hey Phil i have sung alot of Brian tunes let me know if you need any extra help with them..i studied him alot

Phil Moufarrege said

I practice songs in layers. I understand that my ability to percieve 100% of something grows over time rather than it happening in the moment. This means I understand that instead of trying to do things perfectly the first time, I approach it in layers. At first I just try to get the pitches and dynamic weight of the phrases correct. Then when I feel that's there, I realize I can hear another layer of complexity: now I may work more on the shades of the vowels or the timing of the vibrato etc. The more I go through it hte more I notice more things.

It's interesting to read how others approach new songs. I have some similar habits although I go at different songs in different ways. It all depends. But quite often I might want to learn a song and it's one I really don't know well, so I won't really "try" to learn it first. I'll get the melody familiar and maybe just a half assed knowledge of the words. You know...like I could "almost" fake it while singing along with the record...lol. Then I'll pin up a lyrics sheet to the wall put the mic stand in front of it hit record and start recording myself.

The reason I do this is that, now I have no preconceived notions of how the song goes and the phrasing. I am reading the words and adding my own phrasing and feel. This works in helping me create my own phrasing without being so influenced by the original. Then, little by little I learn the original and it all starts coming together bit by bit. Weird I guess. But it's just something I do on occasion.