How Arijit Singh Controls His Voice
Every few months a new student walks into my class at 12NOTEZ in Jaipur, plays me an Arijit Singh song on their phone, and says some version of: "Didi, I want to sing like this." In June 2026 it's happening more than ever — Arijit has seven songs floating around the Spotify India charts, and a whole generation is learning to sing by copying him. I love the enthusiasm. But most of them are copying the wrong thing. They chase the high notes and the cracks in the emotion, when the real genius is in his control of the soft notes. Let me break down what's actually happening in that voice, from a vocal coach's chair.
The myth of the "natural" voice
People assume Arijit just opens his mouth and magic comes out. It doesn't work that way for anyone, him included. What sounds effortless is years of breath training and an almost obsessive control over dynamics. He famously trained in Hindustani classical and that foundation is audible in every phrase — the way he slides between notes (meend), the way he lands exactly in pitch even at a whisper.
The good news for you: control is trainable. Range is partly genetic, but the thing that makes Arijit special — singing softly and staying perfectly in tune and in time — is a skill you build with daily practice.
Breath: where it all starts
Watch any live Arijit performance and notice how little his shoulders move. The breath comes from the diaphragm, low and supported, not from the chest heaving up. That low support is what lets him hold a soft note steady for bars without it wobbling or going flat.
The exercise I give every beginner: lie on your back, put a book on your stomach, and breathe so the book rises and falls — not your chest. Then sing a single sustained "aa" on a comfortable note and keep that low support engaged. Do it daily. It's boring. It's also the single most important thing you'll ever do for your voice.
The soft head voice — his real signature
Arijit's most identifiable move isn't a belt — it's the way he floats into a soft, breathy head voice on emotional lines and keeps it pitch-perfect. Think of how he drops to almost a whisper on the tender moments in "Kesariya" or "Tum Hi Ho". That transition from chest voice to head voice, smoothed so you can't hear the join, is called the mix, and it's the hardest thing in modern singing.
To train it, sing a five-note scale on "ng" (like the end of "sing"), starting in chest and letting it lighten as you climb. The goal is no audible "gear change". Most students take months to smooth it. That's normal — don't rush it.
Pitch accuracy at low volume
Anyone can sing roughly in tune when belting. Singing in tune at a whisper is brutally hard, because you have less air and less feedback to correct with. This is exactly where Arijit lives. The fix is ear training plus reference. Practise scales against a fixed pitch and check yourself honestly. Our online tuner is a quick way to see whether that soft note is actually landing where you think it is — sing into it and watch.
I also have students practise the whole song quietly first, at half their normal volume. If you can sing it softly and stay in tune, the full-voice version becomes easy.
Why the tanpura still matters in 2026
Here's something the bedroom-pop generation underrates: a drone. Arijit's pitch foundation comes from years of riyaaz against a tanpura, the constant reference that trains your ear to sit exactly in a key. You don't need a real one. Keep our online tanpura running in your Sa while you practise and your intonation will tighten within weeks. It's the cheapest, oldest, most effective tool in Indian vocal training.
Build a daily riyaaz routine around it — even 20 minutes of scales and sustained notes against the drone beats an hour of belting along to songs.
Emotion is technique, not accident
The thing people call "feel" in Arijit's singing is mostly micro-dynamics — getting slightly louder into a word, pulling back on the next, a tiny delay before a key note. These are choices. When I coach a student through a song, we mark where the voice should swell and where it should retreat, line by line, the same way a producer maps an arrangement. Once those moves are deliberate, the emotion becomes repeatable instead of a happy accident on take 14.
How we teach this at 12NOTEZ
In our music classes in Jaipur, we don't start beginners on Arijit songs — we start them on breath, scales, and a tanpura drone, then bring the songs in once the foundation holds. Most students want to skip to the songs on day one. The ones who put in three months of dull fundamentals are the ones who, a year later, actually sound like they can sing — not just imitate.
