Contrary to popular belief, practice doesn't necessarily make perfect, but it definitely allows for progress! There are many tips you can follow to improve the quality of your voice, such as learning how to breathe properly, avoiding certain foods, or trying specific warm-up exercises before singing or speaking. None of these solutions can produce drastic changes in a short time, but with constant effort you can certainly come to have a more beautiful voice.
Steps
Part 1 of 5: Breathe Correctly and Hold the Right Posture
Step 1. Learn to breathe correctly
It is essential to have a strong voice. The secret is to breathe deeply.
- As you inhale and exhale, try to inflate your abdomen and kidney area with your breath. To make sure you breathe in those areas, put your hands around your waist, with your thumbs on your back and your other fingers in front, keeping your palms on your hips. You should feel your hands spread and come back with each breath. Over time, these expansions and contractions will become longer and wider.
- If you have trouble breathing, try lying down with your back on the floor and your hands on your abdomen. When you inhale, your hands should rise; when you exhale, they should go down.
- Note that your shoulders shouldn't move up and down when you breathe.
Step 2. Use your abs
If your breathing is correct, the diaphragm muscles need to move outward as you inhale to allow room for air to enter. As you sing (or speak or exhale), use these muscles to push the air out.
Use your lower back muscles (in the kidney area) in the same way to control your breathing
Step 3. Learn the correct posture
Pay attention to the position of the feet, knees, hips, abdomen, chest, shoulders, arms and head:
- Keep your feet just apart, one in front of the other, so that your weight is slightly forward.
- Keep your knees relaxed and slightly bent. If you try to keep the correct posture, you may be tempted to lock your knees; be careful not to make this mistake.
- Keep your hands relaxed on the sides of your body.
- Keep your abdomen relaxed but ready to contract. To get an idea of what it means to have a tight abdomen, keep one hand on your waist (with your thumbs on your back) and cough lightly.
- The shoulders should slide back and down to keep the back straight and the head up. Don't hunch over and don't pull your shoulders towards your ears.
- Keep your chest slightly up and out - you should naturally assume this posture if you keep your shoulders back and down.
- Keep your chin parallel to the floor - don't lift it up and don't lower it.
Step 4. Relax
When you have assumed the correct posture, make sure you are not straining any part of your body. You shouldn't feel that the chest position is forced or that the back is too stiff. Make sure you relax your face and neck.
Singing or speaking with a tense body makes it more difficult to produce high quality sounds
Part 2 of 5: Maintain the Correct Mouth Position
Step 1. Keep your mouth open but relaxed
You should open it wide when you sing, but avoid the temptation to widen it to the point of contracting the muscles in your face and neck. Make sure your lips, jaw and neck are loose, completely relaxed.
Step 2. Raise the soft palate
One piece of advice you will often hear from professional singers is to create space inside your mouth. To do this, opening the mouth is only one of the aspects to be improved; you can also achieve this by lowering the tongue and jaw, then lifting the soft palate (the upper part of the inside of the mouth).
To follow this advice, inhale as if you are about to yawn, but try not to. Notice the space in your mouth, including the opening sensation at the back of your throat. Repeat this position when you sing
Step 3. Make sure you are holding your tongue in the right place
To create space in your mouth, make sure your tongue isn't blocking the flow of air. Let it rest gently at the back of your mouth, with the tip touching your lower dental arch.
Try not to stick your tongue out or move it too much when you sing, as this can limit the quality of your voice and reduce the richness of your tone
Step 4. Remember to swallow
Too much saliva in your mouth complicates singing, so remember to swallow it before starting.
Part 3 of 5: Using Vocal Exercises to Empower Your Voice
Step 1. Warm up
Before singing or doing challenging vocal exercises, it is helpful to do some of the simple exercises described below to warm up your voice:
- He yawns. Doing so will stretch and open your mouth and throat, releasing the tension built up in your neck and diaphragm. To trigger a yawn, try opening your mouth wide and inhaling.
- Cough gently. Try to push the air out of the bottom of the throat with short thrusts. This will help you contract your lower chest and abdominal muscles, the ones you should use when singing (instead of throat or upper chest muscles).
- Vibrate your lips. Keep your lips just in contact and blow the air out while humming. Focus on relaxing your throat and contracting your chest in this exercise. Start on a high note and work your way down to a low one. Once you've gotten used to the exercise, try humming about the stairs.
- To get used to relaxing your body while singing, contract all the muscles and, immediately after releasing the tension, vibrate your lips from a low to a high note; repeat the exercise starting from a high note and arriving at a low note.
- Humming with your mouth closed is a great way to warm up your voice. Try accompanying music while traveling to work or school. If you'd rather not do this exercise in public, hum while cooking or in the shower.
Step 2. Sing about the stairs
Starting with the lowest note that you can effortlessly sing, gradually work your way up the scale while saying "E", until you reach the highest note you can effortlessly produce. Go up and down the scale using the "i" sound.
- Do not exceed the limits of your range: start gently and increase the pitch of the notes over time.
- You can also repeat the exercise with a "u" sound.
Step 3. Practice Narrow Mouth Stairs
You should hold your mouth as if you were sucking in a long noodle. When you exhale, make a prolonged "huu". Your voice should vibrate slightly, similar to the sound produced by the kazoo. Keep the flow of air constant as you exhale; repeat the exercise 2 or 3 times.
Continue singing the scale up and then down, using the sound described
Step 4. Practice the fluid projection of the voice with words and phrases
Speak groups of single words or entire sentences without pausing between words - consider them as one term. Extend the vowels and exaggerate the vocalization of each word as you say or sing it.
- As you speak or sing, imagine filling the room with your voice.
