Terrible Kirtan

[Guest terrible kirtani]

Dear sanagt ji, I hope someone here could kindly help me…

I have been trying to learn kirtan for a while now and I have found that I am just terrible at it, I can play the vajja but my voice is atrocious.

When I was younger I never really felt confident to sit on stage and do any kirtan but now when I did find the courage I felt like I was one of those terrible acts on X Factor, where the sangat in this case are giving me the stare and waiting for me to get off…

The saddening part of this is that when I am actually doing kirtan I really enjoy it and I don’t actually notice (unless I record myself) that I actually sound funnily hilarious….

I kind of feel that I have now a bad experience attached to me and the excitement has took a step back instead I find myself avoiding the situation…and have broken up with my vajja

I have now decided that I will not do kirtan in front of the sangat until I have not sorted myself out… I know this may sound a bit childish but I know that if I go on again without improving I will just end not ever wanting to do kirtan again which I would rather not risk…

I have come to terms to accept I am probably tone deaf and ridiculous at singing but I still want to improve hence I am here seeking help…

All your help will be appreciated by me and the sangat who has suffered my singing…

[Singh559]

I quit learning kirtan when my voice started to change. Was insecure about my voice and I forgot almost all keys on harmonium.

With that said I think if you want to succeed in anything you need to practice and dedicate a large amount of hours to perfecting the art - same goes for kirtan. What I've noticed is many kirtanis (esp. those who do raag) may not have the best 'bollywood style' voice, but the rass I get from when they do kirtan is much better. It comes from their soul and I think that should be the aim of kirtan.

I wish to learn as well. Would be awesome to learn raag kirtan, but my voice also isn't great and thus makes me insecure lol

[SikhSeeker]

Try singing at Amrit Vela and sing with your heart, with love for Waheguru, not about how u sound or how people will think you sound.

[UsernameTaken]

, I can play the vajja but my voice is atrocious.

Was insecure about my voice and I forgot almost all keys on harmonium.

Unfortunately i seem to be going thorugh a similar phase and weirdly it feels quite good to see that im not the only one suffering :lol:

I always think about doing some sort of voice exercises but i havent really found any .. does anyone know any?

As we're talking about this, i remember hearing a saaki i THINK it was Bhai Balwinder Singh ji rangila who's father did kirtan but wasn't very good at it as in voice wise hence people use to try to discourage him so bhai sahibs mother would always ask for kirtan di daath for her children and with the blessing of Guru sahib ji they all have beautiful voices in which they do amazing kirtan with....

Similarly Bhai Gurpreet Singh ji in an interview said that when they were young they use to travel long miles on a bicycle with their mother and then their mum use to beg the gurdwaras to allow bhai sahib to do kirtan, even if it was just for a few minutes. They said sometimes the kirtan wouldn't be so perfect but they'd ask Waheguru ji for forgivness if they had done anything wrong and remain in chardikala spirits... they never gave up...

so i think maybe we should pray hard too and ask waheguru ji to bless us with kirtan di daat... lets not loose hope or give up , kirtan is a special gift, not everyone has this blessing so if we can play the vajja we should not stop even if our voices are bad, keep motivated, ki pata, maybe mahraj ji is enjoying our tone deaf kirtan haha... But seriously like they say after the darkest nights theres the brightest mornings so just keep on track because at the end of the day the time you spend trying to learn a shabad and play the shabad is also going in 'lekha' as you are singing the praises of god... so ehda socho k apna kuch janda nahi, we will only gain someting

I pray that waheguru ji helps you guys with your kirtan and im sure that if you keep doing it with love and have faith, nothing will sound better than your kirtan because jithe pyar hunda, wahgeuru ji othe hunde a and jithe waheguru ji a theres no better place....

please do Ardas for me too.

Saare akho Satnaam Shri Waheguru ...

Try singing at Amrit Vela and sing with your heart, with love for Waheguru, not about how u sound or how people will think you sound.

oooooo the amrit vela idea sounds good but maybe not for the rest of the family that are sleeping lol....

[Not2Cool2Argue]

Kirtan should not be learned just to perform in front of sangat. Learn it so u can sing gurus praises which is the highest form of devotion/bhagti. So do kirtan at home, friends houses, anywhere, but do it for yourself to control ur mind to preach to ur mind, to call waheguru from ur heart. So don't stop kirtan.

As to the voice, ardaas like mentioned above is the greatest tool. Use it daily.Also do riaaz it means practice of scales. So sa re ga ma forwards n backwards sing all scales in it loudest voice n match ur voice with keys.the more practice the more ur voice will grow. Also learn about scales online, there r many apps/sites teaching how to sing. They usually start with breath than scales etc so look up how to sing!

[Guest Sat]

Sing with real Love n your voice will sound beautiful. Thats what people like Rihanna do, u may see her closing her eyes sometimes-

Sing from the heart, be true to what ur singing, believe the gyan u sing and respect n love it. Sing to your creator to your Beloved.

[luckysingh99]

Try singing at Amrit Vela and sing with your heart, with love for Waheguru, not about how u sound or how people will think you sound.

Kirtan should not be learned just to perform in front of sangat. Learn it so u can sing gurus praises which is the highest form of devotion/bhagti. So do kirtan at home, friends houses, anywhere, but do it for yourself to control ur mind to preach to ur mind, to call waheguru from ur heart. So don't stop kirtan.

