I need help with singing... (!)

First, use fewer emoticons

I would strongly suggest joining a singing group in your community or at your school, if you’re a student. There are often community choirs that allow anyone to join for free or for a very small fee.

Being in a choir will help you get over your tension and shyness, since when you’re singing in a group you don’t feel like everyone’s attention is on you. If the conductor of the choir is any good, he or she will work on improving the sound and technique of the choir as a whole, and if you listen carefully and take it seriously, you’ll learn a lot about how to sing.

Finally, just SING! Sing in the shower, sing along with the radio in the car, put on headphones and go out for a walk and hum along to the music. If you can have fun singing, you’ll get more used to it, and gain more confidence.

What are your goals? Do you want to be a musician for a living, or just enjoy music and use it as a form of artistic expression?

Project from your diaphragm. That’s where you get your power.
When you sing from your throat, it’s no go.
If you smoke, stop.

@hannahsugs i agree there were excessive emoticons in that, there was an influx

I don’t really know what I want to do for a living, so probably just expression, for now anyway. I don’t think I would be confident enough to try music as a job..

And thankyou… =) <- – - (sorry)

I learned to sing when I was at summer camp when I was a kid. Someone taught me to sing from the diaphragm… it really changed the way I sung and what I thought of my singing. I think the Cap’ns got a good place to start. After while of practicing, singing from your diaphragm and projecting just become second nature. I remember there being exercises to help you learn this but it’s definitely a key skill.

@hannahsugs – that is a fantastic answer. School, church, and community choirs are a great place to develop your confidence and skills.

I agree with the other answers about breathing from your diaphragm… but this is kind of technical lingo that may not help a beginner. To break it down, consider these things while you sing:

- Relax, relax, relax your jaw, neck, and shoulders. They shouldn’t move much when you sing, but they shouldn’t be stiff either.
– Place your hand lightly on your abdomen and breathe in deeply: Your hand should move with the breath. Place your hands on your hands on your waist and breathe in again, very deeply: You won’t feel as much movement there, but there should be a little. Aiming for filling up your whole abdomen and waist will help you take bigger breaths.
– When you breathe out (and, eventually, sing out!), imagine your belly button reaching through your belly all the way to your back. There’s a lot more air in there than you think there is!
– Practice sustained, even breathing by buzzing your lips (“brrrrrrrrrrr”) for as long as you can. Your breath has to be really even to keep the buzz going, so your body will get a feel for how to release your breath slowly and evenly.

Wow Britney! Hi.

Practice makes perfect!

Yes, practice, a lot
accept what you have and love it
then practice some more and in front of people too
cause that’s the really hard part…
do it as often as you can