It can feel like an un-fun part of the singing journey for sure. But it’s a very necessary part if you want to get great at singing!

And so, I’m here to reassure you that learning to get on the notes and being able to hear when you’re hitting the right sounds doesn’t have to be a slog, my friend! 

First things first: 

Working both mindset and technique is important when trying to improve your pitch. You can spend a lot of time training your ears, but if you’re putting a ton of pressure on yourself to be pitch-perfect, you’re actually delaying your progress. 

And you’re probably not going to have much fun either. 

And just in case you’re new to Sing With Jill – FUN is my middle name! Singing should be a joyful process and should make you feel good, even on the tougher days. 

So how can you work on this challenging aspect of your voice in a way that’s fun while also building your ear training skills??? 

I’m so glad you asked 😉 

Your CHALLENGE – should you choose to accept it is: 

To Learn a Song by Ear! 

Below are three songs I’ve chosen because they have a lot of repetition and pattern, which is really helpful when focusing on your ear.

👉 To Make You Feel My Love – Bob Dylan/Adele

👉 Love Song – Sara Bareilles

👉 Budapest – George Ezra

(If none of these songs grab you, choose a random song from one of your streaming services – ideally something you’ve never heard before)…

And this is what I’d love you to do:

1) Print out the lyrics (or write them out)

Don’t skip this step! 

2) Listen to the song at least two times while humming or lip trilling. This will allow you to get a feel for where it sits and start to map out patterns.

3) Mark up your lyric page: put a slash (/) where you are going to breathe, arrows where the notes go high ⬆️ and low ⬇️, a line or a squiggle (~) for pauses in the music, and any other helpful prompts.

4) Break the song up into sections. Listen and sing along to the first section you’ve created, and when you’re feeling very confident, shut off the music and sing it a cappella (without the music track). 

5) Move on section by section. But only once you feel you’ve got the first section down, always revisiting the previous section, so the song comes together.

The song might be very easy to learn by ear, OR it might take you a few days, and that’s OK. 

Be patient and notice what works and what doesn’t work!

Hot Tip: 

If you can get into the practice of learning songs regularly by ear, not only is your pitch going to improve, but your confidence in approaching new music and new songs is going to skyrocket 🚀. 

A reminder that every song you tackle is going to be different – some are going to be more challenging than others, but finding a personal way to break down a song into its simplest form is a really important part of singing.

But the MOST important part? 

It doesn’t have to be serious, so put your FUN hat on!!! 

This is a pressure-free exercise. You don’t have to perform it for anybody, it’s just for you. Your brain is gonna be buzzing and turned on, and you’re going to accomplish something that not a lot of people can do! 

And that’s amazing!!!