Singing Into a Spotlight:

Singing onstage while being blinded by a spotlight can be disconcerting if you're not used to it.

Here's what you are supposed to do.
Pick a spot in the whiteness, in the middle of where you think the audience will be sitting, and sing to that spot like it is a person.
It will be a person, and they will think you're singing right to them. When you do this, everyone around that person will also think you're singing directly to them, because that's the way it will look from their point of view.

Move this focal "spot" several times while singing the song, to another place in the whiteness and sing to someone else. Don't do this rapidly, try to make it real for yourself and pace it as if you were really connected to each person.

Don't move the "spots" you sing to too far up or you'll be perceived as singing over everyone's heads. Keep them at about audience level. You'll get used to it quickly.

You can use this trick if ever you need to talk or sing to a camera. Many times you will be directed NOT to look at a camera when performing, but if you are supposed to (say for a video, or for a photo shoot) just look directly at the eye of the camera like you would look into human eyes... the eyes of whoever you'd logically be talking or singing to at the time.

This works in the "blackness" you see, as well. Just pick a spot in the general direction of where you think your audience is.

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To summarize, here are 6 big tips to help increase your pitch accuracy:

POSTURE : stand or sit tall and confidently, head balanced on tailbone.
WARM UP : your voice correctly throughout your whole range, mixing it.
LISTEN : to the music, especially acoustic instruments such as piano and guitar.
DON'T LISTEN : to swimmy instruments or bass to get your pitch center.
AIM : at the pitch intend to hit a specific note.
CONFIDENCE : expect to hit it!
PRACTICE PERFECTLY : don't allow yourself to be content with pitchiness.
Practice hitting the note you're aiming for, instead of allowing yourself to sing "pitchy".
You'll train your ear to be much more accurate when you practice accuracy.

Let me know this works for you, and anything else you'd like to add.

Pitch problems can be frustrating, especially subtle ones that are not quite a half-step off. Here are my thoughts on the matter.

I often find pitch issues to be directly related to physical tension. This unnecessary tension can act like someone tugging on the arm of a person playing a fretless instrument. There would be no way to hit the notes perfectly in tune with that kind of outside interference.

Another source of inaccurate pitch is physical tightness in your throat channel when you sing. Your throat should open in three directions, up (soft palate and nasal membrane), down (jaw and tongue positions) and back (head balanced, tension-free, on tailbone instead of in front).

Problem-causing physical tension can originate from what I like to call "tense thinking", psychological anxiety, causing physical guarding, collapsing the "scaffolding" from which the voice works most accurately.

Pitch problems can also stem from wrong vocal technique habits, such as powering your voice from too high in the body. Move your feeling of where power comes from lower, at the pelvic floor, (squeeze your butt for power, not your neck, chest or shoulders) and get taller, lengthening your spine when you sing instead of compressing it and make sure your head is not forward.

An action that can help get pitch right is to make sure you've warmed your voice up throughout your whole range. When the muscles controlling your head and chest voice are equally strong, aiming at pitch becomes much easier. Important: don't just do vocal exercises, find out how to do them CORRECTLY!

Another positive action is to focus your listening to an acoustic instrument in the track or band, instead of swimmy things or low instruments whose overtones tend not to be accurate and will through your pitch off.

Step 1.

Choose the harmonies closest to the melody if you are the only background singer. Second melodies are harder to process while singing and can often become single, drone notes if you are not careful.

Step 2.

Sing less forcefully than the lead singer. Unless you are singing a duet, your microphone should be turned down and extra reverb may even be added to your voice.

Step 3.

Avoid vibrato as much as possible. Your vibrato may not match that of the lead singer or other harmonizers, and this can easily ruin the sound of a performance unless it is done extremely well.

Step 4.

Blend with other singers. The intent of background vocals is to enhance the performance while still emphasizing lead singers.

Step 5.

Sing with confidence. Know your part well. It is often hard to hear yourself and other singers as well as you would like to, and you are likely to miss notes or become completely inaudible if you lack confidence. Plus, if you do not know your part well, you may jump into harmonies that are supposed to be sung by other vocalists.

Method 2:

Step 1.

Listen to music as often as you can and stop singing along to the melodies. Hear what harmonies are sung on your favorite songs and practice singing only them. Part of learning background harmony is to develop an ear for it, or make it instinctive, so that you can sing harmonies to songs you have never even heard before.

Step 2.

Get together with another singer who knows harmony, preferably the person you will sing background to. Sing the melody of a song and let the other person show you one or both harmonies. Switch parts, and let the singer give you advice on how to be a stronger harmonizer. This, combined with practicing to every song you hear, is the most powerful way to learn harmony, especially if you do not play an instrument or even understand the theory of how you are harmonizing.

Step 3.

Play simple songs when practicing harmonies. In other words, play songs that have the same lead vocal structure and the same three or four chords throughout their duration.

Step 4.

Practice confidently and louder than you would when performing. When you are singing to a recording, you can really let loose and test your harmonies to see if they fit well and consistently with the song.

Background harmonies, in particular, are more subtle harmonies that are used to complement a lead or main vocalist in popular styles of music, such as rock, pop and hip-hop. Background harmonies are the beginning point for most singers who are learning about harmonic theory, and they are much easier than other, more intricate harmonies.

Step 1:

Learn the key and lead, or main melody, of the song you wish to sing background to and know it well. Harmonies use other notes in the same key to shape themselves around the main vocal part.

Step 2:

Play this lead on your instrument, preferably a piano. While playing, pay attention to the main key the song is in, as well as the keys that are used throughout the song. Beginner harmonies with lead and background vocals are structured much like musical major and minor chords, or the first, third and fifth note in a key.

Step 3:

Incorporate harmonies on the instrument. If your melody is based on the home note, or first note in a key, the first harmony will be based on the third note. Thus, if you play C, G, F for your lead melody, play E, B, A for your first harmony. First harmonies almost always move exactly how the melody moves because they are the harmonies closest to the melody. Thus, in the key of C, if your melody is based on the third, or E, your first harmony will still be based on the C. Second harmonies involve fifth notes or harmonies that are farther apart, and do not always change when other notes do in order to maintain the correct chord structure.

Step 4:

Practice singing along with these harmonies. Also, exercise your ear for harmony by playing various chord progressions and singing only the first, third or fifth note of each chord.