- So, how do you know you're singing the right note?
For some people it's straightforward,
but maybe you need a little more help to find out
if what your voice is singing is the right note
needing to be sung.
Don't worry, you're not alone.
Today I'm going to show you two free apps
that will help you to identify the right note
to be sung, and then make sure
your voice is matching up perfectly.
And if you stick around long enough in the video
I'll then teach you how to use the apps
to help tune your singing voice as a beginner singer.
And to do all this, I need to swing
around to my PC to show you the apps on the screen.
So, let's do it.
♪ Central ♪
(screaming fans)
Okay, so the first app I wanna show you
is called CarlTune.
This is a relatively simple app, it's a tuner.
So you can use it to tune guitars, ukuleles
you get the idea.
We're gonna be using it for a task
that's possibly not even being built for.
But I think it's a really helpful little tool
and we're going to walk our way through this now.
I'm using the paid version,
this is not a sponsored video, CarlTune.
I don't even know who it's made by,
maybe it's made by Carl Tune or Carl, but nonetheless
we're gonna have a look at it.
And as I said, I paid a few dollars.
I think it's always good to support creators
whether it be of apps or music or what have you.
So I've got the paid version here in front of me
but the only difference between the free version
and the paid version from what
I could have been able to work out
is the free version just has some Google ads at the top.
So let's have a quick walk through the app here.
This is the main page
and this is the page you're gonna jump into
when you open the app.
You can see the the circle of notes here.
Currently, this has us on the the third octave
and this here, we'll have a look at this bit here
in a moment, it's measuring everything in cents.
So there's a hundred cents to a semitone
and we'll come back to that in a second.
And it's also showing the Hertz well,
we'll come back to all of that in a moment.
We've also got down in the bottom right-hand corner
there a little, a little pitch pipe
and you can actually identify a note.
So the note that we're going to, in fact
if we sing A-440, this is the note
that an orchestra will tune to before the commencement
of an orchestral performance, or, you know
you'll hear them tuning for a show.
Now, I don't know whether you can hear that.
I'll bring it over.
(low piping music)
So it's actually,
(low piping music)
it's probably one of the little criticisms I've had,
would have of the app is that this pitch pipe
is rather quiet.
And as you can see, I've got that volume right up.
So the note we're going to be singing
I'm gonna take us down to three, A-3.
♪ Yeah aaah aah ♪
So that's the note, I want.
I'm gonna jump back over here.
♪ Yeah aaah aah ♪
Now you may have noticed that I was relatively in tune
but did you notice that to be perfectly in tune?
I would have to sing 220 Hertz.
♪ Yeah aaah aah ♪
And once to waiver around about the 220, 219, 218.
♪ Yeah aaah aah ♪
You can see when the needle goes blue
that's determining that I am accurate
to within plus or minus 5 cents.
Now, watch what happens when we go sharp.
So this is great for those of you
who are wanting to identify
that you're wanting to identify
that the note is what you have decided you want to sing.
So you may, you know be wanting to know
what, you know, I want to sing
a C like if I come back over here and I want to sing a C3
and that seems so quiet on the pitch pop
I can't even hear it.
So that's why we're gonna stick with A3.
♪ Yeah aaah aah ♪
And so you want to be able to identify the note.
You want to be able to grab the tune,
tuning of that note and away you go.
So it's a digital pitch pop, if you will.
♪ Yeah aaah aah ♪
So notice as I was talking my ear to larynx manipulation
of the note just dropped a smidge.
So if you're singing sharp
you're gonna find yourself singing above that A3
the 220 Hertz.
♪ Yeah aaah aah aah aah ♪
If I find myself singing flat,
it'll have me singing under the note.
♪ Yeah aaah aah aah ♪
You'll have a lot of fun playing with this.
It is very challenging to get it right on the dot
even to within, you know, 10 cents
can be quite challenging.
Just before we have a look at a second app, "Perfect Piano"
I do want to just very quickly show you what
happens when we change air pressure and volume.
So if I wanna sing that note
and what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna sing the A-220
and then I'm gonna push more air through my larynx.
Have a look at what happens to the note.
♪ Yeah aaah aaah ♪
So you can see it pushes it sharp,
but also did you see it actually destabilize the note?
So the larynx is now not only having to have
the vocal folds create the sound
but also it's having to try and stabilize
the whole mechanism to create the note.
Have a look what happens when I drop the air pressure.
♪ Yeah aah aah aah ♪
And it drops out.
Now have a look at what happens when I increase volume.
♪ Yeah aah aah aah ♪
So you can see, I started to have to manage that air.
We'll have a look, have a listen to what?
Well have a watch of what happens
when I drop the volume.
♪ Yeah aaah aah ♪
And the pitch drops away.
So what we're saying here is that the volume
and the sense of airflow
have a big impact on your pitch.
And so when you're developing pitch accuracy,
it's really important that you also work towards
developing your ability to manage volume
and airflow and all those sorts of things.
