How Long Does it Take to Learn to Sing?

(Last Updated On: April 19, 2023)

Singing is a fantastic new skill to learn, especially if you have a real passion for music. There are literally no downsides to learning this new skill; it is beneficial to both your physical and mental health. However, you must be mentally prepared to put in a lot of effort, practice frequently, and recognize your areas of weakness so that you can assess the true potential of your voice.

Before you embark on your singing learning journey, are you wondering how long it might take you to learn to sing? A year? 2 years? Moreover, if you have the patience or time to learn your new skill.

While most of us can sing to some extent, not all of us are considered great singers. And if you lack the genetics and don’t have a naturally good voice, the journey will be a little harder for you. But you can still succeed if you put in the necessary effort, learn to control your pitch, and practice consistently. To be a great singer, you must have both patience and a love of music. So let’s look at the proper steps you need to take to become a great singer.

How Long Does it Take to Learn to Sing?

Your singing goals are the first thing you should consider before starting your lessons and figuring out how long it will take you to become a good singer. What are you aspiring to accomplish? Do you already have what it takes to sing but want to improve? Do you think you’re a terrible singer but aspire to be the next Adele? Are you aiming to enhance your vocal techniques? Such as a smoother transition from your chest voice to your head voice? Each of these goals requires a different amount of time to complete. So before you take the first step, consider what you want to achieve.

There’s yet to be a definitive answer to how long it will take you to develop into a great singer. It goes without saying that the more you practice, the less time it’ll take you to reach your goals. Practicing for one hour each day might take a year to improve as a singer. If you practice for 2 hours daily, it might take 6 months to become a good singer. It all depends on how much work and effort you’re willing to invest and, of course, time.

Methods to Learn How to Sing Faster

Get a Teacher

You can always choose to teach yourself and follow some YouTube videos that teach you about singing since everything is now available online, with a lot of this content being free. However, there are better ideas than this, as you need live feedback from an expert who can hear your voice, recognize your mistakes, and correct you while listening to you repeatedly sing, guiding you through the process. Therefore, working on voice development with a professional is always preferable.

Practice and Monitor Your Progress

You must put in the effort. Don’t waste your money by hiring a professional if you’re not willing to keep up with your daily singing exercises, work on improving your voice, and strengthen your diaphragm, which plays a huge part in having a strong voice. You must practice regularly, listen to your teacher, and monitor your progress. You can always keep a singing journal, or even better, record yourself singing so you can listen to it later, hear your mistakes, and work on fixing them until you eventually get it right. Keep in mind that the more you practice, the sooner you’ll reach your goal.

Breathing and Posture

The secret to having a great singing voice and singing endurance is knowing how to breathe. You don’t want to be performing on stage only to tire out after a few songs. You should be able to get through an entire set of 10-15-20 songs without feeling overly worn out. You must learn how to control your breathing and voice because poor breathing techniques will affect not only your singing stamina but also the quality of your voice. You have to keep doing breathing exercises to learn how to properly use your diaphragm and strengthen your abdominal and chest muscles.

Your breathing will also be affected by your posture. With good posture, you will be able to breathe more comfortably, allowing air to pass easily through your vocal cords. Your entire body will be relaxed with no tension on your neck, jaw, or shoulders resulting in a better voice and the ability to sing longer phrases.

Jems Mann also has detailed article on Adele Vocal Range.

Vocal Warm-Ups

Another crucial step in developing a great and powerful voice is to do vocal warm-ups. Similar to how you warm up your muscles before working out, you need to warm up the laryngeal muscles that control your vocal cords’ opening and closing and increase blood flow to these muscles before using them to their full potential. Warming up will improve your singing skills and help you avoid damaging your voice. So, keep in mind to perform some warm-up exercises before your lesson to prepare yourself for singing and the more demanding and strenuous vocal exercises.

Be Self-Aware

There’s a reason why Selena Gomez doesn’t sing a song meant for Adele or Chris Martin doesn’t sing a song written for Sam Smith. Each singer has their unique strengths, weaknesses, and ability to hit notes that other singers cannot. Or they simply don’t fit the style of music that the other artist is well known for. So, once you discover your natural singing voice, find out which songs and musical genres work best for you. Even if your voice lacks the strength to belt out notes, you can still find a music genre in which you can shine. All you have to do is work with your singing teacher to identify your strengths and weaknesses, so you can choose the songs that are best suited to you.

FAQ

How long does it take to develop your singing voice fully?

Each voice is unique and has its own strengths and weaknesses. The process of honing one's singing voice differs from person to person. It all depends on the quality of your voice and the amount of effort and practice you're willing to put in to reach your full potential. After about three months, some people will hear a difference in their voice, especially if they already have a naturally pleasant voice. Others may see it in six months. As we already mentioned, the more you practice, the quicker your voice will improve. You may need six months or more to hear a change in your voice or a whole year. It all depends on how tirelessly you're willing to work for it.

How many hours should I practice singing a day?

Set aside at least an hour per day for practice since you'll need it to work on perfecting your breathing and posture and warming up your voice before starting the actual vocal exercises. You can always practice for longer periods of time, but you should always listen to your body and take breaks if you feel tired or like you're straining or harming your voice. However, if you're just starting, an hour a day is more than enough time to sharpen your singing skills.

How do I find my natural singing voice?

The first step in discovering your natural singing voice is to sing using your chest voice, which is the lower-mid range of your voice (or your speaking voice), and find the lowest note you can sing. The next step is to sing using your head voice, which focuses on your voice's high range and finding the highest note you can sing. The third step is working on your mixed voice and smoothly transitioning from chest to head voice. Once you find the vocal range in which you are most comfortable (which will naturally be close to your speaking voice), then you'll have discovered your natural singing voice.

Conclusion

If you have a passion for music and singing, don’t worry about how long it will take to develop your voice. Start the most crucial action you can take. Don’t overthink or second-guess your voice. Today’s most successful artists started out with terrible voices but have consistently worked hard to improve their voices through exercises and techniques and continue to take voice lessons with a professional.

So don’t worry if it takes you exactly six months, a year, or two years to improve your singing voice; the most important thing you can do is just start.