A common misconception about singing is that you’re either born with it or you’re not. Well, that just isn’t true. Although physiological differences do play a role in the voice, the fact is that vocal training can make all the difference between an amateur singer and a professional — that’s where I come in! I offer online or in-person vocal training and singing lessons for all ages and abilities. We think that there is no substitute for singing lessons if you want to reach your full potential as a vocalist, BUT here are some tried-and-true methods for improving your singing voice.
1. Posture & Body Alignment
Since the body is your instrument, it make sense that posture would inevitably affect the way you sing, too. The reason for this is that correct singing posture allows for the breath to flow freely throughout your entire vocal range. The goal is to keep your chest lifted, by elongating into the spine, while also ensuring that you have relaxed shoulders and neck position. This posture will free up the space in our chest for our lungs to expand effortlessly. Your breath control will improve instantaneously when you lift your chest. Good posture = Good sound!
2. Body Warm up & Stretch
I heard someone say that Singers are Athletes of the small muscles for Voice and breathing & it’s so true. Tense muscles take away from your vocal performance. So always start by stretching out your whole body, warming up your voice & awakening your breathing muscles to a voice long term injury and strain.
3. Breathing & Eliminate the “H”
Breathing correctly when we sing is the fuel for our Voice. Breath = Power. The key is to use your Breath to fuel your Voice. Eliminating the “H” sound when we sing will give you a smoother voice. It’s a small adjustment that an untrained voice makes as it changes pitch. Instead of Hoo-Hoo its Oo-Oo.
4. Drop your jaw & “Low” high notes
If you want more “Body” in your songs, you need to add more body. By dropping the Jaw (long, not wide) adds more sound and volume (Body) to your Voice! Think “down” for high notes, by doing this you instantly add weight & body to your sound without making the “high” note feel too high. Your voice should reach down for high notes and high for low notes.
5. Tongue & Vocal Tone
The aim of the game is try keep your tongue down & forward. If it stays high this can lead to all kinds of problems. A high tongue is the number one cause for nasality and a tense tight voice. Drop your tongue and rest it behind your bottom lower teeth. This is something that requires practice. Good Vocal tone is established at a medium volume, when your vocal folds are strong enough to have good closure but NOT touch! Releasing too much air creates a breathy tone and releasing too little air creates a nasal tone. Somewhere right in-between these two is the perfect balance.
Happy Singing!
