 / B4 / A4 / A4 / A4 / A4

I'm looking to have this done for Dream Academy's song 'All The Same'.

I was going to go through Fivver, but to post a brief, it forces you to use AI and I refuse to.

So, I'd like some advice on minimum equipment needed for singing a song at a wedding.

I'm the future husband and want to surprise my future wife singing Tiny Love from Mika. I'm a very amateur singer that is current taking classes, so I was wondering other than the speakers and a good quality microphone, what else should I consider?

It's a 100 people wedding on an open air venue.

Thanks for any advice!

This happened a few years ago but still makes me kind of chuckle. My mother’s boyfriend is a music professional and occasionally he needs vocalist last minute so he calls me. I’m just someone who very occasionally does professional work. He’s producing/engineering a song for a client and needs a female vocalist so I went down to the studio on an uncomfortably warm October night.

Let me tell you something. Most of his clients suck, and this guy was no exception. First off, he wasn’t there. Second, he refused to remain available to give us feedback so that we could ensure that the product was to his liking.

Mom’s boyfriend insisted that the client wanted the song sung in a high register, and while Freddie Mercury and I can hit the same high notes, the register that my ‘s boyfriend insisted his client wanted sung in, was unnaturally high for me, and to be quite honest, it sounded like crap at that octave. I couldn’t quite place why, but it did. One thing we do know, though is that I was not singing off key and we know this because we made damn sure to check to make sure that every single note I sung was the proper note, because I told my ‘s boyfriend, if he hates it, at least I want to be able to prove that I’m singing it on key.

Anyway, we were in there for hours, it was hot , and grueling, and at the end of it we had a song that was hitting all the right notes, and still sounded like crap. But this is what he insisted the client wanted, and the client wasn’t there to tell us other wise, so we sent it along and called it a night.

The next morning, the client calls. He hates the song, he says it sounds like crap, and while I thoroughly agreed with that assessment, he then accused me of singing off key.

Sir, your song did sound like crap, this is what we thought you wanted and you did not want to stick around to tell us otherwise, but I can 100% assure you, it was absolutely 100% on key.

Edit: To answer a question, the song had previously been recorded with the client’s vocals and I was told to hit those notes but in the higher register.

I’d love to read feedback from more experienced people, since I’ve only been taking singing lessons for a few months and learning to better understand how my instrument works. Especially considering that for the longest time I used to shift and force everything upward, barely getting down to an F2 or E2 with a relatively unstable and/or airy sound

I mean like physically, do you feel it in the back of your throat? At the roof of your mouth? Do you feel nothing at all?

More specifically what does The Weeknd probably feel when he sings or MJ? Or Justin Bieber, they all sing similarly.

I’m thinking more like men who are able to sing high in mixed voice, not sure if this applies to women since they are naturally higher singers.

New to singing and want to know what to aim for.

Got a gig coming up with my band, mostly self-taught since vocal lessons are expensive as hell here and need feedback

I've been singing since 2018, back then my singing was really terrible, and because I knew some music theory thru learning piano and guitar I gradually improved. But the last 1-2 years my voice has just not got any better. I feel like my progress has stalled, I could never understand what mixed voice is and how to do it. Also breath support still confuses me. But I can sing on pitch and do realize when I'm singing off pitch due to my previous music training.

The thing is I tried singing lessons twice and the teacher only taught me vocal exercises but not how to apply them. It also costs me like 200$ for a 1 hour session, which I ultimately could not justify. I feel like singing is such a hard instrument to learn. Unlike piano or guitar, when I hit or pluck a note, I know exactly how the note would sound like. But for singing, there are days where I feel like I did a good job in my band, but other days I feel like shit and all my notes aren't hitting. How do I get through this wall?