There are a few common misconceptions about learning to sing that I'd like to do my part to clear up. The main one is that the ability to sing is something you're born with—not (necessarily) true. Another is that some people have "good" voices, and some people have "bad" voices. And finally, that if you're "tone deaf," you're hopeless.
Learning to sing later in life is actually totally possible—if not easy—and can be really fun to do once you get going. And one of the best ways to get started learning singing is by using one of the fun singing apps that are available to download to your device. I've tried a few of these, and they all have their own pros and cons. But in this review, I'll be highlighting one app in particular, Yousician, and describing my experiences.
Yousician's singing lessons provide a solid combination of legitimate instruction and fun exercises that make learning to sing fun, even a little goofy at times (which it should be! Why not), and easy too. There's a bank of popular songs to practice along with—which is admittedly a bit limited—and a ton of useful lessons and extras that will provide a strong baseline for you to begin your singing adventure (and beyond).
Why Trust Me?
I'm a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist with over 20 years of experience singing live and in the studio. I write my own music, perform covers, and more—mostly in the rock and country fields, but I've been known to dip into some R&B and pop favorites on the karaoke stage.
I studied voice in college as well, so I have experience learning and practicing under a trained professional, which has helped me immensely along my vocal journey. There's no substitute for training under a professional coach or teacher, but getting started using an app like Yousician is a nice way to break the ice and see if you want to get more serious.
While I'm not a licensed professional vocal instructor, I am a (semi-)professional singer with a long history of live performance. So, while you can't be sure I'm any good, you can at least know I'm confident! And that's half the battle. Are you ready to get started singing more confidently with Yousician? Read on to see if it sounds like this is the app for you, or if you'd be better off trying another one of the best singing apps out there.
Quick Overview
Yousician Singing Review: My Experience
Yousician Sing has three tiers of membership: Premium ($7.49/Month), Premium+ ($11.66/Month), and Premium+ Family ($17.49/Month). (They bill once yearly, but that's how it breaks down). This review will focus on the Premium+ membership, which is far superior to the basic Premium (which doesn't even include real songs, just the weird Yousician ones). You get way more content, way more lessons, it's just better all around. Opt for Premium+ Family to get four user profiles.
Yousician Sing starts you out with a peppy intro video that introduces you to your teachers, an unassuming yet affable, vaguely Scandinavian couple(?) who will present your lessons, as well as perform the demo versions (we can only assume they comprise the lineup of “The Yousicians”—more about this later).
Getting Started
The first exercise is gliding up to a note and holding it. The guide tone they use is really helpful, it’s like a synth choir, so no matter your vocal range, you can find a comfortable way to hit the note. The next lesson is “little melodies,” where you just try to hit the notes, repeating after a guide. Literally just “little melodies”—two- and three-note runs.
Next, you find your range by singing and holding your lowest note, and then your highest. You’re then given a few three-note runs to practice through in preparation for the next exercise.
That next exercise? A really weird fake song by “The Yousicians” (there it is) that goes, “Hear me sing/Like a king.” It sounds kind of like a Katy Perry-esque pop song, but written by AI, or maybe aliens. It’s built off the three notes you’ve been practicing (it’s just those three notes) along with, as I mentioned, some really weird lyrics:
Structure and Organization
I like how the app is laid out more linearly than Simply Sing, with less emphasis on learning songs and a bit more focused on technique and building up a strong voice before you start trying anything tricky.
Under the Learn tab, the lessons are broken down into subcategories including resonance, knowledge, breathing, pitch, rhythm, and performance. Each lesson, then, is further broken down into segments, which can include a video introduction and a couple songs and practice sessions.
There’s a nice exercise towards the beginning on creating a “solid sound” that shows you how to create a strong tone with your voice, as opposed to a breathy one. It’s good to see Yousician applying more emphasis to proper form and technique than some of the competitors—it’s really important if you really want to learn to sing and not just have some fun singing along to your favorite songs (that’s called karaoke).
There’s a Songs tab where you can explore songs from your favorite artists and genres. There’s a pretty limited selection if I’m being honest, definitely heaviest on rock and pop, but I do like how you can browse by artist and not just genre or level.
The song selection they do have is decent, though, and the backing tracks sound good. Following along is easy enough—it’s similar to the many other music learning apps out there, where the notes fly by on a Guitar Hero-esque staff, with cues about pitch and timing.
One of the best things about Yousician’s songs is that you can pick any song, at any level, without working your way up. Which is what allowed me to rip into this Beatles banger (level 5) and score decently on my first try (*smirk*). I have to say, Yousician is not gonna hold your hand (get it?) here—a level 5 song is tough and the pitch accuracy is not as forgiving as Simply Sing’s.
Finally, there’s a Workouts section where you can pick and practice individual lessons on different topics you’d like to work on, like sight reading, ear training, voice health, and more.
My favorite workout is harmony, where you get a really effective and easy training on harmony singing, which, in my opinion, happens to be the pinnacle of singing enjoyment. This is a super-useful training that could make learning to sing harmony really easy. (I might have to subtly recommend this to some bandmates.)
Yousician Singing Review: What I Think Could Be Better
Notifications can be really annoying, I am not a fan of the “streak” concept in apps like this that guilt you into picking up your phone when you don’t really want to.
Keeping score can be a motivation or a discouragement, depending on how you’re performing. In Yousician, you win badges for completing a certain number of exercises to a certain standard, which accumulate and are displayed in your profile.
It seems like they took a page out of Duolingo’s book: there are badges, streaks, gold stars, and followers—all of which, in my opinion, are a distraction from the task at hand and are kind of, well, a form of emotional manipulation that can sometimes guilt you into practicing rather than inspiring you to.
I’m pretty wary of the gamification of learning apps (recovering Duolingo addict here) that keep you addicted by giving you dopamine hits in the form of rewards, points, and badges, and exert a sometimes negative influence on users through guilt and other forms of emotional manipulation (again, looking at you, Duolingo). But with Yousician's notifications turned off, this might not even bother you at all. Eyes on the prize! It’s about learning to sing, not beating your high score. Save that for the arcade. Sing when you want to!
Alternatives to Yousician
Simply Sing
Simply Sing makes learning to sing easy through fun, interactive gameplay, helpful lessons, and tons of your favorite songs to choose from.
Yousician Singing Review: The Verdict
So, there are a few things I like about Yousician, and a few things I don’t. I’m really in favor of the app’s organization—I think it makes it easy for you to stay focused and progress forward, but also allows you to break free and have some fun if you want to. The lessons are fun, but challenging at times, and with the wide range of lessons and ability to skip around, anyone of any experience level can learn a lot and have a lot of fun.
The gameplay style, especially the rewards system, might be the only downside for me—the last thing I need is another smartphone app addiction. But if you're the kind of person who's unbothered by such things, or dare I say actively seeking a new addiction, then you don't have to worry.
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