How to Sing Better

Singing Correctly for Beginners

What to Focus On

To really improve your voice there’s a lot to focus on.

Below we’ll dive deeper into the following areas:

• Posture and Breath Control (not gasping for air between notes and breathing correctly for singing)
• Vocal Ranges, Voice Types (what range of notes you can sing)
• Singing In Tune/On Key (i.e. pitch)
• Tone + Resonance (the unique quality of your voice)
• Power, Volume/Dynamics, Projection and Clarity (making sure you’re heard and have an expressive performance)
• Hitting High Notes/Low Notes (without straining)
• Advanced Singing Techniques (i.e. vibrato, harmony, falsetto)
• Good Vocal Warm Ups

That’s a lot of shit to worry about…

But don’t worry, we’ll break everything down in an easy to digest way below.

Just keep one thing in mind – this guide is just a start on your journey.

If you’re really serious about getting better and becoming an elite singer (and you want to fast-track your learning and improvement), you need a structured, guided approach to vocal improvement (and consistent work/practice).

Online lessons like 30DaySinger are great for that.

We recommend looking at our HearAndPlay Vocal Mastery Review (read here) and our 30 Day Singer Review (read here). They’re our top picks and your best bet at a better voice quickly.

Fundamentals of Singing

In this section, we’re going to go over the absolute fundamentals that you need to master.

Get this stuff right, and you’ve already won half the battle.

Skip over this, and you’re just hurting yourself and your ability to improve...

Proper Posture When Singing

Believe it or not, how you stand when you sing can have a huge effect on how you sound. That’s because your posture directly affects how much air you can use and how effectively you can use it.

Here’s the posture you need to have every time you’re singing or practicing.

• Stand up straight with your shoulders back and down
• Don’t tilt your body back, forward or to the sides – stay straight
• Keep your chin pointed towards the floor (keep looking forward, though, not downwards) – don’t bend your neck
• Keep your knees slightly bent, not locked, with your arms loosely at your side
• Your stomach will usually protrude a bit when you’re standing correctly

If you’re trying to hit high notes, or project your voice more, don’t start lifting your chin. Keep your chin pointed down.

Despite what you may think, keeping your chin down actually gives you more control and power. What’s more is tilting your chin upwards can actually cause issues with your vocal cords.

Think “down” when you want your voice to go “up.” 

Kinda like adding more weight to the higher notes you’re trying to hit. If you find yourself wanting to get more power when singing, instead of moving your chin up, start to flex your pectoral (chest) muscles.

Using Your Vocal Muscles Properly

The larynx is an important part of your vocal musculature. It’s a hollow tube in the middle of your neck, just above your windpipe and behind your esophagus.

Here’s a trick to help you find your larynx muscles:

– Put your thumb under your chin right above your neck.
– Now swallow

Those are the muscles we’re talking about.

When you sing, talk, breathe or swallow you can notice it moving in your body.

But while you’re singing, you want to try and keep your larynx as steady and relaxed as possible. Don’t let it lift up and don’t let it tense up.

Try placing you fingers lightly on/around your larynx and sing a note or phrase. Do you feel it lifting at all? Does it tense up when you sing?

Try to consciously relax that muscle while you’re singing and keep it steady.

Practice doing this – it may take some time to get.

Breathing Right

Breathing is so important when it comes to singing. You don’t want to be gasping for air between notes. You also don’t want to run out of air when you’re trying to sustain a note.

But more importantly, only with proper breath control are you able to project your voice properly, hit notes on key and add flair like vibrato.

Just remember this: breathing for singing and breathing for talking are two different things.

When singing, you want to get the maximum amount of sound out while using the minimum amount of air possible.

And we naturally take shallow breaths in daily life. No one teaches you how to breathe better. It’s just something you do.

And those shallow breaths just don’t provide enough air to get a steady, controlled, powerful tone (learn more about tone) consistently.

How to Breathe Properly

When you sing you want to breathe from your diaphragm, not your chest.

The diaphragm is the muscle below your rib cage.

When you breath from this area, your stomach should expand and contract.

When you’re singing up a scale (ascending) your diaphragm will push downwards. When you go down a scale (descending) it will release, or push back up.

