Practice Karaoke at Home

Let's face it, when we go out for a night of karaoke we want to impress the crowd. I'll admit, that after all the years I've been singing karaoke, I still get a kick out of it when someone comes in from another room to see who's singing when I have the mic. Let's also face the fact that the only way to get really good at singing karaoke is to practice as much as possible.

Of course you get some practice while we're actually performing out in public, but if you're like many other karaoke singers, you can be a bit apprehensive about singing a song for the first time in public. There have certainly been times when I wish I hadn't decided to try a song for the first time at a karaoke show.

The logical solution is to practice at home. There are several ways to accomplish this, some more beneficial than others. We'll examine some options here keeping in mind that this is geared toward practice as opposed to hosting karaoke shows at home. If that is your interest you should visit the Karaoke at Home section of this site.

Computer Software and Song Files

I consider this to be by far the most comprehensive method for several reasons which include song availability, player features, and recording ability. If you have the ability to play karaoke song files on your computer you have access to virtually all the English karaoke songs available and other language songs that are on VCD discs.

You can purchase karaoke discs with songs already in the MP3+G format, rip songs from standard CD+G discs, purchase individual song downloads from a site like Karaoke Version, play YouTube karaoke videos, or get unlimited karaoke songs using the MP3+G Download Guide. Songs from non-English VCD discs can be ripped to MPEG video files.

In my opinion the Siglos Karaoke Player/Recorder software is hands down the best software for practicing karaoke at home. It supports virtually every karaoke file format including video files. It will allow you to play CD+G discs from your computer's CD/DVD drive you can even search for and play YouTube karaoke videos from right inside the program. Other features include playlist creation, key and tempo change, and dual monitor support.

The recording feature is very important because it is difficult to hear exactly what you sound like while your singing. Listening to recordings of yourself helps you locate and correct weak spots in your performance.

Online Karaoke Sites

There are online karaoke websites like SingSnap. That offer a decent selection of popular karaoke songs for a monthly fee. The online player will have playlist creation and a key change feature (paid version).

Karaoke Apps

There are various karaoke apps like Karaoke Anywhere, Sing-N-Share, and Smule that offer a decent song selection. They typically have a record feature and social network sharing. I suppose these are fine for the casual karaoke fan but are a bit lacking for the serious karaoke singer who prefers quality sound.

Article by Richard Wise.