All right singers, a few weeks ago in the first article in this series, you learned two quick-fix techniques for fixing pitch troubles while singing songs. In case you didn’t see it, here’s a quick recap.

You learned about audiating, which means to “hear” the note or phrase in your head an instant before you actually sing it; it helps you to mentally prepare for the note you’re about to sing. The way to do it is to mentally “play” the phrase in your head so you know ahead of time what you need to make your voice do.

The second technique was a combination of physical changes to your face you can act out while singing to fix problems like going flat or sharp. The first was to lift your face up. This means to lift your eyebrows and cheek bones up slightly and sing with a touch of a smile on your face, like you’ve just been pleasantly surprised. The second was to open your mouth wider and longer. This helps your voice travel out of your mouth clearer and easier, and it makes the notes sound nicer.

Now let’s talk about some of the reasons your voice goes sharp and flat in the first place.

Going sharp. This is when you are aiming for a particular note and your voice goes slightly higher than you expected, and maybe a little shrill. This is often caused by approaching a note incorrectly. Singers have a tendency to “reach up” to hit a high note so to speak, when what they should be doing instead is “coming down” from above the note. It’s a visual approach technique, picture yourself about to sing a high note, and imagine your voice on top of the note already, and “come down” on it instead of reaching up to it. Don’t take the way you approach a note lightly, it may sound hokey but it can have a much larger effect than you think.

Another reason people go sharp is because they force their voices. Forciong is the results of what happens when you try to sing too hard or try to sing too loudly with incorrect technique. Something else that causes forcing is when you try to sing with an unnatural tone, among other things. (Also called false voice)

To stop this from happening you have to train your throat muscles and jaw to relax as much as possible when singing. Also, listen to yourself when you sing. Are you trying to change your voice to create a specific tone? Don’t do that, if you are! That’s what I was referring to when I mentioned false voice. Your singing voice should be a natural extension of your speaking voice, nothing different.

Another reason for going sharp or flat, is not hearing your own voice properly and guessing at the notes. What often happens is a singer will be on stage with a loud band behind them and no monitors, or very quiet monitors, and they’ll essentially guess at what notes they’re hitting because they can’t hear their own voices on stage. This is a bummer of a problem to have, because sometimes you can’t help it. The best way to deal with this is to make an effort to listen to your pitches as much as possible. If you have some money to spend, you can use in-ear monitors when you sing. If you’re singing often with a band it’s definitely a worthwhile investment to make. A decent pair of in-ears will cost around $800.00… but in my opinion, they’re completely worth it. I love mine, I even use them at band practices.

Now, let’s talk about going flat. There are a couple of reasons this happens, one is not hearing yourself properly and guessing at the note, and the other is laziness. You have to keep your face and voice animated when you sing so that you don’t get lazy with your notes. I often find that when people are focusing and “trying” to hit the right notes, they generally do but when they don’t, mistakes happen easier.

So now, what can you do long term to train your voice to stay on key? You guessed it, scales! Singing scales can do for your voice what working out in a gym does for your body. You stay healthy, in shape and flexible when you workout, and your voice is no different. For your voice to be in top shape you have to give it a regular workout so it gains range, accurate pitch control and power.

It’s a good idea to practice your major and minor scales and sing them to the letter names of the notes so you remember what they are and how they sound. This is called learning by association; it will teach you to remember the precise sound by associating it with a letter name. Here is a link to a virtual online keyboard that can help you with this. Learn the key signatures of the major and minor scales and practice them along with the virtual keyboard on your own. (Copy and paste the address into your browser if it doesn’t show up as a link)

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/music/piano/index.htm

I hope you enjoyed this article series on how to improve your pitch! Stay tuned for more great singing information from Sing Like A Pro!

Author Bio: Elisha Rae is an internationally known vocal teacher. Her website, http://www.sing-like-a-pro.com has a wealth of singing information, tips, free articles and videos, to help you overcome all of your vocal challenges!

Category: Entertainment
Keywords: singing, voice, pitch, sharp, flat