Who is your favorite artist? What are the things you like the most about him? For sure, it’s not his looks or personal style. Most likely, it is his singing voice or style.
Do you want to achieve the light and airy falsetto of Justin Timberlake? Or maybe you wish your voice to sound like the light and childlike yet clean voice of Ellie Goulding?
All singers, even the already popular and famous ones, started with developing their singing style by taking the lead from established artists. So if you are curious as to how you can sing like your favorite artist, you’re on the right track!
In this article, we will explore the different steps to take and tips on how to sing like your favorite artist!
Top 8 Tips on how to sing like your favorite artist
You already know who your favorite singer is and now you want to discover how to sing like your favorite artist. We will discover how you can do that! Below are some of the best ways on how to sing like your favorite artist!
1. Choose the artist you would try to copy.
When choosing an artist you would like to copy, make sure to consider three essential factors— your preferred or target style, vocal range, and voice type.
2. Listen to the songs of your favorite artist.
Once you have identified the singer you would want to sing like, the next thing that you should do is to listen to his songs. As much as possible, listen to audio tracks and not watch music videos.
The goal of this step is to help you to study his technique and trademark style carefully. However, please keep in mind that you would have to listen to lots of his songs. This is because artists use different style and method when singing various tracks. The only way to determine which element of their voice makes up their style is to identify the similarities between his songs.
Some of the questions you should aim to answer when studying his methods are:
- Is his voice deep or high pitched?
- Is his voice smooth or raspy?
- Does he use a lot of air?
- What is the element that makes their singing style uniquely them?
The video of Ryan Higa, entitled “How to Sing Like Your Favorite Artist,” is a demonstration on how to study the style of your favorite singer. The tricks that he used may seem comical, but it does help to identify how your favorite artists sound like.
3. Watch the live performance of your favorite singer.
After breaking down the elements of his songs, the next thing that you need to do learn to sing like him is watch his live performances. The goal of this step is to learn how they sing. Aside from figuring out how they sound like, you also need to study two critical things to copy them—their physical movement and facial expressions.
If you’re figuring out how to sing like your favorite artist, try to mimic their facial expressions too. If the artist’s lips trembles when singing a portion of his song, you may need to copy that so you can sound like him.
On the other hand, physical movement is also an important thing to consider if you would like to sing like him . As we all know, the singing position can significantly affect how a singer sounds. That’s why it is essential to study his foot placement, the bend of his knees, the arching of his back, and many more.
4. Choose a practice song.
Now that we got everything covered, it is time that we get to the fun part! Pick the simplest one of the songs of your favorite artist. This is the one you will try to master.
5. Break it up.
But before we get started singing, the first thing that you need to do is break up the song in sections. How long each section will be is up to you. You can break the song into 15 to 20-second sessions.
After that, choose which section you would want to start with.
6. Play it over and over again.
Play your chosen section again and again until you have fully grasped not just the lyrics of the song but the way on how your favorite singer sang it. The essential factors to focus on is his voice quality, enunciation, diction, and inflection.
7. Sing along.
Now, it’s time to sing. Try to copy everything singing point that you have taken note of. You will not hit all of it right at first but keep practicing. While singing, try to identify which notes you are missing and hitting so you can correct it next time.
8. Repeat this until you finish the song.
Keep on perfecting the song 15 to 20-second sessions at a time. Doing this would require dedication and patience, but it will pay off. Just go slowly yet surely, and you will be surprised that you can master singing the song in no time!
After mastering one song, try another. Just keep on practicing, and you will surely be able to master how to sing like your favorite artist!
Benefits and drawbacks of emulating other singers
For sure, you will be curious—is it okay to copy the singing styles of other singers? As we all know, every move comes with its pros and cons, and this goes the same as copying the singing styles of other singers.
To help you determine if this is the best move to take, I have enumerated some of the possible advantages and disadvantages that you may experience.
Pros:
Shortcut to greatness
Let’s face it. Copying the styles of professional and experienced singers is the best way to develop your singing skills. By copying them, you can bypass all the trials and errors since their styles are already tried and tested.
Also, by emulating their styles, you are capitalizing on the long years that they invested in developing them. This means that you don’t have to invest the same amount of time and effort because they have already researched for you.
Access to lots of learnings and tips
Talented and experienced professional singers have undergone many singing programs, trainings, and workshops, so you are already sure that they have lots of useful singing knowledge under their belt. By studying their styles, you can have access to almost everything they know and do.
A better foundation for creating your style
With their long years of experience, these singers already know what works and what doesn’t stylistically. When you imitate them, you already have a steppingstone and a better foundation in creating your style. You don’t have to start from scratch.
Helps unlearn or prevent the development of bad singing habits
When you mindfully imitate the singing style of a singer, you will be able to learn how to sing right. When your focus is to replicate their style simply, you can quickly get rid of bad singing habits and begin cultivating habits that are beneficial to your craft.
Cons:
High risk for voice strain
If you and your favorite singer have a different natural vocal range, there is a high chance that you may strain your voice if you copy the way he sings.
Unrealistic goals
You should understand the fact that the studio vocal tracks of professional singers are heavily edited. In short, these wouldn’t give you an accurate representation of their singing ability.
If you try to copy the way they sound in their tracks, you may not be able to do so because it’s like trying to achieve perfection. We all know that is not possible, so you may just end up disheartened or frustrated.
A negative score on originality and creativity
This is the most common and obvious con that you may encounter. If you copy the style of other singers too much, you will undoubtedly lose sight of who you are as an artist. You will merely become another artist’s copycat, and you wouldn’t want that. Because with that label, you can never be able to express who you are as an artist.
The Best Singing Advice You Will Ever Hear
As we have discovered, trying to sing like your favorite artist comes with both pros and cons. How can you find a balance between the two? I will let you in on one secret.
The key to not losing sight of who you are as an artist and avoid being just a copycat of your favorite artist is to try to learn the styles of the singers that you admire. Try to blend every voice style that you like from each singer. The resulting mix of styles would be something that is uniquely your own. The combination of voice techniques that you have chosen is what makes you an artist. You will not sing like your favorite singer—you may even become better than him.
By doing this, many people will like you because you will show them something they haven’t seen from any singers yet.
If you’re looking to learn and improve your natural singing voice, read how to do it here at singinglessonsco.