Become a Better Singer

While some people seem to be born with inherently beautiful voices, even professional singers have to work hard and practice often to maintain their singing abilities. There are plenty of tools and steps you can take to become a better singer from getting professional training, exercising your body and your voice, to simply incorporating the correct posture and breathing techniques.

Steps

Developing Your Voice

1. Get voice training regularly. One major way to become a better singer is to have vocal training. Just like playing a sport or exercising, your voice is a muscle that you need to work out in order to develop your voice. By having a professional voice coach, you can learn techniques that will improve your voice. Your voice is an instrument, like a piano that a coach can help you master.
   • Consider getting private singing lessons from a voice coach who can help you with techniques that will develop your unique voice.
   • If you’re in school, consider joining the choir. Being in choir is a great way to become a better singer as it will help you to learn how to sing with others, read music, and can give you confidence by not having to sing alone.
2. Know your range. Becoming a better singer is partly about knowing your range and sticking to it. Some people have more range than others, but everyone has a sweet spot where your voice sounds best.
   • There are seven main ranges: Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto, Countertenor, Tenor, Baritone, and Bass. The first three are typically the ranges of women, while the last four are men’s ranges.
   • To find your range, picture your voice like a ferris wheel. Start at the top, singing the highest note you can and go down the scale to the lowest note you can hit.
   • Play notes on a piano to compare your pitch to the piano notes to help you find your range.
3. Focus on your breath. Learning how to breathe properly is an essential part of becoming a better singer. Be sure to take a deep enough breath before singing a line so that you have enough air to carry out every word.
   • Breathe in through your belly, not through your chest.This improves your sound and allows you to better control your voice. To be sure you are breathing properly, put your hand on your belly and try to push it out with your belly expanding it as you inhale.
   • Take a few minutes to practice breathing through your belly daily. You can do this either standing up or laying down. Again, be sure your belly is rising every time you take a deep breath.
4. Learn proper singing posture. Most singing teachers suggest standing rather than sitting to achieve the best sound. Sitting collapses your muscles and can hinder your ability to get a proper breath.
   • Keep your head up and inline with your shoulders. Picture your spine like a straight line extending through the crown of your head.
   • Let your jaw drop, and keep your tongue relaxed toward the front of your mouth.
   • Relax your shoulders.
   • Lift the roof of your mouth in the back as if you were going to yawn. This opens up the throat and allows more air to flow through.
5. Warm up before you sing. Singing a song doesn't count as a warm-up, because you naturally focus all of your efforts on trying to sound good rather than on your form and technique. Warm-ups, on the other hand, isolate certain problem areas and open up your range.
   • Remember that warm-ups are not intended to sound good. In fact, most of them sound rather silly and obnoxious, even if you have a professional singing voice. Find a private place to do your warm-ups if you don't want to disturb others.
   • Be sure to warm up both the upper and lower voice. The upper voice is breathier and lighter-sounding than the lower voice, which is more solid and loud. To find your upper voice, mimic an opera singer. Your lower voice is closer to the range in which you generally speak.
   • Practice warm ups that stretch your mouth. Do scales with an “Ooh wee ooh oohweeoohweeohh” sound stretching the corners of your mouth wide. Or practice tongue trills while starting at your highest note and moving down the scale to your lowest.
6. Learn to recognize pitch. The best way to do this is to sing along with a piano or keyboard, if you have one. Press down on a key, and as it rings out, match your voice to it with an "ah" sound. Do this for every musical note: A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, G, and G#.
   • The sharp notes are the black keys on the piano to the right of the corresponding note on the white key.
7. Practice singing daily. The more you sing, the stronger your voice becomes. Remember, your voice is a muscle that needs to be exercised.
   • Though everybody has a natural range, you can actually expand the upper and lower limits of your vocal range over time simply by practicing often and doing your exercises.
   • Sing along to your favorite songs for practice. Keep in mind though that you may not have the same voice as your favorite singers. You won’t become a better singer by mimicking other singers only. Sing in your own voice.

