Self Improvement Blogs

How should I sing?

You should choose a singing method that works for you. You can find singers and teachers who are quick to recommend their method, claiming, “It’s the best.” A good method is one that can teach you the basics of singing such as breathing management and articulation.

My voice doesn’t work, did I do something wrong? What do I do?

Your voice might stop working for many different reasons, and they can all be fixed. Thinking too much about how you sound as you sing can make you nervous and you may not sound your best. Not getting enough sleep can cause your voice to feel sluggish and not respond as easily as it normally does. Your voice will feel tired if you’ve spent too much time singing the day before. Your signing muscles are very similar to the other muscles in your body. The muscles need to be worked out, but they also need their rest. Emotions can have their affect on your voice as well. Crying can make the cords swell and feel puffy, too.

Do fat people have bigger voices?

Nope. Your voice has nothing to do with the size of your waist. If this were true, then large people would be natural singers by default. Actually, having extra weight around the middle makes it harder to move your body and to breathe. If moving like this is second nature to you, then you have nothing to worry about. To be honest, the size of your head and throat make a larger impact.

My voice is really scratchy, do I have nodes?

You need to put your vocal cords through a lot of abuse to get nodes. You won’t get nodes by yelling for a day. Naturally they would swell, but it would take much more abuse to give them nodes. Nodes are basically like calluses. If you don’t abuse the cords, the problem will not exist. If the scratchy sounds continue, try vocalizing high in your range. Nodes will for the most part only affect the high part of your voice. If the sound is husky only in the middle part of your voice, you probably have another kind of swelling other than nodes.

What’s the difference between a singing coach, voice teacher, and an accompanist?

The coach is a person that can play the piano and will give you good advice on singing. A coach will teach you many different things, such as a singing style that works for you, and finding places to breathe in the song. A coach gives you the basic, and compliments your voice teacher.

A pianist or accompanist is someone who plays the piano for you to practice singing but doesn’t offer advice. An accompanist is not cheaper than a coach though.

The voice teacher is the most important and will show you your technique. Although the coach may have knowledge of technique, the voice teacher should be the pro and expert. While the voice teacher may not be a great pianist, they do have a great amount of knowledge. For any voice session, you will probably spend half of it on technique, and half on repertoire.

Want to learn how to sing like a star but don’t have the money for expensive private singing lessons? Then I highly recommend you check out Singing Success from Brett Manning.

How should I sing?

You should choose a singing method that works for you. You can find singers and teachers who are quick to recommend their method, claiming, “It’s the best.” A good method is one that can teach you the basics of singing such as breathing management and articulation.

My voice doesn’t work, did I do something wrong? What do I do?

Your voice might stop working for many different reasons, and they can all be fixed. Thinking too much about how you sound as you sing can make you nervous and you may not sound your best. Not getting enough sleep can cause your voice to feel sluggish and not respond as easily as it normally does. Your voice will feel tired if you’ve spent too much time singing the day before. Your signing muscles are very similar to the other muscles in your body. The muscles need to be worked out, but they also need their rest. Emotions can have their affect on your voice as well. Crying can make the cords swell and feel puffy, too.

Do fat people have bigger voices?

Nope. Your voice has nothing to do with the size of your waist. If this were true, then large people would be natural singers by default. Actually, having extra weight around the middle makes it harder to move your body and to breathe. If moving like this is second nature to you, then you have nothing to worry about. To be honest, the size of your head and throat make a larger impact.

My voice is really scratchy, do I have nodes?

You need to put your vocal cords through a lot of abuse to get nodes. You won’t get nodes by yelling for a day. Naturally they would swell, but it would take much more abuse to give them nodes. Nodes are basically like calluses. If you don’t abuse the cords, the problem will not exist. If the scratchy sounds continue, try vocalizing high in your range. Nodes will for the most part only affect the high part of your voice. If the sound is husky only in the middle part of your voice, you probably have another kind of swelling other than nodes.

What’s the difference between a singing coach, voice teacher, and an accompanist?

The coach is a person that can play the piano and will give you good advice on singing. A coach will teach you many different things, such as a singing style that works for you, and finding places to breathe in the song. A coach gives you the basic, and compliments your voice teacher.

A pianist or accompanist is someone who plays the piano for you to practice singing but doesn’t offer advice. An accompanist is not cheaper than a coach though.

The voice teacher is the most important and will show you your technique. Although the coach may have knowledge of technique, the voice teacher should be the pro and expert. While the voice teacher may not be a great pianist, they do have a great amount of knowledge. For any voice session, you will probably spend half of it on technique, and half on repertoire.

Want to learn how to sing like a star but don’t have the money for expensive private singing lessons? Then I highly recommend you check out Singing Success from Brett Manning.

If you want to give your best singing performance, you need to know how to behave, so here are a few live performance tips to help you out:

The Practice Run

Make sure you've rehearsed with the band. Before you go on stage, have a minimum of one dress rehearsal. When you do your final dress rehearsal, sing from memory.

Choosing your outfit

The outfit you choose to wear for the live performance can make or break the show. Get used to your outfit before you step on stage. It is important to ensure that you are able to move comfortably in your outfit.

Walking across the stage

Practice walking to the place you'll stand on the stage. Knowing how to walk across a stage and land in place isn't as easy as it sounds. When you walk across the stage, you want to stop in place, but at the same time you need to have good posture when you do so. Find your alignment, walk across the room and maintain that posture.

Turn the speaker away from you

Singing with a band can be really cool, but the first time can be a bit confusing. You're going to have some trouble hearing yourself if the speakers are turned away. Ask if it's possible to have a speaker turned toward you. Remember that bands often play pretty loud, and turning the speaker towards yourself can be distracting if you have a huge wall of sound coming at you. If there is an instrument that plays the melody line, make sure you learn to pick it out.

Smile

Make sure you smile as you go on stage. A smile will make you appear to be confident, which will boost your performance. Even if you are nervous, you need to make the smile look authentic.

Acknowledgment of the audience

When you are singing, you might not know when it's time to pay attention to the audience. Singers can't always sing intimate songs in an intimate locale, but you can imagine yourself in a cozy locale if this helps you with your performance. To get a feel for whether to include the audience as part of your song, watch and learn from the seasoned pros.

Be prepared for distractions

Unlike in rehearsal, a live performance can have plenty of distractions. People can do many things in an audience, such as coughing or even leaving early. Most people are ignorant as to  how this can distract a performer, and because you are the performer you are expected to be professional about it. That being said, it would be wise to stage a few distractions as you practice at home. The best way to ignore distractions is to have friends distract you and see how lo you can ignore it.

Watch those hands

If you're not sure what to do with your hands during your live singing performance, putting your hands down at your sides is safest. It may not be the most interesting place for them but you're probably better off erring on the side of calm and still. You can gesture if you want, just make sure your gesture is complete. If you need another option, then you can clasp your hands to the front of you.

I hope these performance tips were helpful to you. To perfect your singing skills for the big occasion, I recommend Brett Mannings Singing Success. And if you want to know the best way to make your mark on the music industry, to ensure you get plenty of gigs lined up, check out Social Bandmaker.