This is why breath management's a big part of good singing.
Okay, I wanna jump over and have a look at a second app
with you now called "Perfect Piano".
And because the reason we want to have a look at that
is because this is only helping you
with singing single notes.
You can sing multiple notes, if I was to sing that
♪ Yeah aah aah aah aah. ♪
So an A chord and I tried a three note scale.
I am getting within the accuracy of the range there.
♪ Yeah aah aah aah ♪
But what I wanna do now is go across
to an app that will help us a little bit more
with multiple note singing.
♪ Central ♪
(screaming fans)
Okay, so here we have the second app that I wanna show you
"Perfect Piano".
This is an app I've actually owned for a number of years
and I just find it a helpful app to have available
to me when I'm away from the studio,
away from a cable but I still wanna be able
to identify a note or get an accuracy of, for a scale.
And so here we have the app in front of us.
You can move through here.
It's more of a learn to play piano type app.
And, you know, I haven't ever really used it for that.
I've only ever used it for what we're gonna be doing.
Again, this is the paid version and this is no a game.
This is not a sponsored video, but shout out
to the developers of this.
It's a handy little app to have as a singer.
So we jump in here to the keyboard.
So immediately brings us up as a keyboard with a Middle C.
C for right dead smack bang in the middle.
And we've got here a metronome, which can be really
helpful when you're practicing.
We've got a sustain pedal.
So this is without the sustain pedal on.
(piano music)
Put the sustain pedal on.
(piano music)
And it will hold the note for you, which I think is actually
a handy thing to have when you're wanting to,
again develop some accuracy around your pitch.
We'll come over to this button here,
so this has two player mode.
You can have a double cable there, single row
and right back to chords.
(piano music)
It's kind of cool,
we're just gonna be using the single row.
You can change the display to doh, ray, me,
if that's helpful to you.
Again we're just gonna keep it on the note names.
You can change the sound
(piano music)
which is kind of cool
or bring it back to acoustic.
Something also that you might find helpful
is you can change the size of the notes, the keys.
I've actually found tens around about route
for my fingers, I don't have large fingers,
but you you might have more dainty fingers than I do
for when you wanna play polyphonic sounds,
multiple notes at the same time.
You can also slide this up and down,
so you can take it higher, if you're a high voice,
take it lower, if you're a low voice.
Basis you can take it all the way down into the ones.
We're gonna come back up to the A3
that I was singing earlier.
I will sit it at about there I think.
So this A3 that I was singing
when we looked at CarlTune.
(piano music)
♪ Yeah aah aah aah aah ♪
So I've actually got the keyboard sitting
down in front of me.
You can see it sitting there on my phone.
So if I play it
♪ Yeah aah aah aah aah ♪
that's the three note scale, the triad,
the A Major chord that I sung earlier
and I can play that as three notes.
♪ Yeah aaah aah aah aah ♪
It can be a bit finicky.
Doesn't want to do all three.
♪ Yeah aah aah aah aah ♪
So you can hear me being able to move
between chords there.
So it's really helpful for when you're away from a keyboard
or if you don't own a keyboard,
like I do have in the studio
for you to just be able to download a relatively
inexpensive app
and have that available to you on a smart device.
In fact, I've got this on my tablet also
just for those times when I'm away
whether it be at a recording studio or at a performance,
and I really want, I need to identify some notes,
fantastic to have.
Of course, if you're wanting to then take it the next step
and be able to sing, learn to start singing scales
across multiple keys with various scales
then I'd be encouraging you to check out
the voice essentials collection of exercises.
Because we go through all of the scales
major, minor, pentatonic, chromatic, you name it.
We go through them and it's all to a nice backing
and you can sing along with that.
Now, once you've started to master
the tuning of a single note
and the accurate intonation of intervals,
you can start to apply your new found skills
to simple melodies.
Now, one way I'd like to suggest you try
is to try the practice of audiation.
Now put simply audiation is the visualization
of any tune in your mind.
Essentially, you sing the melody in your head
without making any sound, and you can practice audiation
by choosing a short song that is familiar to you.
Something simple like "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
or "Happy Birthday".
Now, when you've got the song
in the front of your mind, sing through the song
without singing or even humming the tune.
Some people can find this difficult to do,
but it is a skill that can be developed
over time with practice.
And once you've been singing the chosen song in your mind
a few times, start humming the melody quietly to yourself.
Now, as your confidence grows in the humming of the melody
increase the volume and then add the lyrics.
Finally, try recording your singing of the song
and listen back to critique
the accuracy of pitch and intonation.
Now don't be surprised if your first number
of recordings are less than what you had hoped for.
Developing pitch accuracy takes time
and a whole lot of practice
but I'm sure if you put your mind to it, pun intended
you'll start to hear the results
in your more accurate voice.
I'm Dr.Dan,
sing well.