How to Get Better at Singing

As a singer and vocal coach/teacher, many people ask me how to get better at singing. How do you get better at singing? My answer is that anyone can get better at singing if they are willing to put in some time and effort. A person has to want to get better at singing enough to practice every day or at least most days. Even a short practice time can make a big difference. I tell my students to break the practice into small segments throughout the day.

Pavarotti suggested practicing an hour a day, broken into six ten minute sessions.  I really like that idea!

Try this exercise that will help you to break tension causing habits that interfere with your best singing and your best breathing. You can do this several times a day, wherever you go! Isn’t that easy?

Start by doing vocal warm-ups in the shower.

Do some lips trills and easy vocal stretches while you fix breakfast.

Do some range expanding exercises while you do your daily drive.

You get the idea. Practice can fit into your every day life.

Sometimes, however, the exercises needed to free the voice can be tedious, and a student of singing must be willing to make time for the more tedious ones in order to move forward in a timely manner. It is so worth the time and effort, because most people have developed poor singing habits which limit their range, power, musicality, accurate pitch, longevity, breath control, emotional communication, and at the same time, they experience vocal fatigue, essentially taking the fun out of singing. A great vocal teacher/coach can effectively help eliminate these problems and help a student get much better at singing.

Singing should feel completely free and effortless. It should feel like your voice is pouring out of you, total release, like it would feel if you could fly. It should be free of worry about pitch, because a free voice is an accurate voice. There should be no pain, tension, or straining, because all of the work is being done by the proper muscles that are designed to support the voice, rather than by tension in the throat, jaw, and tongue.

It has been my joy to have helped thousands of singers get much better at singing. While each singer is unique with unique restrictions, there are many problems we all have in common. The basic place that I start with most students (here some of them when you click the link) is to teach them how to release tension in the tongue and jaw. Let me share an exercise with you that will help you get started on your path to free and relaxed singing. I practice this every day because singing well is a life long pursuit. Do this exercise several times for short intervals of time each day. Then just keep it in mind as you talk and sing, work at your desk, exercise, or whatever you are doing.

• Try this exercise several times throughout each day and you will be on your path to free singing.

• Completely relax your tongue, all the way to the base of your tongue, which sits just above your vocal folds. It helps to pretend that you have fallen asleep and your jaw has gone lax.

• The tip of your tongue will naturally fall to the bottom teeth.

• Go ahead and let your tongue rest on top of your bottom teeth and try to let your entire tongue feel heavy and asleep, as if you’ve shot numbing medicine into it, or muscle relaxers have affected only your tongue.

• Notice how your breath begins to move deep into your belly.

• Allow the shoulders to relax.

• Open the chest and allow the breath to move low on your body, deep into your belly.

• This will take practice and patience, but will get you ahead on your path to finding your own amazing voice while you decide who is the best voice teacher for you. If you would like, try my free lesson and it will help take this idea to the next level. I would love to help you find your best voice! Singing is fun, and you can find your own, free, authentic, amazing voice! I hope to see you soon!

Happy Singing!!!

Suzanne

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