Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / NewStats: 3,171,457 members, 7,881,620 topics. Date: Saturday, 06 July 2024 at 03:24 AM |
Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Romance / How To Become A Better Singer (1668 Views)
Cheating On My Wife With My Side-chic Made Me A Better Husband / Let's Discuss: Between Nigeria And White Ladies Who Can Make A Better Wife? / If You See Olosho, Marry Her! She'll Almost Make A Better Wife. (2) (3) (4)
(1) (Reply)
How To Become A Better Singer by Shadrackmadu(m): 10:11am On Nov 13, 2017 |
How to 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.
Part One of Two:
Developing Your Voice
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.[1]
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.
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.
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.[2]
Breathe in through your
belly, not through your
chest.[3]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.
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.[4]
Let your jaw drop, and keep
your tongue relaxed
toward the front of your
mouth.[5]
Relax your shoulders.[6]
Lift the roof of your mouth
in the back as if you were
going to yawn.[7] This
opens up the throat and
allows more air to flow
through.
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.[8]
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.
Practice singing daily. The
more you sing, the stronger
your voice becomes.
Remember, your voice is a
muscle that needs to be
exercised.[9]
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.
Advertisement
Part Two of Two:
Keeping Your Voice Healthy
Drink enough water.[10] 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.[11]
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.[12]
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.
Don't smoke.[13]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.
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.[14]
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.[15]
Stop singing if your throat
starts to feel sore, if you
experience any pain, or if
your voice becomes hoarse. |
(1) (Reply)
Circumstances Boys And Girls Will Relate To / Check Out These 4 Lovely Pregnant Women / Moving And Living In Thailand
(Go Up)
Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 22 |