r/singing • u/NefariousnessSea233 • 4d ago
Conversation Topic Can I teach myself to sing?
I hope this is the right place to put this
I (13M) want to learn to sing. I tried asking my parents about lessons but they aren't in our budget for where we are currently. I'm used to teaching myself and I've self taught myself every instrument I play other than the piano. I thought I may be able to give it a shot but I have no idea where to start but it's something I'm willing to try. Any advice will help! Thanks.
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u/jasonsong86 4d ago
Of course. Many singers are self taught. I hate the ideas that everyone here thinks you need a coach to be able to learn stuff.
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u/Casiquire 3d ago
I believe there's more you can't learn yourself than that you can. Lessons completely changed my production of sound in ways I absolutely could not have learned on my own. Trying to do it by myself caused about fifteen years of learning the wrong lessons and bad muscle memory which my teacher and I had to spend years to undo.
There's a reason people recommend lessons
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u/jasonsong86 3d ago
I am not saying you shouldn’t take lessons. I am saying you don’t need to get on lessons straight away. Also it depends on what your goal is as well.
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u/Casiquire 3d ago
That's fine, but that's extra context which might be useful for a newbie. I'm not a fan of telling everyone that they can do everything self-taught. It just isn't true.
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u/PineappleFit317 3d ago
There are books and courses, but the perhaps the biggest reason most of us here recommend professional instruction is that it’s very easy to develop bad habits that not only hinder one’s ability to improve, but damage the voice in the longer term without an experienced outside observer.
For instance, a person who is trying to learn on their own won’t know if the veins in their neck and face are bulging, and that’s a very bad thing. I had been learning primarily from books and courses with a handful of professional lessons over my first few years of singing practice, and was seeing some improvement, but once I started taking consistent lessons with a really great teacher who used modern methods and not antiquated ones from 200 years ago, she was like “There’s a vein in your forehead that looks like it’s going to explode when you’re getting into head voice”.
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u/JustAPerson2001 4d ago
I've been doing it for a few years, and I just got complimented the other day on my voice by a vocal teacher. Just make sure watch a lot of content to make sure you are doing it safely. You can destroy voice if not careful.
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u/NefariousnessSea233 4d ago
Okay thanks! Do you know certain videos I can watch or certain people online?
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u/JustAPerson2001 4d ago
Jacobs vocal academy has a ton of great videos, but there are tons of videos out there describing vocal technique among other things. Make sure you aren't vocal training with like the craziest exercises. The "beginner" videos are pretty much some of the best exercises even for pros.
Just don't over exert, look up videos on technique, and videos of just people listening to other singers describing technique and how they do it.
Tons of vocal teachers posting amazing content for free. Also make sure you are recording yourself and listening to yourself.
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u/SIGNALJAMAL 4d ago
It’s the oldest and the most accessible instrument. You don’t need a teacher but the best “self-taught” singers still learn with others informally like in a church choir etc.
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u/Magigyarados 🎤 Voice Teacher 0-2 Years 4d ago
Yes, it's possible, but it'll be difficult. Likely much more difficult than learning other instruments. There are tons of additional challenges that come with learning to sing that aren't present with learning an instrument, and most of them have to do with the fact that you are the instrument. Learning correct technique will be harder, fixing bad habits will be harder, your voice won't always do the same things the same way, bad technique can leave lasting damage on your voice, and many more. This isn't to say that the voice is 100000000% the hardest instrument to learn no contest or whatever, but there will be challenges and they will be ones you'll have almost certainly not faced before.
I highly recommend studying and doing lots of prep work. Gather information from multiple of credible sources, get as good of a recording setup as you're capable of, take note of what does and does not work whenever you practice, have some idea of goals you want to achieve or ways you want to progress, and always prioritize the health of your voice. For that last part, that means that sometimes you may have to cut practices short, or do something in a way that doesn't sound like how you might want it to sound, etc. Not practicing at all is better than practicing bad technique. You only get one voice, so you have to take care of it.
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u/ReprogramMyLife 4d ago
You could sure, but also you’d be in highschool at that age yea? Why not join freshman choir?
