Elaina Robbins, Singer and Voice Teacher
Wondering how to improve singing voice quickly? Before I give you some tricks to try immediately, please remember that improving singing is a marathon, not a sprint. I remember once having a student ask me how many lessons they’d need to learn how to sing, and it definitely gave me laugh! This is sort of like asking how many physical trainer appointments you need to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime. It’s just not quantifiable, and it depends a lot on what you do in between lessons. That being said, if you’re wondering how to improve singing on the fly, I do have some advice. You can use these five holistic tools to start to shift your mindset around, notice more about your vocal habits, and see some results in a relatively short period of time. How to Improve Singing Voice Tip #1: Use a Karaoke App Melodies comprise of rhythm and pitch. If you have issues with either, a karaoke app is a fun way to practice! The best karaoke apps work sort of like Guitar Hero—they have a guide showing you what rhythms/pitches to sing when, and they show you what notes you’ve actually sung. When working with students, I’ve noticed that being able to see notes in real time helps people to sing more accurately. Looking at whether you’re flat or sharp or whether your rhythm is wonky can help hone your musical ear. Plus, practicing with an app like this makes practice more fun! It feels less like work and more like a game. When using a karaoke app to augment the best online singing lessons you can find, I recommend choosing one that:
Check out my video on karaoke apps and intonation for more on this topic. How to Improve Singing Voice Tip #2: Sing in Front of the Mirror My online vocal training program, The Five-Minute Singer, relies on four senses: sight, sound, touch, and kinesthetic awareness (body awareness). You might think sound is the most powerful of the four, but I actually think sight is even more important, especially for beginners. You might not know exactly what to listen for when you’re starting out, but the mirror doesn’t lie! When you sing, you should look surprisingly normal and relaxed. My favorite famous contemporary example of this is Whitney Houston’s Star-Spangled Banner (skip to 1:15). Do you see how normal she looks? No straining, no heaving, no weird muscles bulging out, easy lowering of the jaw for high notes? That’s what masterful singing looks like. Because classical music is technically the most challenging, classical singers are in my opinion the best examples of this. Let’s look at another famous video: Luciano Pavarotti’ Nessun Dorma from Verdi’s Turandot. Once again, it looks easy. No straining, no coiling up for the high note, loose jaw movement, grounded stance—tremendous sound. No amount of extra jerking, bulging, and straining will help you sound like that. If you learn what optimal singing looks like, you can stand in front of the mirror and watch yourself as you practice, ensuring you look the way you should. Here are some things you can look for:
How to Improve Singing Voice Tip #3: Record Yourself Recording yourself has many of the same advantages as practicing in front of the mirror, except you can also use it in a few additional ways. First, you can view yourself in profile or at other angles to check your alignment. Second, you can listen to your performance to check your sounds for signs of vocal faults, including pitch and rhythmic accuracy. This can be very eye opening. When recording yourself, I recommend finding decent lighting and an angle that lets you see everything from the torso up. If you’re a decently loud singer, you may need to place your device far enough away so you don’t distort the sound. How to Improve Singing Voice Tip #4: Use Your Hands As I mentioned already, one of the senses I advocate using is touch. This means putting your hands in various spots on the body to feel what’s going on. I find that placing hands in problem spots often works the same way watching a child works—if you’re looking right at the kid, the kid is way more likely to behave! So, if you’re wondering how to improve singing fast, keep your hands on those misbehaving body parts to supervise them accordingly. Here are some useful spots you can place your hands:
How to Improve Singing Voice Tip #5: Get Low When you sing, your effort should come from your breath, which happens primarily below the armpit line thanks to the diaphragm and the intercostals. Everything above that line, from the chest and shoulders to the neck, jaw, and tongue, should be relatively loose and floppy so as not to interfere with vocal production. Check out my video on the big picture of singing for more on this. This is the opposite sensation to what many people experience. Lots of people feel the effort of singing up high, especially in the throat. An easy way to correct this is to try to shift that effort down. Feel like you’re working hard with your breathing muscles instead of your neck. Use your air to be emotional and expressive rather than employing your neck or large facial muscles like the masseters. Hand/arm gestures can help with this; my favorite is a low, circular motion like waves. You can also try bouncing around from the knees so you feel that lower center of gravity. How to Improve Singing Voice the Smart Way
You might have noticed that these five tips for how to improve singing voice quality all rely on self-awareness, with a focus on body parts. This is a hugely important tenant of signing, since as singers, our body is our instrument! That’s why I designed my online vocal training program to center around all the most important body parts involved in singing. I tried to make one of the best online singing courses I could by focusing on habit-based, anatomical practice. The course teaches you how to improve singing by training your various body parts to do what they are supposed to do to help you sing your best. Once these habits are locked in, your vocal instrument will run smoothly whenever you sing, even if you’re nervous or on autopilot. Sound good? Learn more here, and happy singing!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |