How to control your volume when singing

What it sounds like

The performance jumps. Some words are far louder than the ones around them, the level lurches between phrases, and it is not doing it for effect.

What is actually being measured

The standard deviation of the vocal level in decibels — how much the volume moves in ways that are not a shaped, intentional dynamic.

Uncontrolled dynamics open as a problem above 15 dB of level deviation, with severity rising from there.

Why it happens

Erratic level is usually breath management, not intent. Air arrives in bursts, so the notes it lands on are loud and the ones after it are not. Microphone technique produces the same reading: a singer who moves toward and away from the mic is recorded as changing volume whether or not they were.

How to fix it

• —Fix the microphone distance first. A consistent distance removes a large part of this before any technique changes.
• —Sustain long tones at a target level and hold it — the exercise is the constancy, not the note.
• —Watch for jumps on high notes specifically. A note that needs more pressure often gets far more than it needed.
• —Distinguish this from dynamics: the goal is not a quieter performance, it is a level that only changes when you decide it should.

The drill

Long held tones at a constant level, then deliberate two-step changes between levels, so control is trained separately from range.

Common questions