To learn how to sing, you need to improve your vocal technique. Singers use their vocal cords and breath to produce pleasing sounds to accompany a variety of musical styles. But it's not as simple as throwing your head back and letting your voice go. Few people are natural singers. Even the best vocalists need to train their voices.
Aspiring singers may choose private or group lessons. During these sessions, an experienced vocal coach will teach them the difference between head voice and chest voice, how to control the breath and how to maximise vocal effects. They may even introduce songs to practice vibrato.
Note that you can learn to sing on your own without taking lessons. However, even something as seemingly insignificant as bad posture while trying to sing could cause you physical harm. Straining your vocal cords is a distinct possibility. Thus, we strongly recommend you take singing lessons to at least learn the basics of voice and breath control, and singing within your range.
But recommending singing lessons with an experienced voice coach doesn't stop us from getting a song list ready for you. Once you master how to protect your voice while singing, you can use this song list to exercise your voice and try new vocal techniques. You always wanted to learn how to sing popular songs, hymns and Christmas carols, didn't you? And we've even picked a few patriotic songs. They can be fun to sing well.
The Best Songs to Practise Singing
Which do you prefer to sing, modern songs or the classics? Both musical eras boast their share of deceptively simple vocal stylings. Take Beyoncé's Listen, for instance. This track includes several rapid-fire tempo and register changes. It's a great song to practice vibrato, too. By contrast, the ultimate classic tune, Bohemian Rhapsody, goes from opera to pure rock fun in three bars or less.
Learning to sing is much easier when you love the song you're singing. You need to find songs you like with the singing techniques you're working on in them. If you have a voice teacher, they can often find some good ones for you, but if you don't, here are a few great popular songs you can sing along to with or without a music teacher.
Find out about the best singing lessons in Australia here.
Coldplay – Fix You: This song is a great one to sing along to if you want to get better at hitting the high notes. Chris Martin gives his falsetto a full workout in this tune, so there's a lot of switching between your chest voice and head voice. There are quite a few long vowels where you'll need to hold the notes or do a short run of notes.
Christina Perri – A Thousand Years: This is a great song to practice your newly-learned vocal skills. This ballad presents a good variation in rhythm between the choruses and verses and you won't need to use your head voice a lot as there isn't any call for falsetto.
Sam Smith – Stay With Me: This one is quite fun vocally. This tune, with its gospel overtones, is another one where you need to sing high notes with your head voice and go back down to your chest voice. That said, there are some points in the song where Sam doesn't make use of his head voice to hit some of the notes.
My mate, who is taking singing lessons Sydney, is training her voice in the classics. At a recent karaoke night, she did a perfect rendition of Minnie Riperton's Loving You, complete with whistle tones. She has the high voice needed to sing this song well; her challenge was enunciating the lyrics clearly. Singing isn't just about using your voice correctly. It's also about how you move your mouth around the notes you sing.
Aretha Franklin - You Make Me Feel (Like a Natural Woman) is one of those aforementioned deceptively simple songs. The Queen of Soul starts off almost listlessly before belting her way through the chorus. Singing this song will challenge your range, particularly the ad-libs tagged onto the end of the tune.
Multiple artists have covered the song My Way, most notably Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. French songwriter Jacques Reveaux wrote the music. Paul Anka penned the English lyrics, which are thematically unrelated to the French song. The challenge of singing this one is holding the low notes. If you can manage that stunning crescendo at the end, you're well on your way to becoming a vocalist extraordinaire.
The Most Popular Hymns
Whether you’re religious or not, hymnal music is great for beginners. Hymns are meant to be sung by those with little or no experience in singing. Surely, you didn't imagine everyone in church congregations was a trained vocalist, did you? Hence the musical quality of hymns. The focus is less on the vocal stylings than on the lyrics. Here are some of the most popular hymns to get you started with singing.
Oh Happy Day
In 1967, the Edwin Hawkins Singers created a gospel arrangement for Oh Happy Day, a hymn that had been written some 200 years prior. Nonconformist minister Phillip Doddridge likely never dreamt that his jubilant anthem would be so ecstatically received! by The Edwin Hawkins Singers found success in the United States and around the world with their rendition. You can hear a great version of this song in Sister Act II.
The Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer is a religious hymn that takes the namesake prayer (also known as “Our Father...”) and adds music to it. Practically everyone - certainly any practising Christian already knows all the words. The challenge - or advantage, depending on your perspective, is keeping to a narrow vocal range. Of course, nobody said you can add a bit of zing to those holy words. Either way, you can use the Lord's Prayer to practise your singing voice while adding a melody.
Jesus Loves Me (This I Know)
We've talked a lot about people taking singing lessons and training their voices. We failed to touch on what age those aspiring singers might be. Some voice coaches accept students as young as three but the ideal age to start singing lessons is at least five. However, nothing says adult singer trainees can't sing religious songs meant for children's voices. Jesus Loves Me gives you a lot of room to experiment but even the basic melody is a great teaching song.
The Best Anthems for Learning How to Sing
Who doesn't love a parade? Who won't revel in the love for their homeland? Why shouldn't we lift our voices in song to honour all that we have and do? In fact, anthems are some of the best songs to practice vibrato. Even better: they're meant for untrained singers, just like hymns are!
