Welcome!

Welcome fellow vocalist! This is your guide to understanding your instrument and making it work for you; and yes, your voice is an instrument. Luckily for you, it’s always available. So, why not learn to master it?

Elements impacting your voice

To kick things off, we’re going to explore a few key elements that impact our voices.

1. RESONANCE

Resonance is defined as “the quality in a sound of being deep, full, and reverberating.” Reverberation is important to your voice because at its root, your voice is a series of vocal-cord vibrations. The way your voice sounds is going to depend on a number of factors, but where you resonate your voice is one of the most important. If you resonate your voice in your throat, you will sound muffled, gravely–think of this as the bass. If you resonate your voice in your nasal passages, you will sound “nasally”–think of this as the treble. Ideally, you resonate your sound primarily in your mouth, balancing bass and treble. Just as you can adjust your sound system to add a little bass or a little treble, you can adjust your voice based on where you resonate your sound.

2. RELAXATION

As you might expect, being too tense can have a significant effect on the sound of your voice. When you are tense, your throat becomes tight. When your throat becomes tight, your vocal cords get taut and vibrate with a different quality–like when you push up hard against something and your muscles become strained.

3. RHYTHM

Good rhythm is an essential part of a great voice. Simply put, you want to sound smooth, not choppy. One of the best ways to sound smooth is by extending your vowel sounds and sliding your words together. For instance, when you say “bus stop,” it should sound more like “busstop.” Sliding sounds and words together is more pleasing to the ear than a choppy, staccato sound pattern–particularly to the American ear.

4. PACING

Pacing is critical to add depth and dimension to your voice. You have to speak in short sentences–not long, complex sentences. When you speak in long, complex sentences, you tend to cram more words into one breath. When you compress your sounds, you are fitting more words into a breath and sucking out the tone and color of your voice. So remember, pace yourself. Speak in short sentences supported by small breaths.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3047183/the-4-most-important-elements-of-your-voice

Warm Ups and Its Importance

As I’ve stated before, your voice is your instrument. Therefore, treating it with love and respect is the key to ensuring its reliability. One way of doing this is by always doing a warm up prior to any pro-longed use. Ideally, it is best to warm up before singing at all times. In some cases it may be harder to do so because of time constraints,but fear not, this section will cover some exercises that should fit into anyone’s schedule.

Why Warm Up (vocal exercise)?

According to the Vocal Coach, there are five main reasons/benefits to warming up. It helps you to:

Sing with more freedom and consistency.
Have fewer voice problems overall.
Have a wider vocal range.
Have more options for being expressive.
Communicate their songs better overall.

There are many beliefs and accepted “truth’ about vocal warm-ups, but very little scientific data to support or refute these beliefs. What we “know” about vocal warm-ups is really based upon collective personal experience of many singers, singing teachers, voice therapists, voice scientists, athletes, athletic coaches, sports physiologists, and students. Warming up the body is used in athletics as well as artistic performances. Somewhat surprisingly, there is not a lot of research in sports physiology to describe the effects of warm ups. The voice production system has some unique characteristics that make it somewhat difficult to transfer conclusions from studies in other parts of the body to the larynx.

The warm ups may increase blood flow to muscles and other tissues, thin out thick secretions, and decrease use of excessive muscular tension, but of course we are not positive. Perhaps there are certain patterns of coordinated motor activity that are most optimal for performing a specific vocal task, and perhaps the vocal warm-ups allow us to “access” those patterns. And again, we are not certain. So we are left, at the moment, with carefully considering hypotheses and subjective experience. With that caution, we believe that warm ups improve the performance of the individual muscles of the thorax (chest), larynx and upper vocal tract (throat, mouth), as well as the coordination between the subsystems of voice production, namely the lungs, larynx, and upper airway articulators. Every warm up routine contains a number of different exercises to focus upon different muscles and different movements. Warm ups are hypothesized to improve performance and to contribute to the prevention of injury.

