Learning to sing is less of a destination and more of a journey.If you plan to sing professionally and make a career out of entertaining with your voice, you'll probably spend a lot more time, money and energy on learning to sing than a hobbyist. I'm going to address both of you - the singer who wants to sing professionally and the singer who just wants to get good as a hobby.
Learning To Sing In Preparation For A Singing Career.If you plan on singing professionally, regardless of style and genre, you'll need some vocal training. It's true that there are a lot of self-taught singers out there doing just fine without ever taking a single lesson but I can tell you from living and breathing singing since my teens and working in the music business that it's definitely the exception and not the rule.
There are a lot of other learn-to-sing programs out there but they just don't compare to Singorama: This is the best of the lot, the only one you want to think about utilizing if you are serious about obtaining the results you've always wanted. Make no mistake about it, Singorama is about the highest standards of singing professionalism and yet, as valuable as it is, it has been carefully produced to be straightforward and a joy for you. Its well-written directions are extremely easy to follow. It is jam-packed with twenty-eight interactive lessons, two-fully-illustrated books which contain step-by-step directions which are reinforced by audio files. Also built-in is Singorama's "Perfect your Pitch" software as well as the "Mini Recording Studio" software.
You'll also probably be surprised to know that some of your favorite singers took or currently take voice lessons. Brandon Boyd of Incubus comes to mind as an incredibly powerful singer who was good before he took lessons but now he's just incredibly solid, in tune and relaxed and guess what...his sound is still the same! If you're still in high school, join the choir or the band. Playing an instrument always helps your singing because it improves your ear and general musicianship. But who do you go to for voice lessons? You'll find the most competent vocal coach at a university or college that has a music program.
These vocal coaches are usually the best trained and most experienced singing teachers around. Certainly you have a better chance of connecting with a truly great voice teacher there than by pulling a number off a paper flyer. Learning to sing is expensive...prepare to pay good money for your voice lessons! Anywhere between $40 and $100 per hour, once a week is common. If you decide to go to college, I'd recommend auditioning for a vocal program at your college or university. You may have to sing classical or jazz, but it won't turn you into a classical or jazz singer, just teach you another style, great musicianship and how to use your voice.
But how does a 'non-singer learn to sing. Well it's down to three main elements: training, technique and above all else practice. Don't think for one moment that professional singers walk on stage and start singing. They don't, they've all got their favourite warm up routines, most of them will clear their throats and give it a good wash by drinking a large glass of water. Nothing more. Watch a singer on stage and see how often he takes a sip of water, water is oil for the vocal chords and when they are not on stage they practise constantly.
Even just the act of sitting down in a room with some music playing and mindfully singing along to your favorite songs can help you gain awareness of your body, voice tone, range limitations, etc. On top of that, there are TONS of books on singing. Many of them have really great advice, although some of them can get a little technical with information about anatomy, acoustics, etc. I'd say that Richard Miller's "Art of Singing" and most books about SLS (speech level singing) are great places to start to begin understanding the fundamentals of healthy vocalism, although chances are good you already have a somewhat intuitive understanding of what good singing is and bad singing is; what sounds brilliant and what sounds god-awful.
As you're learning, remember the part about singing being a very technical subject because you WILL find yourself frustrated often by this challenging yet ultimately rewarding and beautiful art/skill.A step up from books about singing are all the various video courses and tutorials about singing that you can find both in stores and online. Some of these are really excellent and fairly comprehensive; others are total garbage; and others still are good but only cover specific things while leaving something else out. For instance, if one singing tutorial doesn't teach you much about breathing, then a second tutorial DOES, but neglects to discuss how to sing high notes.There's no cure-all product or solution. Singing is a huge subject with a lot to cover, so no ONE course could possibly teach you everything you need to know!
To get a physical feel for what your breathing is really like try this. Place your left hand over your stomach, with your thumb on your belly button, place your right hand on top. Now take a deep breath in through your nose and let your hand feel the expansion in your stomach as your belly fills up with fresh oxygen.Now try and hold it there and count to five, it's difficult I know, especially if this is your first time. OK it is time to exhale on a slow count to five release your breath mellow and slow, conserving every last bit of it. Was it difficult?
Even though I studied classical operatic voice in University, performed in local opera and musical theatre productions, sang in high-level choirs and taught students of all ages in my private studio, I left that profession to do internet marketing. I don't want to bore you with my personal story (that's what the about page is for ) but I have an important point to make. When you study classical singing, there's a definite RIGHT way to sing and definite WRONG way to sing.
I remember my somewhat progressive choir director (she was hot, too) telling me that "singing is singing" and I was like "pfft, not it isn't. There's right singing and wrong singing, my opera singing books told me so!" Man, what a jackass I was! Pardon the language, but it illustrates how easy it is to drink the "my way is better than your way" kool aid.The point is, she was right. Singing IS singing. But with that said, every singer needs to learn how to sing in tune, how to sing high notes with ease, how to keep their body relaxed, how to listen, etc., regardless of your favorite style of singing. These are just fundamentals.After leaving my singing career, I began to see singing education more objectively and democratically and now I realize that the modern singer can and should add as much as possible to their singing toolbox and even the best teacher in the world will be wrong sometimes and it's good to consult with other sources. One person can't know it all, especially when it comes to something as incredibly rich and complex as singing.
