There are a gazillion cover songs on YouTube now and one more gets uploaded every second (actually I think its much more than that…) So how do you get your cover song to be noticed and stand out above the noise?
Whether you are singing covers on the stage or online, today I’m going to share three techniques that you can use to give your cover songs a unique twist, help them stand out and perhaps gain you a few (thousand) followers in the process.
Nicola x
Practice Steps
You can use drum machines to provide the different groove for you if you’re not killer on an instrument, so have a go at putting one on in the background and singing your song along to the new rhythm. Let me know how you go – or better yet, upload your cover song to YouTube and share it with us!
Video Summary
- Change the tempo dramatically.
Make an upbeat song downbeat and vice versa: because I’m a jazz singer, I like to do uber sultry versions of songs. You can also flip this and make a slow song faster. You don’t have to change anything else but the tempo – as long as its a dramatic change, it will make the song sound completely different.
- Change the groove/ rhythm
One thing I love to do is to make pop songs swing. You don’t have to move from a straight feel into a swing, you can make songs into bossanovas, or have a cuban rhythm, you can change the change the time signature from 4/4 into 3/4. It can be a lot of fun.
- Change the melody slightly
Another great way to change a cover song is to make small changes to the melody. You don’t want to go and change the melody so much that it sounds like a completely different song, but its always a great idea to find different notes to sing in sections. Go up instead of down mix it up add a few vocal riffs and runs if that’s your thing. A few little changes goes a long way to changing the song and making it your own.
So there you go – 3 different ways of making your cover song stand out from all of the other versions of that song that are out there. I would start by picking 1 of the three techniques and when you get good at that try adding two of these techniques into your song and it will sound really different.
Great video Nicola and I love hearing different interpretations of songs. I think if you are doing a cover of a song that has been covered already it is good to listen to different versions also.
Al Greens I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Amy Winehouse’s All My Loving are examples of famous Beatle songs taken somewhete new which is what a good cover should strive to achieve. Timing Melody Chord Progressions Key Signature and Arrangement can be altered slightly or be completely re invented and the song will become a unique interpretation.
This video is a wonderful topic to consider and songwriters can employ it on their own songs also to do different versions of their own songs. I don’t know if that is considered a cover when you write the original but the suggestions offered are great tools for songwriters too.
Hi Kelvin, so true! The 3 techniques I shared are just the tip of the iceberg. I love Jamie Cullum’s arrangements. Way cool.
I love these tips make sense
I love these tips make sense I learn some important thing s that will make me a better singer and musicians
I would love to become a singer because I need to sing good and so that I can become an singer and that could be my career and going on stage and get to sing up on the stage because I really would love that?
Awsome blog but i have a problem i don’t know how to get a background music for my covers please help me out with it make another blog about it.i want to open my youtube channel from a year but i dont know how!! how!! to get same background music of the song for my covers.hope you help me and i could start my youtube channel.
Thank you!