Being able to sing is one of the exquisite gifts, but many misunderstand and consider singing sensationally is out of their reach. It is very important to know how to keep your voice healthy regardless of whether you are a singer in a chair or in a rock band, On stage, or in the shower. Your voice has all the possibilities of being a phenomenal instrument. A euphonious voice is not a gift given to only a few, everyone is born with a different voice and vocal range. Studies show that only 3 percent of the population who has tone deafness cannot sing rest 97 percent have a chance to learn singing. Hence you have to know that having an awesome voice, perfect vocal tones, powerful vocal muscles, is not something that you are born with, instead they build with regular practice.
The vocal is a very fragile and complex instrument that cannot be renewed if it wears out. Vocal training helps you to sing better, singing without training can damage your vocal, sometimes permanently. Vocal training will help in developing a strong foundation and slow your own style to the surface.
Ten Important Tips To Improve Vocal:
- Drink water to smoothen your vocal chords : Drink 8-10 glasses of pure water everyday to keep your body well hydrated and avoid alcohol and caffeine. Water helps your vocal cord to keep them lubricated just like how oil lubricates a car engine. Food that contain great amount of water are good for hydration, some examples are: Apple, Watermelon, Grapes, Plums etc.
- Do not Smoke : Don’t smoke, if you are already do, its better to quit. As we all know smoking is injurious to health it has the high risk of throat cancer. Inhaling smoke is an irritant that swells your vocal cords. Some bars in New York are smoke free so you can play without damage of second hand smoke.
- Take Vocal Naps : Give you self some vocal naps everyday, A tired voice is like a tired body which is more prone to injury. After a continuously rehearsing for any audition or for any other performance take time to rest your voice, which means no talking, no singing and no whispering because it is awful for your vocal cords. Vocal rest gives time to your vocal folds to heal and recover.
- Warm up: It is very important to warm up your voice before singing, always start from warming your facial muscles, loosen your jaw muscles and lips, massaging your face etc. There are different varieties of vocal exercises for all age groups, vocal ranges. Make some noise while you warm up then start humming. At least you have to spend minimum 10 to 20 minutes on warm up your voice before singing.
- Use amplifier : Using amplification prevent you from straining your voice, you no need to sing to the back of the room microphone will be loud for you.
- Avoid misusing your voice:Avoid screaming loudly or yelling in noisy areas as it can damage your voice. If your throat feels dry or your voice is sounding rough then reduce your voice use. Hoarseness is the sign that your vocal cords are annoyed.
- Relax when you are nervous:When you are nervous your voice gets high, when you try to control it by force the more you loose confidence. When you feel nervous breathing slowly using lower abs will help you to relax your throat and free your tension. A relaxed throat produces a richer sound.
- Versatility : Being versatile means adapting their voice to suit any style of music. With the good voice one can try new things without fear. Modify your accent it would be boring if we all sounded same, if your native tongue comes in between the communication then you should correct it. Try pronouncing most confusing words and model them for you.
- Practice regularly:As we all know practice makes man perfect, practicing regularly is very important to strengthen your vocal cords improve your vocal range and enhance better vocal tune. At least you have to spend 30 minutes for practicing and make sure to do warmup before you start practicing.
- Self-awareness:Start listening to your own voice in order to identity the weak spots. The best way to identity your weak spot is record your own voice and listen to it and also compare your version with original version, note down all your mistakes and try improvising them. Knowing your voice help you in better understanding of your mistakes mistake and help you to progress.
Your voice has all the power to showcase your confidence and it helps you to sound like an expert and make greater impact on your audience. It is very important to be consistent, you may sound good for some notes and terrible after that it can create a bad impression and can make you to loose your confidence. Following the above steps will help you in improving vocals and make you to try new things confidently.