Good advice above int the quotes.

Sing from your heart and FEEL the meaning of the shabad.

Do some gurbani vichaar on the shabad you are singing so that you FEEL it's essence. Then when you are praising and doing kirtan, you are expressing this very 'FEEL'.

-This 'FEEL' is very important rather than sounding good-

For those of us who think we have terrible voices like myself, I find that singing or doing kirtan in a group or duet with another devotee will help bring out the best in all of you.

You should try or arrange doing kirtan where two of you are singing the same notes at the same time... and this will help correct any weakness and give you an uplift of confidence.

REMEMBER-that SANGAT is very important and that it is all about helping in bringing out the best of each other in all aspects.

[harsharan000]

Brother,

all the memebers above from the sangat have given you the right ways to improve and bring the best of you, but let me add two cents here.

First of all take out yourself. Though it may not be your case that much, but we usually feel hurt, when we feel we are the doers....

Just sing His glory with all your heart and soul.

Remeber, singing His Glory is not being a disco dancer or singer, it is being a kookar, singing the praises of our beloved Master Lord Wahiguru.

Once you take out yourself from the scene, then only He and His mahima remains .... and believe it, His power is such, He can make a tiny mustard seed into a huge mountain.

So free yourself, do not even notice you are singing His Bani, He will bring out the best in you, leave it on Him .

Sat Sree Akal.

[ms514]

VAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA, VAHEGURU JI KI FATEH

Who are you doing Keertan for? Keertan is a heartfelt interaction between God and you. The Sangat is supposed to be there to join you, support you and carry you and be carried by you in Keertan. Don't do it as a performance. Do it as an expression of how you feel and want to interact with the Almighty. The feel, as harsharan00 describes above, has its own ras. There are Keertanis/Raagis out there that are not Bollywood voices, but their desire, bairag and intensity of emotion in Keertan is something beyond the confines of their vocal talent and the Sangat is carried away by such Keertan by sheer emotion and bairag/Chardi Kalaa of the Keertan. Conversely, there are those with beautiful voices that have no depth in their Keertan because they are missing that personal connection with the Almighty - it is a performance, not true Keerat of the Almighty. Most important is Gur Parmeshwar - It knows well what and how you are trying to communicate. Like a child who, from the soul, reaches out to his/her Divine Father/Mother to communicate, the Almighty is all too aware of your spiritual state and truly desires your love above all talent and music mastery.

On a more worldly level, it could also be a question of the tunes and octaves you are selecting to do Keertan in. Do you have a Keertan teacher? If so, and they know Raag, they may be able to guide you to what Raags and octaves you should be playing in to optimize the use of your voice and perhaps train your voice to the desired effect.

Bhai Jasbir Singh and Sant Niranjan Singh

Sometime in January of 1981,

Veerji went to seek the darshan

of Saint Scholar Sant Naranjan

Singh of Patiala. Veerji had met

Sant Ji on previous occasions but

it was after 1981 that they

became close and Veerji used to

go regularly to Patiala to meet

Sant Ji.

Although Veerji used to sing

shabad kirtan without the use of

any musical instruments even

before meeting Sant Ji, it was in

Guru Nanak Ashram in Patiala

that he received his blessing from

Sant Ji to do kirtan with the use of

the harmonium.

During one of his meetings with

Veerji, Sant Ji told Veerji that he

would require him to go to

Manimajare in two days to

perform the kirtan seva in place of

Sant Ji.

Without any hesitation, Veerji

immediately in all humility agreed

to undertake the seva. However,

upon reflection he realised that he

would not be able to perform the

kirtan seva and he informed Sant

Ji that as he had never sung anyshabads and that as did not know

how to do kirtan with the waja. He

beseeched Sant Ji that he would

only be able to carry out this seva

with his (Sant Ji’s) blessings.

Sant Ji responded that there was

no human being who would be

able to teach him kirtan within

such a short period of time and

that he should take his (Sant Ji’s)

harmonium to Sri Guru Granth

Sahib Ji as it was only Guru Ji

who would be able to teach him.

Veerji complied and brought the

harmonium to the Sachkhand

Asthaan where Sri Guru Granth

Sahib’s sukhasan was done at

the Guru Nanak Ashram at

Patiala. It was here that Guru Ji

blessed Veerji with the melody,

comprising of just a few notes.

Veerji was estatic when he

received this blessing from Guru

Ji and shouted uncontrollably,

“Aya Gya. Ay Gya”(“I got it, I got

it”).

It was melody that Veerji used

successfully for man years and

which totally captivated the sangat

for years to come.

http://www.panthrattan.com/pdf/bhaijasbirjeeveni.pdf

[Guest GuptSeva]

Vaheguroo,

Firstly, I would say try and not be so self-conscious about your singing, or worry too much about what others might be thinking etc. As long as your enjoying it and feeling the Ras from it.

I sit in the Sangat of a Kids Simran and tell you what, alot of the kids have off-tone sining, their voices are breaking, alot are off key. But i look past all that. Singing Kirtan is more about the soul rather than the ears and what our Maan (mind) is thinking in my opinion.

I would say keep doing Kirtan if you really enjoy doing it =)

If you still feel you can't come to peace with this until you actively do something, i would take proffessional singing classes. It might boost your confidence and develop your already perfect-fine singing voice.

Hope this helps!