Here’s a way to practice the feeling of proper breathing while singing:

1. Put your hands on the left and right of your belly (not directly on the sides, but the front of your body)
2. Breathe in through your nose
3. Breathe out through your mouth and push downwards and contract your abdomen muscles like you’re doing an ab crunch/sit-up

While doing this, your abdomen should push out when you breathe in, and pull in when you breathe out. But make sure you’re not moving your chest up or outwards while doing this.

It should be your stomach/belly moving.

If you’re having trouble, you can read a detailed guide on how to sing from your diaphragm in this article.

How important is breathing correctly?

Well, if you do run out of breath, most people probably won’t even notice it consciously. But you best believe they will feel it emotionally and the impact of your singing won’t be as strong or as deep.

We have a good unconscious radar for authenticity and greatness.

Music is all about emotion. So, if you’re doing anything to lessen the emotional experience (like breathing wrong) your performance will suffer.

Use Correct Singing Technique

Remember how we said breathing for singing vs. talking is totally different? The same goes for how you use your mouth – especially when it comes to vowel sounds.

When you’re singing the sounds of A – E – I – O – U, you want to exaggerate your mouth movements.

Open up your vowels by keeping your jaw wide (not long, wide) when singing vowels.

The more open your mouth is while you sing a phrase, the more clarity and emotion you can bring to your song. It also makes it easier to project specific pitches properly.

Here’s how you can practice vowels correctly:

• Say “ah” or “uh”
• Open up your jaw when making the sounds
• Keep your tongue against your bottom jaw or bottom teeth when making the sounds
• Now, try saying “A – E – I – O – U” while NOT closing your jaw at all
• Keep repeating that until you can say the letters with your mouth/jaw totally open

If you feel any tension in your neck/jaw/throat – stop, loosen up and try again

The idea is to re-train your muscle memory to sing vowels in that way, so you don’t have to think about it when you’re in the middle of a song.

Your lips may move into different shapes – that’s ok. But don’t close your jaw or your mouth when you do. Once you can say the letters properly, try a musical phrase/lyric you know.

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Beyond the Basics of Learning to Sing

Now that you know how to sing properly, let’s talk about actually starting to sing…

We’re going to get into the following areas:

• Finding Your Vocal Range
• Singing In Tune
• Hitting High or Low Notes
• Power & Projection
• Cracks & Breaks
• Extending Your Range
• Transitions Between Vocal Registers

Keep reading, because these are the things that will transform your voice for real…

But before we get to all that, the first thing you want to remember when it comes to actually singing is to warm-up your voice every time.

It doesn’t matter if you’re about to perform or simply practice – warm ups are ESSENTIAL for protecting your voice and allowing you to sing at your full potential.

We’ve got a guide on the 10 best vocal warmups for singers you can read here. Use those every time you’re about to practice or perform and your voice will thank you.

OK, let’s go…

Your Vocal Range

Knowing your range is important.

Your vocal range is the number of notes you’re naturally able to hit with your voice type. Most humans have a comfortable vocal range of an octave and a half.

That means you’re able to hit 12 different notes/pitches with decent accuracy. We show you a way of extending your range, so knowing where it’s at now will come in handy.

We have an entire article on how to find your vocal range (read now) that goes deep into this. Make sure you check it out and find your range.

Your range will also determine your “voice type.”

There are a bunch of different voice types, and you likely fall into one or two of these types:

• Soprano
• Mezzo Soprano
• Alto
• Counteralto
• Tenor
• Baritone
• Bass

It’s not exact, but all of this information gives us a good idea of the best types of songs we can sing well.

If you’re a Soprano, then you don’t want to try singing something that’s better suited to a Baritone.

Interested in seeing where your favorite singer’s range sits? Check out this dope ass tool.

Singing In Tune and Improving Pitch

No one wants to sing off-key, and so vocal pitch accuracy is important.

But hitting every note exactly is nearly impossible, especially when you’re first starting out as a singer. When you’re practicing singing, use a piano or other instrument to match note pitches.

If you don’t have access to a piano, just use a piano app on phone/computer or a tone/pitch generator app.

This is something you want to do daily across your entire vocal range.