A few notes about vocal warm ups for performers

Some artists find it helpful to perform gentle warm-ups each morning, in addition to full warm ups before a lesson, rehearsal or performance. This is especially important if you are experiencing vocal problems due to reflux or vocal fatigue. Some artists perform these exercises in a steamy bathroom to take advantage of the warm moisture. Many artists find that practicing vocal warm ups also provides a mental warm up, increasing awareness of kinesthetic feedback. Don’t confuse vocal warm ups with vocalizes. Performing vocalizes is the process of acquiring a specific vocal skill (or set of vocal skills) such as articulatory precision, smoothness of register transition, vowel balancing, singing wide intervals, increasing accuracy of vocal onset with maintenance of tone, and correcting technical faults. Vocalizes should be practiced after the voice is warmed up. Each artist will develop his or her own routine of warm ups, which may be varied depending upon the nature of the role. If you are a performer currently studying vocal technique, it is likely that your teacher has his or her own opinions about preferred warm-ups. Some advise starting fairly low in the pitch range and extending upward, moving from limited range exercises to wider ranges. Other teachers prefer starting at the higher end of the range and moving downward to avoid carrying the chest voice up to high before becoming fully warmed up. Some teachers prefer exercises that do not exceed a fifth, others favor an octave or a twelfth. These are issues to discuss with your teacher and explore with your own voice!

5 Vocal Warm Ups for Singers

1. Lip Buzz

To do this vocal warm up, simply vibrate your lips together without pitch, at first. This will help build up your breath support and stamina while singing. Next, try adding a pitch to your lip buzz, and hold it anywhere from 3-5 seconds. Pitch can go up, down, or stay on one note. There should be a funny, tickling sensation in your nose and other resonators (the forehead, cheeks, etc.). If you do not feel this, try harder!

2. Solfege

We all should be familiar with “Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do” from the The Sound of Music. Starting on middle C, sing through the solfege up and down the scale, taking your time and really listening to each pitch. See if you can try this vocal warm up without a piano (acapella), as this will help with ear training! Practicing solfege is not only a great tool for your ears, but it will also help you with sight reading.

3. “Mah-May-Me-Mo-Moo”

This is another one of our favorite vocal warm ups that will help you sing better. Remaining on one note (monotone), sing “mah-may-me-mo-moo” nice and slow, really pronouncing the Ms. Start low, perhaps at A3, and sing up the scale to an octave above. Take your time and see if you can sing this exercise all in one breath. While you don’t have to sing the warm up well, focus on your intonation to create the best vocal sound. Don’t push – this exercise should be nice and relaxed.

4. “I Love to Sing”

This is one of the vocal exercises you can use to help with your range, as it includes an arpeggio. Starting low at around Bb3, you are literally going to sing “I love to sing” with a smile on your face! You will start at the root, then hit the octave, and come back down on the 5th, 3rd, and root of the chord again. This is a great way to test your range through big jumps. It can be done fast and should be done all in one breath. Smiling while you sing will help you develop a more clear and bright sound. Give it a try!

5. The Siren

This is the easiest vocal exercise of all the vocal warm ups on this list. Think of the sound of a fire engine passing by, and imitate it with your voice. Start at the lowest note in your range, and slide through every note to the top of your range. If you can sing the low notes and high notes, then you know you are in good vocal shape!

This is a good way to tell if you are vocally fatigued. If you’re unable to hit the low or high notes, then it’s best not to push too hard. You can try this warm up in reverse too, by starting with your mouth open wide, going from high to low.

These vocal exercises take as little as 10 minutes a day, and they will help you sing better tremendously. If you need more guidance and are ready to take your singing to the next level, book singing lessons with an expert instructor today!

Some other exercise

Techniques

Now that we’re all warmed up, lets learn some techniques to vary our sound.

7 Vocal techniques that will help you begin improving your singing voice fast:

Vocal Tip # 1: Posture

Perhaps there’s another secret as to why your mother constantly reminded you to stand up straight.The truth is..it makes you a better singer. How? It’s vitally important to align your body parts and prepare them to support your sound while eliminating tension. Tension not only makes you feel uncomfortable and affects your mood, but can greatly restrict air flow, making singing a chore rather than pure enjoyment.

Exercise: Find a wall and stand with your back to it. Place your head on the wall so that your chin is parallel to the floor. Open your shoulders and roll them back to the wall. Without allowing your spine to touch, slowly move your back towards the wall to straighten. Arms to your sides. Feet shoulder width apart, find your balance. Try to relax. The only tension you create should be in your abdominal muscles that are supporting your singing. It is more effective if you do this in front of a mirror. This can especially help you to visualize your stance after you see and feel proper posture.

Vocal Tip # 2: Breathing

Try holding your breath and singing or even speaking. You get the point. Clearly, air is a major component to singing. When singing a melody, the words are expressed quite differently than if you were to simply recite the sentences aloud. The volume, the pitch, the tone, and the tempo can have you gasping for air before you know it.

Learning and mastering proper breathing is one of the keys to instantly improve your ability to sing. Unless we are exercising, normally our breathing is quite shallow. As we begin training our body to sing, we need to take deeper breaths in order to sustain our sound loud and clear for our listening audience. At first, you may even feel a rush of dizziness as the deeper you breathe, the more oxygen that gets to your brain. But don’t stress it! Your body just needs to get used to proper and more efficient breathing.

