Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 2: Develop your voice
• Part 2 of 2: Keep your voice healthy
• Tips

While some people seem to be born with beautiful voices, even professional singers have to work and practice hard to keep their singing skills up to scratch. Read this article to learn how to become a better singer!

To step

Part 1 of 2: Develop your voice

1. Concentrate on your breath. Learning how to breathe properly is an essential part of becoming a better singer. Before singing a line, make sure you take deep enough breaths so that you have enough air to speak each word.
   • Breathe in through your stomach, not your chest. This way you ensure better sound and you can better control your voice. To make sure you are breathing properly, place your hand on your stomach and see if it expands when you inhale.
   • Take a few minutes each day to practice your abdominal breathing. You can do this both standing and lying down. Again, make your stomach expand every time you take a deep breath.
2. Learn proper singing posture. Most singing teachers recommend that you stand rather than sit to achieve the best sound. You should also do the following:
   • Lower your lower jaw, and keep your tongue relaxed towards the front of your mouth.
   • Relax your shoulders.
   • Raise your palate in the back, as if you were about to yawn. This will open the throat, allowing more air to flow through.
3. Warm up before you sing. Singing a song doesn't count as a warm-up because then you're trying to sound good instead of focusing on your form and technique. In contrast, warm-ups isolate certain problem areas and increase your reach.
   • Remember that warm-ups don't have to sound good. In fact, most of them sound rather crazy and annoying, even if you have a professional singing voice. If you don't want to disturb others, find a private place to do your warm-ups.
   • Make sure you warm up both the head voice and the chest voice. The head voice is lighter and lighter than the chest voice, which is firmer and louder. To find your head voice, you imitate an opera singer. Your chest voice is closer to the range you normally speak.
4. Learn to recognize the pitch. The best way to do this is to sing along with a piano or keyboard, if you have one. Press a key and mimic the tone with your voice, with an "ah" sound. Do this for each musical note: A, A #, B, C, C #, D, D #, E, F, G, and G #.
   • The notes with a cross are the black keys on the piano to the right of the corresponding note.
5. Practice singing every day. The more you sing, the stronger your voice becomes. While everyone has a natural range in which to sing, you can increase the higher and lower range of your voice just by practicing and doing your drills often.

Part 2 of 2: Keep your voice healthy

1. Drink plenty of water. No matter how well you can sing, you won't sound good when you're dehydrated. You should drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
   • Do not drink alcohol or caffeine before singing as these substances dehydrate you.
2. Don't eat dairy or sweets before singing. Foods such as yogurt, cheese and ice cream create extra mucus in the throat, which makes singing difficult.
3. Do not smoke. Smoking damages your lungs and prevents you from breathing properly while singing. It also dries out the throat, which affects your voice.
4. Do breathing exercises regularly. Even if you don't have time to warm up or sing every day, you should practice breathing through your stomach every day. This alone can greatly improve your voice over time.
5. Don't overload or overuse your voice. Singing too loud, too high, or too long can damage your vocal cords. Stop singing if you get a sore throat, if it hurts, or if your voice becomes hoarse.

Tips

• Try to record yourself as you sing and listen back to it so that you can become familiar with your voice and set specific goals for improvement.
• Sing every day!
• Practice singing your favorite songs and your favorite style of music. If you like the song you are singing, you will automatically sing it better.
• Choose a song with a wide vocal range and sing it once or twice a day.
• Don't be afraid, get up and sing with everything you have, without fear, then you will sound better.
• Practice singing scales every day at a pitch that is comfortable for you.
• Drink green tea, it will soften the vocal cords if you've been singing a lot.
• Practice daily.
• Have confidence in yourself, if you don't trust your own singing, you will not be able to make the most of your singing voice no matter how often you practice.
• There are many instructional videos available online with tips on how to improve your voice and learn good technique.
• If you are very passionate and committed enough, take singing lessons.
• Consider a voice coach and classes at least once a week. Good training can help you learn the right techniques, you get immediate feedback on your singing, and you prevent voice impairment.
• Buy a handbook that teaches you different voice exercises and techniques.