beatdream

started jamming with my friend dimas and my problem with rhythm and timing is becoming highlighted…I have improved quite a bit with regard to general singing techniques…but i am still having trouble with my rhythm and timing…i have problem starting on time, and get lost after bridges and solos, and also when it is a slow song and the rests are quite big, I just seem to get out of patience and start singing without listening to the music…after reading on the net and discussing it with dimas, here are the different techniques that I can use to improve it.

1) start using my karaoke tracks, but without looking at the lyric
2) use my music minus one tracks more often
3) start the music, play it for a bit, mute it for a while without stopping to sing, and unmute the song later on, and see if I am still on track…
4) start playing a drum machine and sing only with that..
5) dont use any music, but start counting and sing without the harmony part, just to make sure you get the timings right..
6) do rhythm exercises like rhythm dication and imitation using some software and get the feel of beat, half beats, rests and so on…

So for me the best way seem to be to use 1-3 and 6, and see if anything improves…so whenever I have free time to sing, instead of singing along with the singer, I will try to do it with a karaoke track or the music minus one…. strategey should be choose, about five songs that I like and that we have agreed to sing with Dimas (I have to consult my karaoke list and my minus one to decide these), and then work relentlessly on it, I can afford to work on this about one hour every day, cause I can do this while cooking, taking shower, shitting, .... so the plan is to be able to play the five songs without any glitch…and hopefully in the mean time I will be more groovy and listen to the music that is being played instead of just trying to remember the original, which is basically the main problem ….

yesterday evening, I went for my first salsa lesson of the year… it went pretty fine…we learned two or three different steps…one was quite difficult and the rest went really fine…at first I was stuck with this very tall and big woman and as a novice, it was so hard to dance with her, she didnt feel a thing when I tried to nudge her a bit to tell her I need her to spin…and she was worse than me…after 20 mintues of torture, I got paired with a couple of petite girls, who were also beginners, but they were much easier to control…and one of them even thought I was good…hmmm…the first time anybody said that I am good at dancing!...well, I slept like a baby:-)

Ok, I dont want to look like something made of steel, that requires too much work and I have a lot of other things in life than looking good…but I dont mind getting a washboard stomach and if I get a six pack on the way, I dont mind :-)... My plan is to do it in six months, 2 times a week at the gym, 3 times running (40-50Km per week) and five/six small meals per day…. I am not fat, but I have a funny stomach and love handles…will post my pics soon… good luck to me and you all…I will try to keep posting pics when I see improvements…