Once you’ve practiced matching your voice to the piano, try using a vocal pitch app to see how well you’re doing.

Basically, you want to:

• Hit a note on the piano
• Sing a sustained note, matching that pitch as best as you can into the microphone of phone/tablet
• Check the reading on the app/tuner to see how close you were to hitting the pitch
• Adjust your pitch until you’re as close and steady to the actual tone as possible

The tuner will show you if you’re a little bit flat or a little bit sharp. It’ll also show you how steady you can keep the pitch.

Practice each tone/pitch thoroughly, don’t rush this. You want to train your vocal cords to hit these notes as close as possible.

We also have a full guide on how to sing in tune you can read here.

Pitch Perception

If you’re really serious about music, then you can take this a step further and memorize different notes’ tone and pitch.

This is where you’re basically training your ears to become familiar with what different notes and intervals are. So, if you hear a note played on a piano you can immediately recognize it and know “oh, that’s an A flat!” or if you hear a C note to a D note you can immediately say “that’s a major second.”

Ear training is tough and takes time, but can help a lot in your musical life.

You’ll be able to recognize and write better song melodies, sing more accurately and even improvise and add your own flair to things during your performance.

So don’t sleep on ear training.

Singing With More Power & Improving Vocal Projection

Contrary to what you might think, getting more power and projection out of your voice doesn’t come from increasing your volume or screaming out notes.

It comes from proper technique.

It’s actually pretty basic and we’ve already covered everything you need to do to get more power.

• Improve your breathing and breath control
• Keep you jaw open and your chin down
• Flex your pectoral muscles (chest)
• Keep your tongue out of the way (press it against your bottom teeth if you have trouble)

If you do all these things, over time you’ll notice it’s easier for you to sing powerfully and project more.

Especially when you improve your ability to breathe as a singer. That really is the cheat code for a better singing voice.

We have more in-depth articles on how to strengthen your voice (read now) and how to sing with more clarity/volume (read now).

Extending Your Singable Range

Have you figured out your range yet?

If not, see above. Once you know your vocal range, you can try extending it so you’re able to hit notes lower or higher than you can naturally.

Before you do this, though, make sure your technique is on point (practice the basics!). You want to be sure your voice has proper resonance and you aren’t singing “airy” vowels.

While trying to extend your range, you want to move slowly and thoughtfully. When you’ve figured outy our current range, try practicing the notes one half step above and below your current limit.

That means practicing the note directly above your highest note, and directly below your lowest note. For example, if the highest note you can sing is an F4, then try practicing an F#4. If your lowest note is Ab3 then start by practicing A3.

Only practice those two new notes until you’re fully comfortable with singing them naturally, and your voice doesn’t crack, break or get airy/breathy.

Once you’ve mastered those two new notes, add them to your daily practice when you’re doing your scales (more on practice a bit later).

Take it slow and don’t rush. Eventually try moving up/down another half-step. Extending your vocal range is a marathon, not a sprint.

It’s ok if it takes a long time to do. And it’s best to have a professional help you with this, whether that’s an in-person coach or an online trainer.

Don’t push yourself too far outside of your normal range too quickly.

You may end up harming your vocal cords if you’re not careful. If you feel any pain immediately stop.

That’s also why it’s a good idea to take online singing lessons to help with extending your range. They’ve got great exercises and advice on how to do this properly.

If you’d like a much more in-depth explanation of how to extend your vocal range check out our full guide here.

Transitions Between Vocal Registers

There are 3 main vocal registers you’ll use when singing – head voice, mixed/middle voice and chest voice. Then there are also things like the “whistle register” and “vocal fry.”

Each of these areas represents where notes are sung from within your body.

• Head Voice – the higher area: put your hand on top of your head and sing to feel the vibrations when you hit certain higher tones
• Chest Voice – the lower area: put your hand on your chest when singing to feel the vibrations of the lower tones you sing
• Mix Voice – a combination of head and chest registers. This is where the transition takes place when you’re going from low notes to high notes and vice-versa.

You will shift from one register to the other to properly hit certain notes while you’re in the middle of singing. Moving between these areas changes the resonance of your voice.

Being able to control that change in resonance makes you sound so much better.

