The Basics of How to Sing Well

You might think that singing isn't something you learn, just something you do. This may be true, if you don't care about how well you sing or whether or not you damage your vocal cord.

Perhaps you dream of being a professional singer. Or, like most people, perhaps you just want to sing in public without embarrassing yourself. Either way, you want to learn how to sing well. Once you learn how to sing well, you'll have a skill you can use for the rest of your life. However, maintaining physical fitness is an important, often overlooked, aspect of maximizing how well you sing. Singing is a physical activity, so you need to eat well and stay on a fitness program.

You might find this curious if you look at pop musicians or opera stars. But how many of these stars remain stars well into their golden years? The great ones may have enough talent to succeed at any fitness level, but the singers with the longest careers are typically those who have taken good care of their bodies. Of those rock stars that do live the party lifestyle, a great many don't live long enough for their skills to deteriorate.

If you want to really know how to sing, seek out the training that only comes from a trained professional. For most skilled professions many years of education are necessary to maximize performance. There may be those who can succeed without the benefit of professional training, but they could be better. Fortunately, there are now online courses about how to sing your best available to you, whether you're a budding star or just wanting to be a better singer.

No matter how you hone your craft, the more you learn about how to sing, the better you'll get at it. It is important to begin by learning all about the vocal aspects of your body. If you have a good teacher, you'll begin by learning about proper posture and which muscles to use to support your breathing. For example, you'll learn why it important to stand upright and relaxed, while holding your chest up high. You'll let your shoulders hang back and stand with your feet directly below the shoulders on their respective sides. You'll probably be taken through some exercises you can do to help you learn to do this better.

There will always be an emphasis on breath support. This simply refers to using your larger muscles to support your breathing, rather than straining at the throat. Your midsection should expand as you inhale, with many of the major muscles of your torso sharing the load.

You can practice your breathing by taking in a full breath and then breathing out with a hissing sound without letting your midsection shrink. Practicing this exercise teaches you how to sing with a full support system. This will help protect your vocal cord, while also providing you with greater tone and endurance.

An important part of producing good sound is to learn about pitch and tones. The sound coming out of you can be described as resonating from your sinuses, pharynx, and chest. The higher the notes, the more you'll use the sinus area. The lower your notes, the more you'll use the chest area.

Of course, for most notes in the middle you'll blend all of these regions in varying degrees. If you create tone in your pharynx and sinuses at the same time, you'll make what your voice coach may refer to as a mixed tone or mask resonance.

Mask resonance simply refers to where you feel the bulk of the vibrations created as you sing. If you want to feel these vibrations now, inhale deeply with good posture and then slide from a high note to a low note making a “hee” sound. If you pay attention, you'll feel the vibration traveling down from your mask to your chest as you go lower.

The key to learning how to sing well is taking time each day to practice. Instead of going for greatness all at once, make strides each day to do or understand something better than you did the day before.