How To Improve Your Singing Skills With CommonTime
There’s no need to buy expensive equipment or make space for singing in your home. Your voice is all you need to make music! If you are a singer, whether in a choir, onstage, or just in the shower — it’s important to know how to keep your singing voice healthy. After all, your voice is your instrument and you must take good care of it. In this blog, we will provide insightful singing tips for both beginners and advanced students so you can improve your voice and sing your heart out.
1. Don’t forget to warm-up
Would you run a 100-meter sprint without warming up and stretching your muscles? Of course not! Just as athletes and dancers need to warm up before performing, so too do singers. Warming up helps to prevent injury and discomfort and enables you to perform at your best. Make sure you warm up for 15-20 minutes by focusing on your breathing, warming up your range, or even by working on exercises to help with expanding it. Doing this will make for a much more productive session and you’ll be able to achieve so much more than when you simply start to sing. Warming up your vocals also makes them less susceptible to strain and damage.
2. Learn to control your pitch
Many singers — sometimes even professionals — sound flat or go off-pitch from time to time, and it’s something that needs constant practice and correction. Controlling your pitch is one of the most important ways to improve your singing voice. You can practice through simple aural drills with your teacher online. Start by playing a note on a piano to find your pitch and sing along, and focus on hitting each note as you slide your pitch one way and then back to the original note. This way, you’ll start training your ear to hear the varying pitches. Learning to play an instrument alongside your vocal lessons with a vetted artist via online singing classes will also give you an advantage in controlling your pitch.
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3. Maintain a good posture
Remember what we said earlier about your body being your instrument? It’s true! Your posture while singing has a significant impact on how your voice sounds and is the secret behind how to be a good singer. Sagging shoulders and a hunched back will prevent your diaphragm from fully expanding and, therefore, you won’t be able to tap into the full power of your voice. A correct posture while singing vocals, on the other hand, allows for the breath to flow freely throughout your entire vocal range. Try standing straight, relax your shoulders and make sure your chin doesn’t tilt upwards or downwards. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart, without locking your knees. The perfect singing posture can be hard to achieve on your own, so be sure to work with a qualified vocal coach to correct any postural issues you may be unaware of.
When you’re a singer, you are constantly looking for ways to improve your voice. Whether you are a budding vocalist or a professional, there is always more to learn — that is the beauty of pursuing any creative passion! Learning how to be a good singer not only involves practice but also plenty of self-reflection. Self-reflection is a skill that singers must learn to be independent and communicate the feelings behind singing vocals.
4. Find your vocal range
Wondering how to improve your singing voice quickly? The answer is to become familiar with your vocal range and discover its unique characteristics. We all know those few amazing singers with expansive vocal ranges — Freddie Mercury, famous for his four octaves, or Mariah Carey, known for her low, high, and whistle notes. To properly explore your vocal range, it might be helpful to understand the different types of voices and where yours would fit in. These include soprano, mezzo-soprano, and alto for females and tenor, baritone, and bass for males. Instead of trying only to mimic iconic singers, it’s important to work with a vocal teacher to understand your personal range and keep it in consideration as you’re warming up and selecting your repertoire.
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5. Improve your diction
Practicing your diction is one of the most crucial singing tips. Diction refers to the way you articulate or pronounce words or phrases while singing. It is not only essential for the lyrics of the song to be heard clearly, but proper pronunciation also improves the clarity of your singing vocals. An excellent exercise to improve diction and enunciation is to practice the shapes your lips make when pronouncing the vowels ‘a e i o u.’ Some singers are unaware that they have poor diction. This is where recording yourself singing, or getting feedback from your voice teacher, can make an enormous difference. Your teacher can work with you on practicing vowels (which are very important for singers) and making consonants crisp and clear.
Conclusion
Learning to sing with a dedicated singing coach is one of the best ways to improve your singing voice! Whether you are just beginning to sing, are an advanced vocalist, or are somewhere in between, CommonTime has you covered! CommonTime is an online arts learning platform for music, dance, theater, and visual arts. Our vetted, professional teaching artists cover a range of vocal styles with a personalized approach that will help you identify your best qualities and areas to improve on. Our online singing lessons from a vocal coach will ensure that you are doing your vocal exercises correctly and have a guide to understanding your voice better.
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