Singing is hard, learning how to sing before Valentine’s Day is impossible… or so I thought.
My boyfriend is a loved one I always want to pleasantly surprise, a man that makes you overcome your limits. We’ve been together for 4 years and, while I do think it’s cheesy to have only one special day in a year to celebrate love, I did want to take that opportunity to make him smile or burst out laughing if it went really bad.
Apart from buying the top singing training program available, I also went online to find the tricks and techniques to help me make it bearable for him. To be fair, I do not have a terrible voice and can sing on the right rhythm… but between that and a real top notch performance, there are a few continents, may I say worlds.
First and foremost, not only in singing but in any attempt you make: believe in yourself! If you don’t who else will?
Singing Tip #1 – Pitch
You have to work on the pitch, in order words no deaf ear, perfect timing required. You also have to pick a song according to your singing level and your voice: a beginner with a deep voice cannot sing some acute notes right off the bait for instance. At least I haven’t tried, might have ruined the whole occasion.
Of course, only spending five minutes under the shower pretending you’re an opera star isn’t going to do the trick. At least 30 daily minutes of real practice (find out my way I found the easiest way to practice singing) are required and in my case there was a bonus: 45 minutes of dodging because the one I wanted to surprise lives with me. Moving on…
Singing Tip #2 – Breath Right
Breathing is essential, not taking a breath in the middle of a sentence for starters. There are 7 ways of doing it: sleeper, slow, yawn, sigh, gasp, pant and hiss. Simple names for simple tasks to help you improve. When you start doing those breathing exercises that’s when you realize singing is a sport too, especially when the boyfriend comes back home and wonders if you finally started jogging like he’s been telling you to for ages.
Singing Tip #3 – Not Too Loud
You have to know your range: if you mutter indistinct things in your corner, no one is going to enjoy it. On the other hand, if your voice can break glasses and even walls, that’s no good either. Find the right spot and stick to it.
Singing Tip #4 – Relax
The final but very important trick I remember is about relaxing. You don’t need to get all red and sweaty whenever your voice rises a tone, you have to ease up your throat. You know that thing that we all do with instruments like the piano when we can’t play them? Pass your finger on all the piano’s keys? Well that’s basically what you have to do, only with your breath on your throat, so that you can master all the notes you can make.
And obviously, if you smoke or have flu you’ll have a harder time practicing.
I did not become perfect at it but the surprise was much appreciated and I got some loving claps after my love song performance. Remember… confidence, motivation, breath, commitment and relaxation.
Want to know more, subscribe to singerinyou.com to get the latest and greatest on how you can sing better!