Do you wish you sounded better or even… beautiful when you sing? Then this is what you need.
Lisa has prepared an incredible journey that, in just 7 days, will help you improve your tone, pitch and add style and emotion to your singing.
These aren’t just going to be exercises. Throughout 7 lessons, Lisa will help you work on a song throughout the process so you can hear the results at the end.
Finally, because Lisa is the best, she has included lots of resources and goodies to help you in this week-long journey.
The 7 lessons we’ll go over will allow you to take time to integrate each skill and then return to work on the next one. By the end of the week, you’ll be able to see amazing progress.
Ok, let’s dive in!
Wise men say only fools rush in. So we should not rush either. We’ll begin by establishing a baseline. Using your voice memo app of choice, record yourself singing these three verses from the Elvis song:
Wise men say
only fools rush in.
For I can’t help falling in love with you.
Remember that we’re trying to establish where you are before we begin the process, so don’t try to change your voice in any way. Sing the best you can, and show up as you are. Now, when you hear yourself back – I know it can be hard – try not to be too hard on yourself. We’re only getting a snapshot of how you sound today.
It can feel very vulnerable or scary but remember we’re here to improve and create a more beautiful voice. Once you’re ready to hear it back, try and keep two things in mind:
What did you like about your voice?
What can improve?
Stay positive when reviewing yourself. Focus on what you’d like to be better and stay positive, rather than only criticizing your voice.
That’ll be all for Day One. Phew! A hard day’s work.
Warming up and helping your voice wake up is a fun, small thing that can have a huge effect on your singing.
We’ll begin with a hum. You don’t need to hum on a scale, you can do it to the melody of the song. Take a deep breath, relax your face, and let the noise tickle your nose and vibrate your mouth. Feel free to hum along with Lisa in the video.
Officially called a lip trill, the bubble will help you establish the right breath flow for the song.
Lisa suggests you use your index fingers. Place them on your cheeks, then simply blow out with your mouth closed. We have a whole video on how to do this here. Once you have the bubble under your belt, we’ll do it to the melody of the song.
Remember to breathe between verses. If you were laughing, that’s completely reasonable, it kind of feels ridiculous. And it does sound a little funny too. Bubbling is almost impossible while you’re laughing, though. Let the chuckles out and try it until you do all the verses through and through.
Doing your best puffer fish impression, let your cheeks fill up with air and extend. Allow the air to come out as if you’re whistling. Putting your hand in front of your face is a good way to make sure you’re blowing it out correctly. You should also be able to plug your nose and hear no difference.
This exercise requires you to work from your core and can be a little challenging at first. Try to just make it through the melody of the song. Your voice may crack or flip along the way, don’t let that stop you. Do it along with Lisa. Aaaand..go!
What a good-looking puffer fish!
If you felt a little out of breath at the end, that’s perfectly fine. This is a workout for your breathing and even Lisa needed to catch her breath at the end. If you were to speak right now, do you notice a difference? The experience of talking has changed a little bit.
Now that we’re all warmed up, we can try singing the song for the first time today. Remember to breathe and open your mouth enough to enunciate each word.
After warming up, your voice will automatically sound better. Don’t be shy when practicing. Make the space for the sound. Try it, and compare how your voice sounds when you open your mouth enough for each word to come out properly. If you feel like you lost it, go back to the puffy cheeks to find your way.
That was great. You made it to the end of Day Two, but the work is not over. Lisa has gathered a few scales that you can download and use to sing these exercises (link below). Enjoy your practice!
Lisa comes back on this third lesson with “probably the ugliest, most horrible exercises you’ve ever heard.” Are you excited yet?
Even though these noises we’re about to make will sound ridiculous, they will play a key role in improving our pitch.
If you want to sound beautiful when you sing, you need to have an accurate pitch. To achieve this, we need to teach our brains how to communicate and cooperate with our vocal cords (and the muscles that control them). So let’s jump into the ugly exercises.
We’ll start by singing the melody of the song with a short, open-mouthed “A” noise, like in “BAT” or “CAT.” Now, it’s not “AH”, so try to make it sharper, keeping your tongue flat at the bottom of your mouth. Give it a try.
Look at us, we went from being good-looking puffer fish to the most handsome seagulls around.
Next, we’ll move on to sing the melody with a similar, short sound but this time we’ll keep our mouths closed, making us sound like a creaky door. Avoid attempting to do this loudly, this will cause tension in your throat. And we don’t want that.
As if the noises we’re making couldn’t get any sillier, this time we’ll sing the melody only saying “GUG.” Don’t try to make this sound pretty. That’ll be the next step. Give it a try and we’ll gug to the next step… (get it?)
Once you’ve worked on your note “target practice” you can go back to singing the words. How does it feel? These exercises will help your brain recognize where it needs to go and communicate that with your vocal muscles.
