Training Your Singing
What to do? What to do? Do you need to go to school to fix this? Is it absolutely necessary to pay a teacher for help? Well...Formal "Ear training," (listening to and learning exact intervals) is always good, but isn't necessary for most pop singers. Being able to repeat a phrase back after hearing it is, however, good ear training. It's best to ask a friend to help with this. Have them play on an instrument or sing a simple 3 note melody such as variations on c-d-e. Then sing it back to them. They can check to see how you do. Do this in a comfortable key. Then as you improve, add a 4th note to the melodies, etc. Take your time with this. The main causes of singing off-pitch are: 1. Not knowing the song really well. (Do you REALLY know it?)2. Not creating the melody in your head before you sing it. THE GENIUS OF THE SINGER DEPENDS MOSTLY ON THEIR ABILITY TO MENTALLY "HEAR" WHAT THEY ARE ABOUT TO SING, like a fortune teller looking to the future through a crystal ball. 3. Letting your current mood (happy, sad, angry, etc) affect your singing. If you sing a gig the day you lost your job, chances are you will sing flat a lot.4. Letting your current health problems (a cold, a headache, constipation, exhaustion, etc) affect your singing.5. Are you singing with a "smile in your eyes? (sounds like a Fred Astaire movie title) An internal "smile" does wonders toward keeping the pitch from going flat. 6. Also, sadness, a hot room, anger, not being "with it" that night, depression, etc can cause you to sing flat. Going sharp is usually caused by pushing too much energy. If you don't hear yourself well through the monitors you are in danger of pushing your voice so you can hear it. This could take you way flat or sharp. 7. In the studio you MUST be totally comfortable with the sound through your headphones. Be very fussy about this. Don't let a producer or engineer tell you whats best. You're the best judge of that. If the earphone sound is not balanced the way you want it, pitch will probably be affected. 8. Too much alcohol or weed.9. Drinking hot drinks loosens the cords and makes it harder to stay in key.10. Very cold drinks also cause pitch problems. A big meal before performance reduces energy needed for good pitch.11. Are you getting enough breath to finish the phrase. When you run short of breath at the end of a phrase it's hard to stay up on pitch. Learn correct breathing techniques. (Check out my FREE Ebook.)12. Are you singing with an open throat? When the back of the throat (the bottom of the tongue and the top of the throat pinch shut our pitch can be affected.13. Are your nerves under control. Being unusually nervous can cause us to push the voice and go sharp.14. Are you feeling your sound down in the throat. (Husky, dull) rather than higher in your forehead? A throaty sound often becomes a flat (pitch) sound.
