What to do if you suck at singing.
By Don • Feb 19th, 2006 • Category: Songwriting Advice, Songwriting Articles, Songwriting Tips
Over in the Harmony Central forums someone was complaining they suck at singing and it really bothered them because they really like singing.
I had a similar problem for awhile. I couldn’t sing some of the songs of my favorite artists because the vocals of the song were well out of my range. I just gave up the fact that I could be a decent singer and relegated myself to becoming a good guitar player.
Work To Your Strengths
The songwriting world is chock full of people who - quite frankly - can’t sing. But that hasn’t stopped them from becoming world-reknowned and influencing millions of lives. Dylan, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen - all legends - but not really the greatest in the vocal range department. None of them let that stop them. They had something to say. They said it in a unique manner.
Do you have something to say? How can it be unique?
One possiblity: If you are a songwriter, and not looking to perform live, then work with someone who CAN sing. This can often be a very successful joint venture.
If this is not an option, then you might just need to figure out what key you sound good in. This might suck because you can’t do certain songs by your favorite artists, but it might give you a unique voice. I think of people that sound a little unique, like Tom Waits. My wife thinks he is the worst singer ever - but look at his cult of fans - and the influence he has had on other musicians.
Or look at someone more accessible - like Jack Johnson. Most of his songs are either in E (or the related C#m) or A. Those are pretty much the only keys he sounds decent in because - let’s face it - he doesn’t have much range. But he has some catchy tunes - tunes he has written on his own terms.
So my suggestion would be to work to YOUR strengths. You can still write good songs. You can still sing them in a key that fits your range.
The best part? You’ll sound like YOU.
After that the sky is the limit.
Don is the founder, writer and editor of BloggingMuses.com. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina, USA.
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Yeah, this didn’t help a lot. I’m driving myself crazy listening to these recordings of myself trying to sing. I’ve got a few songs I’m okay with, but they’re mostly slower and a great percentage of what I want to do is pretty upbeat and not-slow. And nobody I know’s interested in singing for me.
I could have all my songs in E, but I hate playing E. It’s the only key I have a full octave of voiceness in, I just hate playing it on the keyboard.
I’m pretty much out of ideas.
Not everyone can sing. From a mechanical point of view, sure, one can learn. Tone, modulation and the ability to keep time internally are generally something inherent and a natural ability with some people, not everyone has this. Nothing is as sad as someone who has been told by well intentioned people that they have this ability, when in reality they do not.
The harsh reality is that tone is usually the final determination. If the sound of the voice is not appealing, everything else is moot. There are many successful singers, who from a technical aspect are not great, but because they have the convincing tone and a great amount of the ability to convey this, are very convincing. One that immediately comes to mind is Joe Cocker. There are many examples of this throughout history of course.
Be honest with oneself above all else. If you didn’t dig the tone of your guitar you would change it. If you can do this and still be convincing, that is wonderful. If not, maybe singing is not your bag.
Moe “D” is pretty much dead wrong.
Technique can be learned and tone can be changed with proper technique.
Most people Google “how to sing” or “vocal technique” and after a few weeks of trying things give up, foolishly believing the nonsense that “some people just can’t sing”. If you really want to sing and don’t feel you sound very good, get a vocal teacher.
A good teacher will identify what about your technique is incorrect. Too nasal? You’re not lifting your soft pallet. Too “chesty”? You’re not placing the note properly. Thin, high sound? You’re not relaxing your throat, etc.
Moe is correct - if you don’t like the tone of your guitar, you change it. If you don’t like the tone of your voice, change it…
And certainly, don’t believe anyone who tells you that you cannot…
DN up there is exactly right. No one wanted to sing for my band, so I had to, which was a shame, cause I had the WORST voice. Pretty much ever. But after years of learning I can look back and see I was just doing everything technically wrong you can do vocally
And I don’t even sound like the same person that I sounded like a few years ago. Not that I’m amazing or something, but as DN said, you can get a voice teacher and work on these things! Good luck!
Good discussion. I was one of the people who was told, play the guitar, but whatever you do don’t get near the mike. About 5 years ago, I decided to learn how to sing. For one main reason, to get my songs heard!
I started in group classes where I could hide my voice in a crowd. The instructor, Julie Davis, started the class with “everyone can sing, no one is tone deaf. You just need to learn how.” After about a year, I started private lessons and am still continuing once a week.
What I found out on this journey, was that my melodies were limited because of the limited range of my voice. With more confidence, I can play my voice like my guitar. I also have confidence to sing in front of a crowd and my songs are getting heard.
Am I an excellent singer, no! But at least I don’t sound like fingernails on the blackboard.
under “work to your strengths” at the top, it said that petty and springsteen can’t sing. excuse me, but tom petty and bruce springsteen are both excellent vocalists. they have great range, fantastic style and very rich voices. who are you listning to?
Kyle,
Thanks for the comment.
Perhaps the paragraph could have been worded better, but in general I meant their voices are not what people typically refer to as great vocalists. I don’t mean they suck - not by any means. In fact, what I was trying to say is that even though they might not have the typical voices of contemporary artists, they are amazing singers and do what they do well.
-dm
I hate how my voice sounds, but by steadily working on my voice, I increased my range quite a bit, and even have been able to improve the sound somewhat. And a bad sound very often comes from flat singing and lack of support, which is definitively something you can improve upon.
So if you suck at singing… stop feeling sorry for yourself, take lessons from a pro, and keep practicing. It may take years, just like any other instrument. Even if you’ll never be a great lead singer, you’ll still be able to be a good backing vocalist (if you play in a band) and just have some more tools for writing your own songs.
