Singing in Pitch

Pitch problems can be frustrating, beginners might even misunderstand pitch problems with tone deafness. Here are my thoughts on that topic. Tone Deafness - Amusia is a musical disorder caused by brain injury or genetic but it is very very rare. Plenty of singers think that they are tone deaf, but they are not. Most of the time it has something to do with the mind and mechanics of singing. When we are young we might hear something like “stop singing”, “you’re off pitch” which builds a fear and hesitation. This fear and hesitation causes you to under-do the sound and that causes you to be flat. And then you’re trying really hard but you're told again you’re flat, you’re trying really hard and you’re told you’re wrong and a vicious cycle starts where the mechanics start to respond to the mind so your voice starts to behave as though it’s tone deaf even though you’re not. It starts to behave like you can’t stay on pitch but its that you can’t hear it. Most people can hear just fine but they are too hesitant and too afraid to stay on pitch. Singing in pitch is a mind to muscle coordination. Some people have that build in and with some people its simply underdeveloped. If you hear any 3 random notes and you hear a difference you’re definitely not tone deaf. I often find pitch issues to be directly related to physical tension and physical tightness in your throat when you sing or wrong vocal technique habits, such as powering your voice from too high in the body and not letting the resonance “travel” up and down in your body. What to do to fix this?1. Practice Tip: Play any note on the piano, listen first, then sing, stop and see if you matched. Do it again, play, listen, sing, check. If you’re slightly off, play the note again and try to tune your note to the note you are playing (slide up or down). Try to do that with a bright and resonate sound, like on an ‘Ah”. Do this randomly every day and you will start hearing those pitches much faster and easier. Then start choosing the notes faster, and practice 10 min per day. You will see that you’re able to match pitch a lot better. You’re training the brain to listen and remember what it is hearing and then tell the larynx how to process the note. If you’re not sure, whether you’re sharp of flat, move the note up (Singing) and if it sounds like if its getting even further away, then you’re too sharp. 2. Go for it: Aim at the pitch and intend to hit a specific note. If you tend to be too flat, think of “sitting” on top of the note, rather than approaching it from the bottom up 3. Warm up: All these little muscles in your voice box, face and upper body need to be warmed up to allow a smooth and effortless sound 4. Be bold: Even if you’re totally off pitch, it will be easier to identify the problem if you’re singing bold, don’t hesitate too much 5. Listen: Listen to the music, especially acoustic instruments such as piano and guitar 6. Sing the exact Melody: Sing the basic melody without any runs, riffs or embellishments first. Once you’re comfortable with the pure melody you can start adding embellishments, riffs, runs etc. when the song calls for it 7. Work with a voice teacher: From the under-singing you might not have developed your head or chest voice, so there might be a registration problem 8. Practice Perfectly: Don’t allow yourself to be content with pitchiness. Practice hitting the note you're aiming for, instead of allowing yourself to sing "pitchy". You'll train your ear to be much more accurate when you practice accuracy. Practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect!