So You Think You Can’t Sing? Think Again.

If hitting high notes or carrying a tune feels more frustrating than fun, you're not alone—and you're definitely not hopeless. Even chart-topping artists like Ed Sheeran didn’t sound like pros when they first started. In fact, Sheeran once played a clip of his early singing, and let’s just say… it was a far cry from his Grammy-winning sound.

What that proves? Singing isn’t just about natural talent. It’s about effort, patience, and smart training. As coach Tim Notke famously said, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” So, whether you feel tone-deaf or simply stuck, don’t give up. Your voice can improve—dramatically—with the right guidance.

Let’s break down how you can train your voice to sing with more freedom, confidence, and control.

1. Get Out of Your Head

Believe it or not, one of the biggest blocks to singing better isn't physical—it's mental. If you've ever belted out a note perfectly while alone, but then totally froze up the moment someone was listening, you’ve experienced this first-hand. That “freeze” isn’t because your voice suddenly failed. It’s your brain stepping in with self-doubt, fear, or performance anxiety.

A powerful idea from the book The Inner Game of Music explains it well:
Your Performance = Your Potential – The Interference.
In other words, your voice might be perfectly capable—but your mind is getting in the way when you think about all your mess ups or insecurities.

The fix? Start by accepting that mistakes are part of the process. Cracks, pitch slips, and forgotten lyrics don’t define your ability—they’re opportunities to grow. The more you practice ignoring that critical inner voice and replacing it with curiosity and compassion, the more relaxed and expressive your voice will become.

🎯 Quick Tip: Record yourself singing. Then listen back not to critique, but to observe without judgment. Treat it like watching game footage—what worked, what didn’t, and where did your mind get in the way?

2. Learn How Your Voice Actually Works

Singing can seem like magic… until you understand the mechanics behind it. When you break it down, your voice functions a lot like a wind instrument, requiring three essential components to create sound:

Power Source: Your lungs provide airflow (your breath support).
Vibrator: Your vocal cords (also called vocal folds) vibrate as air passes through them.
Resonator: Your throat, mouth, and nasal passages shape the sound’s quality and tone.

Let’s take a closer look at how your voice creates different tones and textures through vocal registers.

Chest Voice: Your Strong Foundation

This is your natural speaking voice and it forms the base of your vocal range. You’ll feel it resonate in your chest—try saying “Hey!” like you're calling out to a friend. That deep vibration you feel? That’s your chest voice at work.

Chest voice engages the full length and thickness of your vocal cords, giving your sound more power, depth, and fullness.

Head Voice: Your Higher Range

Your head voice covers the upper part of your range. It's lighter, airier, and resonates more in your head and nasal cavity. Try saying “wee!” like you're a kid on a slide—yep, that’s your head voice in action.

In this register, the vocal cords stretch and thin out, producing a brighter, more flute-like tone.

Mixed Voice: The Sweet Spot Between the Two

To sing with ease across your full range (especially those tricky high notes), you’ll need to blend your chest and head voice—this is called mixed voice.

The secret ingredient? Pharyngeal resonance. It’s that bright, slightly nasal tone that might feel silly at first (think “witchy” or “bratty”). But it’s crucial for bridging the gap between registers and smoothing out vocal breaks.

🎯 Try This Exercise: Sing “Nay, Nay, Nay” in a bratty tone on a 5-tone scale. It activates the pharyngeal space and helps your cords stay connected without straining.

3. Know Your Limits and Your Growth Potential

Before you dive into your vocal training, it's crucial to understand your voice type and vocal range. Every singer is unique, and knowing where you currently stand gives you a solid foundation for improvement.

Understanding your voice allows you to pick the right songs for your range and helps you figure out where to focus your practice. Don’t worry if you’re not hitting those high notes just yet—it’s all about working within your range until you’re ready to expand it.

How to Identify Your Vocal Range

Finding your vocal range is a simple yet essential exercise. Here’s how to do it:

Start by humming on a comfortable note. Slowly sing lower, note by note, until you reach a point where the sound is strained or uncomfortable. Mark the lowest note you can sing clearly without straining.
Next, go higher. Repeat the process, singing higher and higher, until you reach the highest note you can produce without feeling tension or strain. Note that point too.
Use a piano or tuning app to help you match pitch and accurately identify your lowest and highest notes.

Understanding Vocal Registers and Their Limits

It's also important to know the limits of each vocal register:

Chest Voice: The lower and mid-range of your voice, used for speaking and singing deeper notes. When you feel tension or a sensation of “swallowing” a note, that's your chest voice reaching its limit.
Head Voice: The higher range that feels light and airy, sometimes like the sound is coming from your head or behind your eyes. If you push too hard, you might feel tightness or strain.

