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Spoiler alert: Singing is not just about making pretty sounds. In addition to a pleasing tone quality, singing well requires strong vocal technique and musicianship skills, which are built through study, dedication, and an amalgamation of little, everyday efforts, rather than one giant push to improve. Here are seven tips for the journey:
1. Know Thy Voice
Spend quality alone time with your voice. Take your voice out on dates, so to speak, and really get to know it. You might even try recording your singing voice to hear it more objectively. Find out the answers to these questions:
- Is my singing voice big or small? Thin or full?
- What kind of vibrato do I have? Fast, slow, medium, heavy, thin, non-existent? Am I able to sing both with and without vibrato? When I sing without vibrato, does it feel different in my body than when I do sing with vibrato?
- What is my full vocal range? What range am I most comfortable singing in?
- Where is my passaggio (the pitch(es) where the voice changes registers)?
- How long can I sing without taking a breath? (i.e. How well do I support my breath?) What do I notice in my body and what do I notice about my tone when I start to run out of breath?
- How does it feel in my body when I am singing well and when I am not singing well?
- What kinds of food and drink affect my voice negatively/positively?
- How long does it take for my voice to "warm up"?
There are no right or wrong answers to these questions—everybody's voice is different. The more informed you are about your own voice, the better you will be able to care for it and improve it.
2. Take Care of Yourself
Your body is your instrument and you only get one. Stay hydrated. Get enough sleep. Don't smoke.
3. Support Your Breath
You've probably heard this before by every choral director and voice teacher you've ever had—and there's a reason for that. Proper breath support is imperative if you want your tone to sound the best it can. This is an area where a personal voice teacher will come in handy for you. He or she will work one-on-one with you to help you learn or improve your breath support so that your tone is always supported.
4. Keep Your Jaw Loose
A tense jaw will cause your tone to sound constricted and may even cause you to sing out of tune. Reduce your jaw movement to only what is necessary and don't chew on your vowels. For example, if you are singing a major scale on "ah," there is little need to move your jaw while ascending from pitch to pitch. Keep your jaw as stationary and as loose as possible, and think of making the shape of the vowel inside your mouth rather than with the muscles in your lips.
5. Read Ahead of the Beat
When reading music, always have your eye at least one or two beats ahead—that way you can anticipate what's coming next and you'll be less likely to be caught off guard when you encounter a curveball interval jump. This can be especially helpful when doing a cold sightread through a new piece of music.
6. Listen Louder than You Sing
Aural multitasking—the ability to listen to yourself while simultaneously listening to other singers and musicians in your ensemble—is a challenge that every choral singer faces. Please: Do not plug up one earlobe to be able to hear yourself better. Why? If you have to do that to hear yourself, then you aren't training yourself to listen holistically.
If you're having trouble hearing yourself in the group, one trick is to angle your music book or folder in front of you (but without completely burying yourself behind it) so that some of your sound bounces back to you as you sing. Use acoustics to your advantage.
7. Overcome Your Mental Blocks
We all have at least one. Maybe you had a choral director in high school who told you had a dreadful voice and ever since you've had low self-esteem. Maybe you feel that your voice is inadequate in comparison to other singers in your group.
This is another area that a personal voice teacher can help you with. A good voice teacher will help you to sound the best that you can using the voice that you've got.
Remember: No matter the raw materials you've been given, your singing voice can always be improved upon. Be proud of your unique voice.