Learning To Sing In Preparation For A Singing Career.If you plan on singing professionally, regardless of style and genre, you'll need some vocal training. It's true that there are a lot of self-taught singers out there doing just fine without ever taking a single lesson but I can tell you from living and breathing singing since my teens and working in the music business that it's definitely the exception and not the rule.
There are a lot of other learn-to-sing programs out there but they just don't compare to Singorama: This is the best of the lot, the only one you want to think about utilizing if you are serious about obtaining the results you've always wanted. Make no mistake about it, Singorama is about the highest standards of singing professionalism and yet, as valuable as it is, it has been carefully produced to be straightforward and a joy for you. Its well-written directions are extremely easy to follow. It is jam-packed with twenty-eight interactive lessons, two-fully-illustrated books which contain step-by-step directions which are reinforced by audio files. Also built-in is Singorama's "Perfect your Pitch" software as well as the "Mini Recording Studio" software.
You'll also probably be surprised to know that some of your favorite singers took or currently take voice lessons. Brandon Boyd of Incubus comes to mind as an incredibly powerful singer who was good before he took lessons but now he's just incredibly solid, in tune and relaxed and guess what...his sound is still the same! If you're still in high school, join the choir or the band. Playing an instrument always helps your singing because it improves your ear and general musicianship. But who do you go to for voice lessons? You'll find the most competent vocal coach at a university or college that has a music program.
These vocal coaches are usually the best trained and most experienced singing teachers around. Certainly you have a better chance of connecting with a truly great voice teacher there than by pulling a number off a paper flyer. Learning to sing is expensive...prepare to pay good money for your voice lessons! Anywhere between $40 and $100 per hour, once a week is common. If you decide to go to college, I'd recommend auditioning for a vocal program at your college or university. You may have to sing classical or jazz, but it won't turn you into a classical or jazz singer, just teach you another style, great musicianship and how to use your voice.
But how does a 'non-singer learn to sing. Well it's down to three main elements: training, technique and above all else practice. Don't think for one moment that professional singers walk on stage and start singing. They don't, they've all got their favourite warm up routines, most of them will clear their throats and give it a good wash by drinking a large glass of water. Nothing more. Watch a singer on stage and see how often he takes a sip of water, water is oil for the vocal chords and when they are not on stage they practise constantly.
Even just the act of sitting down in a room with some music playing and mindfully singing along to your favorite songs can help you gain awareness of your body, voice tone, range limitations, etc. On top of that, there are TONS of books on singing. Many of them have really great advice, although some of them can get a little technical with information about anatomy, acoustics, etc. I'd say that Richard Miller's "Art of Singing" and most books about SLS (speech level singing) are great places to start to begin understanding the fundamentals of healthy vocalism, although chances are good you already have a somewhat intuitive understanding of what good singing is and bad singing is; what sounds brilliant and what sounds god-awful.
As you're learning, remember the part about singing being a very technical subject because you WILL find yourself frustrated often by this challenging yet ultimately rewarding and beautiful art/skill.A step up from books about singing are all the various video courses and tutorials about singing that you can find both in stores and online. Some of these are really excellent and fairly comprehensive; others are total garbage; and others still are good but only cover specific things while leaving something else out. For instance, if one singing tutorial doesn't teach you much about breathing, then a second tutorial DOES, but neglects to discuss how to sing high notes.There's no cure-all product or solution. Singing is a huge subject with a lot to cover, so no ONE course could possibly teach you everything you need to know!
To get a physical feel for what your breathing is really like try this. Place your left hand over your stomach, with your thumb on your belly button, place your right hand on top. Now take a deep breath in through your nose and let your hand feel the expansion in your stomach as your belly fills up with fresh oxygen.Now try and hold it there and count to five, it's difficult I know, especially if this is your first time. OK it is time to exhale on a slow count to five release your breath mellow and slow, conserving every last bit of it. Was it difficult?
Even though I studied classical operatic voice in University, performed in local opera and musical theatre productions, sang in high-level choirs and taught students of all ages in my private studio, I left that profession to do internet marketing. I don't want to bore you with my personal story (that's what the about page is for ) but I have an important point to make. When you study classical singing, there's a definite RIGHT way to sing and definite WRONG way to sing.
I remember my somewhat progressive choir director (she was hot, too) telling me that "singing is singing" and I was like "pfft, not it isn't. There's right singing and wrong singing, my opera singing books told me so!" Man, what a jackass I was! Pardon the language, but it illustrates how easy it is to drink the "my way is better than your way" kool aid.The point is, she was right. Singing IS singing. But with that said, every singer needs to learn how to sing in tune, how to sing high notes with ease, how to keep their body relaxed, how to listen, etc., regardless of your favorite style of singing. These are just fundamentals.After leaving my singing career, I began to see singing education more objectively and democratically and now I realize that the modern singer can and should add as much as possible to their singing toolbox and even the best teacher in the world will be wrong sometimes and it's good to consult with other sources. One person can't know it all, especially when it comes to something as incredibly rich and complex as singing.
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