Keeping Your Voice Healthy

1. Drink enough water. No matter how great of a singer you are, you won't sound good if you're dehydrated. You should drink at least 8 glasses of water each day.
   • Don't drink alcohol or caffeine before you sing because these substances dehydrate you.
   • You also want to avoid sugary drinks as well.
   • Decaffeinated green teas or warm water with honey and lemon can help to improve and lubricate your vocal chords.
2. Don't eat dairy or sweets before singing. Foods like yogurt, cheese, and ice cream cause excess mucus to form in the throat, which makes singing difficult.
   • Additionally, salty and spicy foods because these foods can irritate your throat and vocal chords.
   • Other foods that may cause acid reflux like heavy or spicy foods can also make breathing harder and irritate your vocal chords.
3. Don't smoke. Smoking damages your lungs, preventing you from being able to breathe properly while you sing. It also dries out the throat, which will affect your sound.
   • If you are a smoker and want to become a better singer, you should consider quitting. However, in the meantime, make sure to drink extra water, smoke lighter cigarettes, and avoid smoking as much as possible on days when you have to sing.
4. Do breathing exercises often. Even if you don't have time to do a proper warm-up or sing every day, you should practice taking deep breaths into your belly every single day. This alone can significantly improve your voice in the long-run.
   • You can combine breathing exercises and improve your breath with yoga, or going on runs.
   • Train like Mick Jagger. The singer is notorious for training for his concerts by running and cross-training while singing to ensure that he can move freely across an entire stage without running out of his breath.
5. Don't strain your voice or overuse it. Pushing your voice by singing too loud, too high, or for too long can damage your vocal chords. Just like any muscle, you need to give your voice time to rest and repair.
   • Stop singing if your throat starts to feel sore, if you experience any pain, or if your voice becomes hoarse.

Tips

• Practice singing your favorite songs and your favorite style of music. If you like the song you're singing, you'll automatically sing it better.
• Sing everyday!
• Don't be afraid, stand up and sing with everything you have without fear and you will start to sound better.
• Try recording yourself singing and listening to it so that you can familiarize yourself with your voice and make specific goals for improvement.
• Breath correctly when singing. Breathing with the wrong technique could disrupt your voice.
• Have confidence in yourself, if you aren't confident in your singing you will not be able to sing to your full potential no matter how much you practice.
• Pick a song with a wide range of vocals and sing it once or twice a day.
• Sometimes you are actually good at singing and don't know it, so just ask an honest person.
• Don't hesitate to sing, it will make you nervous and hence will disrupt your voice.
• Practice singing scales everyday while keeping your voice at a pitch that's comfortable for you.
• Do not be afraid to get your voice out there. Perform at small gigs to gain experience, confidence and practise.
• Drink green tea, it soothes the vocal cords when you have been singing a lot.
• There are many instructional videos available online for free that share tips on improving your voice and learning proper technique.
• If you are very passionate and would be dedicated enough, take vocal lessons or join a choir.
• Buy an instructional handbook that teaches you different vocal exercises and techniques.
• Consider getting a vocal coach and taking lessons at least once a week. Proper training can help you learn the proper techniques, get immediate feedback on your singing, and prevent you from damaging your voice.
• Sometimes, you have to step out of your comfort zone with singing, especially if you have stage fright. At first, you will be nervous but it will be okay. Let the world hear your voice! It will take practice, but you can do it! Start off in front of your family or a relative and then start to grow in number of people who listen to you.
• Try not to force yourself into singing songs that our too high or too low for your range because you will just become discouraged and you can damage your voice. Instead, try to sing in a different key (if transposing is possible).

Related Articles

• Project Your Voice when You're Singing
• Pick a Song to Sing in Front of People
• Audition For a Musical
• Raise Your Child As a Great Singer

Sources and Citations

See also

• Heal Your Vocal Chords
• Be a Singer
• Prepare and Relax Vocal Cords Prior to and During Singing
• Have a Good Singing Voice
• Harmonize
• Sing
• Sing Better if You Think You Are Bad
• Make Your Singing Voice Sound Better
• Sing Vibrato
• Become a Good Singer

Read more ...

What links here

• Become a Good Singer