Five Things You Can Do Right Now To Improve Your Voice

Singing is easy. Singing well, projecting your voice, and staying in tune is hard. If you feel like you’re practicing and practicing and not getting any better, you’ll be pleased to know there are a few tricks you can use to improve how your voice sounds right now.

Let’s take a look at some of those tricks now!

Think Of Elevators!

When you stand in an elevator and you want to go up, a counteractive weight on a pulley bears down to help the elevator rise. You need to think of your voice in the same way. If you want to be able to hit higher notes right now, you need to add weight to your voice.

What does this mean? Point your chin down to allow your soft palate to arch up and press your feet into the ground. Add a little resistance to your voice, and you’ll be surprised at how much easier it is to hit those notes.

Open Your Jaw

When you practice your vowels, you probably notice that your jaw wants to shut – especially on a and e. You might need to practice keeping it open a little more often to make it a natural thing. But if you want to annunciate a little better right now, focus on keeping that jaw open. Hold it down gently with your hand if you have to (and you’re not performing for anyone). You should see an improvement in your projection immediately.

Another, maybe obvious benefit to this is that the wider your mouth is, the more you can project your voice. Nobody can understand a mumbler who barely opens their mouth. Sing wide and proud!

Lubricate Your Vocal Cords

Dry vocal cords make for a raspy, breathy voice and you’ll struggle to hit the notes you usually reach. Lubricate your instruments by drinking plenty of water throughout the day. And a whole glass before you sing. The difference may surprise you!

Lubricating your vocal cords also helps prevent strain, so you’ll be able to sing better for longer, again and again!

Stand Up Straight!

Sorry to sound like your mother, but slouching isn’t attractive, and it won’t help you sing either. When you stand up tall, pull back your shoulders and puff out your chest, you give your lungs room to grow. This will bring more power to your voice so that you sound better. You’ll probably notice yourself growing in confidence too. It’s a psychological trick that definitely works.

And the more confident you feel, the more likely you are to give the song everything that you’ve got. We’re excited for you!

Make Sure You Breathe Properly

People are always surprised by this one – breathing is a natural process, right? Well, you can’t sing properly on an in-breath. Make sure to breathe in at appropriate places in the song (not into the microphone, ideally).

If you’re a swimmer, you’ll know that beginners always like to take a deep breath before going under water because they think it’ll help them to swim for longer. Instead, they burn out more quickly. Go for long breaths rather than deep ones and you’ll be able to hold notes for longer, provide better sound quality, and stop yourself fighting to take in air during pauses in the song.

Bonus Trick: Get A Vocal Coach

So, this bonus trick won’t help your singing voice immediately, but you can book a session right away! A vocal coach is the single best thing you can do to improve your singing. They can tailor your classes to your voice and your personal needs, time and circumstances, so you get the results that you need. Every voice is different and every person behind that voice is different. So, it makes sense that you need a personalized singing programme to be the best you can be.

At the London Singing Institute, we offer one-to-one singing lessons and group classes too. Both are beneficial in their own way. If you really want to fine-tune your skills, it is a great idea to start with a few one-on-ones. But as you grow in confidence, singing in a group can bring new dimensions to your own practice, while helping you to make new friends.

Ready to take that next step? Get in touch – we will give you the vocal boost you need.