On one level or another, everyone knows how to sing. Some people are naturally better than others. Ok some people are really good and others really bad, but essentially we all know how to make the sound. The reason we all know how to make the sound is because we learn to sing songs when we are children. We saw other people on TV or heard people in real life doing it, so we copied. So in a basic sense we have been programmed to learn to sing songs.

This is essentially the best way to learn because once your ear has chosen the sounds you like, you begin mimicking them. As we get older there are a few more factors involved with liking a certain style of music like who you think is cool, who you admire as a performer or who’s messages in their music touches a common way of thinking in you.

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These opinions and feelings change somewhat as we get older but we tend to learn to sing songs from our favorite artists whether we know it or not. This is on a subliminal level. When you listen to your favorite CD for 3 weeks straight, you are not necessarily thinking of how to learn to sing songs from that album, but when you hear them years later you find it quite fascinating that you remembered the lyrics and the notes.

I think there is a lot to be said by learning this way because it seems very natural. Many people will tell you to learn certain techniques and practice them for hours which is certainly a necessary part of becoming a complete singer, but if you learn to sing songs naturally, the way that the artist sings them, there are many many tips you can learn even when you are not learning.

Take it To The Next Level

If you are serious about learning to sing then the next step with this method is to pull out one of your favorite songs and dissect the vocals line by line and even word by word. Whenever I am to learn to sing songs for my rep list, this is what I do. I load a track into a music software program of choice, (my choice is Sound Forge) but there are many that do the same thing, and then you sing each line individually while copying and listening.

You already know the line well but what you want to do is to really listen to the subtle variations in tone, timing, phrasing and emotion of the notes that make it unique. You are essentially dissecting a style. The differences are subtle to anyone else singing the same line with the same notes but what makes a great singer stand out from a regular singer is all contained in the emotion of how these subtle variances are delivered.

Learn to sing songs with these differences from many different artists and you will begin to naturally pick up these unique qualities and make them your own. It takes some time but it’s quite enjoyable because 1, once you finish the song you have a great song in your rep list, and 2, it’s not as tedious as Do, Ray, Me, Fa, So, La,Te, Do all day. One thing to remember however you must be careful not to learn to sing songs that are out of your vocal range or too different from your natural voice or you could be doing some damage.

It would be great to sing like all your fav vocalists but if you are changing the natural dynamics of your own voice too much, you could develop nodules and lose your voice forever. That is extreme but it has happened to singers in bands that I know when they have a beautiful smooth vocal and they join a rock band. Some people are suited to the rock vocal and sound great, but some are more suited to a gentler style of singing and you know what suits you best. The best singers sound like the best singers because they have chosen what is natural for their voice.

Learn To Listen

It’s important to learn to sing songs from artists with similar vocals, but it’s physically not possible to do it all day long and it’s not convenient to do it in your daily work meetings either or in your office or wherever you may be, in school perhaps. So whenever you have a free moment pop on the iPod and learn to sing songs in silence. Similar to my other article on learning to sing harmonies, it is important to listen for the right things and tune your ear into hearing something going on that is less obvious.

Everyone knows the melody line in a popular song but what they don’t necessarily hear is the unique phrasing on a lyric, or the breathiness John Mayer will use in certain vocals, the syncopation on a lyric, the emotion on a particular word and the lack of it on another. These are all things you need to tune your ear into when you learn to sing songs. I hope this has been helpful, this method, along with other vocal techniques has developed my singing style over the years and I’m sure it will help yours also.

Avoid using this as your only method and try not to stick to the one artist when you learn to sing songs because you will only limit your style and may even sound too much like one artist, although if you start a tribute band it’s not such a bad thing! Keep practicing and above all, enjoy your singing!