Understanding these limits allows you to approach vocal exercises and songs more strategically—focusing on strengthening the areas that need work while allowing room for gradual growth.

Growth Potential: Expanding Your Range

Once you know where your range currently lies, it's time to expand it! But don’t try to hit those high notes right away. Like any skill, vocal growth requires consistency and patience.

Gradual Progress: Start by singing songs or exercises within your range and slowly extend it by a half-step or so. As you get more comfortable, you can start experimenting with higher pitches.
Vocal Coaches and Training: A trained vocal coach can help identify which areas of your range need more work and provide specialized exercises to help stretch and strengthen your vocal cords.

4. Relaxation is Key

One of the biggest mistakes singers make is pushing their voice too hard by tightening up their throat, neck, and facial muscles. You might not realize it, but tension can severely affect your vocal performance, especially when you're singing higher notes.

The Power of Relaxation

When you go for those big, high notes, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and tense your muscles. But this actually limits your vocal range and increases strain.

Try this: Take a deep breath and let your body relax completely. Imagine you’re singing effortlessly, with your body in a relaxed, neutral posture. Notice how the high notes come more easily when you’re not forcing them.

How to Stay Relaxed When Singing High Notes

Focus on your mouth shape. When singing high notes, try narrowing your mouth slightly (think of a small “O” or an “E” shape) instead of opening it wide. This minimizes strain and helps you hit those notes more smoothly.
Visualize the resonance flowing effortlessly through your head and mouth cavity, rather than trying to push it out. Breathing deeply and staying relaxed will help keep your voice open and free of tension.

5. Train Your Voice Like Your Body

Just like any other muscle in your body, your vocal cords need regular exercise and training. While vocal cords are not muscles in the traditional sense, they still require coordination, flexibility, and strength to perform well across a wide range of pitches.

Think of it this way: just like you wouldn’t expect to run a marathon without training, you shouldn’t expect to sing complex songs without building up your vocal stamina and technique. Regular vocal exercises help you gain more control, improve your range, and ensure that you can sing without straining or damaging your voice.

Vocal Training: Building Strength and Flexibility

To develop your voice, it’s essential to practice a range of exercises that target both the coordination and flexibility of your vocal cords. Over time, this strengthens the muscles involved in singing and helps you sing more effortlessly.

Key Vocal Exercises to Train Your Voice:

Lip Trills: This exercise is simple but effective. Relax your lips and blow air through them, creating a buzzing sound. You should aim to produce a smooth, even sound—think of the noise a motorboat makes. This exercise helps you engage your breath support while gently warming up your vocal cords.
Vocal Fry: You’ve probably heard this sound before—it’s the low, raspy sound that resembles a creaky door. Although it sounds funny, vocal fry helps to engage the inner edges of your vocal folds, reducing strain and tension when transitioning between registers. Start with a low note and slowly slide into a higher note, keeping the sound even.
"Nay" Exercise: Say “nay, nay, nay” in a bratty or witch-like tone. This exercise engages pharyngeal resonance, which strengthens the connection between your chest and head voice. It also helps smooth out the transition between your lower and higher registers.

The Importance of Consistent Practice

Think of vocal training as a workout routine. Just like physical exercise, the more consistent you are, the better results you'll see. Spend 15 to 20 minutes daily doing warm-ups, vocal exercises, and working on songs that challenge your vocal range. Over time, you’ll notice that your voice becomes stronger, your pitch more accurate, and your range wider.

Preventing Strain and Vocal Fatigue

Training your voice helps prevent strain, but it’s also important to be mindful of how much you're pushing it. If you find yourself getting tired or hoarse after a few songs, that’s a sign that you might need to dial back the intensity and focus on vocal recovery.

Rest: Give your voice the recovery time it needs after a long session. Just like with physical exercise, vocal cords need time to rest and repair after intense use.
Hydration: Your vocal cords need plenty of moisture to function properly. Drink water regularly, and avoid caffeine or alcohol, as they can dry out your vocal cords.
Vocal Health: Avoid shouting, whispering for long periods, or singing with improper technique, as these habits can damage your voice over time.

Using Vocal Programs for Structured Training

Programs like Singing Success 360 or Mastering Mix can help you get a structured approach to vocal training. They offer a range of exercises, tips, and techniques that can target specific areas of vocal development—whether you’re working on expanding your range, improving your breath control, or strengthening your mixed voice.