- Focus on smooth transitions: When you go from a high pitch to a lower pitch and as you go through the transitions between the more or less intense parts of a song, imagine going down and up a flight - not steps.
- Example words: luna lana lena lenta lina.
- Example sentence: many fools are hesitating a lot.
Step 5. Prepare to look silly
Many vocal exercises can sound funny and make you sound just as ridiculous. Relax and just think about having fun. Here are two examples of this type of exercise:
- Sing "miao" slowly, emphasizing the three sounds: mi, aaa and ooo.
- Make funny faces by stretching your tongue in all directions. You can do this while singing or even while making weird sounds.
Step 6. Recover
As with all physical activities, it is important to rest after doing some voice exercises. One way to do this is to simply perform the same simple warm-up vocal exercises you started with (e.g. yawns, coughs, lip vibrations, and closed mouth singing).
Another way to recover is to simply sing ascending and descending notes by pronouncing the sound "m", so that you feel a vibration that tickles you in the area of the nose and lips
Step 7. Remember to breathe and stay relaxed
During warm-up exercises, when singing or delivering a speech, breathing deeply and keeping your body, throat and face relaxed are key to achieving a high quality voice.
Part 4 of 5: Changing Your Life to Have a Healthier Voice
Step 1. Drink enough water
Drink at least 6-8 8-ounce glasses of water a day - even more if you live or need to exercise in a very hot place (i.e. sweat a lot).
Step 2. Follow a diet that can help your voice
Eat foods that promote health from your voice by keeping the mucous membranes that line your throat healthy, such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Step 3. Avoid substances that can irritate your vocal cords
These include smoking (even passive smoking), spicy foods, dairy products, foods high in salt (such as salted bacon or peanuts), citrus fruits, alcohol (including mouthwashes that contain alcohol), and cold and allergy medications..
Step 4. Get enough sleep
If you are tired, your voice suffers. Adults should try to get 7-9 hours of sleep a night, while teenagers should try to get 8, 5 to 9, 5 hours a night.
If you sleep at least 7.5 hours a night and don't wake up rested, see a doctor to rule out any physical reasons for this problem
Step 5. Relax
Stress negatively affects every aspect of your life. Set aside time each day for activities that will help you relax. Try yoga, meditation, walks, watch TV shows you love, read a good book, or play an instrument.
Step 6. Don't scream
This tip is especially important if you have to perform after a short time. Screaming can strain your voice and reduce its quality for days to come.
Step 7. Get help
If your voice quality has dropped lately - for example, it has become hoarse, deeper, or fatigued - you probably have a health problem. To be safe, visit a doctor.
Step 8. Be patient
It can take some time to improve the quality of your voice. You won't see huge results in a few days, but you will probably already notice small differences after combining the warm-up exercises with the correct breathing techniques and the right posture for the first time.
Do not rush. Start by learning how to breathe more deeply and how to maintain the correct posture. Once you have learned how to do this, work on the mouth position and the warm-up exercises
Part 5 of 5: Learning from Others
Step 1. Find a competent and professional teacher
A good instructor can give you detailed advice on how to improve your voice and precisely identify the areas to be corrected. Look for someone with classic training, as they will likely have experience with many different styles.
If you can't afford a singing teacher, you can find many free lessons on the internet. Just search for "singing lessons" on YouTube and you will find tons of videos to choose from
Step 2. Listen carefully to professional singers and speakers
Pay attention to how they manage their breath, volume and resonance of the voice, articulation of words, control and their vocal habits. If you particularly like their style, try to imitate it.
Imitating the style of a professional is a great way to learn how to sing, because it forces you to try things you wouldn't normally do
Step 3. Observe professional singers and speakers
Pay attention to how they breathe and how they sustain the notes with their breath. Take note of their posture and body language. Observe how they use their lips to form words and the sounds they make.
Step 4. Don't ignore the work of professionals you don't appreciate
Think about the reasons why you despise a certain singer or actor. What does it do different than the ones you like? Is something wrong or does it simply have a style you don't like?
Step 5. Compare the skill of an artist during his live performances with the quality you can appreciate in his recordings
A good sound engineer can produce miraculous results during a recording session. If you really like a singer's albums, try to figure out which parts are authentic and which ones have been changed thanks to technology, before deciding that you will never be able to sing like him.
Step 6. Attend local music events and open mic nights
Ask people who sing well to your taste for advice to find out how they produce those sounds. Most artists will be flattered and will gladly share what they know with you.
Advice
- To keep the notes long, inhale from the diaphragm (near the abdomen) and not from the chest. By filling the diaphragm with air you can achieve a more stable and longer lasting sound.
- While many of these exercises are designed for singing, they are also useful for improving normal voice.
- Be aware that the ambient temperature can affect your vocal range.
- Add honey to warm water and drink it in the morning on an empty stomach.
- As you try to correct your breathing, posture, and mouth position, pause for a moment and sing from time to time. This will help you understand how even the smallest details can change your tone of voice.
- It is never a good idea to sing out loud. If you find that you happen to do this, replace the words of the song with vocalizations and you should solve the problem!
- Sing when you feel comfortable. If you feel embarrassed in the presence of other people, sing along to express your true potential.
- To maintain a beautiful voice, avoid spicy foods.
- Nothing is more valuable than the advice of a professional or an expert, so ask them!
- Remember that air temperature can affect your singing skills.
Warnings
- Singing doesn't have to cause pain. If you have problems, you may be contracting your muscles, using too much or too little breath, not having the correct posture, forcing the notes without opening your throat, or having some other habit that tires you unnecessarily. If you feel pain while singing, stop, relax and when it's over, try again!
- Avoid adding lemon to the water you drink, as this citrus fruit can dry out your throat and lead to a fatigued tone of voice.
