Part 3
For people getting into scream training or considering becoming a vocalist using screaming, etc.
Your first questions should be “why do I want to sing this style of vocal?” Is it because it’s what you think people expect to hear when they listen to your type of metal? Because you think it’s the easy way out of getting a good vocalist? You think it’s cool? You don’t really care about vocals and think it’s the easy way to throw a voice into your tunes? You think it’s easy and you can learn it quick?
If any of the above applies, I seriously suggest you rethink your vocal choice. If you’re going to get into extreme vocal styles, it should be because it’s what you hear in your head, and that you want to take it seriously as an instrument, and use it as a way to make yourself distinct.
If you’re thinking of it as a cop out, or bandwagon option in anyway, your setting yourself up for damage, a miserable time, or just being one of the thousands of sound the same screamers that seem to be around every corner today.
You should go into training ready to dedicate time, energy and money, just like guitar or any other instrument.
You should go into it with the idea that you’ll be learning techniques that take time, patience and dedication and will enable you do shape your style using them as a tool, not a means to an end.
There’s a lot more than just making gritty sounds to being a good vocalist in this style. Learning composition, having varying tones, the ability to pitch your aggressive vocals accurately, and decide when NOT doing them would better serve that part of the song. That being said, here are some thoughts on getting started.
1. Of course I recommend getting a good teacher. Books, videos, and stabbing at it yourself are only going to get you so far. Having a person who can see your performance and show you the crucial pieces will not only make you a far better vocalist, but cut untold amounts of time from your progress. Check out the later section on finding the right coach and vocal teachers.
2. Additional things that can help a lot outside of formal lessons. Get some guides on proper breathing, and do some things to become more athletic if at all possible. Breath is the most overlooked, and ironically the most important part of a good voice technique.
Ronnie Dio swore that his advantage to having such a huge voice was the years of breath training he had while playing trumpet. Also, start a course in ear training. Being able to accurately hear pitch and harmony will go a long way in helping you hear good vocal lines and be able to know exactly where the next note is going to sit.
3. Start listening to other vocalists. I know this sounds obvious but I mean REALLY listen. I find so many musicians of all sorts do way too little listening before trying to do something. They don’t have a firm grasp of what they are trying to imitate or be influenced by. Vocalists tend to be a pretty repetitive bunch. They tend to use the same notes in their melodies, same rhythmic signatures, tonal choices, etc.
If you go to cover a song you should know it so well you’re almost sick of it. I see so many guys that can’t hear the pitches in a song they want me to help them with, but ask them to sing a song they grew up on and they can nail it lyrics and all with no difficulty and no rehearsal. It’s because they grew up listening to it for the enjoyment of it and it’s gotten into them at an almost subconscious level.
This is how you learn composition and style. I do allot of work helping vocalists get their style together by teaching them how to understand why they like the singers they do, and then how to dissect the singer’s voice to take the pieces they like and leave the others. It’s how you use an influence instead of becoming a mimic and a rip off.
When I taught at Musicians Institute, I had another coach that would play a game called “name it in three” You would hear one verse and one chorus from a vocalist. Based on that you would have to find what notes they tended to for melodies, their rhythmic tendencies and tonality. Then do an improv that sounded like the singer, without copying something they had already done.
This way we learned that some vocalist’s notes may be why you like them; some of them it’s their cadence, and others, you just like the tones they use. These things are almost completely overlooked, not only by students, but other coaches as well.
How to find the right coach, and my thoughts on Metal voice training / methodologies.
First, to save me some typing and cut down on the size of the post, read this from my site. It’s a reprint of an article I did for Music Connection magazine on vocal coaches.
http://extremevocals.com/Home.Articles.aspx
Some new things I’ve noticed since that was written.
Now there seems to be a deluge of vocal coaches, many well known, and many who up until very recently said they taught metal and “screaming”, but by screaming they meant high range, Halford style vocals. Nothing wrong with that, I do that as well. However, they would often tell students they could teach them really aggressive vocals, only to take lesson money from them for quite a while, and then give a few tips on grit etc; finally admitting it really wasn’t their area of expertise.
This seems to have gone a step further now, with many of them suddenly being experts in this field, and claiming to know the bands, style and techniques. I’ve heard and seen some of the products put out by these so called experts and they are dubious to say the least. Some I would even consider dangerous.
Before going to a coach for some of the really aggressive vocal training research them and see if you can find out their history. Internet forums, etc. Make sure their claims of being experts at the style aren’t sudden and recent. Asking them directly probably isn’t going to get you very far. Many are unfortunately flat out dishonest. When I see people advertising products with quotes lifted directly out of my website and videos, and having Melissa Cross’s name and the Zen of Screaming imbedded in their web pages code, I wouldn’t trust much of what they would tell you.
