How to Sing Better Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Katherine Dvoskin, Co-Founder of K&M Music School

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Author: Katherine Dvoskin | Co-Founder of K&M Music School
Published November 20th, 2024

Learn how to fix the most common mistakes ruining your singing voice with this quick and easy guide full of actionable tips.

Have you ever wondered why your voice cracks when you try to hit high notes? Or why do you go hoarse after just a short time singing? Many new singers run into problems like strained vocals, poor pitch, and loss of range.

The good news is that most vocal issues can be fixed with some simple adjustments to your singing technique. In this ultimate guide, you’ll discover the most common mistakes ruining your voice, along with actionable tips to improve your singing dramatically.

Whether you’re an aspiring pop star or shower songbird, read on to give your vocals a makeover!

Common Vocal Mistakes	Quick Fixes	Recommended Tools
Skipping warm-ups	Lip trills, tongue trills, scales	Better Ears app
Poor posture	Align spine, relax shoulders	Mirror for self-observation
Pitch inaccuracy	Ear training exercises	Piano or tuner
Tension in face/throat	Drop jaw, relax tongue	Recording device
Incorrect mic technique	Position 6 inches from mouth	Quality microphone

Not Warming Up Your Voice

Launching straight into singing without warming up is one of the worst things you can do for your voice. Your vocal cords are a muscle that needs to be prepared before intense activity.

Singing cold shocks your vocal cords, straining and irritating them. This causes problems like:

Sore, swollen throat
A hoarse, raspy voice
Loss of vocal range
Pitch and volume control issues

You can protect your voice and avoid strain by doing a 5-10-minute vocal warm-up before singing. This increases blood flow to warm up your vocal cords and larynx muscles properly.

Effective vocal warm-up exercises include:

Lip trills – Relaxes vocal box and resonating spaces. Purse lips gently together and blow air through them with a steady stream, causing a buzzing sound. Vary pitch up and down across your range.
Tongue trills – Releases tongue tension. Place tongue tip behind upper front teeth. Blow air over the tongue, trilling lips rapidly. Again, slide the pitch up and down.
Sirens – Extends vocal range by gliding pitch up and down. Sing a siren starting low and sweeping pitch up and down across your full range. Use different vowel sounds.
Scales – Warms up pitch-matching ability. Sing major, minor, or pentatonic scales on different vowel sounds, matching pitch accurately. Increase speed gradually.

It’s also wise to avoid cold foods and drinks before singing, as these can tense up your vocal cords. Stick to room-temperature beverages instead.

The time invested in warming up will pay off with smoother, stronger singing every time!

Poor Posture and Breath Support

Proper alignment is key for good breath support and vocal stamina when singing. A slouchy posture collapses the diaphragm and ribs, reducing airflow to the lungs.

Without sufficient breath support, you’ll quickly tire out, strain your throat, and limit your range.

Follow these posture tips for better singing:

Stand up straight with shoulders back
Align neck, head, and spine
Engage lower abdominals
Allow ribs to expand freely
Keep pelvic floor relaxed

With good posture, air flows freely on inhalation right down into your lower lungs. Exhaling against a firm diaphragm provides controlled breath support for singing phrases smoothly without running out of air.

Practice singing with a hand on your stomach to feel the correct breathing technique. Keep shoulders, neck, and face relaxed to avoid tension.

Invest time in developing good habits now to improve vocal control, power, and stamina. Learning to breathe correctly can feel awkward at first. But with regular practice, it becomes second nature.

Tensing Facial Muscles

New singers often unconsciously tense up muscles in their face, tongue, jaw, and throat when singing. This causes issues like:

Strangled, squeezed vocal tone
Pitch problems
Strained high notes
Loss of vocal control and clarity

For freely produced sound, your throat needs to open vertically like a chimney flue, not close up horizontally.

Follow these tips to relax tight facial and throat muscles:

Drop your jaw gently when singing vowels
Rest tongue lightly in bottom mouth
Keep cheeks, lips, and tongue relaxed
Avoid lifting eyebrows or squeezing eyes
Yawn to relax throat before singing

Think tall throat, round mouth shape on vowels. This lifts the soft palate to resonate sound while keeping the throat open.

Observe yourself in the mirror while singing and look for unnecessary tension in your jaw, lips, or eyebrows. Consciously relax those muscles. With regular practice, letting go of unnecessary facial tension becomes second nature. You’ll unleash a more resonant, healthy singing voice.

Pushing Your Chest Voice Too High

Many beginner singers overextend their chest voice past its natural break point. This leads to strained high notes, reduced upper range, and vocal fatigue.

Your chest voice resonates in the throat and chest. But as you sing higher pitches, the sound needs to transfer into your head voice for health and ease.

The head voice resonates in the facial cavities and skull rather than the throat. It produces clear, ringing high notes without pressure.

Listen closely to singers adept at mixing chest and head voices, like Mariah Carey. Notice how effortlessly they transition to a lighter mechanism in their upper range.

Tips for smoothly transitioning to head voice include:

Don’t force volume at the breakpoint
Soften volume and support as you transition
Think forward placement into the face
Allow your voice to flip into head voice

Practice vocal sirens sliding up and down your range. Pay attention to the sensation as your voice shifts gears. Find songs with a mix of low and high notes to blend your chest and head registers.

With practice, you’ll effortlessly switch between chest and head voice. This preserves your upper range while allowing full-bodied low notes. Blending the two registers expands your capabilities as a singer!