Everyone knows there are great songs written about the UK. We Aussies know that there is an equal number written for 'My Island Home'. These anthems will have you trying to hit high notes, exercising your vibrato, and working your diaphragm. Here are some of the most rousing anthems for learning how to sing!
The Song of Australia
Caroline Carleton wrote the lyrics to this Australian patriotic song in 1859 as a competition entry. German-born Carl Linger composed the music. No worries about divided loyalties where Mr Linger is concerned. He was a card-carrying member of the Australian Forty-Eighters. At one point, The Song was one of three finalists in the running to be the new National Anthem but lost out to the next song on our list.
The lyrics were criticised as too 'tame' and vague; not expressive of our land exclusively. However, the music makes The Song both exciting and expressive. You'll jump registers, hold notes and get a decided workout on your breathing when you sing The Song of Australia.
Advance Australia Fair
This anthem travelled a rocky road on its way to becoming our National song. It didn't become our Anthem until nearly a century after its first performance. A mere two years later, we went back to God Save the Queen. A year after that, almost all of us chose Advance as our National Song. The decision was made final in 1984. Advance was again our anthem, albeit with a few changes.
This anthem is nothing if not rousing. That means you have to have the vocal chops to sing it properly. The lyrics wash over in peaks and waves. The notes sustain with clarity. To the casually trained ear, it's reminiscent of the American anthem My Country Tis of Thee. That's because both songs riff off of God Save the King.
Under Southern Stars
After the turn of the century, just after the new millennium's first Australia Day, Amanda Vanstone started writing. She wanted a song with the same depth of meaning as the National Anthem. Seven years later, we were treated to Under Southern Stars. Regrettably, Ms Vanstone doesn't write music. But her lyrics fit beautifully in Land of Hope and Glory. You might know it better as the first Pomp and Circumstance March.
It's not a particularly fast song, so you'll have plenty of time to work your register changes in. You'll have the chance to hold a few notes. This is one of the best songs to practice vibrato. Your voice coach may even have a slightly different arrangement, one that lets you sustain those notes - and your vibrato for longer.
God Save the King/Queen
The good thing about the Royal Anthem is that it's quite slow and simple; almost anyone can sing it. Of course, great singers can turn it into something more than the kind of droning chorus it becomes in sporting events. But it is an anthem. It's meant for everyone to sing. So it's good that you don't need to be a professional singer to get it right.
There are no runs and very few notes that are held for a long time. It's one of the better songs to perform in a choir or a group since the more people singing it, the better it sounds.
Christmas Songs for Learning how to Sing
It's the most wonderful time of the year! If there’s a time when everyone wants to sing, it’s Christmas. Around this season, what better way to learn how to sing than with Christmas songs and Christmas carols? Yes, there is a difference. Were you looking for the best Christmas songs to advance your singing skills?
Jingle Bells
It's odd that this song is one of the most famous Christmas carols. US composer James Lloyd Pierpoint wrote this merry tune after he'd gone sleighing with his friends shortly after Thanksgiving. He records details of that November outing across five verses, with a chorus between each. Sadly, all of the world's versions only recount the first verse and chorus. We're missing out on all the fun!
Anyone taking singing lessons Brisbane this time of year might be hard-pressed to imagine their outdoor pursuits as snowy sleigh rides. No worries, though. Jingle Bells is evocative enough and besides, you're supposed to focus on mastering this exceedingly simple song.
O Christmas Tree
O Christmas Tree is another song not originally about Christmas. This carol started out as a German folk song; it sang the praises of silver fir trees. The tree was, in fact, the catalyst for turning the tune into a carol. Fir trees are generally prized as Christmas centrepieces. They're regularly adorned and this song is regularly heard during the holiday season. The simple melody makes it an ideal song for practicing singing over the Christmas period.
Petit Papa Noël
Petit Papa Noël (literally Little Father Christmas) is a 1944 French song from Tino Rossi. While very popular in France, you might find keeping up with the lyrics hard to do unless you speak French. It can still help you practice your singing, though. You might first hum along and then, once you're familiar with the melody, you can vocalize.
If you hear yourself singing off-key, feel like you're straining your voice just doing singing exercises, or struggling to hit or sustain the high notes, you need voice training. Obviously, a professional singing instructor is the way to go. Whether you're learning to sing in pitch, establishing your vocal range, or just need some singing tips, your voice coach will have a great selection of songs for your voice type. You can still use the songs on our list in your voice lessons or just to improve your singing when you're practising on your own!
If you’re looking for singing lessons Melbourne as a Christmas gift for someone on your list, why not also send them this article? It's full of songs to help them get started. Should you want to get good with these songs without taking formal singing lessons, you can always look for a private singing tutor on Superprof.
On Superprof, you can find plenty of talented and experienced singing tutors to can help you. There are three main types of tutorials offered: face-to-face tutorials, online tutorials, and group tutorials. Each type of tutorial has its pros and cons so think carefully about which type would work best for you, your learning style and your budget.
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