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Common Mistakes Singers Make

Wrong Singing Techniques

Singers Common Mistakes

I have judged many singing competitions and is a regular patron of live music clubs. As such I have come up with a list of the most common mistakes singers make and some of those mistakes were apparently so obvious that can be easily corrected, such as singing out of tune.

Although singing out of tune is a terrible mistake, it isn't the biggest singing mistake (surprise surprise).

Believe you me, there are many common often repeated mistakes singers make and why they don't correct them simply leaves me baffled.

Singing Contest Mistakes

Let us look at another common mistake which is simply not smiling at the audience.  It is an amazing fact was amazing that many singers, especially those in singing contests will take the stage and either frown or deadpan their way through their entire song.

This is really absurd. By doing this, the performance and the bonding with the audience is painfully compromised. Furthermore, the voice quality is affected because the do not have the 'inner-smile' quality vocal tone.

Many times, I would watch a singer go on stage, grab the microphone, look up at the audience and flash a big smile. Then as the song begin, that smile would just 'poof' disappeared into thin air, even in an upbeat song.

As a member of the audience, I felt like I had been ripped off when they took back that bright warm smile. It is like the big smiling friendly salesman after selling you a product don't even bother to look at you thereafter.


No no no, this is still not biggest mistake because the worse is yet to come.

Then there is another mistake which is about as common as the no smiling mistake is the 'I'm nervous' expression written on singers' faces. How do I know that they are nervous? Well, it is simply that these singers have no eye contact with the audience.

Many of them even render the entire song with their eyes closed. This is not only downright rude, it also tells the audience that the singer has no confidence in facing the audience.

It gets even funnier when you see the singers in churches look upwards as if singing to God, so that they can avoid eye contact with the congregation. I do understand that when singing about God, you may look up as and when the lyric is appropriate to show expression, however looking upward for the entire song is ridiculous. Yeah, have a good laugh.

Then there is another group of singers who understand the need to make eye contact, but they did it by sweeping their eyes in every direction darting here and there. This terrible body language made them look like a frightened caged animal.

Not establishing good eye contact is still not the biggest singing mistake though. Keep on guessing.


 Click to Learn How To Sing Like A Superstar!

This next singing mistake can be very hilarious. This type of singers will reach out for the microphone, lock their feet to the floor and do not move at all for the entire duration of the song like being riveted on stage.

Yes, the singers that do this are probably scared of tripping or to avoid people commenting that their moves suck big time. However, singing this way makes the audience uptight when they watch you being uptight.

Hey, the audiences may not know if you miss a note, or even forget some lyrics and bluff your way through, but they can instinctively know if you are a bundle of nerves. They see a nervous singer and they instinctively feel nervous for that singer.

The motionless singer is a sure sign of being nervous.  The audience does not require you to dance like Michael Jackson, but they do know when they see someone standing rigidly that the person is really uncomfortable and squirming inside.

Is this the biggest singing mistake? Nope!

The next singer mistake is really serious but amazingly very common. It really beats me why so many singers would often sing songs that included notes beyond their vocal range.

This really makes the audience cringe!  These singers will get to that high note and just fizzle out into an airy falsetto or worse they force their way through by yelling, often causing them to sing flat and risking injuries to their vocal cords.

The Biggest Singer's Mistake

Is this the biggest singing mistake? Well, not yet. So what is the biggest singer's mistake? The biggest mother of all singer's mistake is…..guess what? ATTITUDE!

It is the thinking that the audience is there for your purposes! Self centeredness is the biggest mistake a singer can make. The audience will know whether you are focused on their enjoyment or for your own selfish ends.

If you think back through all those singing mistakes mentioned earlier, you can  see that most of them actually stem from this one big mistake. For example, not making eye contact comes from the desire to protect you. The singer is not opening up to the audience.

Think about when you meet someone who simply cannot look you in the eye. You instinctively distrust that person right?

Learn How To Be A Good Singer

So a good singer must get outside his/her skin and think like the audience.  Then, make a point to train yourself and force yourself to make eye contact while onstage. When you have the confidence to make eye contact with the audience now and then, you will have the confidence to maintain a warm smile with your audience.

If you are too self-conscious, you won't be able to do this. Don't scare yourself with inner chatter like will the audience like my performance, but instead ask questions like will I love the audience. It is crucial that you get past your own issues so you can answer with a great big resounding "YES!"

Read this article if you have difficulty overcoming stage fright.

Standing as rigidly during your singing performance also comes from nervousness. Again, it is just self-consciousness.

The biggest mistake is the inner chatter in your head on the wrong questions such as "What is in it for me?" "Will I get my need for attention met?"  "Will the audience meet my need for their approval?” 

You must get your attitude right.  If you do not replace those selfish attitudes with a selfless aim to please and serve your audience, they will withhold what you want from them, as simple as that.

So the main lesson here is to think of your audience. If you can think of how to please them, they will reward you by pleasing you. So, now that you know what is the singer's Biggest Mistake and other common mistakes, take active action to correct them now.

Incorrect singing skills and techniques may just bury your singing career prematurely!

Learn how to double your vocal range here.


Happy Singing!

Chris Chew

Music Editor


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