How can I improve my singing?

[Ringworm128]

I know my singing is pretty bad but I'm curious as to how bad and where I could improve the most.

[DarkDjinn]

I wouldn't go so far as to say you're a crappy singer. But I've got a couple of tips that might help you.

First, I would suggest singing with your own style, rather than imitating the singer of that song. I think it's really hard to accurately replicate someone else's singing style, but if you develop your own, no one can really tell you that you're doing it wrong Focus really hard on hitting the notes that you intend to hit and being consistent with the pitch - don't let it waver. And for styles like this (referring to the original song) where the guy is falling off of every note at the end of each phrase - that doesn't help when improving your singing. It's important to control your notes, and you can add in all the flair later. Three big areas that I think can make anyone a passable (or even good) singer are 1)Staying on pitch 2) singing powerfully and a distant 3)adding style.

That's kind of off the top of my head. I'm no professional singer by any means but I consider myself to be good and I used to be really, really bad. Just practice! And recording yourself is also good. Just like anything else, the more you do it, the better you'll be. Good luck!

[timaeus222]

I've been in choir for about 8 years by now, I suppose. So let's see.

Short and quick tips, no matter who you are:

- Watch your pitch. Check with a properly tuned instrument if you think you are off. Realize that you can be off by 1/10th of a half step or even 1/20th of a half step and still be audibly off-tune. 100 cents is one half step.

- Try to not develop a heavy vibrato habit. The more your pitch oscillates, the more off-tune you will seem. If anything, try to make sure your vibrato oscillates above your pitch so you don't seem flat. e.g. if you sing a C, oscillate between a C and C# or so, not C and B or so.

- Watch your timbre. Try to aim somewhere between back-of-the-throat and nasal, but not near either of those.

- Do not rush. If you're singing something, it's going to have a set tempo much of the time. Keep a consistent tempo or keep to the intended tempo. Try using a metronome.

- Breath from the diaphragm, not your mouth. When you breathe in, your stomach should go outwards, not inwards, for singing.

- Try to warm up before you sing. Do scales, tongue-twisters, and other clarity/articulation and pitch/intonation exercises.

- Record yourself and watch when you breathe too loudly; are too loud or too quiet; are saying your t's, s's, and f's too loudly; and are creating bumping noises on the microphone. All of those issues would give you more to edit later. Most of all, try to keep your volume consistent if you don't have a good compressor that doesn't squash your dynamics.

Other things if you're recording yourself for a song:

- Have a de-esser plugin on hand. You're bound to have significant (though maybe not extreme) sibilance and fricative issues even if you control your t's, s's, and f's. You can Google search for free plugins.

- Have an idea of how reverb can add spaciousness to your recording, and learn the ins and outs of your plugin of choice.

- Look into absorber panels and acoustic diffusers.

Style will come naturally. Try not to think about it until you get your basics down first. Pitch, timbre, breathing, and rhythm. In terms of your video performance, it sounds like you're trying too hard to "sound manly". Just sing like you normally would.

Edited June 24, 2014 by timaeus222

[Argle]

No one likes the sound of themselves in a dry recording through a crappy mic. If you heard the same vocals mixed into a song you might feel very differently. Just sayin... context is everything.

[Ringworm128]

These any better? 

 

[Malcos]

The very end bit at around 2.04 is the best sounding. I think you're similar to me in that I like to sing in different styles, depending on the song.

I think that in the parts where you're singing low, you're very much in your throat. If you can work more on the consistency of your timbre then that will help. Try to keep the chest engaged when you sing any note, you can feel your chest vibrate when you do this. Also try to work more on holding your notes consistently, cardiovascular fitness actually helps with this.

[ad.mixx]

The above advice is good but I would like to stress that having a teacher is a very good idea. Even if you only do it for around 2 -3 months, depending on the teacher you will notice a dramatic difference in your voice. Singing is not like other instruments and youll want someone in front of you telling what youre doing wrong. This will make you sound better but most importantly it will teach you how to sing in a healthy way.