I don't know why, but there is something about being in a bar and watching people struggle at singing. Last night, I went out for bad karaoke, and it was actually turned out really good. It happened to be was invited by a friend to come out and hang out with the company running the karaoke, and maybe do some vocal coaching because they knew I was in a band and have a knowledge of music. So all night, I talked with the hosts and came up with some great pointers to help people at singing, especially karaoke.

So, before I hand out some pointers, I just want to say that I'm no Liberace or Elton John. In fact, Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" is my number one. However, I come from a family where my mother, all my aunts, female cousins, and an uncle have a ton of experience with leading in church choirs, performing at weddings, ceremonies, etc. Singing a hymn before meals at large family gatherings is a tradition and it's an angelic experience to hear. As for myself, I grew up learning to use my vocals in church and honors choirs just like my family. Although, I must admit; I have always been a second tenor but kept as a reserved guitarist.

From my experience in music, and I know I might get some flack for saying this but I honestly do think that anyone can sing. -Only in certain situations it isn't possible such as health. The problem usually with a poor singer is psychological. -Seriously, people tend to teach themselves how to sing and that's basically how they go through life: howlin' in the shower and while driving alone in the car and never seek any professional training or actually learn about the correct way to use their pipes. Come Friday night, at their Karaoke joint, they unleash an assault on human ears and the result is a horrible aftermath of a song carelessly driven hard into the ground with all good intention. But hey, at least the pats on the back are flying around from the encouragement of friends. -Pretty hilarious, if you ask me so!

Singing comes from breathing and the lungs. -Not from the throat or anywhere near that area. in fact, doing so can eventually cause permanent damage to the vocal cords. Next time you're watching a person nail a song at karaoke; unless they're naked and you're close enough to see their diaphragm fluctuate then that's the idea. That's why a good singer always sounds like they sing from their soul, and not from their throat. They are using the air in their lungs to basically blow through the pipes and now we're talking control.

Anyway that's my biggest tip for how to sing correctly. On problem to note is many karaoke systems use really shitty microphones because for one thing: a decent, professional microphone capable of picking up and outputting the signal of a singing voice are incredibly expensive and I'm sure passing around a $1500 mic in a beer soaked bar is beyond a budget of any karaoke company. So depending on how a person sings into a microphone already is setting them up for failure. Therefore, always sing close enough into the mic where you can use your lungs and project your voice. Cup the bulb of the mic and sing right into it if you have to!

1: A good karaoke will ALWAYS have working monitors. - a person must be able to hear and sing at the same time. Unless you've rehearsed hundreds of times and could sing a piece in your sleep, then you're in the clear. But if you're feeling like trying Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" (key of Eb) out of the blue, at Tuesday night karaoke, to wow a crowd with your singing, then you're going to need to be able to hear yourself in order to hit the high notes.

2: Find your vocal range. -Many times, people pick songs that are not in their vocal range. You need to know what keys you do well in. So, look at it this way: if you sing really well, "Brown Eyed Girl" then your voice fits well in the key of G and start looking for songs in that key. It is possible with practice to be able to extend your range either lower or higher. -Or both ways.

*The best way to discover your singing range is known as "vocal registry mapping". This is done by sitting with a pianist (or guitarist) and simply singing "do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do" to every major and minor scale starting at the 2nd octave C (on a piano) and working your way up.

3: Know what you're singing. -What I mean by this is more than what you think. The companies that distribute karaoke music sometimes don't do a good job and there might be discrepancies such as timing and in may cases the actual key.

4: Have fun!