That’s a really good question since it involves a lot of the elements and it’s easy to get to a biased answer. But by the end of this article, you will have a clearer understanding of how you can gauge your own singing.
You can measure your singing if you are able to sing the notes you want to sing in time and with accuracy. The way to distinguish these things will come from having a very good ear. Having a good ear and understanding of music theory will allow you to see if you’re the singer you think you are.
Easier said than done, let’s read more about it to understand everything in depth!
You Can Gauge Your Own Singing
There really is one way to tell whether you are able to sing well or not and that is your ear needs to have the ability to distinguish between notes and be able to understand harmony while also being able to sing in time.
With these things intact you will be able to get whether you are able to sing on point or not because if your ear is telling you that yes you are saying the right notes and if your internal rhythm is telling you that yes you are singing the right notes at the right time then you will be able to gauge most of your singing.
Why Technique is Important
I say most because the thing that differentiates between good singing and great singing is technique. In my recent articles, I have been mentioning a lot about deliberate practice and techniques because they go hand in hand.
Because it’s not only important that you sing on the pitch and that you sing in time but it is also important that you are able to produce your notes the way that you want to.
By that, I mean that if you are trying to sing large, open, kind of sound then you need to have that lung capacity or if you need to make your sound boomy or if you want to opposite like you want to sing high notes but you want to whisper them then you will have your technique by your side.
How to Improve
Now if you’re completely new to the world of singing and you are wondering how you can improve your ear, rhythm, and your technique then I will be more than happy to guide you in this area.
You see it’s very important for singers to understand how notes work in conjunction with rhythm. I believe that most singers are able to master ear and technique way before they are able to master rhythm, and that plagues all singers and that’s not an issue.
Music Theory
If you want to get better at ear training then you need to first start with the basics of music theory. Music theory is going to take you from not knowing how the basic blocks of music are constructed to knowing exactly how music works.
Music theory will provide you with the knowledge that is required to understand everything. How rhythm functions and how notes relate to each other.
Ear Training
The other part is ear training.
Ear training will allow you to gauge yourself when you sing. As your ear progresses to become better and demystify complex music structures you will realize that you are able to discern between notes far more accurately than you did before.
Understanding harmonic structures, and different melodies and clearly being able to differentiate between rhythmic patterns are all part of your ear training.
Rhythm
Moving on to the rhythm. I have written extensively about it here but essentially the major difference between all genres is not of notes because we all are limited by those 12 notes.
It is of rhythm (where the notes are placed). Of course, there is a lot to be said about timbre (but it’s music production related) but being a master of rhythm never hurts.
There are a lot of exercises to become better at rhythm but if you are really serious about it I would suggest that you take up a rhythmic instrument and have written extensively about why drummers and bases should sing but the opposite is true as well.
Why Rhythm is Hard for Singers
Essentially this is going to be the hardest thing that you are going to do – it was for me.
The idea behind this is simple. Singers pick up singing by feeling. They pick up music theory after being able to sing decently and that leaves a big hole for them to fill when they realize they haven’t spent time understanding rhythm or how ear training works.
So they are able to distinguish when they are singing wrong. But when it comes to the rhythm it becomes a bit hard. Because singers can get too focused on doing it by ‘feel’ they only end up focusing on notes and melody lines not ‘where’ they are placed.
A Word on Technique
The same can be said about technique; technique because singers create a natural environment for themselves where they envision what they ought to sound like which means they can see the end goal before they do it.
They are able to practice towards that even subconsciously; try once, try twice, and on the third time, you might get it if not then you’ll get it on the tenth time, as a result, I have found that most singers develop technique and ear training really fast.
And because of that, it’s hard and very easy for them to get left behind in the rhythm section. So I say this to you without much confidence that if you wish to improve your rhythm you 100% can and there is no stopping you if you are committed to it.
As you’ll find on this website I keep on encouraging people to have an online course that they can rely on to study and practice the technique and other various things.
Online Courses
Online courses are the way to go and I promise you that I have just the right course for you.
‘The Four Pillars of Singing’ by Robert Lunte.
I have talked about why online courses are important in another article here.
There are a lot of other courses that you can take a look at and they are all here.
I wish you all the best and you have my full confidence in you becoming a better singer!