Jaimie Vendera READY TO SCREAM?

[xdenzleed]

I found this the other day:
http://www.screaminglessons.com/
I have been trying to learn to scream/sing correctly for a long time and I can't either find the right vocal lessons or I don't trust other scream vocalists from my area. So I'm asking has anyone tried Jaimie's lessons and are they successful at all?

 

[TedEH]

I tried watching the Zen of Screaming a while back, and some of the concepts and ideas were valid and helpful to a point, but it's difficult to learn that way. It's probably not impossible to learn on your own just with some instructional video and audio, but I think having a teacher, or at least some examples to draw from are just as valuable. I learned a lot from watching screaming vocals get recorded without the band behind it- so you can really hear what's happening.

I could sing cleanly before trying to "scream", and a lot of technique can be shared across both vocal styles. Even when learning how to properly clean sing, there are these sort of mental barriers I had to get through in order to allow myself to sing loudly or confidently, and it's extremely audible when you pass that threshold. If you're afraid of hearing yourself, or of other people hearing you, you'll never allow yourself the experimentation and "feeling it out" of your voice that I think you need to do in order to discover how it should feel when you're singing. I practice in the car all the time, and I don't care who hears me- driving alone is, to me, the perfect time to experiment with vocal noises and get comfortable with what you sound like.

With that said: if you're causing pain while you sing, you're probably doing something wrong.

And I listened to some of the clips at that link... It seemed more focused on teaching the "tricks" and impressing people, less on proper vocal technique or explaining why or how something sounds the way it does. This, to me is a red flag:

This definitely 'ain't your father's singing lesson and we promise you, you won't find any boring piano scales in this lesson!

Also, don't get discouraged. Some people can just scream right away, but for others it takes time to "find" your voice. I tried and couldn't properly scream for years, and it took tons of time attempting to emulate other singers to eventually figure out that I don't actually sound like any of them, and eventually found my own comfortable voice.

 

[xdenzleed]

I am full understanding the fact that he is trying very hard to sell it. I watched one of his free videos earlier on and found it extremely helpful so far. I am also aware that I shouldn't try to sound like other vocalists. I have been told by a few vocal teachers and my girlfriend (who is a opera singer) that I have big potential to have a powerful voice, problem is tho that I can't seem to bring that power out no matter how much I try and practice. I tend to end up singing too much from my throat and loose the correct placement of my voice.

 

[TedEH]

I can't seem to bring that power out no matter how much I try and practice.

Maybe the problem is with how you're thinking of the term "powerful". Being powerful doesn't need to mean loud, nor does it need to mean that you're forcing really hard- in fact trying too hard to "sound powerful" can limit you. If you're practicing against a recording, try turning it off or down, at least enough that you very clearly overpower it without effort and try again.

Alternatively, it could be a confidence issue. If you're not confident and comfortable, you will unwillingly impede yourself. If you turn the background audio down really low and don't feel right when you sing over it and hear yourself really well, then that might be the issue.

I find, that as a warm up, I tend to do that "lip roll" thing and then transition into an "aaaah" sound, and it tends to naturally fall into a note that's easy and feels comfortable and "resonates" well (wrong word maybe?) but that always ends up being, for me, a good reference point to where I should "position" my voice at that pitch and how it should feel when I do it.

Edit: I'm not a professional by any means, so I might be doing it "wrong", but it works for me, and I haven't hurt my voice this way so far.

 

[xdenzleed]

That is something I have always questioned (what is being powerful exactly). By screams it is mainly placement for me as I seem to stay in "one region" which I am sure is wrong haha. I will try the lessons he's done and I will come back and say what I think of it. mainly asking because I don't trust amazon reviews

 

[TedEH]

For what it's worth, try to get a hold of the Zen of Screaming too- It might be some redundant info, but maybe one will have something the other doesn't. More info is more better.

 

[xdenzleed]

Ok I just downloaded Jaimie's lessons and had a quick look through and too be honest it seems very well constructed (the purchase includes the pdf. guide to warm ups and how to accomplish each scream technique, 3 mp3's one going over all the scream, how the sound and how to do them, backing tracks and the warm ups an there is a video on how you are meant to breathe etc.) I have looked at both melissa cross videos and I just cant pay attention to all she says plus half the time I don't get her explanations on how the voice works.