How do you learn to sing on pitch?

Singing Off-Pitch? Here's What to do...

Singing in-pitch is one of the most important components to singing which is going to make you sound either so-so, or World Class. I believe many people have really good voices, but their voice is just undermined by inaccuracy of the pitches they are singing.

To help you, or help you help someone with pitch issues, the best way for me to dive into this topic is to tell you what goes on in some of my vocal sessions where I may do a consultation lesson to access the singer in front of me, so I know how best to serve them and their voice.

First off, to access a student's intonation, I may play different notes in a comfortable range, and I’ll see if the student can match the pitch of the piano with their voice by humming. Humming is usually a great way to begin vocal lessons, especially if the student is a little shy and hesitant to sing, and they need to build up their confidence to sing more open and out there.

If the singer is unsure if they are hitting the right note and you can hear there is some work to be done, what I would do before moving on to vocal exercises is to get the student to sing the first few opening words of a nursery rhyme. “Mary had a Little Lamb” is a very famous tune we all know! Let's now condense it down further to just singing, "Mary Had." This tune is usually my go-to melody because it’s a simple major 3rd descending scale and more importantly, almost everyone knows the tune. Usually in the beginning, I find much more success with students (struggling with intonation) singing a nursery rhyme then say a vocal exercise because it is something we are all more common with. We are all more subconsciously more open to silly tunes which can break down our mental barriers of singing and over thinking the right pitch. The famous, "Happy Birthday" that absolutely everyone sings at parties is a perfect example.

We've had the melodic contours of these nursery rhymes and famous tunes engrained into us from childhood. Once we get into the swing of singing our melodic line, we can adjust the words into vowels for an appropriate vocal exercise. And "Voila!" Seemingly by some form of sorcery, my student is amazed they can now start singing vocal exercises on pitch and we can start working on the...

TECHNIQUE!

Thoughts on Voice Pitch Apps?

Now I know many people may use different apps to ‘tune’ their voice, but this also has its limitations and problems. This is because vocal technique will also impact the accuracy of your pitch. The tone of the pitch may never be secure if you are unsure on what to do and you are just trying to tune your voice to an app. The app is not going to tell you perhaps you need to adduct your vocal folds more or not push the air.

Anyway, I hope this helps you find your voice! That’s all for now!