These tips and exercises for how to improve your voice are not just for when you begin to sing, they can be used to carry you through to a professional level.
Learning how to improve your singing voice takes time and practice; with vocal exercises that focus on these elements, can help you start the journey.
Discover what you need to improve
- Try recording yourself singing a song you already know. This doesn’t have to be an expert recording, just press record on your smartphone or computer to get a recording.
- Compare your version of the song with the version of the original singer.
- Note all the areas you can improve – was your vocal range too weak? Did you hit the wrong notes? Was your breath too short?
Identifying problem areas you need to work will help you improve your singing voice.
Regular practice
“Practice makes perfect” the only way to truly improve is practice. Regular practice will strengthen your vocal cords, improve your vocal range, and help develop a better vocal tone.
You should practice singing for at least twenty minutes per day. Remember to do your vocal warm-ups first.
Vocal warm-ups
Your singing voice is a muscle; and like any muscle, it needs warming up to get the best out of it. There many vocal warm-up exercises you can use for vocal training.
Warming-up with scales, improving your tongue palate coordination, repeating lip trills and simply humming are a few fabulous little warm-up exercises to get your vocal cords loose and ready for use.
Breathing
The better your breathing is, the stronger your singing voice will be. Breathing exercises are also good to lower stress and promote a healthy state of mind.
Many people don’t use their full lung capacity when it comes to breathing. This leaves much unused power, sitting at the bottom of their diaphragm.
As an awareness and relaxation exercise, practice keeping your shoulders low, your chest relaxed, and your breathing deep. Holding an “ss” sound on exhale is also a great way to control your airflow. Another exercise is to inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, and exhale for 4 counts.
Taking care of your voice
It is essential to care of your voice. Drinking eight glasses of water a day is a great way of keeping the vocals hydrated and your voice healthy. Smoking, screaming or anything that puts undue strain on your voice is best avoided.
Understanding Posture
Posture plays a significant role in developing a strong vocal range and learning how to improve your singing voice.
Air flows through your body when you are singing; so, by sitting or slouching, you are stopping your diaphragm from fully expanding. To keep air moving fluidly, keep your throat open, and help you hold high notes longer.
The best singer stance for developing your vocal range is standing straight with knees unlocked and your feet placed shoulder-width apart. Try to keep your shoulders and abdomen relaxed. Tilting your chin down a little can help you to hit the high notes and can give your voice more power and better control.
Enunciation
Good enunciation can be achieved by standing in front of a mirror, taking a good look at how your jaw moves when you pronounce the vowels, A-E-I-O-U. If your jaw closes when saying these letters, use your fingers to prop your jaw open about 2 inches. Keep repeating these vowels until you can say them while keeping your jaw open.
The more you practice this exercise, the more it will be ingrained in your muscle memory. If you can master this technique when you sing, your voice will sound louder and your notes clearer.
Face exercises
There are ten groups of muscles in your face and neck. It is important to exercise those muscles to keep them resilient and flexible to maintain control over them.
Stretching out these muscles on a regular basis will contribute to keeping your vocal cords primed for stronger singing techniques.
Reaching those high notes
Learning the difference between your head voice and your chest voice can help widen your singing range. If you do not know the difference, research it. A vocal coach can help you use your head and chest voices effectively.
Another way to practice hitting high notes is to fake crying while you are singing. Acting as though you are crying causes the thyroid to tilt which in turn helps you to reach those high notes.
Sing in time
If you have difficulty keeping a steady beat, a metronome or drum machine may be the answer.
There are different kinds of metronomes, but they all can be set to different tempos to maintain a steady beat while you sing. Practicing singing in time can help you keep a steady tempo until you learn how to find and maintain your timing naturally.
There are free apps you can download that can be used.
Confidence
Confidence plays a significant role when learning how to improve your singing voice. If you don’t believe in your voice while singing, your lack of confidence will show.
A confident voice comes through. Confidence will also make you a better performer and much more enjoyable to watch. The key to singing with confidence is finding your own voice and not trying to copy others.
Once you have found your voice, practice again and again until you become comfortable with it. Work on a few songs until you have mastered them, or work with a vocal coach and take a few singing lessons to learn more skills.