A lot of singers struggle with finding their voice, while some get lucky with it and find their voice in a matter of months, but generally speaking, most singers will be searching for their voice for years. Even some established singers are still not sure if they are using their true voice after several years, although this still doesn’t limit anybody’s ability to sing. Singers who learn from vocal coaches or at a conservatory are often steered in a direction or another when it comes to their voice because this is how they will sing better.
You can find your voice by knowing what voice type you have and by finding your lowest and highest notes which you can correctly sing. You can find your lowest and the highest notes by using a piano and sing along every note, that is it, that is how you find your voice. Your true voice will evolve as you are constantly expanding your vocal range and getting better, so your true voice might sound different from one year to another.
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The problem is that not too many teachers take into consideration how comfortable the singer is singing with his or her voice, and in my opinion, this is extremely important. A lot of people are saying that there is one particular way of singing which makes a singer use their true voice, the truth is that your voice will change throughout the years, especially if you are actively improving your singing voice.
What you might think is your singing voice today, it will probably be different in a couple of days. Singing is a combination of singing technique, breathing technique, posture, vocal range, and even overall health. As a singer, you will start learning new stuff, which will alter your true voice for the better, at this point a lot of singers panic because they have lost their true voice, although they are actually only modifying their true voice, and with some time they will find their true voice again.
A lot of vocal teachers teach that you can find your voice by doing some exercises they probably made up. The truth is that your true voice is made out of a balance of your singing technique and your ability to sing correctly. What I always say to my students is that they will know when they found their true voice, when they can sing correctly and almost effortlessly in a vocal range that feels natural to them. If you are a beginner singer, then I highly recommend you to check my recent article How to sing better ( Top 47 Tips and Industry Secrets ).
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Find your voice by knowing your voice type
The first step in finding your voice is to know your voice type, although there are some naturally talented singers who found their voice without knowing anything about singing or what their voice type is, but as a general rule of thumb if you are serious about singing then you will have to know what your actual voice type is. The voice types are different for both genders and most singers will fall somewhere between two voice types, although this is not always the case.
Female voice types
- Soprano
- Mezzo-soprano
- Contralto
Male voice types
- Countertenor
- Tenor
- Baritone
- Bass
Younger singers who have not hit yet puberty are often considered to have a treble or a tenor voice type, no matter what gender they have. This is because male singers before they hit puberty tend to have somewhat similar voice types as girls do, and once puberty comes their voice gets deeper. A lot of beginner singers do not actually know their voice type as it is fairly difficult to notice the subtle differences between some of the voice types, although on the other hand there are plenty of singers who have been miscategorized with their voice types by vocal teachers.
Find your voice by finding your vocal range
Your vocal range is the highest and the lowest notes which you can sing, generally speaking, the untrained voice is around 2 octaves, and for the trained voice, it is somewhere around 3 octaves. Although there are singers who have a massive vocal range, I mean 6+ Octaves, and currently, the world record for the highest vocal range is 10 octaves. One of the easiest ways for finding your vocal range is by singing major scales.
Start with the middle and work your way up and then down again, notice when you start struggling with the scales, as this is probably your limit. Your main goal with singing major scales is to find where your sweet spot is, and where the sound comes out clearly without too much effort. Oftentimes singers in an attempt to increase their vocal range will ignore the clarity of their voice, only later to find that they can not actually sing at that vocal range.
If you are a beginner singer then do not be discouraged if your vocal range is around 2 octaves, as the vocal range can be expanded with a lot of practice, for more information check out my recent article How to increase your vocal range by an octave? ( As Fast as Possible ).
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Find your voice by breathing correctly while singing
Breathing is the pillar of your voice, not only it directly impacts the quality of sound you can make but it also can expand your vocal range if done correctly. If you are a beginner singer then my personal recommendation is to focus on breathing techniques and find the one that feels natural to you, and with which you can actually sing. A lot of singers do know how to breathe correctly while they are singing, but once they start singing they forget about breathing entirely.
There are a lot of breathing techniques with which you should experiment and see what works for you, but as a general rule of thumb, you will have to use diaphragmatic breathing, no matter what kind of breathing technique you are using. If you want to know how breathing impacts the quality of your voice, then check out my recent article Why is breathing important in singing? ( Top 6 Reasons ).
Find your voice by finding your tessitura
The tessitura is where in your vocal range you sing the most comfortably and with more power, basically, it is your sweet spot where you can sing in your range. A lot of people overly complicate what you should do to find your tessitura, the truth is that you already know what your tessitura is but you have not realized it. As a singer you probably have a couple of songs which you love to sing, odds are that singing these songs come naturally to you and you can sing them with plenty of power, that is it, that type is your tessitura.