Your assignment for this lesson will be to practice lots with these techniques to find and learn the right pitch.
Tone is everything. It’s the nuance, the texture of your voice and it can make or break a song. So you’ll need to learn how to control it.
We need to know how sound feels in our bodies and how to change and move it around. To get there, we’ll start by making and experiencing sound in different ways.
First, we’ll sing with a bratty sound. So far you’ve been able to channel your inner puffer fish and your inner seagull. Next, we’ll do a very sheep-like “BAAA.” Notice how the sound feels mostly at the front of your face.
Next, we’ll do a dopey sound. This will sound a lot like Patrick, from Spongebob. I guess we’ll add another animal to the list. This sound is produced by a lowered larynx, which is where our vocal cords live? It sounds low and, well… Dopey. Give it a try.
If you’re thinking “well, this sounds terrible,” don’t worry. We’re not singing any concerts like Patrick any time soon. What we’re trying to do is learn how sound feels. If you’re singing and you think “this sounds a little too bratty,” then you know how to move slightly to the other side of the scale. Too breathy? Then try to add brattiness.
We’ll experiment with sound using actual words now. Saying “NO,” we’ll sing the melody once more. NO-tice how sound travels to the front of your face, and it makes it nasal. Try changing it to “GO.” Did you feel it lower in your throat? Exactly.
Try singing the song’s lyrics. This time, pay attention to how the sound moves from your larynx to your face as you go along. If it feels like your tone shifts in any one direction too much, adjust it until it sounds more balanced. Smiling and changing your facial expressions can also have a powerful effect.
With this, we make it past the halfway mark. If you’re here, I’m confident you’re already seeing improvements. You’re doing great. Next up, we’ll move to vowels.
With great vowels, comes great responsibility.
As you’re singing, you have the freedom to emphasize different syllables and vowels of a word to improve the delivery of the lyrics. “WA-EES MEN” and “WUH-ES MEN” are not the same. You need to decide what will sound best.
Our job is to create the path of least resistance as we move through the lyrics. “MEN” becomes “MEH-N” and “SAY” turns into a more subtle “SEH.” Use the complete arsenal of tools and exercises we’ve worked on to change sound and sing most beautifully.
I strongly recommend you do this along with Lisa in the video. She does a great job of picking up the nuances in the pronunciation of each syllable.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to this. It takes a bit of experimenting to understand how you need to adjust your enunciation to get there. Have fun through this process, play with it. Record yourself and try different versions until you find one you like the most.
Style is the difference between a sentence and a statement. Phrasing will go a long way in making the meaning of a song come across to the listener. As a singer, you get to put together the ebbs and flows of the song.
Subtle changes in phrasing can result in making your performance different enough from the original song. More… you.
When you’re working on a song, lean into the ridiculous!
Record yourself, listen to it back, and determine what sounds better. There are no wrong answers here.
Instead of singing the song with its original, basic melody, try adding small changes that improve upon it. Moving down a half-step in tone or humming between verses makes the performance much more artistic and natural. Use it a little, use it a lot… find what you like the most!
Speaking in a softer tone – almost whispering, but not really – our voices can do a secondary creaking noise known as vocal fry. This is an easy way to make the performance of a slow song sound more authentic and heartfelt. Use it wisely, there is such a thing as too much. But sparingly, it can drastically enhance your singing style.
Give it a shot! Practice these different techniques, and we’ll see you on Day 7.
You made it to day 7 of your vocal transformation. Well done!
Today we’ll learn that the difference between a good singer and a GREAT singer is the ability to tell a story.
When you approach a song but convey no feelings or story, it won’t feel genuine or impactful. Take a moment, and tell yourself a story about this song. Lisa likes to imagine she’s singing this song to Rhodes, her puppy.
Hold on to the feels and use that to sell the story. Not only will this offer a different experience, but it will also be more forgiving of any small mistakes along the way. The song becomes about much more than a technically-effective execution.
The story you tell yourself doesn’t need to be anything too crazy. Find a feeling or memory that you can connect to. Serenading a loved one, celebrating a happy moment, and reliving a breakup, are all experiences that connect us all. Lisa explains that “when you’re feeling something, it reflects in the way you express yourself .”
Ok, we’ve made it to the end. The only thing left to do is to record yourself singing again and listen to it. Compare day 1 and day 7 side by side. You’ve come so far.
Please share your progress with us. Be proud of your improvement and brag about it in our Singeo forum.
If you enjoyed working on your voice with Lisa this week, you’re in luck! As a Singeo Member you have access to practice guides in different keys, the ability to transpose or repeat certain sections, get personalized reviews of your progress and so much more.
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FREE Resources:
All about the Bubble – The Most Important Vocal Exercise
High voice scales practice – Download
Low voice scales practice – Download