Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to learn how to sing at least one
Speaker 1: song reasonably well. Not only can this be helpful at parties,
Speaker 1: it can be a lot of fun too. So I
Speaker 1: am on a mission in life to help people realize
Speaker 1: that very few folks are truly tone deaf. Most people
Speaker 1: who claim to be terrible singers simply haven't practiced. They
Speaker 1: don't sing much in their adult lives beyond the occasional
Speaker 1: happy birthday at parties. Saying you can't sing is much
Speaker 1: like saying you can't run a five k. A few
Speaker 1: folks have conditions that would preclude it, But if you
Speaker 1: can walk from the parking lot to your office, then,
Speaker 1: as the popularity of the couch to five k programs
Speaker 1: out there shows, you can probably run for about thirty
Speaker 1: minutes straight within a few months with practice. Likewise, unless
Speaker 1: you have a few very specific conditions, you can probably
Speaker 1: sing reasonably well with practice too. Anyway, I can't remember
Speaker 1: where I read this career tip, but several years ago
Speaker 1: I saw a roundup of how one might invest one
Speaker 1: thousand dollars or so in advancing one's career. Most of
Speaker 1: the advice was about taking courses, but one of the
Speaker 1: more offbeat ideas was to spend the money on voice lessons,
Speaker 1: get really good at a particular karaoke song, and then
Speaker 1: perform it at the office holiday party. People would definitely
Speaker 1: notice you and remember you, and if you are at
Speaker 1: a large company, marketing yourself in that way is not
Speaker 1: a terrible idea, even if you are not gunning for
Speaker 1: a promotion. Though, learning one particular song that you can
Speaker 1: confidently sing just could be a lot of fun. Singing
Speaker 1: is fun, whether you do it at the office Christmas
Speaker 1: party or just in the shower. It is fun to
Speaker 1: actually enjoy listening to yourself. So how do you get there? First,
Speaker 1: you can choose a song that works well with your voice.
Speaker 1: Think about the songs you most love singing along to.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's because they are catchy, but other times it's
Speaker 1: because the voice works well in your range. Experiment with
Speaker 1: singing along with the radio in the car. If there
Speaker 1: is one particular artist that you like a lot whose
Speaker 1: voice seems to match the range of your own, go
Speaker 1: find everything that person has written. Are there any songs
Speaker 1: that make you particularly happy to sing along. Once you've
Speaker 1: got a favorite, it's time to practice. Search online for
Speaker 1: some good vocal exercises to warm up your voice. Notice
Speaker 1: how after you've been vocalizing for a while, you'll sound
Speaker 1: a little more confident on notes that aren't too high
Speaker 1: or too low. Then find the lyrics for the song
Speaker 1: you want to try practice singing it a few times.
Speaker 1: How does it sound? If you are brave, try taping
Speaker 1: yourself and seeing if you can find an instrumental version
Speaker 1: of the song to play along. What parts could use
Speaker 1: some work. You absolutely can find a teacher who can
Speaker 1: help you to Just like people look for running coaches,
Speaker 1: there are voice teachers out there. As an adult, you
Speaker 1: might not want to do lessons for years, but even
Speaker 1: if you can help, you can also look for opportunities
Speaker 1: to practice singing. Try going back to that house of
Speaker 1: worship you haven't been attending regularly, Find a community chorus
Speaker 1: that takes all comers and go a few times, and
Speaker 1: then invite some friends to go do karaoke and try
Speaker 1: out your favorite song. I think you will find that
Speaker 1: this is a wonderful addition to life. There is a
Speaker 1: reason we remember song lyrics far more easily than spoken words.
Speaker 1: Humans were made to sing, so why not learn to
Speaker 1: do so. Feeling confident with just one song can change
Speaker 1: how you think about things. You will sing Happy Birthday
Speaker 1: a little more loudly in groups and carry everyone along
Speaker 1: and trust me, we need people who can do this
Speaker 1: and that can definitely be you. In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.