PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

If you want to improve your vocal technique, you must practice every day. For those of you who remember singing in school choir (maybe you are still in school choir), remember those vocal exercises that your music teacher would use to "wake up" your voice? You need to remember those exercises. Find a piano app on your phone or iPad and play a note on it as a starting point. The best situation would be if you have a piano or keyboard at home. But if you don't, the phone app works, too. Sing up and down the scale three to five notes at a time. Keep going higher and lower as you sing. It is hard to describe this, so just search YouTube for some vocal exercises and you will know what I am talking about. Maybe I will do a video of a couple of exercises for you so you can follow them. Yes, I will do this for you and play them on the piano. Most people can sing from one octave (which is 8 notes) to 1-1/2 octaves (12 notes). Your goal is to get to 3 octaves (24 notes). This will take awhile and lots of practice. Exercising will also help your pitch placement which is so important.   Look for my exercise video coming soon.

MAKING THE SONG YOUR OWN

When a new student sings a popular song for me, many times they try to copy the artist singing the song. Most of the time, this does not work. Some artists have a style that is unique to them. When someone else tries to sing that style, their voice does not fit the style, and the song ends up sounding unnatural. If a song has low notes that you cannot reach, you need to change the notes to higher notes found in the chord. Also, do not scoop your notes. This only ends up sounding like you are singing wrong notes. This is why people need voice teachers and vocal coaches. Your voice sounds very different to someone else than it does to you. Another problem is when someone sings along with the artist and not by themselves. The singer gets a false sense of security because they think they are sounding just like the artist. But nothing could be further from the truth. That is why shows like American Idol want the person trying out to sing accapella. They can tell right away if the singer is singing on pitch and there is nothing for the singer to hide behind, like the accompaniment. So, my point is that when you want to sing a song, only sing along with the artist until you learn the song. After it is learned, then you need to find backing tracks without the artist singing and sing in your own style and not the artist's style. You need to make the song your own.

LEARN TO USE YOUR DIAPHRAGM

When singing, most people who have not taken lessons sing only with their throat and their upper body. It is much like they are talking. But we know that when singing, we need more volume than just our speaking voice. That is where our diaphragm comes in. It is located below our rib cage. There is one exercise I want you to try so you can "feel" it. Just say the word "hey" several times. Don't be shy--say it loudly. Can you feel that tightness under your ribs when you say it? That is your diaphragm tightening up.
 Now, take a deep breath, and you will also feel it. We use our diaphragm for breath control and pitch control. When singing a high  note, a deep breath and tightened diaphragm will help you reach that high note easier. A vocal teacher will help you achieve this. For now, just practice saying "hey" so that you will begin to notice your diaphragm when you sing. Then, when singing, try to get the same tight feeling when you increase your volume and sing those high notes. This is one step in the process of learning to sing well.