Singing Tips...

KEEP IT CLEAN. When practicing your vocal skills focus on creating a pure and clear tone first, free of airiness, rasp and other tonal changes added for stylistic purposes. If you cannot create a clear tone full of life and energy, you are not singing up to your potential.

Singing Tips...

JAW TENSION. Most people don’t realize how tense their jaw is…because it feels perfectly natural to them. Be sure to stretch out your face and jaw muscles and even make a specific point to monitor your jaw when singing to be sure it truly is relaxed. If your jaw is tense, you will not receive your best tone and perhaps even have trouble hitting some of the higher tones.

Singing Tips...

Don't forget about listening to recordings of singers from earlier times. For example, recordings of tenor Enrico Caruso are some of the earliest recordings of classical music. Or get out Cd's of your favorite singer or singers and sing along.

Singing tips...

INCREASE YOUR AIR SPEED for high notes and decrease your air speed for lower notes. Each frequency requires a specific air speed to create the absolute best tone. Many singers push too much air, too quickly, while singing low notes in an attempt to make the note louder. All this does is add stress and tension to the tone. Use your ears to tell you when the proper balance is reached. The tone should sound clear and pure before adding stylistic nuances. Free

Singing Tips...

Like any musical discipline, I think that listening to great performers helps you hone your sound and technique. I even suggest singing along with great recordings, trying to match the vocalist exactly. Then, after you've learned their way, you have some new techniques and the ability to create your own interpretation of the piece of music.

Singing Tips...

Open your mouth! Yea, yea, I know... most people are trying to get you to shut up. Well, if you can learn to sing with your mouth "very" wide open, you will hit clearer notes and sing more strongly and cleanly overall.

Singing Tips...

If you sing in a group, be open to shifting to a different place in the ensemble, even if it is not beside your best friend, and even if there is someone a bit taller in front of you, or vice versa. Some good choir directors will put people in different places according to the unique qualities of their voice and tone.

Singing Tips...

Consider singing as part of a group, even if your main interest is solo work. It can really open up your ears to singing better on pitch and blending your voice to match other sounds.

Singing Tips...

FEATHERS. When learning to sing your full range and accomplish the desired one voice (same power with similar tone throughout the whole range) singers often experience cracks and breaks. One way to test this is to practice a siren. Slide on the syllable “he” from the bottom of your range to the top. If you do not experience cracks or breaks, try it on all syllables at all volumes. When you find yourself faced with this challenge, it is the common response to “try harder” or “give more effort” on those notes. This is not the way to solve this issue. What you want to do is to lighten up just a bit on these notes, let them float like a feather instead of trying harder and stomping on them. Understand that most often this is caused because muscles and membranes not having the memory they need to make the transition you require, as quickly as you want it made. Repetition will give them memory, so keep practicing. Lighten up just a bit on those notes and sing through the break. Don’t develop the habit of stopping when you “crack” or it will come back to bite you later.

Singing Tips...

ENERGY NOT EFFORT. This is one of the most confusing concepts in singing. Energy in the tone is what we want and Effort is something we want to desperately to avoid. Energy is created naturally when our vocal instrument is in balance and our body is involved in the singing process. It feels good. It feels easy. Sometimes it occurs naturally and other times we may have to make adjustments. Effort usually occurs when singers use their throat muscles/membranes and vocal cords improperly to create volume. We should actually feel and see very little happening in our throat area. Free