Vocal Tip # 3: Tighten That Drum

It is absolutely essential to practicing good proper singing techniques that you understand how the importance of your diaphragm, lungs, and chest cavity affect your singing. Think of these 3 combined as forming a drum. A drum that is tuned loosely sounds flat and boring, as it lacks resonance. So the idea is to expand your rib cage by flexing the muscles that pull your ribs in and out. Effectively tightening that “drum”. This will result in better tones in your voice as well as increase your lung capacity, allowing you to take less breathes between verses, resulting in better control. If you a serious about improving this area, it is suggested that you begin exercising these muscles.

Whether you join a gym or workout at home. Always consult a physician before starting such a program. The main muscles to focus on are your chest, arms, back, and obliques. Keep in mind that building endurance will allow you to develop a stronger voice as well as last for longer periods of time. Believe me, after singing 20-30 songs in a night, when performing, you need to be in good physical condition. Do not overlook the importance of cardiovascular exercise to increase lung efficiency. You don’t need to become a bodybuilder or a marathon runner. Just try and keep in shape. Good singing health to you!

Vocal Tip # 4: Water…Drink Tons Of It!

It doesn’t matter if you meet a heavy metal singer, pop singer, or an opera singer. You can bet any one of these true professionals can appreciate the abundance of good ole H2O. It’ll always be within arms reach whether they are in the studio, rehearsal, or on stage. Some prefer drinking warm water, claiming that it better refreshes your throat. Others swear that ice cold water can aid in keeping swelling down, especially after a killer belting performance. Regardless of your preference. Just drink lots of it!

Some think that gargling water can hydrate the vocal cords. The truth is that the no food or water comes in contact with them as they are located in your windpipe. When liquid goes down, the automatic flap called the epiglottis closes to protect your lungs from being filled with water. This also covers the vocal cord every time you take a drink.

What happens when you get water in your windpipe? It causes a choking gag reflex. So really, the only way to hydrate your vocal cords is to drink water. Why lots? It is because the water has to enter your stomach, and is first supplied to all your major organs, like your heart, kidneys, etc.. Eventually, smaller organs like your vocal cords are supplied. And supply you must! Note: avoid smoking and foods or liquids that dehydrate the body.

Vocal Tip # 5: Flex Those Facial Muscles

As with other vital muscles that support great singing. The neck and facial muscles play an obvious role. Really the goal is to minimize the effort required to sing so that you may effectively control your tone and your pitch. Warming up cannot be avoided. There are mainly 10 groups of muscles in the neck, head, and face. Each consisting of numerous tinier muscles all working in harmony to create the beautiful sound making up your voice. Here is a list in order of the types of movements you can perform on various parts to prepare yourself to sing:

1) Yawn

2) Jaw Stretch

3) The Pucker

4) Silly Smile

5) Eye Brow Lift

6) Eye Roll

Vocal Tip # 6: Find Appropriate Singing Material

Finding the balance between your preferred taste in music and your voice type can prove to be a challenge. You may love the high-pitched screams of hard rock, but your voice may actually be better suited to pop or country. What do you do? It is highly recommended that you NEVER strain your voice to sound like someone else. Within your favorite genre, you need to find artists that have a similar range or try singing their song in a different key. The other option is to explore the other side. If you are a laboring to sing that power ballad in the car, then why would you want to butcher it while you’re on stage. Explore all your options. But the rule is..you MUST enjoy what you’re doing or it will never be worth the effort.

Vocal Tip # 7: Practice…Practice…Practice

As you move from the casual singer in the car to progressing toward live performances, you need to appreciate the importance of practice. Not only your chosen songs repetitively but your strengthening skills that lead you to master your art. You need to know: where, when, and how long to practice.Where is an easy one. Somewhere that you will not be disturbed and will not disturb others. You should be able to move around in a comfortable space. Preferably where there’s a mirror. When to practice is based on your own availability and circumstances.

Have a set schedule. If you write it down on the calendar, you’re more likely to do it. What time of day again is personal. But keep in mind that you need to remove any and all distractions like the T.V., the internet, computer, or cell phone in order to maximize concentration. Also, have your materials organized and ready for each session. How long depends on your skill level. If you are new, it is recommended to limit your time to 20-30 minutes per day. As those muscles strengthen, you can gradually move up to 30-60 minutes per day. Be patient. Remember that anything worth achieving takes persistence and can never be rushed. But it’s so worth it!