When you’re singing, and transitioning between low and high notes, it should feel like the notes are actually moving in your body towards your head or towards your chest.

Don’t try and keep all the notes in one area of your body – it’ll make it sound worse than it should sound. The real key here is just to consistently practice and exercise your voice.

Fixing Cracks & Breaks

Don’t you hate trying to hit a note only to squeak or crack or just all out go silent? Those cracks and breaks occur because you haven’t trained your registers correctly.

Your voice will usually do that when you’re trying to transition from one register to another.

You can sing from your head (head voice) or your chest (chest voice). You can also mix with a “mix voice” which combines head and chest voices.

If your vocal muscles are weak (or you don’t have great breath support) it can cause cracks/breaks in your singing, especially when you’re transitioning from using your head voice to your chest voice or vice-versa.

Singing lessons like 30DaySinger have great lessons and exercises on finding and improving each of your registers and your mix. Definitely check them out.

Hitting High and Low Notes

Everyone wants to be able to hit those magnificent high notes like Mariah Carey or Beyonce, but that’s a really tough thing to do. She’s the type of singer that’s just naturally gifted with a super high range.

And sometimes you want a little bit of that bass in your voice to hit low notes for a specific song.

Again, it can be pretty hard to do depending on how low that note actually is. But you can still improve how well you hit high and low notes when singing.

Here’s the number one tip to hitting high notes: Don’t ever strain your vocal chords trying to hit high notes.

Hitting high notes comes from developing good control over vocal registers (i.e. your chest, head and mix voices). When you’re able to transition between those registers properly, it makes singing high notes so much easier.

In fact, despite what you may think you actually need less air to hit high notes, not more air.

Quick Tip: The next time you find yourself straining to hit a tone that’s all the way up there, try raising your eyebrows instead. It sounds stupid, but it works! And remember don’t lift your chin up (which is a natural thing to do), keep it pointed to the ground.

When it comes to hitting low notes, it’s a similar situation. You want to train your vocal registers, improve your breathing and work on extending your vocal range.

If you’re interested, we have more in-depth guides on how to sing high notes (read now) and how to sing low notes (read now).

Advanced Techniques for Singers

Now let’s get into some advanced singing techniques.

Before trying this stuff, make sure you’re already implementing the singing tips we’ve given you so far.

It’s important to get the fundamentals and the intermediate stuff down pat before trying to add these advanced techniques to your repertoire.

Improving Your Vocal Tone

Despite what some might think, a good vocal tone doesn’t come from simply being loud. A great vocal tone happens when you can sing it at a medium level of volume.

To get a good tone requires the right amount of air – your vocal folds have to be strong enough for good closure, without actually touching. Too much air and you’ll sound “breathy.” Too little air and you’ll sound “nasal.”

There’s that pesky “breathing technique” coming into play again. (It really is everything…)

Now there’s nothing wrong with sounding breathy or nasal – as long as it’s a stylistic choice, and not your natural singing tone. Where you want to be, is in the middle of those two extremes.

The problem is that the way we hear our voices in our head is totally different than how others hear us. That’s why the first time you ever heard your voice recorded and played back to you, you probably cringed.

So, what’s the solution? Try cupping your hands behind your ears as you sing. Don’t cover your ears with your hands, the cupped hand should be behind the ear with the palms facing slightly forward.

You’ll get a better sense of your true tone.

I also highly recommend recording yourself when you’re practicing or singing. If you record all of your performances and practice sessions you can easily study the playback in-depth.

You’ll be able to quickly spot areas, phrases, notes and more you need to work on. Of course, we’ve got a complete guide on how to improve your vocal tone which you can read here.

Discovering Harmony

When it comes to singing, one of the things that makes the human voice so beautiful to listen to is when something is sung with added harmony.

Harmony is simply the concept of using different notes that work well together at the same time. Playing chords or a chord progression is an application of harmony in music.

In a choir, singing harmony means singing supporting notes that compliment the main tone/pitch being sung. It adds life and emotion to a piece.

Learning how to identify and sing harmony is a skill every great singer has. And it’s something you should become familiar with, even if you’re a solo singer.

You can learn how to sing harmony in our guide here.