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Not Landing On Key Accurately

Being able to match pitch and land on key is vital for singers. But if you have a poor pitch or ‘tin ears’, accuracy can be a real challenge.

Singing off-pitch strains your voice sounds unpleasant, and means you can’t harmonize accurately while performing.

Luckily, pitch and listening skills can be improved with ear training exercises like:

Matching pitch with a piano – Have your vocal coach play random notes asking you to match the pitch
Harmonizing with backing tracks – Sing along to songs in harmony
Singing a cappella to develop pitch internally
Hearing and singing intervals – Recognize pitch relationships
Solfege training (assigning syllables to notes)

Start slowly with simple melodies and familiar songs. As your listening skills develop, you’ll hit notes more precisely.

With regular ear training, you’ll gain the pitch mastery needed to sing confidently on key.

Trying To Copy Other Singers

Mimicking another singer’s tone or style excessively can damage your voice. Each person has a unique vocal range, timbre, and capabilities.

Attempting Mariah Carey’s famous 5-octave range when you’re a low alto will only lead to disappointment and hurt your voice.

Instead, learn to embrace your natural tone and style. Avoid unnecessary tension by singing within your comfortable range, not straining to copy others.

Useful exercises for discovering your authentic voice include:

Exploring tone colors on different vowels
Singing familiar songs in your best key
Adding personal stylistic embellishments
Developing vibrato naturally (not forced)
Recording yourself to get used to your sound

Make a playlist of songs perfectly suited to your voice. Belt out tunes by singers with a similar range and tone. This builds confidence in your sound, rather than copying others unsuitably.

As you become more confident in your skin vocally, you’ll stand out rather than copy others.

Poor Microphone Technique

Many beginner singers don’t realize mic technique is a skill in itself. Even with good vocals, poor mic use can ruin your performance.

Problems like popping plosives, bad breath control, inconsistent volume, and sloppy diction show up clearly over a mic.

Follow these mic technique tips:

Position the microphone 6 inches from your mouth point to your chin
Avoid blowing air directly into the mic
Enunciate consonants cleanly but avoid pops
Keep volume, tone, and distance consistent
Hold the mic stand to avoid rumbling noises

Common microphone mistakes lead to issues like:

Popping Plosives – Too close to the mic makes ‘b’ and ‘p’ sounds pop. Set up the appropriate distance.
Muffled Sound – Angling the mic away muffles your voice. Point towards chin/mouth.
Poor Projection – Not talking directly into the mic or inconsistent distance makes it sound faint.
Breathy Sound – Raising volume by getting too close causes breathiness. Back up.
Boomy Low End – Holding the mic tightens the throat and increases bass. Relax the grip to sound natural.

Practice speaking and singing on a mic to polish your technique. Record yourself to hear what needs improving.

With great mic skills, your vocals will sound professional whether recording or performing live.

Not Getting Enough Sleep

Just like physical exercise, singing uses a lot of energy and muscle coordination. Your voice needs adequate rest between sessions to perform at its best.

Lack of sleep is detrimental to vocal health, causing issues like:

A hoarse, raspy voice
Impaired muscle coordination
Loss of breath control and power
Higher risk of vocal strain and damage

Aim for at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night as an adult. Allow extra vocal rest when rehearsing or performing frequently.

Healthy lifestyle habits like avoiding caffeine late in the day, limiting alcohol, and reducing stress also encourage better sleep.

To improve your sleep quality, try:

Going to bed and waking up at consistent times
Limiting blue light exposure from screens at night
Avoiding heavy meals, caffeine, and alcohol before bed
Doing relaxing yoga stretches before bed
Taking magnesium or melatonin supplements

Putting in some extra zzz’s allows your body to recharge. You’ll wake up refreshed and ready to sing your best!

Dehydration

Staying hydrated is crucial for vocal health, as your throat and vocal cords are lined with mucous membranes. When you don’t drink enough water, these membranes become dry, inflamed, and stiff.

Symptoms of dehydration include:

Sore, dry, scratchy throat
A hoarse, weak voice
Coughing or need to clear throat frequently
Decreased range and stamina

Drink at least 2-3 liters of water daily as an adult to maintain hydration. Increase this to 4 liters on days you’re singing for extended periods.

Sip water slowly rather than guzzling. Avoid drying drinks like coffee, soda and alcohol close to singing.

Dehydration can also occur from mouth breathing as you sing. Be conscious of keeping your mouth closed when possible to retain moisture.

With good hydration habits, your vocal cords stay lubricated and healthy. You’ll sing smoothly without fatigue or strain.

Smoking and Drinking Alcohol

Lighting up cigarettes or frequent alcohol consumption causes long-term vocal damage. Both irritate the throat and vocal cords.

Smoking leads to issues like:

Permanent hoarseness
Loss of range
Breath control problems
Faster vocal aging

Alcohol dehydrates your throat and impairs muscle coordination needed for singing. This causes:

Pitch control issues
Slurred words and sloppy diction
Strained high notes
Vocal fatigue

Ideally, quit smoking to allow your throat and lungs to heal. The toxins in cigarettes can change your voice permanently even after quitting, so better not to start.

Drink alcohol moderately, avoiding heavy consumption before singing. Limit intake to special occasions, not daily.

Let your natural talent shine through by keeping your voice in top shape!