10 Common Mistakes Singers Make

While singing, mistakes can be harmful to your vocal health, make you sound unprofessional, and give a bad impression to the audience. It is important to realize your mistakes as a singer and fix them to protect your vocal cords and have a good performance.

Mistakes such as not warming up your voice, not taking care of your vocal health, or imitating other singers are quite common among singers. These mistakes can lead to vocal fatigue and damaged vocal cords in the long run. Plus, they also affect the quality of your sound, making you sound unprofessional as they can lead you to sing out of tune and not use proper diction or good phrasing.

Here are 10 common mistakes singers tend to make.

1. Not Warming Up Your Voice

When singing, you use many muscles, joints, and ligaments. So, just like you warm up before exercising or running, you have to warm up your singing muscles before singing. Otherwise, you will experience vocal fatigue or, even worse, injuries. 

Warming up before singing is crucial as it prepares your voice and body by stretching the muscles used while singing. Warming up also increases the blood flow to the vocal cords and strengthens the core vocal muscles. This way, you can prevent possible injuries and vocal fatigue while improving your pitch accuracy, range, and breathing technique. In short, warming up is a must for a better and safer singing experience.

2. Imitating Other Singers

Many beginner singers make the mistake of imitating other singers instead of developing their unique style, better suited to their vocal range and color. It’s ok to imitate other singers to learn some vocal techniques, but you should apply those techniques to your own style.

It’s important to be yourself and not copy anyone else while singing, as singing is a personal journey, and your style should serve you the best way in terms of your vocal color, style, and range. Imitating others would make you a second-hand singer. Instead, try to create your own style to sound unique and more professional. Let your natural voice take over.

3. Not Taking Care Of Your Voice

Neglecting vocal health as well as general health can have detrimental effects on your vocal performance. From your water intake to your general diet, your warmups, and exercises, everything affects your vocal health and overall performance. So, you have to take care of your voice properly.

In order to be a good singer, you have to consider singing as a lifestyle. For example, acid reflux can lead to throat and vocal cord injuries, which can be long-lasting. Another example is dehydration, as it irritates vocal cords. As they are not lubricated enough, singing without enough water in your body can cause vocal damage.

Also, if you see any symptoms of vocal health issues, you have to get it checked out by a doctor. Neglecting the symptoms can cause more severe injuries in the end. Some symptoms to look out for are loss of sound quality, fatigue, pitch changes, loss of voice, pain, or unexpected flips or cracks.

4. Singing Outside Your Vocal Range

Another common mistake made by singers is singing outside their vocal range. Singing out of your comfort zone decreases the quality of your vocal talents. It is better to stay within your limits and try to expand your vocal range the right way by practicing techniques.

When you try to sing outside your vocal range, you start to scream, which does not sound good at all. Try to remember that it is not a competition to reach the highest notes, but it is about the quality of the sound. So, sing where your voice sounds and feels good to get the most out of your talents. You can practice different techniques to expand your range slightly and feel comfortable singing higher notes.

5. Not practicing enough

Singing involves many muscles. So, gaining more control over muscle movement with proper techniques makes you a better singer. To achieve that, you must practice regularly every day to ingrain a good technique into muscle memory.

Practicing every day for around 30 minutes after a good warm-up can get you fast results in a few weeks as you start to build muscle memory and technique in a short time. However, you have to follow a structured program, which can build the proper technique over time.

6. Going Louder With Your Voice

Going louder with your voice while singing puts too much stress on your voice, leading to long-term vocal damage. You need a good singing technique and a lot of practice to increase the volume without shouting when singing. 

To create a fuller, richer sound that resonates better with the audience, you should use proper vocal techniques, such as using the diaphragm to support the voice. Try to breathe deeply from the diaphragm to develop flexibility and the range of the voice.

Screaming will cause vocal cord injuries and poor vocal performance because you won’t be able to control your voice and your singing dynamics will be poor. Always try to aim for a balanced voice with relaxed muscles to have more control over your singing and prevent any injuries.

7. Neglecting The Falsetto

Falsetto is a great technique that can help you reach higher notes without putting too much stress on your vocal cords. Neglecting the falsetto can limit your vocal range and ability to reach higher notes. Trying to reach higher notes with a normal singing voice can be dangerous as you may harm your vocal muscles.

Falsetto not only helps singers to achieve higher notes but also creates a more expressive and emotive sound, which grabs the audience’s attention. It can make your voice sound unique and more powerful while making your singing more engaging and dynamic. So, try to take advantage of falsetto when you can.

8. Warming Up With Songs

While warming up is crucial before singing, warming up with songs is not a good idea as it can cause vocal fatigue due to overuse of the vocal muscles. There are special exercises for warming up, which get you ready to sing songs. Singing songs before warming up can be harmful.

You should exercise and warm up your muscles correctly before singing to prevent any injuries and vocal fatigue. Try to warm up for around 20 to 30 minutes with proper exercises to achieve the peak of control, commanding accuracy with ease. Stop the warm-up when you are at the point, as continuing will just tire your voice.

9. Wanting To Achieve Everything At Once

Having too many goals and trying to achieve them all at once can be overwhelming, leading to frustration and demotivation. Skills like good voice, high range, and more control over singing come with long periods of practice, dedication, and focus. Be patient and try to go step-by-step.

It is impossible to achieve everything at once. So prioritize goals and focus on mastering one skill at a time. You should always be patient and progress gradually as it is a healthy way of building proper technique and walking firmly towards your goals.

10. Having No Structured Approach

Without a structured approach, it is much harder to develop vocal techniques as it is harder to stay motivated on the track. You need a regular vocal warm-up routine, breath control exercises, proper technical exercises, and consistency to develop more control over your voice and improve your overall performance. 

Also, you will need a structured approach to singing to maintain motivation and focus. You need to have a solid routine and go step by step by putting one block on another consistently to become a good singer. Try to have a good exercise routine and get help from a vocal coach or teacher if you need it.

Maybe try out some online teaching platforms like Singeo. They have a structured curriculum for singers of all levels and can provide you with the necessary advice.

Conclusion

To deliver the best vocal performance possible and avoid any type of vocal injury, try to avoid these common mistakes made by many singers. Remember that singing is a lifestyle, and try to be more consistent with your exercises and routines while avoiding any harmful action toward your vocal cords.