Vocal Exercises
1. Posture!
The first step in developing vocal technique is to establish good posture for singing. Your body is your instrument and poor alignment or unnecessary tension can affect how well you sing. Good posture enables good breathing. Think of your body as the engine that drives your voice and your breath as the fuel that drives the engine.
- Stand with your feet hip width apart. Your weight should be evenly distributed. A good exercise is to transfer your weight from right to left foot, forward and backwards and round in a circle and to then move to a centered place. Your knees should be relaxed and your arms should rest by your side. Be wary of your chin and neck: singers often raise their chin in the belief that they are helping the sound come out when really, this places unnecessary strain and tension on the voice.
Once we have established good posture we move to the second step in developing vocal technique: learning to breathe well during singing. Having control over your breathing will not only help to support your voice but will enable healthy singing to take place.
2. Breath!
There are three key breathing skills singers need to learn:- The ability to inhale large quantities of air .
- The ability to snatch a good breath quickly .
- The ability to control the escape of breath .
Breathing well helps to support your voice. Singing without having any breath left is a very common thing most beginner singers do which results to tiring your voice.
To help improve your breathing:
- Breathe deeply from your lower lungs - imagine a rubber ring around your waist (your diaphragm)
- Breathe in and try to push the ring outwards.
- Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose and mouth.
- Avoid raising your shoulders as you breathe in, always keep them relaxed and level with one another.
- Relax! Tension will prevent you from making a good sound.
A technique that I've always use to help me to breathe well is...
Lie on the floor on your back with your hands on your stomach.
Breathe in (inhale) and your hands will rise.
Now breathe out (exhale) and they will lower.
There are two breathing techniques that a singer can take on the responsibility and self teach themselves.
THE HISSING EXERCISE:
Take a deep breath in, then exhale gently in a 'SSSSSS' breathe (hissing like a snake). Try to keep your exhalation as a steady and constant stream for as long as you are able to.
THE SNATCHED BREATHS EXERCISE: Breathing in gradually,thinking of your lungs filling up in fractions, when you count. Focus on the diaphragm, being careful not to hold tension in the throat.
3.Tighten that drum!
As a singer you need to be able to understand how the diaphragm, lungs, chest cavity play a huge part in effecting the delivery of the sound of your voice. I could use the illustration of a drum, a drum that is tuned loosely creates a flat sound which I will find boring to hear as it will be lacking resonance. Resonance is the vibrations that create the tone through your mouth, throat, and nose. So the technique to do is to be able to expand the rib cage by flexing the muscles that pull your ribs in and out, this will result in better tones in your voice as well as increasing your lung capacity, this will also allow you to take less breathes between verses, resulting in better control.
Ruth: This exercise will be so beneficial to me because I have problems with breathing while singing, I tend to take too much breathe in-between verses which is unnecessary and wrong as the sentences in a song comes out sounding cut and sometimes sharp however this only happens because I get a feeling I seem to run out of air too quickly or early. My goal for 2016 as a singer is to be able to increase my lung and vocal capacity as this will help me to have better control while singing. I do see myself having a career as a singer, I know before all of that I need to give myself a regime that I would follow each week which will include practising the 'tighten that drum' vocal technique a lot more as this is the main issue that holds me back all of the time. I have recently joined a gym to work on my obliques most importantly. I've learnt from successful singers such as Beyonce that using the treadmill and singing at the same time helps the endurance of an performer on stage mainly if your a dancer and a singer combined. Especially for me as I am a student, studying Musical Theatre this technique will be a huge assets to my class.
To keep your vocal cords hydrated you should always drink water. Some prefer drinking warm water, claiming that it better refreshes your throat. However I find drinking ice cold water can aid in keeping swelling down, especially after a killer belting performance. Unfortunately last week I was suffering from tonsillitis and I went to see my doctor and I got advised to eat ice cubes as my lungs were bulging red I wasn't quit sure why, however my doctor explained that it helps throat discomfort. Afterwards I got given dissolving
4.Drink Water
To keep your vocal cords hydrated you should always drink water. Some prefer drinking warm water, claiming that it better refreshes your throat. However I find drinking ice cold water can aid in keeping swelling down, especially after a killer belting performance. Unfortunately last week I was suffering from tonsillitis and I went to see my doctor and I got advised to eat ice cubes as my lungs were bulging red I wasn't quit sure why, however my doctor explained that it helps throat discomfort. Afterwards I got given dissolving
paracetamol which I had to take three tablets three
times a day and put it in warm water to to use it to gaggle.
Most importantly you should definitely avoid smoking,
and foods or liquids that dehydrate the body.
Ruth: Drinking water twice a day is healthy for a singer as it keeps you hydrated and allows your skin to be clear.Water is one of the fundamentals of life which i've learnt at Brit School from the early stages of my life as a performer. The flexibility of your vocal chords and the tone of your singing voice all depend directly on the amount of water in your body. Sipping water throughout the day will ensure that you have enough fluid to keep your body and your voice well irrigated and be prepared to carry out all the processes that we take for granted but are actually so vital to our well-being. Since 2013, when I seriously took it seriously and started drinking water my vocal range expanded and were able to reach the notes that I couldn't before. Th
5.Facial Muscles
As with other vital muscles that support great singing. The neck and facial muscles play an obvious role. Really the goal is to minimize the effort required to sing, so that you may effectively control your tone and your pitch. Warming up can not be avoided. There are mainly 10 groups of muscles in the neck, head, and face. Each consisting of numerous tinier muscles all working in harmony to create the beautiful sound making up your voice. Here is a list in order of the types of movements you can perform on various parts to prepare yourself to sing:
1) Yawn
2) Jaw Stretch
3) The Pucker
4) Silly Smile
5) Eye Brow Lift
6) Eye Roll