Adding Flair to Your Voice – Vibrato, Tremelo and Falsetto, etc.

Adding flair to your voice is what can take a mediocre performance to a fantastic one.

But using too much is cringe and off-putting. So when you’re learning about adding these advanced techniques to your singing, be careful with how much you use them.

Vibrato

Vibrato is a technique that’s used to add some spice to a sung note/phrase. It’s essentially vibrating your voice to add effect. You add vibrato by oscillating the pitch you’re singing slightly up and down instead of holding the pitch completely steady.

To practice your vibrato, it can be helpful to use the Vocal Pitch Monitor to see how well your voice oscillates. You’ll get better and better at it over time as you practice (read more).

Falsetto

Falsetto is a latin word that literally means “false voice.”

It’s that really high-pitched and airy sound that singers like Justin Timberlake and The Weeknd are known for.

It’s a specific way of singing, and completely outside your natural voice and vocal registers.

Here’s the thing – you shouldn’t have to use falsetto to hit high notes. You should be able to hit your vocal range’s high notes normally using your head voice.

Falsetto is only used to add some flair to your performance. It’s not a crutch that you use to eek out a higher pitch.

If you want to learn how to use falsetto read this.

Tremelo

Tremelo is a similar effect to vibrato, but instead of oscillating the PITCH of your sung note, you’re oscillating the VOLUME of your voice.

It can be kind of tough to wrap your head around until you try it.

Sing a sustained note, and then at the very end try moving your voice’s volume up and down quickly. That’s tremelo.

It can add a really cool effect to your singing, but again, don’t over-use it.

Singing Riffs and Runs

A riff/run is a vocal phrase that is sung rapidly across many different notes/pitches. It’s used to embellish a singing performance and add some of that “wow” factor to it. Everyone loves hearing a great riff.

It can sometimes feel like the ability to sing riffs and runs (learn more) is the holy grail every singer is after.

And with good reason.

It demonstrates absolute mastery over your vocal cords and voice. And when done well, it’s an emotional and absolutely spectacular thing to witness. Have you listened to an Ariana Grande run lately? It’s amazing.

But it takes practice – lots of it. You need to be on point with your pitch accuracy, breath control, enunciation and technique.

Important Note

These are all great effects, but the problem is they can be over-used.

And that’s the sign of an amateur singer, not a pro. So, let’s be clear on one thing – DO NOT USE TOO MUCH VIBRATO, FALSETTO OR TREMELO. Especially if you sing pop music, rock or r&b.

The best way to use these effectively is to end your sung phrase with a straight tone, and only add a tiny bit of vibrato to the END of the note.

Try it out – sing “aaahhh” in a straight tone, and put vibrato or tremelo on it at the very end before you stop singing the note.

When it comes to singing riffs and runs, the same applies. A performance with out-of-control riffing is tiring and cringe. So use it like your favorite spices when cooking. A dash here and there can work wonders for flavour.

Vocal Performance and Confidence

Now we get into some more abstract singing topics…

One of the most important aspects of being a “good” singer is your level of self-confidence. It’s a determining factor when it comes to whether or not your audience will be emotionally moved by your performance.

And your audience connecting with you emotionally is key to them loving and remembering you, regardless of how “perfect” or imperfect your voice, tone and technique are.

If you’re timid, and unsure of yourself it shows. And it negatively impacts how your performance is perceived. An audience will connect with a technically inferior but confident singer over a technically superior but self-conscious singer.

Two of the best ways to be confident in your voice and ability is to:

1. Practice and train yourself to be “ready,” – master the fundamentals of vocal technique
2. Memorize the piece of music you’re performing

Reading your lyrics from a sheet is ALWAYS a big no-no. Even if you’re in the studio recording. When you’re singing you want ALL of your energy/focus going to your vocal style/sound/tone/emotion.

If you’re preoccupied with trying to remember what words to sing, you can’t focus on your performance.

When you’re reading lyrics, your focus is on the words in front of you, not on how you’re singing.

That’s why knowing your song inside and out is crucial to a successful performance on stage or in the studio.

When you memorize every aspect of a song and internalize it (i.e. “you’ve done it a million times”) you’re not worried about the words, you’re totally focused on the delivery/performance. And you’ll be more likely to let your raw emotion shine through.

