How to get better at singing?

[Gone for good 1,593]

So like, I do my own animations and crap and I also voice my own things. I have a script here for one I'd like to start working on eventually however it includes a song number aaaand I'm pretty awful at singing. I just recorded myself singing

 just to see how much I needed to improve and while I knew I'd be bad I didn't expect to be so bad that it made me laugh hard enough for the root beet I was drinking to squirt out of my nostrils and ruin my pokemon card deck in front of me.

 

So, I'm gonna be honest when I say I'm pretty much a newcomer. I used to love singing when I was a kid, but if anything I'm guessing I was awful and was really just doing it for the fun of it. I know that with singing and really any art form is to simply fix what's wrong and improve, but when I'm singing I can't really tell that I'm doing a god awful job until after the thing's finished and I listen to my own recording, which so far has been comparable to William Hung which is not really what I'm aiming for.

 

 

So like, my guess is that the really best way to do this is just to sing more and eventually I'll get it, but can anybody here offer some other tips or tricks? This'll help me, and I'm willing to be my life that there's more people out here on this forum that'd love to sing better that this will help.

[Lewis the Brony 110]

So like, I do my own animations and crap and I also voice my own things. I have a script here for one I'd like to start working on eventually however it includes a song number aaaand I'm pretty awful at singing. I just recorded myself singing

 just to see how much I needed to improve and while I knew I'd be bad I didn't expect to be so bad that it made me laugh hard enough for the root beet I was drinking to squirt out of my nostrils and ruin my pokemon card deck in front of me.

 

So, I'm gonna be honest when I say I'm pretty much a newcomer. I used to love singing when I was a kid, but if anything I'm guessing I was awful and was really just doing it for the fun of it. I know that with singing and really any art form is to simply fix what's wrong and improve, but when I'm singing I can't really tell that I'm doing a god awful job until after the thing's finished and I listen to my own recording, which so far has been comparable to William Hung which is not really what I'm aiming for.

 

 

So like, my guess is that the really best way to do this is just to sing more and eventually I'll get it, but can anybody here offer some other tips or tricks? This'll help me, and I'm willing to be my life that there's more people out here on this forum that'd love to sing better that this will help.

 

I'm pretty sure that's because you haven't sung a lot, so your larynx (also known as the voice box to those who aren't Twilight Sparkle) is not used to getting sung so it sounds like a nasally singing voice. I'm not trying to insult you, but I guess that's what its like if you laughed so hard.

 

So, the best thing to do is to just sing, sing a lot until your voice box gets used to singing, so soon, you will sing like a rock star in no time. But, I don't know how long it is since I've never practiced singing, but I think its a long time, but not too long as it seems forever.

[Gone for good 1,593]

I'm not trying to insult you, but I guess that's what its like if you laughed so hard.

Insult me? Pffftt, nah that's kind exactly how it sounded. To be honest, I think I heard my brother laughing across the hallway too so hey I'm definitely doing something wrong!

[Blue Moon 6,345]

Try practicing by doing karaoke. It is a fun and helpful way to practice using your singing voice. A good site for karaoke is Karaoke Party. There are a lot of songs on that site. Eventually, you will get better at singing.

[Lewis the Brony 110]

Insult me? Pffftt, nah that's kind exactly how it sounded. To be honest, I think I heard my brother laughing across the hallway too so hey I'm definitely doing something wrong!

 

LOL. Then, soon you will be the next Justin Bieber!

 

Ha, just kidding. But then again, just keep on practicing, making sure that the voice box gets used to being sung a lot more than it used to be.

 

In fact, maybe you should search for singing exercises on YouTube or buying some of singing exercises off of iTunes? Not the girl ones but the boys ones.

 

What's your vocal range anyway? You have to make sure you pick the right lesson.

[The_One_And_Only_Punk_Pony 25]

How to get better? I'm not a singer myself but I'm very sure the answer is quite simple. Practice practice practice. I guess its also good to know you're limits(like how high or how low you can go). That's all the help I can offer

[Zygen 6,066]

To be honest I wish I knew more about getting better at singing as well .  I mean I have no real idea how good or bad I am exactly, I guess i'm Ok maybe, mostly because I guess since I play trumpet I've got atleast an ability to sing pitches, whether they are good sounding is different hehe.

