Find Your Singing Voice – Dos and Dont’s

When you listen to people -even professionals- sing, you sometimes hear strange and artificial sounds.
Just think of opera singers, who sound like Kirmet the frog. Or some pop singers, sounding extremely feminine.

On the one hand, there’s no right or wrong, when it comes to art. I also don’t want to judge.
But if you want to find the path to your own, unique voice, you have to dive beneath the surface.

In this post I want to take a deeper look and tell you what it takes to find your singing voice.

Why We Sing With Fake Voices

Imitating is essential for us to learn anything in the world. As babies, that’s the way we learn to talk and to walk.
When it comes to singing, we also use this technique to produce melodic sounds.

It’s a matter of fact that some people are more talented in imitating than others. Just think of professional voice imitators, who can really sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Robert De Niro. Fascinating.

Same applies to music. There are guys out there, who sound like Freddie Mercury, Axl Rose or Sting.
Fantastic, breathtaking and boring all at once. Why? Because the original is always the best.

However, that just shows what imitation is able to achieve. And in some ways, we always have to copy someone, because that’s just the way we learn something new. Question is: Who is it, we are learning from?

If we copy a singer, who sings naturally, it will always bring out our own natural voice. But if we imitate someone, who fakes in order to produce an interesting sound or hit a high note, we will end up singing with an unnatural voice, too.

Worst thing that could happen is, that our attempt is successful. We hit that high note with Kermit’s sound.
That leads us into the wrong direction and makes us believe, that what we are doing is right.

I once attended a singer/songwriter workshop, where every participant presented a song at the beginning.
There was this tall, 43 years old Rock’n Roll guy, who smashed one of his songs with such a squeezed and artificial voice.
The workshop holder barely didn’t know what to say, except of:”Okay, so you’ve found your own way of singing.”

How to Dismantle Your Voice

There’s one golden rule for getting rid of any fake or unnatural sounds in your singing voice: Relax and let go of any tension! The most beautiful and natural voice is completely free, unattached to muscular force.

Like a stone carver, who creates a beautiful sculpture by knocking of portions of stone, we have to uncover our own singing voice by releasing any tension.

Easier said than done. To let go of tensions can be a challenging and long process.
Tensions are there, because of reasons.

Mostly our vocal habits had put them in place, simply by the way we learned to speak and sing in the first place. Besides, some tensions might act as a protective barrier, where painful emotional experiences are enclosed. Releasing the tension, will set free the emotional feeling as well. That can be painful and something, everyone wants to undergo.

Nevertheless, to discover your own singing voice, there’s no way around. You have to work not only on the physical, but also on the mental level.

Benefits of Finding Your Voice

Having found and singing with your own, unique, natural voice is simply the best thing to happen.
Not only will your sound be pure and beautiful, but also will you sing with confidence and authenticity.

As one of the requirements to discover your voice is releasing all tensions, your voice will be very relaxed and settled.
Consequently, you will sing with a full and broad sound.

When you write your own songs, you don’t want to sound like someone else, singing your songs.
Remember: Nothing is as appealing as the original. So make sure, you are original!

Conclusion

To sound like Bono‘s or Beyonce’s duplicate might be funny and astounding at first.
But wouldn’t it be fantastic to sound like yourself and be your own brand?

As most of the times, our voices are clothed with (bad) habits and imitations we picked up along the way, we have to strive to uncover what is truly our own characteristic singing voice.

Focus on releasing tensions is the first step to see what’s underneath the surface.
Dare to step-down and find what’s your voice really about.

What do you think? Have you found your own voice yet? Please share and leave your comment!