This isn’t to say I don’t hope to see more coaches doing this legit. I have zero desire to corner a market or any such nonsense, and there is room for anyone with a good approach. No coach on earth can handle all the people in need of lessons. Unfortunately it seems as with any trend, people are always ready to cash in, even at someone else’s expense.
Methodology
Something to consider as well is does the method this person uses apply to your chosen style? Contrary to what many will tell you, there is no be all, end all, technique that applies to everything. This is usually the point of view of traditionalists that think that there is only one school of thought, and it is their way or you’re just wrong.
Traditional western vocals are based on Classical and theatrical singing. For modern music, and more recent thing like extreme singing, quite allot of it, contrary to what many may tell you, does not apply. Many of the sounds made in modern popular music have been considered unpleasant for a long time. The methods in traditional teaching are meant to prevent you from making these sounds. Using these techniques to achieve the opposite of what they were designed for is not only counterproductive, but the cause of a lot of damage and frustration. The coach will then tell you “see, I told you it would hurt you” after teaching you the very thing that made it so.
There are also tons of books, methodologies, etc that have become institutionalized in that the process has become academic. This can be good from the point of having people document and look into the methodology deeply. Many times though, over intellectualizing something is just a waste of time and only serves the vanity of the one repeating it. Many scholars love to talk and sound knowledgeable.
Voice is a very intuitive instrument and many people have a tough time getting out of their own head long enough to do it well. Filling them full of over complicated terminology and thought processes to do simple things doesn’t serve any purpose but to pump up the ego of the speaker, and confuse or frustrate the student.
There are also modern vocal methods that may not be right for you either. See what kind of vocalists seem to gravitate toward what styles of training. It’s usually a pretty good indicator. Of course coaches in that field may claim that their method works for everything, but it’s rarely the case. Some popular schools of training right now are geared towards pop, R&B, and studio / voiceover work, and are not exactly suited for aggressive styles.
My thoughts on the current state of metal and modern vocal training
Teachers and coaches can usually see trends ahead of time because they are working with the next generation of musicians yet to make their mark. Here’s what I’m seeing and my thoughts on where it’s headed.
I see a huge turn over in metal coming, especially vocally. I think the constant and pure distortion with no note or tone variance has reached a saturation point. It’s becoming what hair metal was to thrash and speed metal in the 80’s.
You can usually tell when a trend is bottoming out when the people doing it seem to be getting younger and younger. In the 80’s you wound up with teen hair metal bands like trickster. Now you’re getting the design the skyline ilk. Screaming isn’t regarded as scary or dangerous anymore. It’s become a mainstream and inappropriately used sound.
I can’t the count number of sessions I get requests for that want the “magic bean” lesson. The single hour that will turn them into a celebrity with the hot topic staff and they have little patience for more than a day’s worth of work to achieve their new vocal chops.
I have stopped being willing to deal with this type of student and they always seem so amazed that I would turn anyone down. I’m only interested in working with someone who is serious about what they do and isn’t going to just contribute to the generic noise that’s out there these days.
This stuff is completely oversaturated and it’s going to give way to new ideas or the rediscovery of older ones very soon. This is why I suggest that if it’s not 110% what you do, you consider a different approach, and try asking for help in other vocal areas (I’m talking about heavy use of screaming here, not metal vocals as a whole). Only the people who are into it for the right reasons are going to be taken seriously in the near future and take the style any further.
There’s space for screaming and growling to grow and evolve. As it is right now though, the overwhelming majority is using the same sound, same delivery and even though I do it myself and teach it for a living, I can barely tell allot of it apart.
If you get into it and are serious about making a statement, it can be fun, rewarding, and nothing beats attacking an audience like a berserker and watching them freak out at the sounds you’re capable of!
As a last note of encouragement- if this is what you want to do and you wonder if you are capable of it, remember this. At one point in our life you were about 12 inches long and when you were hungry, unhappy, needed attention, whatever, you would let out a scream that would peel paint for a mile. You have 10 times that body mass now. Still think you can’t do it?
Remember your mom telling you to stop yelling or screaming when you were out with your friends? Did you ever blow your voice on the swing set or playing soldier? Of course not. You have all the equipment you need. Sharpen your tools and have at it!
I hope this helped any of you reading with your interest in metal vocals, and particularly screaming.
Best of luck at it. Now go do something that intimidates the hell out of me!
Your rates listed on the website are a bit pricey at the moment for me, but when I have the spare cash, I promise to drop you a line.
