How to Do Great Vocals

Although the life of a professional singer can be filled with concerts and celebrity, her rise to the top is the result of hard work.

In popular music, vocalists are often the leaders and iconic figures of a band or group. Although singing styles vary greatly, certain fundamental practices can help singers develop a strong foundation in their chosen field of performance. From daily practice to studio recording, creating great vocals is a product of hard work, objective critique, diligence and technique development. Aspiring singers can begin improving their results using a few basic principles.

Things You'll Need

• Audio recorder

Instructions

1. Practice your intonation and pitch control very carefully, ensuring that you are consistently landing on the correct notes. Although correction utilities can fix any number of mistakes made during the recording process, they cannot disguise similar problems in a performance environment.

2. Attach a "pop" filter to your microphone when recording vocals to ensure that any sudden bursts of air from your mouth or harsh syllabic pronunciation will not be captured in the recording. Large music equipment vendors stock a variety of pop filters.

3. Plan where you will breathe in the song during your practice time in order to create a consistently successful approach to the music. Entering a performance with this security will greatly improve your confidence and reduces the physical effects of insecurity such as nerves and stage fright.

4. Record yourself during practice and performance so that you can review and critique yourself at a later point. It is often the case that musicians leave their performance with a very different idea of their overall sound than that of the audience. Recording yourself allows you to approach the music with an objective, critical eye. Take note of problems and errors needing improvement.

Tips & Warnings

• Critique the performances of vocalists you admire or respect, taking note of particular aspects of their singing that you enjoy and would like to emulate. This type of observation will allow you to positively shape your tone and technique.

• Although the popular expression "practice makes perfect" does have merit, vocalists should avoid practicing too much in order to keep their vocal chords in a healthy state. If you notice yourself becoming hoarse or hear the overall quality of your voice reducing, cease practicing for a short period of time in order to let your throat heal.

References

• Vocalist: Vocal Techniques
• Ann Arbor Pioneer High School; Five Tips for Better Vocal Practice; Pamela B. Gaston
• TweakHeadz: How to Record Vocals

Resources

• Lawrence University; A Brief History of Singing; John Koopman