The Ideal Volume for Singing
This week I’ve had some VERY different singers in for back-to-back sessions. Some have lighter voices with an abundance of range and ease, while others are weightier voices that operate well at much higher intensity levels.
It struck me that I’ve not often talked about the ideal volume for singing and practicing singing. So let’s cover it.
Short Version
Singing around the volume of your natural speaking voice is about right. It’s the Goldilocks zone — not too loud, not too quiet.
The key word is around the volume of your natural speaking voice, because…
Long Version
We don’t sing at just one volume. Variation is essential for dynamics, emotional expression, and storytelling in a song.
That said, your natural speaking voice reflects the optimal volume and weight calibration for your singing voice. Prolonged use of excessive or insufficient volume can negatively impact both tone and vocal health.
Too Loud
If we try to be substantially louder than our natural speaking level for extended periods, we risk vocal fatigue or even damage. It’s like hammering a piano or guitar — you’re unlikely to get the best tone from it that way.
Too Quiet
On the flip side, singing too quietly for long periods can create physical tension and may dry out the voice due to excess air flow over the vocal folds. Again, it’s not ideal.
This is one of the reasons why Seth Riggs developed ‘Speech Level Singing’, the technique I teach. Singing with the same instrument and coordination that we use to speak gives us a grounded starting point for vocal development. From there, we can expand both our range and dynamic expression.
Over time, singers become capable of both greater loudness and greater softness — but it all starts with speech level singing.
Some Caveats
Perception is a funny thing. Many beginners perceive themselves as singing louder than they actually are — often 20–50% quieter than true speech level.
Conversely, some experienced performers who come to me for help may think they’re singing at speech level, when in fact they’re full-on belting everything out.
It takes time and training to accurately recognize the true weight and calibration of your voice. But once you find your optimal range, you’ll notice you can sing longer without strain — and may even feel better after singing than when you started.
If this is something you’d like to explore in your own voice, you can book your initial consultation right here.
Or Too Quiet
Similarly, when we try to sing more quietly than our voice is built to be, there are also negative tonal and physical consequences. If we sing too quietly for long periods, then generally creates tension within the instrument (as it’s operating in non-ideal conditions), and can also leave the voice feeling dried out due to excess air passing over the vocal folds.
This is one of the reasons why Seth Riggs started the technique I teach, and called it ‘Speech Level Singing’. The balance we achieve when we truly sing with the same instrument that we speak with, creates a wonderful roadmap for developing the voice further. This helps form a solid starting point to further enhance vocal range AND dynamic range, but we are trying to find our ‘homebase’ at our speech level.
Over time, singers will find they are capable of being ever louder AND ever quieter, this expanding the full range of colours for their voice… it simply requires us to start with speech level to get started on this journey.
Some Caveats
Perception is a funny thing. I often find that people who are new to voice training, who haven’t liked their voices before, tend to perceive themselves as singing louder than they actually are. As such even when they THINK they are singing at ‘speech level’, they are singing 20-50% quieter than that.
Similarly, some singers who have sung for a long time but have come to me for help with their voice (typically performers), often think they are singing at speech level when in reality they are absolutely bellowing the notes out.
It takes time to train your ear and your body to recognise the weight and calibration of your voice, and to learn to train and sing within that optimal zone. But once you do, you’ll find that you can sing for longer and longer periods with no ill effects. If anything, you’ll find your voice often feels BETTER after singing for several hours than when you started.
If this is something you’d like to develop and figure out in your own voice, you can book in your initial consultation via my booking form right here.–>