Matching pitch is listening to a note, and singing it back to yourself at that same note. This might sound easy, but at first it is surprisingly hard to know if you are hitting the right note, or if you are a bit too high or a bit too low. What’s important is not to get it right away. But to learn to listen to how your note differs from the note you’re trying to match, and to adjust accordingly instead of guessing.
Start by playing a note on the piano, keyboard, or pitch reference app. Choose a note that is easy to sing. Sing the note once, listen, don’t try to sing along yet. Let the note play out in your mind for a little bit, then try to hum along.
Don’t try to sing louder than the note you’re trying to match. It won’t make it any easier to get the right pitch, and it might make your jaw or throat tense up a little, which makes it harder to fine tune. Keep it easy to sing, so you can focus on listening.
When you’re way off from the note you’re trying to match, you might hear two different notes instead of one. Sometimes your voice will want to go up, sometimes it will want to go down. Instead of going up and down for a while, stop, listen to the note again, then try to sing it. This lets your ear better hear the difference between your voice and the note. Instead of hearing both sounds at the same time, and trying to figure out what to do with them both.
Use a tuner or pitch app if you have one, but don’t rely on it alone. Check the app after you sing to see if it shows you’re higher or lower than the note. Then try doing the exercise without looking at the app until after you finish singing. Over time, try to predict what the app will show before checking. This will help you train your ears by hearing the note, and seeing what pitch the app shows. Rather than just following the app, and seeing where it goes.
Once you’re comfortable comparing single notes to each other, try to compare a very short melody. Just three notes is good. Listen to the melody, then try to sing it. You can use any vowel you want, but something like “ah” or “oo” is easier to sing. If there is one note that consistently sounds wrong, try just comparing those two notes together. Don’t keep singing all three notes over and over again.
You could also record a few attempts on your phone, then listen back later. It might be easier to notice if you’re starting on a slightly wrong note, or if you’re rushing the interval between two notes, when you aren’t trying to sing it at the same time.
Notice how much effort you’re putting into the exercise. If you are raising your shoulders, tensing up your tongue, using extra breath, or singing louder whenever you try to match a note, you’re making it harder than it needs to be. Try finding a more comfortable note, and trying to match it with a lighter voice.
You’ll know you’re improving, not when you start getting every note perfectly right, but when you start noticing when you get a note wrong sooner, when you only have to make small adjustments, and when you don’t have to randomly guess as many times before you find the right note.