How to sing better: vocal exercises to improve your voice

Even people who are already born with a beautiful voice need to do vocal exercises. Therefore, they are indispensable for anyone who wants to sing better.

That is why in today’s article we decided to bring some exercises that will help you sing better. Here we will also explain why they are important.

What are vocal exercises for?

As already mentioned in the title, vocal exercises serve to improve your voice.

More specifically, they help to correct some voice addiction or anything else that is preventing the singer from singing comfortably and, of course, with a good interpretation of a song.

For example, there are vocal exercises that help to improve the pitch, others that improve vocal power, etc.

Vocal exercises: why it is important to train breathing?

Many people, who dream of singing well, immediately follow techniques to reach higher notes or sing in tune.

But breathing is extremely essential and the misuse of it is one of the main factors that many do not sing better.

And this is where breathing exercises come in. They help to control your breathing and improve your singing. According to time and practice, adequate breathing will be done automatically, without you singing and thinking about it.

Here we will present two exercises for you to improve your breath control.

Breathing exercise # 1                     

The first is that you lie on your back on the floor and place a book (not heavy) on your belly.

In the meantime, breath slowly to fill your belly (feel the air going to this area and not to the top by moving your shoulders), then exhale slowly. Repeat this exercise as many times as you can (without straining) and then rest.

Breathing exercise # 2

The second exercise is quite fun, a kind of challenge, so to speak.

In it, you will have to take a piece of paper approximately 5 centimetres and try to leave it against just blowing it.

But, to make things more challenging (and, of course, so that you can better control your breathing), you should be about 20 centimetres away from the wall.

Place the paper on the wall and hold it with your index finger and thumb, then blow slowly and consistently to keep it there. Now release the paper and use only your breath to hold it against the wall.

When the air runs out, hold the paper again, breath, then do the exercise again. Repeat as many times as you can and rest. If you happen to feel dizzy while doing this exercise, take a break.

Breathing exercises help you to improve your vocal power and also to sustain the notes, that is, to be able to make them sound longer without difficulties.

But they are also important for techniques like vibrato and for tuning and to avoid tensions.

The diction training

Diction is important for you to sing and for people to understand your words. But, it is also important to prevent your voice from being nasal.

One of the most well-known diction exercises is to read any text exaggeratedly: making faces, opening your mouth wide, beak, feel free.

But please do it in a place where no one can see it, as they may think that you are having a crisis of madness. Okay, jokes aside (but the advice is true).

Another exercise would be to take the lyrics of the song you intend to sing and do it exaggeratedly, exercising the facial musculature: singing, for example, the “a” opening your mouth wide or the “o” pouting, or even the “i” being sung with a smile.

Train with the piano, keyboard, guitar…

Training with an instrument is a sensational exercise, especially for those with tuning problems.

And, don’t worry, you don’t need to be a professional in your instrument, just know the basics, because what we will use here are just notes.

Start with something simple like a sequence of notes of the major scale, for example, C – D – Mi – F – Sol. And try to imitate those notes when you play each one.

Here we enter the exercises known as “vocalizes”. They are important for improving pitch, getting your voice out of your throat, and solving many other voice problems. And they are also essential for you to train your musical ear.

The vocalize exercises can be done using vowels (A, E, I …) or also letters. For example: singing a sequence of notes with your mouth closed (Mmmmm).

Or even singing a sequence of notes using “Brrr” or “Trrr”. Both ascending (from low to high) and downward (from high to low).

Final tip: exercises to cool your voice

In the same way that warming up your voice before singing is important, so is cooling down. First of all, consume plenty of water after singing.

To cool your voice you can do the following vocal exercises after a presentation:

• Yawn at will to relax the musculature of the mouth;
• Avoid speaking after singing, but rest your voice for about 15 to 25 minutes;
• Do the exercises with “Brrrr” and “Trrrrr”, as they will help you to relax too.