This article is about how to sing a karaoke duet by preparing your voice, and getting
proper tone, rate and pitch. You'll learn to sing with someone else, as well as cues for
beginning and ending at the same time.
Things You Will Need:
- Song with two parts
- Partner with which your voices mesh well
- Disk with vocals included
- Disk without vocals/karaoke disk
- CD player or karaoke machine
If you are using a karaoke machine, you are going to need two microphones, and all cords,
speakers and monitors.
Two print outs of lyrics for the song, with their part highlighted
Make sure that you really know the song that you are going to perform. Nothing can be more
embarrassing than getting up to sing, and not knowing the tune or the words to the song.
Listen to it many times, listen to be sure it is in your range. Assuming you have already
done so, practice listening to the song while reading through your lyrics with
your partner. Say the words along with the song. This helps you make sure you know where
to come in and leave off with each word.
Once you know that you both know the pitch and rate the song will be in, you should start
to warm up your voice. Many professionals suggest not drinking any ice cold drinks, alcohol
or dairy before performing because of it's limits on the vocal chords. Drinking room
temp water is the recommendation for quenching thirst. Start by vocalizing the correct
pronunciation of words that need a very high or low tone, because the difficulty of vowels
in these areas. Do this as quite a few times, as many as necessary to have the right pronunciation
of all the words in both vocal parts. Remember, to get those high or low notes, it is best
to breathe from your diaphragm for support to stretch out the vocal chords to accommodate
the note. Practice the highest and lowest notes and their words, to ensure the correct
sound.
Once you both have warmed up your voice and practiced placement of lyrics, you should
start to sing with the disk that has the vocals included. Do this
as many times as you need to, to ensure both of you are hitting correct notes and beginning
and ending on the notes at the correct time. Nothing's worse than hearing someone perform
a song, singing two beats behind the music. Timing is essential when singing with someone else.
To ensure coming in together, you could use a hand gesture you are comfortablewith to signal the note.
Practice this many times, so that you are certain the vocals are together, rather than staggered.
Since we memorized the words, try singing along with the karaoke disk. Begin by counting off the beats
until the first singer is supposed to come in. Many songs have a small musical introduction,
this will help you find where to come in. Begin by singing alone, and have them listen to you
practice your part. If there are any errors, now is the time to fix them, while you can
concentrate on your own part. When you are satisfied with how you sound, trade places with
your partner. The key to singing together is knowing each others voice, and knowing how your
voices sound together. Let your partner sing through their part as many times as they need,
to achieve the correct pitch, tone and placement of the notes.
Now that you have sang alone and heard to your partner sing alone, it is time to sing it
together. Sing along with the karaoke portion of your disk as many times as you need to,
so both voices are coming in and ending at the same time. Make sure that you do not forget
to stop the disk and go back if you have a problem with timing.
Once you have practiced your song enough to be comfortable with the disk, try it a Capella.
If either one has a problem with your pitch, tone or rate, this will help you to quell it.
Begin by counting off your beat, and the first vocalist beginning their part of the song.
If this is your first time singing a Capella, it may take a few times to get used to having
no music. But if you can sing your duet with no music, and it sounds the way you want it
to, then singing with distractions in public will not be a problem. Have fun, and good luck
with your karaoke duet.
Check out the K.J. or Karaoke Jockey that will be hosting your show. If you tell them it is
your first duet, they can give you tips about their system, and how to enhance your voice.
It is generally a good idea to hold the microphone six to eight inches away from your mouth.
If you use your own disks, let the K.J. know ahead of time, so that they can do a check with
your disk to ensure it will play properly.
