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Ways to Teach Myself to Sing

Singing in the shower, everyone sounds like a songbird; outside the shower, though, many people more closely resemble a croaking frog. Even if you have not been blessed with natural singing talent, you can still learn to sing. To improve your singing, you only need time to practice and courage to learn from your mistakes.

Learning Effective Body Position
- Maintain proper posture. Stand up straight with your feet about shoulder width apart. With your shoulders down and relaxed, keep your head upright and forward-facing. Relax your body to produce the best possible sound. If you are very tense, your voice will constrict.
Breathing Exercises
- Practice breathing exercises. By strengthening your diaphragm and lungs you will be able to sing longer without tiring your voice. The British Broadcasting Company recommends you try breathing deeply from the bottom of your diaphragm. To practice the correct breathing technique, lie down on your back and place your hands on your midsection. Breathe in and out, pulling air into your stomach so your hands go up and down with each breath. Breathe in for 4 seconds and let your breath out with a long hiss or "sssss" sound for 4 seconds. Vary the length of time you breathe in and hiss out. Try breathing in for 6 seconds and hissing out for 12 seconds, in for 2 and out for 12, and in for 4 seconds and out for 16 seconds.
Keep Practicing
- Sing along with the radio or CDs. Sing in private places, such as your car, so you will not fell self-conscious. Try songs with limited range and ones that have difficult notes. Continue singing along with the artist until you can follow along with the artist's pitch and you learn to hit the same notes. Learn from the mistakes you make and keep trying to stay in tune with the song.
Record Yourself
- Record yourself singing. You sound different in your head than you do to others. You may also want to record yourself singing scales so you can hear how you sound on each note. Listen to your recording and take note of the areas you need to improve. Practice and re-record until you notice improvement. Consider letting a friend listen to your recording to give you feedback.
Online Lessons
- Take online singing lessons. Some programs simply offer videos to teach you scales and sounds of notes. Other programs are more intensive and require you to record your singing and send samples to the instructor for feedback. If you take online lessons, be sure to schedule consistent times to complete lessons and practice singing.

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