How to Sing in Tune

Electronic Musician, June 1998

Q: How do you know when there's a singer at the door?
A: He can't find the key, and he doesn't know when to come in.

Yeah, right. Very funny. I should strap on my Xena outfit, and defend the honor of Clan Vocalista against such dastardly disdain

But it fries my hide as much as anyone else's, when a singer dares to blare notes from a different planet than the rest of the band.  Opera legend Maria Callas is supposed to have seduced her audiences into not caring that she was off pitch. Sorry, it wouldn't work with me.

Singing in tune is fundamental to a clean, professional sound. But it isn't always easy. The voice is the ultimate "fretless" instrument; it has no built-in pitch reference. This freedom allows singers to bend, shape, and ornament notes in subtle and stunning ways. But it also contributes to the stereotype that singers are not real musicians, because we are so susceptible to being out of tune.

Fortunately, there are some proven techniques that can rescue us from danger. The brain is conveniently wired so that each person's voice is linked directly to their hearing. If we listen carefully enough to what the instruments are playing and hold a strong mental image of the sound we want to produce, there's a pretty good chance that the voice will follow.

Target Practice:

The most reliable, time-tested way to ensure that each note you sing starts exactly on the right pitch is to imagine the note you're going to sing before you sing it. In archery, as every Amazon knows, the archer learns to focus solely on the target rather than on the path of the arrow. So identify a cue note in the instrumental parts for each of your entrances and listen to it with a clear and receptive mental focus. Actually hear the pitch internally, then trust your voice to match it.

You can practice this at home with a keyboard, pitch pipe, or electronic tuner. Start by matching single notes in the middle of your range. At first, record yourself or ask a more experienced friend to give you feedback on whether you tend to be sharp, flat, or generally wobbly. Each vowel puts your voice box in a slightly different position, so use a variety of syllables.

Next, play an arpeggiated interval and match both notes. Or play one note and imagine, then sing, a different note in the scale. After a while, you'll find the mental "zone" linking your voice to your ear, and you'll be able to start any song on the correct pitch.

Be sure to judge your accuracy from the actual onset of the note, rather than guessing, then trying to fix the pitch midstream. Many singers slide or scoop into notes, starting each phrase on a low or indeterminate pitch, then correcting it. They might end up in the right place, but they didn't start there, and the result is a lazy, imprecise sound.

Of course, there are some situations in which singers choose to slide into a note. Blues, crooning, and traditional country styles often use this effect as a deliberate ornament. Just be sure you have the skill not to most of the time.

Endurance Training:

Once you've learned to begin notes on pitch, the next challenge is to stay there. As you may have discovered, if you push the voice too hard, you're likely to go sharp; if the breath support drops out you're apt to go flat. So don't sing louder or longer phrases than you can control. You can always pump the power back up once you're consistently in tune.

As an army plans its resupply routes, so singers must work to support each phrase to the end; if the breath falters, so will the pitch. When learning a new song, your first scouting mission should be for good places to breathe. (In most vocal styles, this means following the lyrics even more than the music; you should take a breath at the same places where you'd pause when speaking the words. Avoid breathing in the middle of a word or thought.)

Even a dramatic long note at the end of a phrase needn't leave you gasping or your audience cringing from pitch problems. Just find a strategic spot before the climax to grab an extra breath. Practice breathing in the right places, and then coming in again right on pitch, as you master the song.

Live performing, of course, raises the stakes for any pitch-conscious warrior. There might or might not be adequate monitors, and the demands of fronting a band bring further distraction. In addition, you're probably pumped with adrenaline, which fragments concentration and tends to tighten the vocal muscles, increasing the risk of singing sharp.

Once again, focus and careful listening are you best defense. Choose one instrument that's easiest for you to hear in the mix, keyboard, rhythm guitar, or bass, and let that player know he or she is your anchor. Go over your entrances and trouble spots with that player until you can find reliable cues no matter what the rest of the band is doing. Many singers also cup a hand behind one ear, which makes it easier to monitor themselves. 

Tribal Unity:

Whether harmony vocals are a major part of your band's image or just an occasional spice, tuning them precisely is a worthwhile investment of rehearsal time. But no one can tune to what they can't hear. As my high-school choral director used to say, "If you can't hear yourself, you're  too soft. If you can't hear the people around you, you're too loud."

Choral training offers numerous ways to help singing groups stay in tune. For example, go through harmony sections slowly and without words, using the syllable "doot." This turns any harmonic line into a series of short, separated chords, where pitch is easier to hear and correct. And each singer has to land on key at exactly the same time, without sliding or hesitation.

An unusual rehearsal technique for group harmony is occasionally to sing standing or sitting back to back instead of facing each other. This formation enhances listening and can pay off in a tighter group sound. A similar effect can be found by everyone singing with their eyes closed. When you find a training maneuver that works, include it in your regular warm-up or sound check routine.

Sound checks in general can make or break your pitch accuracy during the gig. Get with the band mates you need to tune to and make sure you can hear each other: live, in the monitors, or from the PA.  Again, you can often hear better at a moderate volume rather than by cranking to the max. The pitch you drown out might have been the one you needed to sound your best.

If you're still having trouble after trying these suggestions, look for a class in ear training at a local college. There are a growing number of software packages too, that will show you when you're on or off pitch. Private voice lessons can help solve individual weaknesses.

Just don't let your concern for pitch become so intense that you lose your enjoyment of music.
Remember that you're learning to trust your ears and voice to work together, and anxiety will get in the way.

This is but one small chapter of the epic quest for that legendary artistic Zone. May you prosper well in the magic land where precision and passion synchronize, where vibratos are perfectly parallel, where drummers are in tune, and even Amazons can take a joke.

© Joanna Cazden 1998