Learning to keep the Rhythm in Singing Lessons

One of the most difficult things in music is to stay "on the beat" when your accompaniment (karaoke track) is complicated.  And many singers have this issue, so please do not feel you are alone.  In fact, I struggled regularly as a young singer to stay in tempo, as  I did not know how to read music.  One of the reasons I strongly advocate and help all my singers learn how to read music is that it makes following a song much easier.

There are several tricks you can use to stay with a difficult accompaniment.  Some are aural and others are visual.  Try one of these out.

1) Write out the beats above the measure so you know exactly which words fall on which beat.

2) Know your piano chords; when does the harmony change and on which words?  Does the piano give you any cues for entrances?  Most composers will try to give you clues in their accompaniment.

3) Be able to "sing" the piano part. You can often find your entrance(s) by making your own melody by singing the piano part in your head and including your starting pitch in that piano part.

4) Chant the words out loud, in rhythm, while you listen to the piano part.

5) Hum your melody while you listen to the piano.  Figure out how your melody interacts with the piano/karaoke track.

6) Modify how you count the beats.  Even if the quarter note technically get the beat in a song, sometimes the pace of the song almost requires you to count the beat in half-notes (slower pace) or eighth notes (faster pace).

I hope this helps!

DWS