VOICE PRACTICE TIPS

 

• Serious vocal training requires the full development of your instrument, this includes coordinating and fine-tuning all the muscles you need to sing as well as developing good habits that allow the singer to connect vocal functions with expressive and technical demands of music. Warm-ups/vocalization is a VERY IMPORTANT part of your training in addition to vocal literature in developing eveness of scale, range and breath extension, mixing the light and heavy vocal mechanisms, vocal flexibility, resonance, consonant articulation, and musical expression.
  
  1. Choose a good time of day for your voice to practice. Early in the morning before your body is awake/late at night when you are too tired are unlikely to be the best times for you to achieve success and work to your fullest potential.
  
  2. Choose a comfortable location where you will not be interrupted or distracted.
  
  3. Be sure to warm-up at least 5-10 minutes each time BEFORE you start on your literature to warm up your whole body and voice. Start with basic humming, five note patterns and/or vocal sirens/sighs in the middle part of your range and work into more complex exercises with larger intervals and flexibility requirements.
  
  4. An important part of healthy singing is to be aware of what is comfortable for you. Vary the exercises and liternature that you are
  working on, and take good physical care of yourself and your voice.
  -Stay well hydrated
  -Get plenty of rest
  -Be careful how you use your voice. Singing/yelling too much at athlectic events, outside, etc. can be very damaging to your voice
  -Relax when you sing using good posture and body alignment without tension
  
  5. If something is uncomfortable or you feel that your voice is becoming fatigued, stop. Never "force" sound, it should come naturally.
  
  SINGING IN TUNE
  1. Listen to recordings of professional singers
  2. Practice reproducing pitches from high/low register in a comfortable range by listening to professional recordings or using the piano or some other instrument
  3. Use diaphragmatic breathing. Pitch issues can often be related to lack of breath energy.
  4. Practice singing solfege syllables, intervals, whole tone, and chromatic scales
  5. Focus. Use articulation and clear diction to activate the tone.
  6. Prepare yourself vocally, before you sing, making necessary adjustments when you are in different parts of your vocal register. (i. e. high notes in chest voic/heavy mechanism will often be flat)

 

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