Learning to Sing ‘Tainted Love’ by Soft Cell

‘Tainted Love’ by Soft Cell is a classic 80s song that is well-known and loved globally. This version of the song employs synthesizers and a heavy new wave influence, requiring a unique vocal approach and techniques to capture its distinctive mood. In this guide, we’ll look at how you can learn and master this song using various techniques and resources:

Understanding the Vocal Technique

The unique vocal technique used in ‘Tainted Love’ is twang, which creates a sharp, bright sound well-suited for pop music. A good approach to twang can be found in our Contemporary Vocal Techniques article. For a practical exploration of this, you can also check our How to Twang Exercise video.

Learning the Song

Starting with the basics, understand your own vocal range and how it compares to the song’s range using our Vocal range test. Then, spend time on our Pitch Training exercises to build up your accuracy.

Next, study the song’s melody and lyrics. Use our Song search tool to find ‘Tainted Love’ and an appropriate karaoke version of the song. You can view the linked lyrics and sing along. Gaining familiarity with the melody, rhythm, and lyrics is an essential step in mastering any song, and you can learn more about this process in our How to learn a song effectively article.

Advanced Technique: Twang

The singer’s use of twang in ‘Tainted Love’ brings a high energy and a compelling sound to the music. Other popular songs where twang is prominently used include ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ by Wham! and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ by The Beatles.

Finally, put it all together. A great way to practice is to use our Vocal Pitch Monitor. This allows you to see exactly where your voice lands compared to where it should be, helping you to improve your pitch accuracy in real-time.

Remember, practice is essential in singing. Don’t rush your learning. Happy singing!