If one got good at rock band singing, could that make you a decent singer?

[GrayInvisible]

Say someone eventually worked their way up to expert. Would their singing improve? Not just pitch wise, but sound wise? If not, would they have a head start if they tried to sing in real life?

[CRCError]

I'm sure the practice trying your best to maintain pitch would be a step up, but in the end the techniques you need to learn to be an actual performing singer, IMHO, can only be taught by an experienced vocal coach.

There are just too many nuances to singing that singing in your car, shower, living room etc... you aren't going to be able to pratice on your own without instruction.

[thegreatpablo]

While one would not necessarily "sound better", it would certainly make a difference in timing, annunciation, and most importantly, pitch.

[The Rooster]

Probably not. On Expert difficulty I sometimes have to focus so much on NOT using vibrato that you could actually make yourself worse if you don't realize you are doing it.

If you want to actually sing, try Karaoke first. If you are confident you will be heard. Otherwise your voice will be soft and nobody will hear you. If people cheer, then you might be better than average. You can take singing lessons, but I like the karaoke approach for evaluation purposes. It's all about entertainment, and having a great voice isn't everything. You need to present your performance as well. Energy, style...CONFIDENCE... If you get the whole crowd excited then you are doing your job, all things you can't learn from a video game.

[imagine]

Im going to say no - beacuse y6ou can match the pitch and say the words but if your voice just doesn't sound good no one will want to hear you sing:)

[Conner Malvecino]

Im going to say no - beacuse y6ou can match the pitch and say the words but if your voice just doesn't sound good no one will want to hear you sing:)
Understood but without good pitch (which is the main component that RB is critiqueing) one really can't be a good singer. If there's one thing that all established singers have is that they have great pitch and intonation, all the other factors(timing, breath support, and the like) are important but not AS important.

[DesiredFX]

I'm still going with no, but not for reasons that other people listed.

Part of becoming a good singer is finding your own style, and to score well in Rock Band, you need to strip away all elements of style and do your best to perfectly mimic the pitch and rhythm of the singer.

The game can help you with technique, but it won't help much with finding your voice--the sound that makes you you, and that will truly reach people.

[R0ck3r]

Why not try plugging the mic into your PC and matching songs on your PC?

[J.D.S.]

Being able to stay on pitch, does not, a good singer make. ;)


Keep that in mind, those who can 100% songs on expert.

[malklavious]

I have a lot of fun at Karaoke and get good crowd responses, however I'm terrible at singing in Rock Band even on easy. I could probably do fine as a singer for a small scale band doing rock/punk/metal. Knowing a song's words and being able to sing it does not confer to good pitch control and the ability to sing it how Rock Band wants you to sing it :(

[Lucent Beam]

I think it can improve your singing if you have a hard time matching pitch.
But if your vocal tone is yucky, playing Rock Band won't improve that.
Rock Band doesn't make you a "good" singer, it ups your ability to match a set pitch and hold it. And even that doesn't really happen til you are on expert and the window is narrower for pitch.

[SSPWOLF]

Being able to sing perfect on expert is a lot like being able to nail putts from 30 feet. It doesn't make you a professional golfer... but it sure as hell would make a round of 18 a lot easier.


My point being... there's a dozen other things that go into singing well (not performing, I'm just talking about singing) that this game doesn't cover.. but pitch, breath control, and rythym are key fundamentals.

The singing is a lot like the drums. Just because you can FC every song in the game on expert doesn't make you a drummer. There are a dozen other techniques you'd need to be able to master in order to do anything other than "rock out" in your garage alone. (ask a jazz drummer what they think about your technique when you move from drum pads to real drums) BUT....

Being able to play expert level drums would give you an amazing head start over someone who say.. buys a drum kit and starts hammering on it with big 2B sticks.

Either way.. it's a game, but in both instances it adds some fundamentals to a beginning musician's arsenal.

[BhindBluEyes430]

no i defintaly sing worse in rock band cause its so unemotional and un soulfull they really need parts where you can improvise and get points cause rarely will someone hold a note as long as some of them on Rock band without changing the pitch. plus when i try to add any tone to my voice the game dosent pick up the pitch

[mastergamer1231]

no...
you can basically talk through it from what ive heard

[GrayInvisible]

Great responses so far. I was thinking of getting vocal lessons because of Rock Band, and wanted to know if I'd get a head start.

I always try to balance singing decent with singing on pitch. I find that as I'm getting better, I can sing better than talking, but stay on pitch better.

I can currently play hard for most things, and expert so far on a few songs. I have noticed my vocal range improving. When I first tried I could barely play on easy.

[RedTsunami]

Gaaahhh!! Here's how it works!

Rock band + vocals = better pitch
Everything else = real life practice

To get good at everything besides the pitch (and switching octaves if need be), you need to listen to whatever music you are trying to mimic, EXTREMELY closely. Remeber, the audience can hear EVERY FREAKIN THING YOU SAY. take a wrong moment to breath, they'll hear it. studder, they'll hear it.

Here's how I get better at singing (w/o a vocal coach OMG!)
Anytime you are alone, sing a song to yourself (low volume for me, since I do this while walking around the school, subtley so people don't notice), but pay complete attention to everything you say. if you say a part wrong/can't get it right, go back and practice that same part over and over again.

I'd also like to say that I'm no pro, but at the level I am currently at, I could probably do well in a local band, if not better.

[Harsher]

I'd also say YES and NO because in some songs I sing and sound nothing like the singer but it gets the right pitch for some reason and I pass the song... Like in Creep, during the SHE'S RUNNING OUT THE DOOR, the singer sings it really loud and if I do that I will go out of pitch so I have to basically sing it softer which doesn't match up if you compare the two it sounds totally different. But all in all it does improve your singing, I mean anything helps!

Just like playing guitar, it doesn't teach you to play the real thing but it helps you understand how a real guitar is played.

[SpikeX]

A lot of singing is just pure talent and ability, but there are some things that come with practice, and singing along with Rock Band is much better than singing in your shower or your car. So, essentially, it helps (doesn't hurt), but isn't going to make you the next American Idol.

[erickOnasis412]

well..

if your question was "am i going to be the next big american idol star" then i'd say unless you have natural born talent or prior vocal experience, no.. but will it improve your singing? i really don't see why not

i mean people can teach themselves how to improve different talents all the time.. this game isn't going to mold you into the perfect vocalist, but i really don't see how it won't help you learn certain fundamentals

[erickOnasis412]

damn.. SpikeX's comment is almost exactly what i was typing up at that moment, haha.. i like where your heads at

[Ryder35]

I wonder if games like this are the cause of all those people that act suprised when the judges in X factor tell them they are aweful.

[ThinkSoJoE]

I'm a bad singer and I know it. Doesn't stop me from doing it in front of crowds while performing with my real band. As somebody said earlier in this thread, it's all about the performance

[WiseOldUnicorn]

The only thing I could see RB helping you with is the ability to stay on pitch, but that doesn't necessarily make you a decent singer. Karaoke games make you concentrate on NOT using vibrato, which isn't the way to sound good IRL. They also make you sing it as close to the style of the original singer as possible, so you're not allowed to improvise and develop your own style. Go listen to some of the better American Idol performances--they'd fail hardcore if they were performing the same song in Rock Band.

On the other hand...if you can sing on RB in Expert, I'm sure you're at least good enough to become a pop star. I mean, look at Ashlee Simpson. :p