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Why is it that some students can easily learn numerous songs in a short amount of time, but others struggle to make improvement on a small number of tunes after many tiring practice sessions? When students seem to be on the slow side of this process we always revisit how they are spending their practice time.

Keep in mind that while it would be great if singing students sang their assignments every day, the real world says that more practice time gets accomplished in the car when singing to the radio and simply singing the songs they love. Let’s face it, when you love a song and you listen to music regularly, you listen to that song over and over again. So we place a lot of concentration on how to apply good singing skills to ANY song they want to sing.

Learning a Song in 6 Easy Steps

1. Listen to the song without making a sound.

If you can anticipate what is coming next (including lyrics) then you are ready to move on to the next step.

This is probably the hardest step for most singers. If a song moves you, you want to wail it not LISTEN to it, right? If you are one of those singers that just has to go for it, be smart about it. Follow good boundaries and recognize those sections that don’t come easily to you. Remember, muscles have memories. If you consistently sing a song with poor vocal skills, the memory of the involved muscles will include those poor skills. Breaking a bad habit in singing is much more difficult than creating a good habit from the get go.

2. Hum the song.

Make sure that you feel the buzzing sensation in the front of your face; moving up and down your face as your pitch changes. Your goal is to make that buzzing very specific with each note — just as if you were playing specific notes on a piano. (If you need more information on Tone Placement, see Singing is Easy, Lesson #6).

If you are new to this process, you may need to repeat this step many times. Be sure to monitor your airflow. TIP: Your notes need to be connected on an airflow river, not resembling someone standing on the shore skipping stones.

When you can hum the song completely with ease, connecting the notes on your airflow and feeling very specific about the buzzing sensations on your face, you are ready to move to the next step.

3. Sing the song with the lyrics at a very natural volume,

don’t push and don’t hold back…find the balance. Your goal is to place the words in exactly the same place that you felt the buzzing sensation when you were humming. Sometimes creating words makes us move the articulation arbitrarily around our mouth and makes singing much harder than it needs to be. Keep the words focused where you felt the buzzing and you will have more success. When you can sing the song easily at a comfortable natural volume with good vocal tone, you are ready to move to the next step.

4. Review the lyrics for performance purposes.

With each stanza assign a one word adjective that best describes how you want the audience to feel during your song delivery. This adjective is the emotion you put on your face, in your vocal tone and in your body language during your performance of that song portion. So if you believe the main adjective for a stanza is “hopeful”, it is much easier to perform hopeful than all the many words included in the lyrics. Try it, it really works. For those students that have never had acting training and feel a bit self conscious, this usually does this trick and helps them perform very moving performances…very quickly.

The only rule is you cannot use the same adjective twice. Remember, how do you want your audience to feel? Perception is everything.

5. Perform the song

Now you are ready to perform your song at a comfortable natural volume using everything you have practiced so far: good tone placement, good airflow, etc., AND add the emotional performance to the mix. I usually recommend sitting down for this step. In fact, to make the most progress I recommend that part of the performance practice be confined to the face. If you can move your audience with just your voice and your facial expressions, that’s an accomplishment. Use your body and movement as an embellishment, not something that your performance relies on for success.

The comfortable, natural volume is very important. If you are using poor vocal mechanics you will be unable to create some notes without “belting them” and that needs to be addressed. Keep in mind that although it is a natural comfortable volume, you should not sacrifice your vocal tone. Think of it like when you turn the radio down. You still hear the peaks and valleys of the song, still crystal clear, just at a lower volume. This is your goal as you perform this step.

6. Perform with full movement and voice, adding stylistic nuances where appropriate.

Be sure to use a mirror to help you make good choices. If you have followed the other steps correctly, by this step you will naturally begin to sing with more power as you become more comfortable with the song, the power properly reflecting the emotional peaks and valleys.

Again, if you are new to this process you might have to repeat each step several times. Singers that use this technique regularly will find that it gets easier and easier, and that songs are learned more completely with great speed.

“I encourage each and every one of you to share yourself through sincere song performance. Don’t settle for just good singing, strive to be a true musician that breathes life into every tone.”

About the Author
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Many people dream of becoming professional singers, but the road to riches is not an easy one. In fact, the road to becoming a good vocalist may be even more difficult. It is true that often people are simply blessed with natural talent, but that is often not enough in the pursuit of vocal excellence. Like anything else there is a technique behind great singing, and perfecting that technique is what will set you apart from other singers.

For those singers who really want to elevate their skills vocal singing lessons may be something that you might want to look into. In fact, a top quality vocal lesson might be exactly what you are looking for. There are many different types of vocal lessons that you can look into. in fact, there are even vocal lessons that you can take via the internet.

When you are looking at starting vocal singing lessons you will want to find the right vocal coach for you. A lot of this may depend on what type of vocalist you want to be. Are you looking for someone to help you pursue your dream of country music? If so then you are not going to want to choose a teacher who specializes in rock ‘n roll. Additionally, if you are hoping to hit it big on the Broadway stage a vocal jazz coach is not going to be what you are looking for. Instead, look into a coach who specializes in your chosen area.

Additionally, you will want to meet with your prospective teacher to make sure that your personalities mesh well. This is someone who is going to be working with you on a very personal talent, and you need to be sure that you are comfortable receiving feedback from them. Trust your instincts on this. Chances are that within the first few minutes of your meeting you will have an idea if you like or dislike their personality.

Cost can be a big factor in your vocal lesson decision. Online vocal singing lessons may be a bit more affordable so if your budget is tight this may be an option that you are going to want to look into. However, if you are looking for one on one instruction you will want to budget for anywhere from $30-$60 per lesson depending on the instructor and the length of your lesson.

In a typical vocal singing lesson you can expect to begin by warming up with your instructor. This may consist of tongue twisters, scales, or vocalizes. From there your instructor will give you different pieces of repertoire to begin working on. The will help you to begin learning the pieces and then will send you on your way to do your work. At your next lesson you will warm up again, and then your instructor will assess how you are doing on your pieces, and then they will give you advice and techniques to help you improve. Within a few weeks you will start to hear a significant improvement in your singing!

About the Author

Skyler Jett is a prolific singer, songwriter and producer, who has worked with many top musicians, such as Stevie Wonder, Celine Dion and Aretha Franklin. Vocal singing lessons are important, they are your ticket to becoming a good vocalist. Find more singing tips and techniques at http://howtosing.org.

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