If you're recording your covers, the production side matters too. Our producer broke down the intimate indie vocal sound that's dominating the charts, and how a home setup can capture it.
A warm-up that actually works
You wouldn't sprint without stretching, yet most singers open their mouth cold and wonder why the top of their range cracks. My 10-minute pre-singing routine: two minutes of low diaphragm breathing, two minutes of lip trills (the "brrr" sound) gliding up and down your range, two minutes of humming on "mm" to find your resonance, then gentle five-note scales on "ee" and "oo" widening slowly. Keep the tanpura running in your Sa the whole time. By the end your voice is warm, your pitch is centred, and you've protected yourself from strain.
Arijit reportedly warms up for a long time before sessions. The playback singers who last decades are the ones who treat the voice like an instrument that needs tuning, not a tap you switch on.
Protecting your voice — the part singers skip
Vocal health is unglamorous and non-negotiable. Hydration matters more than any technique: the vocal folds need water hours in advance, so drinking right before you sing does little. Warm water and steam help; cold drinks, excess caffeine and dairy before singing don't. Never push through pain — a hoarse, scratchy feeling is your body telling you to stop, and singers who ignore it end up with nodules that need months of rest or surgery.
Sleep is underrated too. A tired voice is a flat, unsupported voice. If you're recording covers late at night, you'll hear the difference in your own pitch control. Treat the instrument well and it lasts a lifetime.
How to learn a specific Arijit song
Don't sing along to the master at full volume on day one — you'll just copy his exact timing and never build your own control. Instead: first find the song's key (drop it into our key finder), then practise the melody slowly on "aa" against the tanpura until the notes are solid without words. Add the lyrics next, quietly. Mark the spots where the voice should swell and pull back. Only then sing it full-voice. Breaking it into layers like this is how you internalise the song instead of mimicking it.
The mistakes I see every week
Three, on repeat. Students push for high notes from the throat instead of supporting from the breath — that's how voices get strained and flat. They sing everything at full power, with no soft dynamics, so it all sounds like shouting in tune. And they skip the boring fundamentals, hopping straight to hard songs, then plateau within a year. The ones who improve fastest are almost always the ones who did the dull scales daily. There's no shortcut, and anyone selling you one is selling you nothing.
Range will come — control comes first
Almost every beginner obsesses over range — hitting the highest note in a song. I get it, high notes are flashy. But range without control is just noise, and control built properly expands your range as a side effect. As your breath support and your chest-to-head mix improve, notes that felt impossible at the start start sitting comfortably a few months in, with no strain. Arijit isn't the highest-belting singer in Bollywood — Sonu Nigam or Shankar Mahadevan out-range him — yet his control makes him the most in-demand voice of his generation. That's the lesson: build the foundation and the ceiling rises on its own. You can follow how his songs are performing on the Spotify India daily chart and notice how often the soft, controlled songs outlast the showy ones. When you're ready for structured guidance, our vocal classes in Jaipur build exactly this foundation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I learn to sing like Arijit Singh?
Start with diaphragm breath support, daily scales against a tanpura drone, and smoothing your chest-to-head voice transition. Don't chase his high notes first — his real skill is soft, pitch-perfect control, which takes a few months of consistent riyaaz.
Did Arijit Singh have classical training?
Yes. His Hindustani classical foundation shows in his pitch accuracy, his meend (note slides), and his breath control — the technical base under the emotional delivery.
What is the "soft head voice" Arijit uses?
It's a light, breathy upper register he floats into on emotional lines while staying perfectly in tune. The smooth, seamless shift from chest voice to head voice is called the vocal mix and is the hardest skill in modern singing.
Do I need a real tanpura to practise?
No. A free online tanpura set to your Sa works perfectly as a drone reference for riyaaz. The constant pitch is what trains your ear — the source doesn't matter.
How long does it take to improve vocal control?
With daily 20–30 minute riyaaz focused on breath and scales, most students hear a clear improvement in pitch and steadiness within 8–12 weeks. Control before range is the rule.