How to sing a song in a foreign language

“Great, a new song to learn.”

Photo by Michael Wu

“Oh, no, it’s in ‘foreign’. Help!”

We’re all equal here: singing together is the great leveller

Singing together or being in a choir is one of the most egalitarian experiences we can have.

Photo by wynlok

It doesn’t matter how much you earn, what your job is, where you went to school or who you know. Just add your voice to the overall sound.

Sometimes old is best – finding the balance between new and familiar

I have a low boredom threshold. There are 100s of gorgeous new songs I want to teach and it’s hard to cram them all in.

Photo by Leo Reynolds

But more often than not, singers want to sing the old, familiar songs they already know well. How to strike the right balance?

How to improve your singing voice

This post is part of a series of occasional Questions and Answers.
Just contact Chris if you want to submit a question.

 

Tim wrote in to ask:

“I have been trying to sing for a very long time but I feel I always get tight in the throat when I lose confidence, when I hear myself sound bad, or even if some people are around.

“I was in a chorus for a year and I could hit every note, I just can't exactly ‘sing’, do you know what I mean?  I can’t hear myself out of a group.”

 

Well, Tim, there are quite a few things going on here! And I’m sure there are plenty of other singers out there who can relate to what you’ve written.

Setting your goals for the coming year (guaranteed to work!)

It’s the time of year when many people make resolutions, set goals and devise plans for the coming year.

Photo by --Tico--

But is this a useful thing to do, and if you do it, how likely are you to achieve what you set out to do?