I agree with most of the commenters above.
I actually have a very unique sounding voice - Friends agree I sing properly, giving support from my diaphram, etc. but they also agree it’s very unique, and often can’t give me advice on a direction except “just do your own thing, you have a lot of potential.”
However, I can’t seem to find my own “thing.” No matter what I do, whenever I project there’s too much bass in my voice. Imagine a guy with a deep voice who normally sings “figaro figaro” attempting a rock song! That’s how I feel.
I guess I need to find a vocal teacher pronto.
I am so confused….
I hear some people say that one can learn to be an efficient singer……, then almost the same number of people say that you have to be born with the talent.
I’m going crazy over this, I play the guitar, harmonica, keyboard, and I write my own songs. But I know I don’t sing that well. CAN ONE LEARN TO SING WELL OR NOT?
I would almost sell my soul to make the world feel how I feel inside.
i am the singer/songwriter/pianist of a symphonic metal/pop-rock band. i’ve been singing since 2007, and i’m 15 years old. i love opera songs but i don’t think it suits me. i think i sound better singing pop. everyone else in my band is even worse than me, thus i sang almost all the songs. however, people keep commenting that i suck a lot and make their ears bleed. this really hurts because i’m sick with writing and playing most of the songs on top of trying to sing better. no matter how hard i try they still think i suck. & i can’t go for vocal training cause my mum thinks it’s unimportant. & i haven’t met anyone who could sing, or if they could they don’t want to tell me.
i really love my band & i always try my best, but what should i do if everyone hates my voice?
you could go to http://www.myspace.com/thelastaurora to hear my songs but break the news gently, ok?
YES YOU CAN … learn to sing well! I am a vocal teacher based in Nashville, Tennessee, and I teach all contemporary forms of singing. One of my students is a guy who came to me as a rapper. He was a fantastic, confident, successful Christian contemporary rapper and songwriter. But he found when he tried to sing he had this mousy, weak voice that he had to double when he recorded for it to have much tone. We started training and a couple of years later he was signed to a double deal… Christian and mainstream pop… and his first single was the fasted added single in the history of CHR radio. He would testify to the amazing results vocal training can give you. His name is Mat Kearney http://www.myspace.com/matkearney. Listen to “Undeniable” … you may recognize it.
You’ll find when you sing better, you will write better, this is a fact. Good luck to everyone… and have hope- You may not become a mega star, but EVERYONE can sing, and sing better with help. Find a vocal coach! With the money you spend on recording, some vocal lessons would be what the call “chump change”!
I am confused. Some people tell me you have to be born with the natural talent of singing but others tell me that you can sing from proper training. I understand that most likely you can sing from training but I want to do singing as a career. I have a normal/decent voice that I think I can build with but if most people are telling me that in order to be an exceptional or at least a great singer you must be born with it. Then I have no hope, then?
I’ll say this again… if you are not truly deaf and you can talk, you can sing. If you have tone issues, with a few tweaks of your “modus operande” you can instantly change your tone for the better. Have pitch issues? It talkes time, but with “target practice” exercises, you can train your ear to hear pitch.
There are, indeed, people who are born with more natural talent than others, but sometimes those with less but who are willing to work at it get better than those with more. The important thing is not so much how you “sound” anyway… it’s how you “communicate”. If you learn to make your voice more communicative, it will find a better sound. Some of the most popular and effective artists in the world have limited ability.
Anyone who says that some people just can’t sing has never had an experience with a truly intuitive vocal coach who can help you find the voice you never knew you had.
The question really is; how bad do you want it? How much time/energy/dedication/money are you willing to invest to get it? Do you have to go broke to get it? NOPE! There are some great vocal training products out there, some not-so-great but some which can vastly improve your voice even without personal lessons. You can take a lesson every once in a while instead of regularly. You can read free blogs for vocal information. If you want it bad enough, you can do it.
I wanted to make one more point about why you should invest in vocal improvement as a songwriter: You’ll write better songs, too! When your voice is less limited, your song melodies will become more interesting. You will hear and “feel” the more pleasant sound of your own voice and it will make lyrics come to you easier.
If you really want to sing better, then go for it. There is always a way. You don’t need to sing like Andre Boccelli or Celine Dion in order to move an audience with music that makes a difference. Find your own voice, and if you need to, get help!
It’s one thing to want to be able to sing well, another to be a professional singer. You’ll have plenty of competition of talented people there. Is it really just singing you want to make a career out of, or are you looking for a career as a musician? Whatever it is, I can imagine you’ll need to find your niche and put all of your energy on this single goal for years to come. Then maybe, just maybe you’ll be one of these few people who can actually make a living of music.
I want to become a musician. I don’t really have as much experience because my family has absolutely no musical genes whatsoever, so I’m trying to gain experience and coaching but first I just wanted to know before I waste my time. I’ve been singing quite some time now (since third grade, now I’m in sophomore year of high school) and I’ve been joining choirs at my school. Also there was this class in freshman year i took called Vocal Technique which was very helpful but the teacher who taught the class left and the person who’s taking over isn’t all that great, so does anyone have suggestions of a really good vocal coach in the NY area?
I’m an amateur without much actual experience, but I would guess that - besides having a good coach and spending hours a day practicing - you need to get out there and sing in front of audiences as soon and much as you can, particularly if you want to sing pop/ rock/ etc. And if you really want to be a pro, try to get into a music program at a good college. My 2c.