If you’re an aspiring singer with neither the resources nor desire to take formal lessons, you may wonder if it’s possible to truly master the craft. The answer: yes. Here’s everything you need to know to teach yourself to sing—including some pros and cons of professional instruction and expert advice on how to sing better.
You can teach yourself to sing, so long as you keep an open mind while traveling on the well-defined path needed to fortify your instrument. “I believe strongly that yes, a person can teach themselves to sing,” says songwriter, music teacher, and vocal coach Tony Gonzalez. According to Gonzalez, to become a self-taught singer, you need: “one, an indication of the right direction to grow vocally and, two, an ability to make room in your mind for growth.”
Teaching yourself to sing vs. taking lessons
Accountability: One of the biggest benefits to taking vocal lessons is working with someone who gives you a well-defined path—and holds you accountable to stay on it. “If no coach or teacher is drawing a change out of you, then the impetus to make improvements relies entirely on you,” says Gonzalez, “which might mean that you don’t recognize on your own what needs to change.” But this philosophical difference gives the self-taught singer benefits, too. “You’re your own cheerleader and whip-cracker,” adds Gonzalez. “The pressure to ‘get better’ relies entirely on your own sense of ‘how much better’ you should be getting.”
Outside perspective: Having an “external ear to be your sonic mirror is perhaps the [biggest] benefit to having a teacher, as opposed to relying on your own ear,” Gonzalez advises.
Cost: From a purely practical standpoint, you can save yourself a good amount of money by going without a vocal teacher.
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1. Take care of your instrument. Protecting your voice is imperative to longevity as a singer. If you’re teaching yourself to sing, it’s extra important to remember to take care of your own voice, since you won’t have a vocal coach constantly reminding you.
- Warm up and cool down: “Don’t barrel right into singing full-out straight away,” says Gonzalez. Instead, be sure to always warm up your voice into proper shape. There are lots of different vocal warmups and cooldowns to try; Gonzalez’s routine usually includes “some version of humming, some lip trills, a version of singing that’s more staccato and separate, a version that’s more smooth and connected, and working on incorporating my head voice into my mix more successfully.” Ultimately, it’s about discovering what connects you to your instrument the most, and then performing a cooldown version of the ritual to end your singing session.
- Hydrate: Drink water regularly, and be extra sure to hydrate before a practice session “in order to moisten all the tissues in your mouth,” advises voice actor, producer, and instructor Marc Cashman.
- Use proper posture: While it may be easy to over-relax on this point—especially if you’re teaching yourself—proper posture is of the utmost importance for healthy, strength-building singing. You want your body to feel as open as possible, allowing you to sing from the diaphragm rather than from the throat. “The proper posture for singing is, at the very least, to keep your upper torso aligned with your neck and head,” says Gonzalez. “This path, [which allows] your air to release, from gut to windpipe to mouth, should be as unobstructed as possible for maximum air efficiency.
How to Sing From Your Diaphragm Gonzalez adds that it can help to “think of singing to the balcony of a theater as opposed to down toward someone on the floor.” After all, once you teach yourself to sing, you may just find yourself performing for an audience!
2. Learn different singing styles and techniques. “There are six dominant styles of singing,” explains voice teacher Andrew Byrne, who identifies the different genres as pop, rock, country, opera/classical, blues/jazz, and hip-hop/R&B. “Whether you’re a southern belle wanting to be the next Kacey Musgraves or Carrie Underwood, or you’re a song-and-dance man aspiring to the Broadway stage, it’s important to familiarize yourself with all of music’s various forms and genres,” he adds.
Further, Gonzalez recommends giving yourself “a good spread on methods and techniques” in the “initial exploration into self-teaching.” This numbers game of discovery “will give you a better chance of finding what works specifically for you.”
3. Find your sound. Take the time to find your own personal sound and preferred technique. “The biggest pitfall to singing on your own is trying to sound exactly like someone on a record,” says Gonzalez. Because so much of self-teaching involves researching and listening to others, mimicry can be tempting. Instead of copying someone else’s sound, “give yourself the grace to know that your voice is only going to sound like the best version of yourself, and not somebody else,” Gonzalez says. “Take pride that your voice is only yours and no one can replicate it. You’ll find much more joy and fulfillment in the process of improving your technique.”
4. Study. Research your style’s nuances and tropes, listen to the greats of the genre, and delve into free educational content online or at your local library.
5. Practice. Gonzalez recommends practicing in a place with space that allows you to be as out, loud, and “you” as possible. “We automatically pull back or try to ‘not bother people’ when we know they can hear us, so try to be somewhere that you feel you can make noise and move around freely.”
- Stick to a regimen: The biggest improvements will come with consistent practice, even if those initial steps start small. “Whether it’s 15 minutes twice a week of concentrated practice…or four hour-long sessions per week, do what feels achievable and increase your ‘workout’ intensity as you begin to feel your stamina, attention span, and ability to detect nuance begin to develop,” says Gonzalez. This routine will slowly but steadily build your vocal strength and control.
- Record yourself: Record your practice sessions and listen to them, noting any areas of concern and opportunities for improvement.
6. Sing in front of people. Once you’ve put in the hours at home, it’s time to take your voice to the streets. While you don’t necessarily need the outside eyes and ears of a teacher or coach, “singing is an art form meant to be shared,” says Gonzalez. “Whether it’s singing for friends, at an open mic, in a small cabaret, or recording yourself in a video to share, the only way to have a measure of your progress and improvement is to see how it’s received by outside ears. Being able to let go of self-judgment and to be vulnerable is especially important (and especially rewarding) at this stage.”
7. Persevere. Keep practicing, learning, and performing to grow as a singer. The more time you put into your craft, the better a self-taught songbird you’ll be.
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Step out of your comfort zone, a little at a time. Improvement comes with growth, and growth comes with challenges. “Try to sing something slightly higher, faster, or more sophisticated than usual,” Gonzalez says. “Little by little, you’ll demystify the things you used to find impossible to do by showing yourself that most singing is achievable if you let yourself find how first, and then slowly forge your way from there.”
Break down your songs. Tackle songs one part at a time, rather than fully jumping into a piece. This will make the song more digestible and understandable.
- Start with the lyrics: Gonzalez starts the process with lyrics: “Say them to yourself in rhythm (without singing) in a nice, comfortable, even volume. Then, lip trill your way through the melody to get your breath support figured out through the song.”
- Add in breath: “Finally, put your lyrics and breath control together in actually singing,” Gonzalez says. “Take everything apart piece by piece until you feel like each individual part is in your control more and more.”
Embrace failure. If good is the enemy of great, perfect is the enemy of progress. “Singing, ideally, is never perfect,” insists Gonzalez. “It’s personal, emotionally driven, and so full of how we are on any given day that it would be a never-ending loop of disappointment to expect singing ‘perfection.’ Instead, decide to be courageous, step into exactly where you are vocally, and make sure people know who you are as a singer. You will only get better, even with failures, if you take the approach that every singing experience teaches you something about what to do better next time.”