How to Become a Better Singer
If you are an amateur and want to become a better singer, there are a few different techniques you can use to improve your range, tone, and stamina. The physical aspects of singing are not the only things you want to improve, however. Singing is not just about creating sound. It is also about lyricism and phrasing, and those aspects of the craft of singing don’t just come from improving you pitch and projecting to the back row.
So what can you do to improve your singing?
Get a Voice Coach
Singing for friends and family is great and it’s always nice to get encouragement from mom and grandma, but if you are really serious about wanting to become a better singer, you need the objective and experienced ear of a voice coach. A voice couch will not only help you see what your weaknesses are, but will also be able to give you exercises that help address these problems.
You should choose your voice coach carefully. Avoid getting a relative with “singing experience” as they will often have little more insight and expertise than you do and you will have a difficult time replacing them without risking family woes. Ideally, you want someone who has studied singing academically and had real world experience singing for a living. It helps if they’ve also had experience coaching other singers. You should interview at least three such coaches before making your choice.
Improve your Breathing
Of the physical things you can do to improve your singing, perhaps the most important and effective is improving your breathing. Most beginning and amateur singers don’t really understand what is meant by using your diaphragm to breathe during singing and for this reason they never get that fullness in their voices that professional singers seem to achieve so effortlessly.
A voice couch will help you improve your posture, strengthen your muscles, and learn how to pace your breathing so that you can make the most out of your instrument. The difference between a singer who knows how to breathe and one that doesn’t is night and day.
Learn about Phrasing, Sight Reading and Music Theory
Much about singing is not just physical, however. Knowing how to phrase your songs properly and how to read music will make a huge difference in the quality of your performances. Even if you get your instrument into perfect working shape and develop a beautiful voice, if you don’t know how to modulate it, you will give a flat and unmoving performance. So much of singing is about the choices singers make.
Your voice coach can help you with this, but you can help yourself by reading books about music and learning music theory. Learning about the actual making of music and studying how singers make choices can really help quite a bit. Watch a show like American Idol from a critical perspective, looking for the choices that singers made with familiar songs. Consider how some of the best performances are those where the contestant’s choices differed from the original song.
Find a Singing Community
We often overlook one of the most important methods a person might use to become a better singer. Most singers surround themselves with other musical types. The musical community they develop, not only helps reinforce their sense of identity as singers, but also helps develop their craft.
Good singers learn from other singers. When you come across a singer who really has her stuff together, you should carefully watch her technique and ask her about her process. This is an invaluable tool for learning how to become a better singer.
In addition, being around other musicians will help you network and learn about opportunities for show casing and improving your own singing. Most rock bands, for example, get together through such informal networks.
Perform Whenever Possible
Finally, look to perform whenever someone gives you the chance. There are a number of opportunities to sing. Even if it is just for grandma at her birthday party, it is still good practice. But branch out. Join the school choir. Join the singing club. Join a band. Try out for the school musical. Any of these will help you become accustomed to singing publicly and will make you become a better singer.