How To Make Your Voice Stronger

So, you’ve got a beautiful voice, but you just can’t seem to get any power behind it. Never fear, the London Institute of Singing is here! And we know all the tips and tricks that will help you project your voice to knock people off their seats! Here is the advice we give to all our singers. Hopefully it will help you too.

Get To Know Your Voice

This might sound a bit weird, since speaking and singing comes so naturally to most of us. But it’s important to understand the mechanics behind your voice, which will help you with the following tips.

You need to know that your voice only works on an exhale. It comes from a power source, which you influence using muscles in your abdomen and throat. The vocal cords are the key to making a sound – they vibrate when air from the lungs hits them, making the edges of the cords meet.

The sound then travels through to your mouth, where you can affect how it resonates by how wide you open your mouth. You will sound more nasal with your mouth small, and louder with your mouth wide. This leads us on to our first tip.

Open Your Mouth

Forget what you look like for a moment and sing with your mouth open as wide as you can. Give your voice more space to breathe, and you’ll be surprised at the results. Even opening your mouth a little bit wider can have a big impact. Try singing the same note with various degrees of mouth-openness and see if you can hear a difference.

Relax Your Larynx

This is easier said than done when singing in front of an audience, particularly if you are nervous, but a relaxed larynx is important for projection.

So, how do you do it? The key is to lift your soft palate. This is the soft bit of flesh you can feel with your tongue at the roof of your mouth before you get to your throat. To lift it, imagine you are trying to swallow a whole apple.

This takes a lot of practice to get right, but it’s very effective. In the meantime, just try to be more relaxed all over. This is difficult when you’re nervous or your big note is coming up, so it will take some practice too, but might be a more achievable first step.

Always Warm Up

Like all muscles, the ones powering your voice won’t work as well if they are cold. You should always warm up your voice before every performance. Check out our past blog post on the best warm-up techniques that anyone can use.

Practice Breathing

Sometimes these tips sound a little bit like we’re teaching you to suck eggs, don’t they! But in order to truly belt your voice, you need to have your breathing under control. There are a number of breathing exercises you can practice to help you do this. We have a blog post on this that you should definitely read.

Visualise A Target

Set your sights on a point in the room and aim to hit it with your voice. Of course, you won’t actually hit it, but the intention behind the action will help you project your voice further. This might be something you have to practice over and over again, with different songs, but what this will do is help you drop that breathy, soft voice you’ve gotten used to. In its place will be the power you need.

Stay Hydrated

This tip pops up a lot on our blog, for good reason. A dehydrated voice is a weak one. You need to keep those vocal cords lubricated so they don’t rub against each other and cause you pain. Even deeper than that, a well-hydrated body is one that works at its best, so every other muscle and cell in your body can contribute to your vocal power.

Stop Smoking

Or, if you don’t smoke, definitely don’t start. This is one of the worst things you can do for your voice. Not only does it fill your lungs with tar so they can’t expand as efficiently and give you that power you’re looking for, but the chemicals irritate your vocal cords.

Sometimes, this kind of advice is best given face-to-face, so your teacher can see exactly what you are doing and help redirect you. If you are looking for a singing coach, get in touch. The London Institute of Singing has experience in all kinds of singing issues, so we can help uncover your best-ever singing voice.