Top 5 tips for singing karaoke better
Whether you’re a karaoke superstar or have never taken the stage before, here are my top 5 tips to get you ready to rock your next karaoke night!
Check your closest Singa powered venue here or sing at home with thousands of karaoke songs on Singa.
1. Choose a song that feels easy
When the song feels easy, you can focus more on telling the story, connecting with the crowd, and having fun. Plus, let’s face it: you might have a little performance anxiety! It’s completely normal – even professional singers get nervous sometimes – but if you’re also concerned about hitting that high note, it’s not ideal.
It’s all about finding your range, and then finding songs that fit your range.
See our blog post about easy karaoke songs for beginners to get started!
2. Warm up
Warming up is about more than just “warming up” the muscles involved in singing. It’s about establishing the coordinations you’ll need to sing well - coordinations like engaging your belly muscles or dropping your jaw for certain pitches. It also helps to ease your nerves when you’ve sung higher and lower (in a warm-up) than your song requires.
Here’s an easy warmup for each voice type:
Soprano - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2XkTIfgP2E
Mezzo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIDCAK4Pkp4
Alto - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qkr0REH_Fk
Tenor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIDggJobJl0
Baritone - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frJlOAqJzCw
Bass - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJupGZwX7Gg
3. Know the lyrics
Yes, you’ll have lyrics on the screen in front of you. But how can you have a fun, confident performance when you’re reading? Do your best to memorize the melody and lyrics, and just use the lyrics on the screen as a back-up.
4. Do some practice runs
An impromptu performance with no rehearsal? If you’re feeling confident, go for it! But I know from personal experience: the more prepared I am, the more I enjoy my performance. Plus, I’m more confident because I’ve already had several successful performances (at home).
When you’re on that stage, focus on telling the story, and you’re guaranteed to have a more meaningful and enjoyable performance.
Once you've memorized the lyrics, start practicing by singing the song all the way through with a karaoke video on Singa. If you can also visualize the specifics of the venue and who might be in the crowd, that’s even better!
Listen to this podcast episode on mental rehearsal and mirror neurons for more ways to make the most of your practice time: https://mikegoodrich.com/episode-11-mental-rehearsal-and-mirror-neurons-2/
5. Engage your audience
The goal of every performance – karaoke or otherwise – is to connect with your audience. Of course, we want to sound good. But even more than that, we want to have fun and invite the crowd to have fun with us! When you’re on that stage, focus on telling the story, and you’re guaranteed to have a more meaningful and enjoyable performance.
Camille van Niekerk is a vocal coach and writer for 30 Day Singer.
If you need to find a karaoke song to practice and sing, check out Singa! We have a large karaoke library across different genres, and you can change the pitches of the songs to suit your vocal range.