Are you singing in a band? Need a little help on mastering some cover tunes? Well here are

You may have a great range, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you can sing ALL

songs the same. If you are going to be in a cover band, my first suggestion is to

find songs that already fit who you are vocally. I used to love to sing songs by the

80’s rock group Journey, but as hard as I tried, I couldn’t sound anything like Steve

Perry. I wanted to sound like Perry more than anything, but it just wasn’t going to

happen. I finally found my niche the first time I sang “Immigrant Song” by Led

Zeppelin. Finally, everything seemed to fit and vocally flow. For me, stylistically,

that’s who I am. I’m not saying that I sound like Robert Plant, because I don’t. But,

that was the first rock song that gave me freedom and allowed my voice to open up.

I could sing “Immigrant Song” much easier than I could ever sing “Separate

Ways”, even though “Immigrant Song” was higher in pitch. Honestly, it wasn’t

about the pitch; it was about the tonality. The way in which Plant tonally and

stylistically sang that song is the tonality and style that fits me best as a vocalist.

You’ll know when you find a song that fits you because it will physically and

mentally feel right. Keep singing and you’ll eventually find your niche.

Now on to the tips; Whenever I want a jumpstart on singing a particular song, I listen over

and over and over again to that song and mentally visualize singing it in exact perfection

right along with the lead singer until I know the song backwards and forwards and it feels

as if I am physically singing the song silently. When it comes time for an actual rehearsal,

I am ten times more prepared and capable of doing the song gracefully. Give it a try.

Mental singing is virtual singing, which triggers muscular responses within the body.

This tip should actually be considered mandatory. NEVER go on stage without knowing

your material. The more you sing the material the more you’ll discover how every note,

word, and phrase has a certain physical sensation within your body. So, if you can learn

to tune into the vibration of each note and word of every song you perform, you’ll never

have to be at a loss when you can’t hear yourself, because you can rely on the feeling of

vibration in your voice and body.

I’ve discovered that the more I perform a song, the easier this became for me to do. I

also cheated at times, feeling the sensation of the bass line vibrate within me, helped as a

hear myself or not because I mentally knew where I was heading. A simple example

would be that one of the bands I played in in my younger years used to do ‘You Give

Love A Bad Name’ by Bob Jovi and ‘Smooth Up in Ya’ by Bulletboys. Both songs

started with an acapella vocal line and I NEVER needed a strum of the guitar to figure

out which key to start those songs in. I just developed that muscle memory and locked

into the vibration of that particular song memory and utilized that technique whenever

the monitor situation was poor.

Now for finding the essence of a particular song I want you to imagine that one of your

favorite singers has magically switched places with you and is now trapped inside of your

Evanescence, or Shaun Morgan from Seether, I want you to ask yourself this question:

“How would Amy or Shaun suddenly approach singing with your body and vocal cords

without forcing himself to sound like he or she did in their own body?” Now try singing a

few of that artist’s songs. You see, singing isn’t just about what God has given you; it’s

about your perception of voice. I’m sure that many of the professional singers that you

love would still have done well with a different set of vocal cords because they would

have used their perception of voice to mold the voice they wanted.

Another tip along these lines would be a trick for stage fright that I used to help one of my

students, Josh Morrison, open up and release the beautiful sound within him. Josh likes to

sing songs by John Mayer. So I told Josh to shut his eyes and pretend that John Mayer

had a concert to perform but was too sick to sing. John then gave Josh his vocal cords and

told him that he’d have to perform that night for him. So Josh now had John Mayer’s

How did he do? Josh gave me goose bumps when he sang that song. He finally made me

believe him. He let go of himself and sang from the pure emotional part of the mind.

Strange as it sounds, it works! Try it sometime.

And last but not least, try to develop your own style while singing cover tunes a great tip

for developing “you” is don’t limit yourself to just singing songs by your favorite artists

only. Try broadening your horizons by listening to other artists and styles. I recently

bought CDs by Edguy, Train, Primal Fear, Seal, Clay Aiken and Josh Groban. Although

bands like Edguy and Primal Fear are styles that I am very familiar with, it was new

material for me to sing in a familiar style. But to broaden my horizons, I knew it was

better to step outside of the box. Listening to Seal helped me to focus on a smoky, calm

and controlled-type tone. Listen up kids, just because a singer sings in a range that seems

easier for you, doesn’t mean it is ANY easier to sing. Seal is AWESOME and a tough

singer to match.

Once you’ve mastered these tips, you need to develop the art of listening. Try

recording yourself singing along with one of your favorite songs. As you listen

back, pay close attention to your pitch as opposed to the actual singer. How does it

sound? If it sounds sour and doesn’t mix well with the original artist, keep

practicing matching pitches. Your goal is to make it to sound like two singers

singing the same melody line for a chorus effect or a perfectly tuned duet.

Now go do the show!!!