Teach yourself to sing with these 6 tips for beginners 🗣️ 🎵

Have you always wanted to learn to sing?

Or maybe…you love singing, but couldn’t imagine singing in front of other people since you aren't confident in your skills.

You may think that good singing is only for people with a natural talent. That's not true!

You can learn how to sing on your own by using online resources and focused practice. 

What kind of singing do you want to be able to do? Consider the style of music that you want to be able to sing and if that requires belting, vibrato, or other vocal skills.

Your goal will help you choose vocal exercises and the type of songs to practice singing while you're learning. Your target skills can guide you to find resources that will help you meet your goal.

Examples: 

Goal: Learn how to sing pop songs

Target skills:

• Mixed voice: singer smoothly uses both the strength from their "chest voice" to produce loud, clear notes and the higher range from their "head voice"

• Vowel modification/shaping: purposefully changing the shape of your mouth while singing specific vowels to produce a smoother sound

Goal: Learn how to sing musical theater-style ballads

Target skills:

• Belting: a contemporary singing technique that produces a loud and powerful sound

• Vibrato: singing while making quick, small changes in pitch to produce a soft wavering sound  

Goal: Learn how to sing in the R&B style

Target skills:

• Vocal runs: quickly shifting between notes while singing without blending them

• Vocal agility: can easily and accurately switch between different notes and sounds at high speed

Vocal warmups and breathing exercises are important for protecting your voice. Controlling your breath helps you sing longer notes. It's easier to control and sustain your singing if you warm up properly. Warmups also help your singing sound better!

How to breathe properly (to help you sing!):

• Breathe with your diaphragm: You can put your hand on your stomach and notice it expand as you breathe in and contract as you breathe out.

• Maintain proper posture: Stand with good posture and keep your shoulders down while you sing to have good breath support and sing more clearly.

• Practice long exhales: Practice by taking a deep breath and aim for a longer exhale each time. You can try the "hissing" method by making a "ssss" sound while breathing out. Keep track by counting or timing your exhale.

Popular vocal warmups:

• Lip trill: Breath out while making your lips vibrate. This relaxes your face and throat so you can sing without tension. Try adding your voice by starting with an easy note that feels natural and gradually move up to higher pitches and then down to lower pitches (pitch = how high or low the tone is).

• Humming: Like the lip trill, hum at an easy note and transition between higher and lower pitches. This helps to gently warm up your vocal cords.

• Vocal slides aka "sirens": Sing "ooo" or "ah" while sliding back and forth between low and high notes. This helps you sing smoothly at different pitches.

Try this one-minute vocal warmup:

Vocal range is the set of notes you can naturally sing without tension.

If you learn what your vocal range is, you can practice vocal scales that fit within your range and find songs in that range to practice singing. This is important for avoiding harmful vocal strain.

Find the lowest and highest note that you can sing comfortably to determine your range (please warm up your voice before you try this). If a note feels super challenging or forced, then it's not part of your range.

There are free online tests where you can record your singing voice to help you understand your range, or you can use a piano, keyboard, or virtual piano to compare your voice to the notes.  

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Common vocal ranges:

• Soprano: highest vocal range from about C4 to A5

• Mezzo-Soprano: about A3 to F5

• Alto: about F3 to D5

• Tenor: about B2 to G4

• Baritone: about G2 to E4

• Bass: lowest vocal range from about E2 to C4

Many vocal coaches share instructional content and vocal exercises on YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms that teach people how to learn to sing on their own.

Look up videos and resources based on your specific singing goals.

This TikTok by vocal coach Lydia Caesar explains how to sing with vibrato:

Example resources:

Vocal Exercise for Breathing and Agility by Cheryl Porter

Five Basic Vowel Shapes for Singing by Crescendo Music System

How to Belt by Evynne Hollens

Singing Hack: How I Sing Riffs & Runs by Zane Rima

How To Get Into Mixed Voice by Rachel Gerrard

Like any skill, the more you practice, the better you'll get.

Sing daily if you can and remember to protect your voice by warming up each time you practice. With patience and consistent practice, you can become a fantastic singer!

Practice tips:

Record yourself singing to track your progress and celebrate your improvements (you can sing the same song multiple times for a direct comparison).

Stay hydrated and remember to take breaks to rest your voice. As a beginner, you should practice about 20-30 minutes at a time.

Update your goals.

As you start to notice your improved singing abilities, you can adjust your singing goals to be more complex. You can focus on improving small details. such as training your ear to match pitch or harmonize.

If your end goal is to become a professional singer, this is an excellent way to get started! Many singers start out by recording their own songs and posting them on social media. By strengthening your voice, you will improve your chances of success.

Singing is also a fun and rewarding hobby. When you know how to learn to sing, you can feel like a natural star as you enjoy the feeling of singing all of your favorite songs.

Ask people you trust to provide honest feedback on your singing. It can be stressful to sing in front of other people, but it's super helpful to hear from another perspective.

No matter how new you are to singing, it'll be valuable to know what others think about how you sound. This will inform your next steps as your practice. It's hard to be objective about your own voice. You'll likely be your strongest critic! 

• Ask specific questions based on your goals. For example, if you want to increase your vocal clarity, you could ask: "Does my voice sound steady, clear, and relaxed?"

• If possible, ask someone who is an experienced singer and is educated in vocal techniques to get the most helpful feedback.

Photo by Obie Fernandez on Unsplash

Get started on your singing journey now: