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All the breath support and perfect posture in the world won’t help you if you can’t hit the pitch you need to. Ear training is the ability to hear a note and be able to sing it back. This is absolutely crucial to learn how to sing on pitch. So there are two parts to ear training: Training your ear to hear the note and… Getting your voice to hit the correct note. I’ve written an in-depth article with 15 superior ear-training techniques that will have you singing on pitch in no time. But here’s the bottom line: Many people can hear a note perfectly. But they have a hard time singing it. So, in order to make sure that you’re hearing and singing the right pitch, you just need to be able to hear the note you’re singing better. There are lots of great tools to help you learn to hear yourself better. But here’s an easy one you can try right now: 1. Gently wrap your fingers in a cup shape and place them behind your ears. 2. Face the direction where the music is coming from and try to match the...

Now that you’ve learned to control your breath, it’s time to breathe for singing onstage. Here’s the truth: You probably won’t be able to take a 4-count breath when you’re singing on stage. So how do you breathe for singing when you’re rocking out on stage? The Scared Breath is a great way of taking a breath from the diaphragm very quickly. Here’s how to practice the Scared Breath at home: Stand in front of a mirror and turn to your side so you can see your stomach. Now, open your mouth and take a quick inhale with your diaphragm like you’re really scared but can’t make a sound. Make sure that the quick breath is totally silent and doesn’t have a “gasp” sound. As you take this “scared” breath, watch yourself in the mirror to make sure that your stomach is expanding on every quick and silent inhale. When done correctly, this silent, scared breath will give you all the fuel you need to make it to the next line.

There are tons of great exercises that will build your breath support. But the Farinelli breath exercise is the best one for building breath control FAST when you want to teach yourself to sing. Here’s how to do the Farinelli Breath at home: Set a metronome to 60 beats per minute. No metronome? No worries. Here’s a free online metronome. Now, open your mouth and take a low breath from the diaphragm for 4 counts. Then hold the breath for 4 counts. Finally, exhale the breath for 4 counts. After completing the cycle of 4 counts, increase the count to 5. So for the second round, you would inhale for 5 counts, hold for 5 counts and exhale for 5 counts. As you do this exercise each day, see how long you can comfortably inhale, hold and exhale. The moment you feel winded or have any discomfort, stop and come back again tomorrow. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can expand your breath control this way.

Let’s face it: Learning to breathe for singing is one of the most important steps in learning how to sing. Just like anything else, there are lots of techniques to learn to breathe for singing. But here’s all you need to know: Rather than taking a breath from the shoulders or chest, we’re going to inhale from the diaphragm. How do you learn to sing from the diaphragm? I’ve created a video demonstration that teaches you to sing from the diaphragm. Here’s how to do it: 1. Step in front of a mirror so that you can see the full length of your torso from the side. 2. Place your hands on both sides of the bottom of your stomach. 3. Open your mouth and inhale. 4. As you inhale, allow the breath to expand your stomach outward. 5. When you exhale, allow the breath to bring your stomach back in. If you see any movement in your shoulders or in your chest, you are doing something wrong. Please note: when done correctly, this exercise can feel a bit weird. That’s because for most of our lives we’ve...

Here’s the truth: The position of your jaw can change your sound dramatically. That’s because your jaw has a lot of influence on your vocal tone and even whether you’re singing on pitch. But here’s the bottom line: The jaw should move freely with whichever vowel you’re singing. Having one set jaw position for vowel will make you sound like a robot. Here’s how to let your jaw relax: Select a phrase to sing that feels a bit tight or constrained. Now watch your face and mouth in the mirror and speak the phrase of the song you’re going to sing. Take note of how vertical your jaw opens as you speak the words of the phrase. Now, sing the phrase and allow the jaw to open to the same height as you saw in the mirror. Don’t let your jaw hang any lower or higher than when you speak the words.

With your head and neck in the right position, it’s time to check for neck and throat tension. Here’s how you do it: Sing a phrase of a song and watch yourself in the mirror. If you see any tightness in your throat or face, you are probably adding tension to your voice. The two most common areas of tension in singing are the larynx and the tongue. So let’s check the larynx first. In this exercise, you’ll be checking in with your larynx by feeling it between your fingers. Never push or poke your larynx as you’re doing these exercises. Instead, gently feel your larynx or voice box between your thumb and forefinger. Now sing the phrase of a song and gently feel your larynx between your two fingers. Does the larynx rise or feel tight as you sing? If so, try this exercise. Here’s how to keep the larynx relaxed: With your fingers gently feeling your larynx, sing the phrase again and try to allow the larynx to stay relaxed. In the next exercise, we’ll check for tongue tension by feeling the m...