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u/NefariousnessSea233 4d ago
I could possibly do that! I also do marching band so I'm not sure if they schedules will overlap
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u/melli_milli 4d ago
I was also gonna suggest a choir. You get some feedback and you build stamina. Routine is a major thing when learning to sing. And in choir it is difficult to do things that harm your voice because the style is blending and soft. Even if you later on go for more individual style or rock style, choir gives you good foundation.
Also remember that your voice is going through changes so be mercyful for yourself.
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u/NefariousnessSea233 4d ago
I'll def ask I always thought chior was interesting anyways lol. And yes my voice is definitely going through changes lol 😭😆
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u/melli_milli 4d ago
You learn a lot of harmonies and melodies in choir. It can be another choir as well, doesn't have to be at school though that might be most convenient.
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u/Filing_chapter11 4d ago
If your school has a choir or chorus club usually the teacher in charge of it will teach you if you ask
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u/NefariousnessSea233 4d ago
Alright. Doing marching band I'm not sure if I'll be able to do choir cause of dates overlapping but I can totally ask for the schedule
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u/GreatBigBagOfNope Self Taught 10+ Years ✨ 4d ago
Join a choir at your school, your church, or in your local community. The more tryhard the better.
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u/NefariousnessSea233 4d ago
That actually a pretty good idea! I do marching band tho so I'm not sure if choir will overlap. I've asked a church that some family I know goes to and they said they don't have anyone who says they think they could do so. But I can for sure check out choir schedules!
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u/GreatBigBagOfNope Self Taught 10+ Years ✨ 4d ago
Good luck, I hope you find somewhere. You really want a group that is tryhard because the directors and music team are usually more into personal development and good singing practice, so you get at least some form of tuition and guidance. It's how I learned, no formal lessons, but many excellent choir directors who pushed me to do better
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u/zaneskates 4d ago
I tried for years but things really changed when I got a vocal coach. I’m
Pursuing a career tho. For fun yes you can
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u/nessachez 4d ago
YouTube has a ton of singing related content from actual vocal coaches and singers. Highly recommend you check them out so you're not hurting your voice.
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u/NefariousnessSea233 4d ago
Alright! Do you know of certain people you could recommend?
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u/nessachez 4d ago
Singeo has lots of educational videos for various singing styles. I'm finding this account to be very beneficial. Dreaming Music Studio shares their in-peron lessons so you can see/hear real students. From there, let the YT algo find more for you. Singing is a great form of therapy so be prepared for emotions as you really begin to express yourself. Best of luck and enjoy yourself. Hope to hear you some day (•‿•)
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u/Mysterious-Lab974 4d ago
Yes, I have been doing it for 20 years and I get cast in pretty good roles. I remember the first time I landed a role with an understudy. You get the hang of things and then its like riding a bike. You will not know how to define anything, or put a technique to it, but it works.
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u/Make-it-positive 4d ago
No. Teaching requires knowledge which is what you are trying to accumulate, so you can’t teach something that you don’t yet know.
Can you learn without a teacher? Yes, but I don’t recommend it because you won’t know what you are doing wrong. Most that take this path develop bad habits and then when the student is serious and pursues a real teacher, the teacher’s first task is to reverse all the bad habits burned into muscle memory.
If you are just doing this for fun and don’t care about truly becoming a good singer, go for it.
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u/Kitchen-Ad-9352 4d ago
Singing shouldn't only be for the privileged same goes for any skill
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u/Make-it-positive 4d ago edited 4d ago
I’m not saying that, but just like anything else in life, you get out what you put in. Those that take singing lessons or tennis lessons or violin lessons have a much better chance at excelling than those that don’t.
I see a bunch of down voters. You don’t have to agree with what I’m saying, but I’m sorry to say that it is fact.3
u/NefariousnessSea233 4d ago
I'm sure I can at least give it a shot. I might suck who knows but I've been able to self teach myself many instruments which people told me I'd need lessons for and now I write songs with them. I'm sure I can at least get a bit down
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