 

I'd like to know some tips myself though, only thing I can say from my music(not singing really) experience is to try and find a way to hear some different notes and pitches if you haven't so you can internalize the notes so before you even sing them you know how pitches sound roughly. It doesn't help a whole lot on stuff your just singing alone to though to be honest, but eh it helps me have a better understanding to stay in tune a little better overall.

 

And well internalizing a note and hearing it before playing it is important to playing any brass instrument really, I'm not sure how far this goes on singing though.

 

Otherwise I can just give you a slightly cliche practice lots . I just sing casually in my room along to lyrics videos or stuff. (And in the shower .) I don't know much about singing though. Sorry.

 

Good luck btw .

[IronPuddinG 249]

This will be fun. 

Alright, so, as you probably know, your larnyx is what controls your voice.  What most people do when they sing is to simply 'push' harder and harder as the note gets higher and higher. 

This is bad.

What this is doing is blocking your passage of air, which is why you find that you cannot get the note out because there simply isn't anything coming out.  The muscles that you use to swallow want to 'help' with your singing.  This is a natural movement that helps protect the larnyx when you're eating, but for singing, it doesn't help at all.

So, the goal is to relax those throat muscles.  There are quite a few lessons on YouTube that can help you with this (search 'how to sing without strain').  What they are going to tell you is to simply 'let' your larnyx hit those high notes.  This is the hard part, because if you've sung in the past, your muscles will need to be retrained to not block the airways.

From that point, it's downhill. 

Hope this helps, and good luck.

-IP

Edited April 4, 2013 by -sYGQ-IronPuddinG

[Stratos 109]

Answer me this.  Do you have any other musical background?  Do you play an instrument?  Just trying to get a feel for where you need to start.

[Fox 5,331]

How to get better at anything? Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. 

Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice.Practice. Practice.Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice.Practice. Practice.Practice.Practice. Hasn't changed in one single bit. 

 

Anything can be accomplished hard work. If there is something else that could aid you in your journey of becoming a better singer is that you watch tutorials, get a singer tutor, become open minded to criticism, and collaborate with other artists. 

[Mlpfan185 1,763]

Something was here. Something was here. Something was here. 

Edited October 10, 2018 by NONAME

[SkyeRibbonPwny 406]

breathe into your tummy, not your chest  and  it helps me to put my hand on my tummy, also, mark in songs where you are able to take breathes.

[Zygen 6,066]

breathe into your tummy, not your chest  and  it helps me to put my hand on my tummy, also, mark in songs where you are able to take breathes.

As someone just kinda curious on how this works a bit. Do you know how to exactly control where you breath, or know where your breathing from for that matter?

 

If its to hard to explain thats ok, I was just curious .

[SkyeRibbonPwny 406]

As someone just kinda curious on how this works a bit. Do you know how to exactly control where you breath, or know where your breathing from for that matter?

 

If its to hard to explain thats ok, I was just curious .

ummmm well it is kind of hard to explain. More like you are expanding your diaphragm instead of your lungs. Making tummy get bigger instead of chest getting bigger? I guess. Does that help???

[Zygen 6,066]

ummmm well it is kind of hard to explain. More like you are expanding your diaphragm instead of your lungs. Making tummy get bigger instead of chest getting bigger? I guess. Does that help???

I think so, a good bit I guess. Basically you kinda have to like push up almost in a way kinda to get your tummy to expand, I'm assuming I'm not doing something wrong for that .

It helps I think. Also I'm assuming its just for more air to hold notes longer and stuff, theres not any other specific benefits I should know about?

 

I'm not sure how much extra air I feel like I'm getting to be honest .

 

Thanks for the help regardless .

[SkyeRibbonPwny 406]

I think so, a good bit I guess. Basically you kinda have to like push up almost in a way kinda to get your tummy to expand, I'm assuming I'm not doing something wrong for that .

It helps I think. Also I'm assuming its just for more air to hold notes longer and stuff, theres not any other specific benefits I should know about?

 

I'm not sure how much extra air I feel like I'm getting to be honest .