Full Disclosure: In the studio, I still keep the lyrics in front of me for reference. But the point is I ALWAYS have the lyrics basically memorized. The sheet is just there for reference and if I make lyrical adjustments on-the-fly.

And the same goes for your fundamentals. If you’ve practiced your pitch a million times, you know you can hit those pitches well and won’t be worried about how you sound.

What does that mean? PRACTICE. A LOT. Confidence comes from consistency and mastery within your craft.

Finding Your Unique Style & Signature Sound as a Singer

Once you’ve mastered the techniques of singing well, it’s important to start working on your own unique style. This is sort of related to vocal tone, but is much wider than that.

It includes things like pronunciation, enunciation, quirks, and the overall uniqueness/interesting-ness of your vocal performances.

What separates an average singer from a great singer is a unique style.

But you can’t really develop your style if you’re still struggling with the fundamentals. That’s why this is an advanced area.

So get that down first.

But then you need to to start listening to a LOT of your favorite singers. Study them. Copy and imitate them.

Internalizing what you like about each of them. Eventually you’ll notice yourself singing everything with certain characteristics from each of the singers you love.

And all of those different characteristics that naturally pull to you will become a part of your own unique style.

Turning Pro

So… you’ve digested all the information in this guide, and you’re ready to start your career as the next great thing in music.

Great!

It’s all well and good to have ambition, but don’t let your ambition overtake your dedication to the craft.

That means PRACTICING and training your voice daily. All of the professional musicians out there spend hours every single day training on their instrument.

In your case, that means practicing singing and training your voice like an athlete. Use all the tips and tricks you’ve learned in this guide to make consistent progress on your voice.

Even when you “turn pro,” it will have to remain a daily ritual. So start now.

But when you are ready to take your singing more seriously, you will need to learn a bit about the music business and how it works. There’s a lot that goes into becoming a professional singer – writing, recording, promoting, touring, etc.

It’s a business, like any other. So get ready to treat it like one.

Lucky for you, we have an entire guide on what it takes to become a professional singer you can read here.

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Short Cuts to a Beautiful Voice

Want to REALLY take your voice to the next level…?

Like we mentioned earlier in this guide – structured, guided and progressive singing lessons are the ABSOLUTE BEST way to go when you’re trying to improve your voice. There’s just no denying that. Vocal coaches are way too expensive.

And sometimes a really good one is hard to find in your hometown. A lot of vocal coaches won’t teach you the styles you want (because they don’t sing in those styles). Some are just like high school choir teachers. Is that who you really want to learn from? And of course, they’ll only meet you once a week for a half hour or so.

Sure, they’re still super helpful and useful. But if you ask us… it’s not the best (or most efficient) way of improving your voice.

That’s why we highly recommend you take online singing lessons.

• They’re super affordable
• They’re structured
• They take you step-by-step, by the hand to where you need to go
• You’re never frustrated not knowing what to do next
• You can use them anytime, anywhere you want
• You can take them anywhere you’re going (vacation/travel/etc)
• You can go at your own pace (faster or slower)
• They often come with a money-back guarantee if you’re not happy with them

Full Disclosure: We really believe in the programs we recommend below and have partnered with them. We may receive commissions (at no extra cost to you) if you choose to purchase through our links.

The singing program of choice here at Deviant Noise is HearAndPlay’s Vocal Mastery Program IF YOU’RE A GOSPEL/R&B/SOUL SINGER.

If you’re not specifically trying to sing in those styles, 30DaySinger is the best all-around program we’ve reviewed and is great for beginner singers in any genre/style.

Free Singing Cheat Sheets and Practice Plan

As promised, below is a free set of singing cheat sheets and a practice routine for you to use to start improving your voice today.

The exercises are great to improve your breathing, vowels, and other areas of your technique effectively.

Do the exercises daily and follow the practice schedule to a T. If you don’t have enough time for it every single day, you can shorten it, but try to maximize your practice time as much as possible.

Just enter your name and email below and you’ll get instant access to all the material – plus you’ll get a free 7 day singing course. And we promise not to spam you.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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