Vocals skill
A musical Lore skill, trained by singing or humming.
Use
While Bards gain the most tangible benefits from training Vocals (such as helping to reach mana caps on vocal enchantes), and is used in the Voice Throw check vs. Perception to determine if someone sees your lips move or not. Barbarians should note that training the Vocals skill minorly increases the rate at which the voice recovers after Roaring, so it is recommended that all Barbarians train it passingly. Aside from Bard enchantes and Barbarians roars, however, the skill has few applications. However, for Clerics, enough ranks in Vocals skill will aid you in getting the Preacher title.
Bards utilize a more precise vocal range, which has a slight modified based on race and gender. Information provided by GM-Vaeldriil on 4/29/09.
Male: countertenor, tenor, bass, baritone, contrabass
Female: soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, contralto
Training
This skill is learned mainly through the usage of enchantes and song scrolls by Bards, yet may also be learned by anybody by either writing and SINGing their own songs (the more people to hear your song, the better you learn), or taking advantage of the HUM system to learn in a less restrictive way.
To learn Vocals by humming, type HUM HELP in game. A list of play styles will be shown, sorted from easiest to hardest. Try humming different styles until you find one that gives you "only the slightest hint of difficulty". This will provide optimal learning. Additionally, there are diffculty modifiers that can help you "dial in" to the play style that will yield the best results.
It should be noted that certain actions cannot be performed while humming, such as attacking in combat and preparing or casting spells, so experimentation is key. Working humming into your existing training regimen is a great way to pick up another skill (and thus more TDPs) for little to no extra effort.
Non-Bard
Although not of much use for non-Bards, training humming can be good for RPing and TDPs. Below is a beginning guide as to what to hum at various skills and is not complete. It is assuming you are humming without a style or mood. If you want to train using masterful then choose a song 2 levels below what you can with no mood.
0 - Scales
0 - Arpeggios
22 - Ditty
29 - Folk
36 - Ballad
43 - Waltz
50 - Lullaby
59 - March
63 - Jig
76 - Lament
90 - Wedding
103 - Hymn
117 - Rumba
137 - Polka
156 - Battle
175 - Reel
192 - Elegy
210 - Serenade
229 - Minuet
248 - Psalm
??? - Dirge
??? - Gavotte
??? - Tango
??? - Tarantella
410 - Bolero
??? - Nocturne
??? - Requiem
??? - Fantasia
??? - Rondo
??? - Aria
??? - Sonata
??? - Concerto.
Restrictions
Humming will prevent attacking, hiding, and spell casting.