With these programs, you’ll have access to proven exercises that can help you systematically train your voice for long-term success, just like you would train your body for strength, flexibility, and endurance.

6. Warm Up Before You Sing

You wouldn’t play a sport without warming up your muscles first—why would you sing without warming up your voice? A proper warm-up routine prepares your voice for the demands of singing, reduces the risk of strain, and allows you to sing more confidently and effectively.

Why Warm-Ups Matter

Warming up your voice helps get your vocal cords in shape for the task at hand, allowing you to sing with more ease and flexibility. Skipping your warm-up can lead to a tense, tight sound and increase the chances of vocal strain or injury.

Think of warming up like the pre-game routine for an athlete. It gets the body (or in this case, the voice) moving and ready for the challenge ahead.

7. Master Your Medium

Many singers make the mistake of starting their performance at full intensity, which can lead to vocal fatigue by the end of the song. Instead, mastering your medium—or the middle level of singing—gives you more control over your voice, helping you maintain vocal consistency throughout your performance.

Creating a Dynamic Performance

Once you have mastered the balance between your medium voice and full voice, you’ll be able to dynamically control the energy and intensity of your performance. This helps you avoid vocal strain while maintaining an expressive, captivating sound that engages your audience.

8. Sing With Emotion

When it comes to great singing, it's not just about hitting the right notes—it's about conveying emotion and telling a story. A singer who sings without emotion may hit all the right pitches, but they won’t connect with their audience on a deeper level. Emotional connection is key to a truly powerful performance.

Why Emotion Matters

Music is a universal language, and the best way to communicate that language is through emotion. Think about your favorite songs—chances are, the ones that stand out the most are the ones that make you feel something. Whether it’s joy, sadness, or excitement, emotional expression can elevate a song from just notes on a page to a powerful experience.

How to Infuse Emotion into Your Singing

Understand the Lyrics: Before singing, take the time to fully understand the song’s lyrics. What message is the songwriter trying to convey? What emotions are present in the lyrics? Dig deep into the meaning behind the words so you can interpret them authentically.
Visualize the Story: Imagine a scenario or story that relates to the song. This could be your own experience or a fictional one. Visualization helps you tap into the emotional core of the song, which you can then translate into your performance.
Use Your Voice to Shape Emotion: Your voice is your instrument for expressing emotion. Use dynamics (how loud or soft you sing), phrasing (how you shape the melody), and tone (the color of your voice) to convey emotion. For instance, softer, breathier singing might evoke a sense of vulnerability, while more powerful belting might convey strength or anger.
Connect with Your Audience: Remember, singing is a conversation with your audience. They’re listening not just to the sound of your voice, but also to the story and emotions you are conveying. Make eye contact with your listeners and use facial expressions and body language to further enhance the emotional connection.

9. Seek Professional Guidance

If you're serious about improving your singing, it's always a good idea to work with a vocal coach. A professional can provide tailored guidance, offer specific exercises, and help you refine your technique. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced singer, a coach can help you take your voice to the next level and avoid bad habits that could lead to strain or vocal damage.

Why a Vocal Coach?

A vocal coach offers more than just technical training. They can help you discover your unique voice, understand your vocal range, and provide exercises that are specifically suited to your needs. They’ll also keep you accountable and help ensure that you're training in a healthy, sustainable way.

Choosing the Right Vocal Coach

When selecting a vocal coach, it's important to find someone who understands your goals and style. Do you want to sing classical, pop, jazz, or musical theater? A coach with experience in your preferred genre will provide you with specialized techniques and exercises.

Moreover, a good coach should create a comfortable and supportive environment, making it easier for you to experiment with your voice without fear of failure. It’s essential that you feel safe with your teacher so that you can take risks and grow.

Final Thoughts

Singing is a journey, and just like any skill, it takes time, patience, and dedication. By understanding how your voice works, focusing on your technique, and regularly training, you’ll be well on your way to improving your voice. Remember, even the greatest singers like Ed Sheeran had to start somewhere, and with the right mindset and practice, you can achieve your vocal goals too.

Don’t forget to warm up your voice, stay emotionally connected to your music, and most importantly—enjoy the process! Singing is one of the most rewarding skills you can develop, and with the right approach, you’ll unlock your full vocal potential.

Ready to take the next step?

If you're serious about improving your voice and discovering your true vocal potential, I'd love to help you get started. Book a FREE Discovery Lesson with me today, and let’s explore how we can take your singing to the next level. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced singer, I’ll work with you to create a personalized plan tailored to your goals.

How to Sing Better: Tips to Improve Your Voice