How to Learn to Sing Better

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Patience
Time
Music
Book and CD

Step 1

Analyze your current level of ability. Do you want to learn to sing better? It is very possible to improve your singing voice, but most people don't even know where to begin. The first thing you need to do is analyze your current singing ability. What areas do you feel strongest in? In which areas do you feel weakest? Some questions to ask yourself are: Is my head voice stronger than my chest voice or vice versa? Can I do all the runs that the singers in my favorite songs do? What is my range? What areas would I like to improve?
Step 2

Investigate methods you can learn from. Consider which method you want to use to improve your singing voice. You might want to go to a vocal coach, but they can cost anywhere between $25 and $100 an hour, so you might want to check out books and CDs, first. Speech-level singing is a really good method for singers who want to sing pop-style music (R&B, rock, pop, etc.) It is REALLY helpful for transitioning between your chest voice and head voice. A lot of singers find that their voice always cracks around a certain note, and SLS fixes this. In the resources section, there is a link to an excellent book and CD combination that teaches Speech Level Singing.
Step 3

Choose your method of Vocal Instruction. If you want to have live instruction and forgo books and CDs, you'll need to decide on a vocal coach. You need to know a few things. If you want to sing classical music, like opera or musical theater type music, go to any classical music teacher. However, if you want to sing popular music, do not go to a traditional singing teacher. They will tell you that they can teach you how to sing anything, but listen to their voice and look at their resume / biography. They can ruin your voice. (They may not agree with this, but ask any talent scout for pop artists.)

A lot of classical singing teachers were trained in a classical way, and they have a hard time showing you what you need to have a "pop" sounding singing voice. The pronunciation is different in the two styles, and your tone and rhythm should be very different. Many potentially good singers have been trained by well-meaning teachers who make them sound too classical. So, if you want to sound like Demi Lovato, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, or any other modern singer (men included), don't entrust your voice to them. Look for a teacher who can sing themselves, specifically teaches pop music and who, perhaps, even has experience in speech level singing.
Step 4

Imitate your favorite artists. Now you have either gotten some books and CDs or hired a vocal coach. They will guide you in a better direction, but there are a few tips you can use to help you even more. First, realize it is OK to sound exactly like the singer. Some singers feel like if they copy everything another artist does, then that means they are not original. This is just not true. When you learn every nuance of a song and are able to sing it right, like the artist, you will have added a bunch of new tricks and runs to your skills. Eventually, you will be the sum of all your musical influences. So - learn songs EXACTLY how the artist sings them. You can be original when you have learned so much that you can create even better sounds.
Step 5

Practice the things you sound the worst at. Next, don't be afraid to sound awful. Don't be afraid to sing the high notes that you think you can't reach, or try the runs that seem too complicated. Go somewhere where people can't hear you, if you need to. If you have a car, go drive it to a parking lot and practice there with the windows rolled up. Yes, you might sound awful at first, but you will be able to hear the parts that sound wrong and attempt to correct them. You can't do that unless you try.
Step 6

Learn the Runs. Musical runs: Runs are those little complicated musical things you hear that add depth to the song. You might call them "vocal gymnastics".(Think: The crazy stuff Mariah Carey sings- Those are runs!) The best method for mastering them is this: Start out with the easiest ones, and then work your way up. This will improve both your voice and your ear. Look at the image to the left. This is kind of a visual representation of what a run might sound like.

To begin, select something easy, like a Michele Branch song. In her "Everywhere" song, she sings that part that goes "you're everywhere to me, and when I close my eyes its you I see..." In that part, she does some cool things with some of the words like "I see." She does more than two notes there. Most people would hear 2 or 3 notes and sing them, but there is more going on here. Practice easy ones like that, first. You might then progress to a harder Christina Aguilera song, like "Beautiful", and use this method with that.

Rewind the song over and over and over again until you know the notes being sung. Sing them very slowly, over and over to yourself. You might want to write on a piece of paper what you are hearing. You can use little lines or a wavy line to record the ups and downs of the notes you are hearing. This helps to break it down for yourself. You might be missing one or two notes, so listen carefully. Then, pick up the speed until you are singing it with the artist. It might take you an hour to hear one run the first time you do this. Just keep at it, though, because the more you do this, the easier it gets.

Once you train your ear to hear the slight nuances in a singer's voice, you will start to pick up things a lot more quickly, and eventually you will find that only the toughest, most complicated runs require you to listen to them over and over again to get them.
Step 7

Continue to Practice often, using the above steps. You now have either a vocal coach or a book and CDs that can help guide you and teach you how to sing longer notes, sing more powerfully, or sing well in both your head voice and chest voice. You also have a very powerful method for training your voice and ear if you practice the runs, as mentioned.

The only way you will get better is with practice. If singing is truly your passion, though, you likely already sing quite a bit! Just keep this in mind, though, and don't get discouraged when it seems like you aren't getting any better. You will have some breakthroughs!