 

Thanks for the help regardless .

Well actually, i think it gives you LESS air to work with, but it MAKES you use that air correctly and hold a key in the place you began with. When you breathe into your chest, it's more difficult to focus on a key and you get comfortable in other keys. I guess thats a little confusing. 

[Zygen 6,066]

Well actually, i think it gives you LESS air to work with, but it MAKES you use that air correctly and hold a key in the place you began with. When you breathe into your chest, it's more difficult to focus on a key and you get comfortable in other keys. I guess thats a little confusing. 

Oh ok, I guess that kinda makes sense . I guess I'll just have to do some comparing and stuff I guess.

 

Its ok though, I'm just trying to salvage some tips for singing from here myself, since I'm kinda curious to be honest, I've always kinda wished I was actually a good singer . I'm pretty half baked overall, sure I have music experience, but that only goes so far for singing .

Thanks for the help though .

Edited April 5, 2013 by Zygen

[MEMJ0123 33]

A simple way to explain proper breathing while singing, is to think about how you breathe when lying down. When you breathe in, you push your stomach out, and when you exhale, your stomach deflates. That's how you want to breathe while singing.

Basically, imagine when you breathe in, that you're blowing up a balloon, filling it with air. And when you exhale, you are pushing that air out with your stomach (it's really your diaphragm, but it feels like your stomach).

 

It's going to feel strange at first, but with practice, you'll be able to get a fuller breath in a shorter amount of time. Proper posture helps with breathing too. Make sure you're not slouching, relax your shoulders, legs stanced in line with your hips. Make sure your chest and shoulders are not making any movement while you're breathing. Practice by putting one hand on your stomach, and one hand on your chest. One hand should move as your stomach expands/contracts, but the hand on your chest should not be moving at all. Point is to focus the airflow through your diaphragm, that's where you're going to get your "power" in singing.

 

Aside from breathing: You should always, ALWAYS warm-up before singing. Get a hold of a singing exercise book, CD, or look it up online. Practicing those exercises will help prevent strain on your voice.

Edited April 5, 2013 by MEMJ0123

[Blue Lightning 275]

So like, I do my own animations and crap and I also voice my own things. I have a script here for one I'd like to start working on eventually however it includes a song number aaaand I'm pretty awful at singing. I just recorded myself singing

 just to see how much I needed to improve and while I knew I'd be bad I didn't expect to be so bad that it made me laugh hard enough for the root beet I was drinking to squirt out of my nostrils and ruin my pokemon card deck in front of me.

 

So, I'm gonna be honest when I say I'm pretty much a newcomer. I used to love singing when I was a kid, but if anything I'm guessing I was awful and was really just doing it for the fun of it. I know that with singing and really any art form is to simply fix what's wrong and improve, but when I'm singing I can't really tell that I'm doing a god awful job until after the thing's finished and I listen to my own recording, which so far has been comparable to William Hung which is not really what I'm aiming for.

 

 

So like, my guess is that the really best way to do this is just to sing more and eventually I'll get it, but can anybody here offer some other tips or tricks? This'll help me, and I'm willing to be my life that there's more people out here on this forum that'd love to sing better that this will help.

Ok, I'm actually interested in this cause I'm looking for a singer to collab. with for reals-ies. I have a link to a singer competition in my signature, I encourage you to check it out! I also would like to note, I've learned quite a few things about singing myself, and while I may not be the best singer, I think I've got a very good voice nonetheless!

 

Here's a link to a song I sung recently on soundcloud, maybe you can tell me what you think!

https://soundcloud.com/ghboy911-1/gotten-cover

 

That aside, I have a good majority of tips I can give you, some of which I can explain better if you wanna PM or Skype or something. Do you have any material of your singing i can listen to? I'm really interested in how you sound man! I could probably give you more direct tips knowing how you sound.

