Originally Posted By: jazzmammal
Actually, I'm the same way. I'm a player, not a singer so I never paid the slightest attention to lyrics except for certain musical cues<...snip...>

Bob

I ended up being a singer by necessity. After years of dealing with bands and depending on singers I decided that I need to learn this myself.

Some of the singers were diva/divo types, some were great, most were in between, but sooner or later a band broke up and it was easy to find musicians, but difficult to find professional singers.

It took a lot of practice. Fortunately as a trained wind instrument player I know how to breathe with my diaphragm and I know how to use breath support. That got step one of learning to be a singer out of the way.

Then was learning the muscle control needed to sing on pitch and use expressive devices so that it comes out like "SINGING" instead of singing (if you know what I mean.

I'm still not a great singer. I think I am physically challenged for that, the voice is a little nasal, and it lacks the 'edge' (opposite of muddy) that is all so important.

Fortunately, my wife is a first class, excellent singer, so she gets the hard songs. I sing about half of them in our duo, and if need be, I can do a single (I'd rather not).

The songs that I sing I pay attention to the lyrics so that I can try to get across what the songwriter is wanting. Singing a torch song like a pretty ballad doesn't really work. I use the same singing instincts that I use when playing sax - but I'm better at sax.

Still, when listening to something new, the music is what I hear first. The vocals are articulations with no meaning at first with the possible exception of a repeated hook. I'm listening to the music, how the voice interacts with all the other parts, how the other parts support the lead lines, and how the rhythm instruments interact with each other. I even listen to the vocal expressive devices as a musical instrument, and the attacks simply as articulations. If the music of the song can hold my interest enough, I'll get to the words.

But I know, I'm weird.

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
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