10 Fun and Engaging Singing Games to Try

Looking to improve your music skills, make some social connections, and build your confidence? Then try out some singing games! 

Whether you're 5, 45, or 105, singing games are a great way to practice what you learn during music lessons and improve your skills. And the icing on the cake? They're also fun and can alleviate stress or even help you manage stage fright before a performance. 

Here’s why singing games can elevate your musical experiences and skills, plus some engaging games to get you started. 

Why should you participate in singing games?

Singing games offer tons of benefits. For one, they can improve your confidence, singing skills, and musicality since they often involve harmonizing, sustained singing, listening, and responding to musical cues. Singing games also:

• Enhance tone accuracy, breath control, and ear training: They often involve holding notes for long periods or listening to what others sing and echoing or building on it—all of which improve your technical skills.
• Let you explore a wide range of songs: This can help you broaden your musical taste and expand your vocal range, giving you greater flexibility when it comes to the types of songs you can perform. 
• Serve as excellent vocal warm-ups: These games help prepare your vocal cords before practice sessions or performances, limiting the risk of strains or injuries when singing. 
• Improve social bonding: There is also a fun, social aspect to singing games that can create an environment of creativity and expression. 

Singing games can be a good way for new or experienced singers of all ages to develop their skills and love of music. They help participants find and settle into comfortable, healthy singing habits that they can carry with them throughout their lives. 

Whether you want to expand your vocal skills, eliminate the sinking feeling in your stomach before performances, or develop healthy singing habits, singing games are excellent tools. You can even couple them with violin games (or games using your favorite instrument) to enhance your playing and singing skills. 

10 useful singing games to improve skills and vocal technique

A quick note before we begin: singing games are valuable musical activities for adults and children, but it’s important to do them correctly. Make sure that you (or your students) are not straining your voice, neck, or body in an unhealthy way. 

With that said, let’s look at a collection of the best music games children and adults of any age can enjoy.

1. Melody meltdown

Melody meltdown is a fun and engaging game that can enhance participants' melodic accuracy and aural memory. It’s essentially the telephone game — but with music. The melody builds and changes based on what people hear and remember. 

You’ll start by having one person think of a simple melody. They whisper the melody to the person next to them, who then whispers it to the next person, and so on. Finally, the last person sings what they heard, and you compare it to the original melody. 

If you’re playing with kids, you can choose nursery rhymes like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" or "Mary Had a Little Lamb," since they're well-known and simple. With adults or teens, the sky’s the limit — so have fun and get creative with it!

2. Sound circle

If you want a game that supports vocal exploration and teaches breath control, sound circle is for you. As you can already guess, participants create a circle and make sounds. This is a great way to explore how different noises sound and feel as you make them. 

To participate in this game, stand in a circle and ask one person to start the game off by making silly sound effects ("whoosh," "boop," "bloop"). Then, get the others in the circle to follow, one at a time. 

There are a few variations to this game — the first person can make all the noises and ask the rest to follow, or they can make a single noise and ask the rest of the circle to build on it. 

For example, say the first person starts with a "whoosh." The next person follows with a "whoosh," then a "boop." Then the third person builds on it with a "whoosh," "boop," and "bloop," and so on until the circle is complete. 

You can add a bit of a challenge to the sound circle game by choosing specific types of noises, such as animal sounds, for participants to make. 

3. Music mystery

Want to practice your discrimination skills and improve aural memory? Music mystery is a definite must-try. It tests concentration, memory, and listening skills, as you have to listen carefully to echo changes in musical phrasing. 

To play the game, divide yourselves into two groups — leaders and followers. Leaders take turns singing short musical phrases (made up or from actual songs), and followers echo the phrases back. 

To make the game more challenging and test your listening skills even further, leaders can change phrases slightly and ask followers to guess what they changed. 

4. Rhythm chain creation 

Rhythm chain creation is a fun way to enhance your rhythmic accuracy and aural memory. To play this game, you have to listen to what the person before you does and mimic it as best you can.

Start with a simple rhythm pattern using claps, foot stomps, or finger snaps. Then, ask the next person in the group to add one element to the pattern, and so on, to create a growing rhythmic sequence. 

5. Musical statues

This is a lot like your typical statues game, but it adds a musical element. Musical statues can help you hold sustained notes, as well as improve your posture and breath control. 

To play the game, find an area with a lot of room and choose a song or playlist with strong beats. Ask participants to move around the area while singing to the music, then choose random times to stop the song. When the music stops, the players freeze in a statue pose and hold the last note they sang until the music restarts. 

6. Canon creation 

Canon creation is a great way to practice both independent singing and harmonizing with a group using a basic melody and a created canon. 

For this game, you choose a simple melody and divide your group into two parts. Then, teach the simple melody in two phrases: group A sings phrase one, then group B sings it while group A begins phrase two, creating a simple canon. 

If you're new to this game, it may seem a bit difficult at first, but it’s simple once you get the hang of it. Look for inspiration online to get some ideas — you could try TikToker Naomi Wilkinson's Fruit Canon before you create your own. 

7. Round robin

The round robin game is excellent for teaching harmony and blending melodies. It's a step-by-step group participation activity in which a song builds and builds as people harmonize. 

To play the game, pick a short, simple song with a clear melody, such as "Row, Row, Row, Your Boat." Then, divide your group into small sections and have each section sing the melody at staggered entry points. 

For example, section B can start to sing it four seconds after section A, and section C can begin eight seconds after section A. Each group will end up singing different parts of the same song at the same time. 

8. Echo songs 

This is a great warm-up game that helps singers match phrasing and pitches to practice control. Open by picking a simple chant or song. Then, choose a leader from the group and ask them to sing a phrase for the group to echo back. 

It's a good choice for a warm-up because it's simple and fun. But to add excitement, you can vary the dynamics (loud/soft) or speed (fast/slow) to target different vocal control aspects. This helps participants explore different dynamics and tempos. 

9. Improvisation harmony

Improvisation harmony is a unique way to practice improvisation, since it’s based on existing music that everyone participating knows. 

To play, pick a popular song with a simple chord progression. Start singing the song as a group, then ask some participants to add basic harmonies. For instance, they could sing thirds or fifths above the melody. 

This game can elevate singers' harmonization, improvisation, and listening skills. 

10. Call and response

Call and response is a traditional singing game that can improve group participation and active listening skills. With the many traditional folk songs and children's songs that have built-in call-and-response sections, odds are, you're no stranger to the singing game. 

So pick a song with these sections and choose a leader from your group. Ask the leader to sing the call parts and the rest of the group to sing the response. 

Some call-and-response songs for kids include "No More Pie," "Who's Got a Fish Pole?," and "Who Fed the Chickens?" There are also some great pop song selections for adults, such as "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight & The Pips, "Twist and Shout" by The Beatles, and "Going to the Mill" by The Chambers Brothers. 

Build stronger vocal skills the right way with Trala

Singing games are one of the easiest and most entertaining ways to enhance your musical skills. They allow you to explore different dynamics, enhance pitch accuracy, improve your listening skills, and practice harmonizing. 

But coupling these games with professional voice lessons can help you progress even more in your singing journey — and that’s where Trala comes in.

Trala matches you with a professional vocals teacher who customizes your online singing lessons based on your abilities and goals. Plus, you also get access to a worldwide community of other music enthusiasts who can join in singing games and other group activities with you. 

Looking to build your vocal skills with expert instruction? Take your first lesson with Trala today!