Know the difference between head voice, chest voice, and falsetto
Generally speaking, your talking voice is using your chest voice, while you are singing your chest voice will produce the lower notes. On the other hand, your head voice is mainly used for singing higher notes, and your falsetto voice is one step above your head voice. There is a fairly subtle difference between head voice and falsetto, some vocal teachers claim that only male singer can have a falsetto voice although this is not true if you want to know the difference between the two then check out my recent article Falsetto vs head voice ( Top 5 Differences ).
Every singer is different, some are natural with their head voice, and others with singing with their chest voice. Most singers who have difficulty singing high notes do not know how to correctly use their head voice and they often try to sing the higher notes with their chest voice, which sounds as bad as you can imagine. One of the easiest ways to know with which voice type you are more comfortable singing is to sing different songs, and you will notice one common thing between your favorite songs, either that they have a lot of high notes or they have almost no high notes.
If the favorite songs which you sing have a lot of high notes then you are most comfortable using your head voice, falsetto voice, or even your mixed voice. On the other hand, if the favorite songs which you sing have fairly few high notes then odds are that you prefer using your chest voice.
Find your voice by using your own singing technique
There are a lot of singing techniques which you can use, the problem is that these singing techniques are just general rules and a lot of singers try to implement them when their type of voice doesn’t really allow them to use some singing techniques. The truth is that sooner or later you will have to develop your own singing technique, not everything that works for others will also work for you. Developing your own singing technique takes time and a lot of practice.
If you are a beginner singer then do not get discouraged if you do not know how to use some certain singing technique, odds are that it simply doesn’t fit your voice at all. After only a couple of months of singing, you will develop your own singing technique without even noticing, and it is probably a combination of several singing techniques. Just remember that no matter what type of singing technique you use, you should always focus on doing them correctly.
Find your voice by using the correct singing posture
Your signing posture tells a lot about how you will sing, without even having to hear you sing. The problem is that a lot of beginner singers simply underestimate the power of their singing posture. This is even more obvious when they go to auditions, as oftentimes you have already lost the audition with the first couple of steps you have made on the stage. If you go on stage, scared, shaking you will have to have one amazing voice.
Confidence plays a big part in how your singing posture looks, as a general rule of thumb you should relax your shoulders, stand straight and have your face looking forward, not up or down, forward. If you do not know what to do with your hands, then simply grab the microphone with both of your hands. Once you start using this singing posture you will notice that you will start singing a lot more confidently and with more power, which will allow you to use your true voice.
Find your genre
What kind of music genre you are singing si determined by a lot of factors, like if you can sing it well, or even if it si popular. The problem is that a lot of singers try to follow the latest trends in the genre, and after a couple of years doing this they notice that they are either not singing in the genre which is suited for their voice or that they as an artist are not known for one particular genre.
Once you find your voice follow it
A lot of people will give you different advice when it comes to your voice, the problem is that not all advice is good. You as a singer have a unique voice, and you should follow it, as long as you can sing correctly and without a lot of effort. Increasing your vocal range is a good idea, although do not focus on this as much, instead focus on what your voice is able to sing, odds are that you do have a couple of songs that you can sing fairly well.
Find your voice by experimenting with different singing styles
As a singer, you should experiment with different singing genres and different singing styles. Although you should experimenting once you have a firm grasp on how to sing correctly. Once in a while try to sing a song that you do not frequently listen to, this new approach might help you find new ways of how to use your voice. As a singer you will continuously progress, what sounded like your true voice yesterday, might not be your voice today, so make sure to experiment with different singing styles, techniques, genres, and tempos.
Practice singing to find your voice
Finding your voice will not happen overnight, through the years as a singer you will notice that your voice will change and this is normal. Some singers might even think they have lost their true voice, only to discover a new way of using their voice. Some singers who take long periods of pauses between practicing will have a lot harder time finding their voice. My personal recommendation is to keep on practicing, sooner or later you will find your voice.
In conclusion
Everybody’s voice is different, especially their singing voice, but everybody has a sweet spot in their voice, where they can sing both correctly and effortlessly. As a singer, your main goal should be to find this sweet spot and build your singing upon it. As time will pass, so will your singing ability get better, and this will alter your true voice. If you are a beginner singer, then my recommendation is to learn the basics of singing first, and only after that start searching for your true voice.