 

As for casual tips:

• Drink A LOT of water, it's a singer's best friend

   

• If you have an instrument, record scales and sing a long with them OR go to a youtube video with a singing exercise of the similar sort Ex:

   

• And just as everypony else will say, sing with your lungs (Diaphragm), not your throat

   

• ^^^ ACTUALLY that's only partially true, your adam's apple will affect your singing as well actually. There are muscles in your Larynx in which vibrate your vocal cords. To keep a note steady and clean includes keeping this muscle as still as possible. Basically, while singing you should use your hand below the lump to keep this muscle from trying to vibrato the notes (i.e. drift away from the note you are trying to hit) This actually helps me sing a bit, but don't force it or push really hard on your throat, small resistance will do. I don't want you hurting yourself lol

   

• Breathe longer and deeper! Air's gotta come out of those lungs when you sing

   

• Finally, SING LOUD AND PROUD!!! I actually improved by sitting at my computer and singing along to every song I listened to on my iTunes

I suppose I have more tips I could give you, but that would make this post REALLY LONG!!! lol

Hmu if you're interested in talking about it some time!!!

My skype: drifloon911

[Gone for good 1,593]

@@Blue Lightning, 

 

 

Singing partner, eh? I'll tell you what, I'm gonna be babysitting in the morning and was actually planning on doing some karaoke with the kids and I guess I'll just record that and send it over to you. I will give you a quick warning that I am pretty god awful, though.

[Modphase 1,273]

Besides the fact that I'm completely biased, being a fan of Frank Sinatra, I would in all honesty say that listening to him, (or any other very good singer) would be beneficial. Learn their techniques. But the most important thing, like Fox said, is practice.

[Blackcat 205]

Besides the fact that I'm completely biased, being a fan of Frank Sinatra, I would in all honesty say that listening to him, (or any other very good singer) would be beneficial. Learn their techniques. But the most important thing, like Fox said, is practice.

you know what sucks? good old artists aren't usually available on karaoke websites. Ol blue eyes usually is, but generally you have to pay some bonus fee for his songs. =/

[Acoustic Cloud 2,202]

The only way to get better at singing is to practice, the more you sing, the better you get (usually) I find the two best things to do (for me) Are to sit at a piano and match the notes and maybe sing to a song i can play, or sing in the car when I'm alone (that way I can totally bomb a note and nobody notices xD )

Edited April 5, 2013 by Rainbow Dashey

[Gay Bird 421]

I am a singer, and I have been for years, only I was terrible at it until recently. Practice may get you somewhere, but if you practice the wrong thing, you won't get any better. So, here's some of the things my voice coach taught me that made me 10 tomes better in 30 minutes:

 

1: Open your mouth! I mean it. Make your mouth as big as you can while still keeping the right shape so you can pronounce your vowels, which brings us to...

 

2. Pronounce your words! In fact, over pronounce the crap out of it. It might feel like too much, and maybe it is, but once you get better, you can pronounce however you want.

3. Fast in, fast out. Basically, get on your vowels right away, and don't get off or fade out until the moment the note is over. Don't spend too much time on consonants, and don't let them take your air from you.

4. Breathe! It seems like the simplest thing, but mastering it takes a VERY long time. Whenever you need air, get as much in as fast as you can. You NEED air, otherwise your notes will trail off and wobble. You can practice by taking deep but fast breaths and not moving your shoulders up and down, but moving your ribs apart.

5. Get a voice coach! (if you want to) these tips are nothing compared to what a good voice coach could tell you. Every person has different difficulties so working one on one would help a lot. I sound amazing to a lot of people, but I still have a lot to learn myself

 

I hope this helps you get on the right track, and I wish you luck with your music!

[Quilava 1,290]

One of my #1 tips for practicing singing would be to purge your body a bit before you sung, By this I mean stay away from dairy products or anything that contains a good amount of sugar, both of these aid in the build up of mucus that prevent you from having a clear and controlable voice. Alongside this I would also keeping a glass of water (anywhere between room temperature and faucet warm *NEVER INCREDIBLY HOT, just warm*, this depends on the person though since I tend to do better with really warm water while room temp does nothing) and taking some sips while you practice to keep the muscles in your throat relaxed while you sing.

 

Also, time, I've been *trying* to sing now for a couple years, and overall, I have noticed a good improvement *though I'm too scared to even record myself* though I'm still far off from where I want to be. Just be passionate, persistant, and optimistic and you will get better.