People in bands: Did you take voice lessons?

[SincereCorgi]

The trio I'm in have been playing out more and more, so I'm singing a lot. I have no formal voice training, but I'm a 'trained' musician so my pitch is okay and I understand the basics about breath support etc.

So, I wonder: are voice lessons a worthwhile investment?

We do swing and bluesy-rootsy music, which doesn't necessarily benefit from Placido-Domingo levels of refinement, but I don't have a cool cigarettes-and-white-lightning voice to bring to the table either.

[allenhopkins]

Depends. If you're satisfied with your voice quality, no pitch, breath or phrasing issues -- and you have enough knowledge and vocal control to avoid strain, and to sing for extended periods without hoarseness or fatigue -- probably OK without 'em.

If you do go for lessons, be sure to find someone who's experienced in working with "pop"/folk/non-classical-or-operatic singers. Unless you want to go bel canto, you can be taught some techniques that you don't want to use.

I've found vocal workshops at folk/acoustic weekends can be very helpful, giving tips on voice placement, phrasing, styling etc. Never taken a series of formal lessons; maybe it shows? My goal was to have a "serviceable" voice, not a beautiful one. Kinda like my instrumental approach...

[re simmers]

I thought I knew enough to sing bluegrass. But, I took a lesson and found the exercises were helpful, so went for a 2nd. I ended up taking about 12-15 lessons. I will probably return to take more someday.
I had no wild ideas of becoming the next John Cowan in my late 40's (I'm now 54). I just wanted to see if I could improve.
She was able to pick out my weakest points and help improve them. She also taught me a lot about performing and how to put emotion into a song.
It was $20 per lesson and easily worth the money.

Bob

[jim simpson]

I haven't taken lessons formally but did get some instructions from a bandmate. She had a great range, control plus the ear to instruct. I was encouraged to find the extremes of my range for part singing and was pleased with the outcome.
I find it interesting to observe how many singers have to adjust there keys as they age.

[OldSausage]

Yes.

Economically it was a lousy investment, because I spent way more on voice lessons than I will probably ever make from bluegrass, but it was well worth it for being able to sing for as long as I like without hurting myself, and I also learned a lot of things I didn't know I needed to learn about music while doing it. It gave me a lot of confidence ultimately. Especially after my voice teacher got me to sing jazz standards in a restaurant week after week, geez that was a humiliating experience. I'm still not that great of a singer, I have to say, but at least I have different problems now.

[Bertram Henze]

Since I attended a music school as a boy, I always knew about the basics.
Later, when playing in bands, I was surprised how little other singers knew and how much can be done with just five minutes worth of advice here and there.
One guy's voice was suddenly twice as loud after I told him how to breathe.
One girl's voice came out tenfold after I told her to breathe from the belly instead from under her tiny bra, and to sing with her real alto voice instead of tweeting in a high-pitched whisper (imagine Rihanna trying to sing like James Blunt).

[GRW3]

A lot of the music camps have vocal tracks. I took voice from Dede Wyland at Camp Bluegrass. It was very helpful.

[Astro]

I have not taken lessons but I down loaded various warm up exercises off of you tube and learned them and use them. Like everything else, there are some amateur want-a-be's, some show-boater egotistical flim-flam'ers, and some real quacks trying to teach voice on utube. These are quack infested waters for sure. But there are also some pretty good teachers with pretty good lessons that are offered for free as a trial. I never sign up for their programs, but the intro lessons are often good and the warm ups are handy. You do have to sift through a lot of boloney to get to the good stuff though.