Introduction
Although karaoke should never be taken too seriously there is nothing wrong with trying to improve yourself. Karaoke is a great way to practice singing and perform to a crowd of supporting karaoke goers like yourself.
In this article, I’m going to share with you my top tips to instantly improve how you sound at karaoke.
Rather than focusing on vocal training (there are a million blogs around this) I want to focus on some of the quick fixes you can do to give yourself the best vocal sound when singing live at karaoke.
Don’t drink too much alcohol
This one is pretty much a no-brainer, but alcohol as we know when consumed in excess can leave you intoxicated which will affect your speech and vision. If it affects your speech, then you can’t sing and if it affects your vision well then you can’t see the lyrics on screen.
Now I’m no square, I quite partial to a couple of beers when I go to karaoke and I’m a firm believer in Dutch courage, but if you want to sound your best try not to get wrecked.
Do Vocal Warmups
I thought this was a bit much for karaoke until I started doing it and it does make all the difference, there are a few warm-ups I like to do to help get my voice limbered up before I belt out a banger, in fact, Ken Tamplin has some great vocal exercises you should try before you head out to the karaoke bars.
Pick songs in your range
Try and stick to songs in your range, if you have a voice like Barry White and try to sing the Bee Gees it’s only going to go one way… badly. If you’re not too confident with singing you should try to perform a rap song at karaoke instead.
If you are adamant about singing, then you might benefit from using the KaraFun app to find the perfect song for your range. Simply download the app and follow the below steps.
- Launch the KaraFun App
- Go to “My Songs”
- Tap the Vocal Match Icon
- You will then need to tap the microphone icon
- Start with your lowest range and progressively change your pitch higher
- Tap “See the Songs”
- Now you will have a list of all the karaoke songs in your range
Mic Control
As a karaoke host, I feel this is an important topic we should discuss. Mic control or at least knowing how to use a mic is extremely important when you come up to sing, but why?
Now with every booking, I do there are always a few singers each night that tends to hold the microphone about 50cm away from their face, the problem here first is that no one can hear what they’re singing, and secondly, the poor karaoke jockey (me) is cranking the volume so high his end to try and pick the voice that the speakers start to feedback.
A safe distance to place the mic is between 10-20cm away from the face, you only want to move the mic away from your mouth when belting out a louder note, and finally don’t wrap your hand around the top of the microphone as this can also cause feedback.
Reverb
Reverb can be your best friend when it comes to karaoke. Used by almost every artist on the face of the earth it has proven time and time again to help give voices fullness and sustain.
Though more reverb doesn’t always mean a better voice, this is just an effect and should be used wisely, too much reverb will cause your vocals to sound pushed back in the mix, not to mention causing an overlapping effect on each lyric you sing.
Most karaoke jockeys know this trick and will put some reverb on your vocals for you, if you require more then there is no harm in asking them.
Practice
And finally, the best piece of advice I can give you is practice, practice, practice. A little practice can go a long way, try and focus on 3-5 songs to really nail at your next karaoke event, and I promise you it will show.
The beauty of singing is it can be done anywhere at any time so there really aren’t any excuses unless it’s 12 am and your partner is trying to sleep, but that’s their problem.
Personally, I get my practice in the van on the way to karaoke gigs and I’m always trying to find and learn new songs to add to my repertoire.
Conclusion
So, there you have it, our top tips for sounding great at karaoke, if you are looking to take it one step further then you should check out some of the many vocal lessons available for free on YouTube, if you’re practicing a particular song then it is worth searching for singing tutorials for that song also.
If you’re looking for a karaoke machine to help practice before hitting the pubs and bars, then please get in contact with us at info@thekaraokecompany.co.uk where one of our karaoke experts will be on hand to help.
