Is it possible to teach yourself how to sing? Well, yes and no.
For some people, a combination of just getting out there and singing combined with closely watching others and doing some online lessons is enough to really improve themselves.
For others, a more structured approach with a professional singing teacher better suits their learning style.
However, this isn’t always feasible with the costs involved and/or keeping to schedules.
Teach Yourself How to Sing
Many people say that everyone has the ability to sing and that there’s a song in all of us. Well, you know what… that’s true however there’s definitely a correct and healthy way to sing that’s sustainable over time.
If you’re dreaming of becoming a pro singer or just want to sing for fun, it’s important to get your voice sounding as good as it can and ensuring it stays that way for as long as possible.
Whether you plan to teach yourself how to sing, get lessons of a combination of both the following is important:
Healthy Body, Healthy Voice
This may seem a bit strange when thinking about singing but an important part of preserving your voice is to be fit and healthy. Not only is this good for your voice but it also means you’ll have the energy to sing with expression and feeling. To do this, keep up a healthy diet, get enough sleep, exercise often, and get out in the fresh air. Avoid smoking cigarettes, drinking too much alcohol, and of course, drugs.
Burning Out
Don’t forget that party-animal rock stars often burn out sooner rather than later. The truly outstanding artists who have maintained long creative careers have generally taken care of themselves. Or, they realized it was best to take care of themselves before it was too late. It’s such a shame that legends like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Elvis were victims of their excessive lifestyles and could have gone on to produce even more amazing material.
Singing Teachers
If you want to get more serious about singing, either professional or amateur, you’re going to need some proper instruction on how to sing. A local teacher could be the right answer for you or alternatively, you could get an online singing course like Singing Is Easy by Yvonne DeBandi or Singorama by Emily Mander.
Either way, an understanding of your vocal box and how to use it correctly is vital. Also how to avoid or deal with any voice problems that may arise is important knowledge that teachers should share.
Posture and Breath Support
A good teacher or online course should also cover correct posture and breathe support which in turn leads to producing the best vocal tone.
As a guide, a good posture for singing is to stand comfortably erect with your feet apart in line with your hips. Have one foot very slightly forward. So as to open up your chest for singing, keep your shoulders back a little but don’t be tense.
Good Singing Posture Exercise
This is a very effective exercise for attaining good posture.
With arms at your side, stand with your feet apart in line with your hips. Swing your arms inwards across your body and over your head in a quick circular motion while going onto your tiptoes at the same time. As you do this, take in a deep breath.
As you bring your arms back down to your sides, slowly exhale and come down off your toes. It’s important to try and keep your shoulders and chest in the same position as they were at the top of the stretch. Do this a few times to loosen up and feel a good posture for singing.
Breath Support
This is what allows singers to produce pleasing tones without straining and damaging their throats. Proper breath support practice strengthens the mid-section and enables the diaphragm, abdominal and spinal muscles to work together.
Take in a good breath and then while maintaining the expansion of your midsection, breathe out with a hissing sound. Do this a few times. This exercise, over time, will help strengthen the muscles and is an important basic component for better tone and less vocal fatigue.
Tone Placement and Quality
After posture and breath support, the next level to focus on is tone placement and quality.
Vocal tones resonate in three principal areas: your chest, your pharynx (throat and mouth) and your head (sinuses). You may have noticed that your head voice is for higher notes while your chest voice is for lower notes.
Often you’ll use a mixed tone made up of sounds from both the head and the pharynx. You can feel this particular resonance with the following exercise.
Mixed Tone Exercise
Inhale a well-supported breath as outlined in the exercises above. Sing a high note with the syllable “hee” or “hoo” and slide it from the top of your range to the bottom. You should notice a vibration in the roof of your mouth and the bridge of your nose. This is the mixed tone between your sinuses, mouth, and throat.
In fact, you should notice very nice subtle differences in the tones you can create by placing them well. Just being aware of the range available between your head and chest is seriously uplifting and opens up an array of tones to express yourself with.
These are the basics of learning how to sing and a lot of practice is necessary. As with anything worth achieving, consistency and passion are needed to see good results.
So it is possible to teach yourself how to sing but lessons will provide important instruction and motivation to help you succeed.
