Being Able to Sing for Your Supper

Having the ability to sing is a wonderful gift and it's one that most people can enjoy if they only knew how. With the right vocal training even the most inept warbler can become a smooth, silky crooner over time.

The trick is not necessarily in already possessing some magical skill, but in getting good tuition from a professional vocal coach and of course having the desire and determination to work at it. Like most things in life, almost anyone can become a really good singer if they are prepared to do what is necessary to achieve their ends.

What Singing Tuition Entails

If you have never taken any kind of vocal coaching before, chances are you have no idea what is involved in learning how to sing. Since I have been singing in a semi-professional context for many years and was taught by a professional singer, I can give you some insights into what is involved.

First of all, you will start things by copying simple vocal exercises that are designed to strengthen the muscles you will use when singing. You probably heard someone singing la-la-la scales up and down and wondered what they were doing. Well, they were doing those exercises!

You need strength in several muscle groups in order to sing well and these are developed by singing all notes repetitively and with some volume. Don't worry if you can't sing in tune to begin with as these exercises will enable to control the pitch and intonation of your voice so that in time you will naturally sing in tune.

How Much Singing Practice You Will Need to Do

The amount of practice with singing that you will need to do will really depend on how far you want to take it and what you intend to do with your new-found talent once it has been developed to a high degree. If your intention is to take it forward to sing professionally, then you will need to practice daily for as long as you realistically can.

A general ballpark figure would be to work up to doing thirty minutes to an hour or so per day, although this is not something that needs to be fixed in concrete. You can be flexible as long as you get a reasonable amount of practice in each day.

This way you will so develop your vocal abilities that you will be comfortable singing in front of an audience in a professional context for however long the engagement demands. Remember that some singers are able to stand up in front of audiences and sing for over two hours solidly, night after night when on tour!

If you want to work toward this kind of goal, then you certainly can achieve it as long as you are prepared to put in the work.

Singing for Enjoyment

Of course not everyone who learns how to sing will want to take it to such a high level. Most singers are happy to be able sing in tune and carry a song so that whoever hears it will enjoy listening as much as the songster enjoyed performing it!

When you are not aiming for professional performances, but just doing it for the love of it, then your daily practice sessions will not need to be as long or challenging. But in all cases, I would recommend getting hold of some professional singing lessons (check out Web Music Star for details). You can find some great quality courses online that cost a fraction of what it would cost you to hire a personal vocal coach or enrol in classes.

One thing I would also mention is that while there are loads of free videos available on Youtube and places like it, these are generally low quality. In some cases they are nothing more than a sales pitch to get you to buy an expensive course that you don't need.

Be careful where you choose to get your vocal tuition from, because there is always a price to be paid and if you decide on free stuff, you could end up worse off by trying to follow an unqualified presenter who may teach you all the wrong things. It's much better to spend a few dollars a month if you want to learn how to sing to get good quality tuition from a professional singing tutor that will teach you the right way to do it.