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Top Technical Hints to
Sing Better D
(by Zenovia Kallipygia, Genevieve, Viridis Solari, and Bebhinn ingen Aoidh)
In no particular order
1) Good Posture.
K This helps create a bigger, fuller sound
K Try to be as tall as you can - Imagine there's a string holding you up from the top of your head directly above your spine, Your lower body should feel a bit like it's hanging from the upper body.
K Shoulders down and back - create space inside your ribs.
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Head (chin) slightly tipped down. This allows the neck to lengthen and helps prevent a tense throat, which would make your sound smaller. Imagine that you're singing out the back of your neck. It sounds weird, but it works!
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Standing up straight will help your breathing, and will give you a more confident presence.
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Notice if you are jutting out the chin and collapsing the ribcage into the abdomen. A way to combat this habit is to lie on the floor, knees bent and feet about hip-width apart. Take several good breaths into your belly, and then relax. As your spine lengthens, pay attention to how that feels. Where is your chin? How does your neck feel? Where are your shoulders? When you stand up again, try to remember how that placement felt.
2) Breathe.
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Use your stomach (diaphragm); your shoulders shouldn't go up and down when you breathe. A simple way to determine where your breath is going on 'the inhale' is to put your hands over your kidneys (fingers towards your spine, thumb towards your belly-button). Take a deep breath. If your fingers are pushed out, you're breathing into your diaphragm.
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If you have a hard time keeping your shoulders from moving, lie down with your back on the floor - you can't help but breathe the right way in this position. This gives you support for your sounds, whether loud or quiet. While lying on the floor, knees bent and feet about hip width apart, put your hands on your belly, fingers pointing towards your legs. Take a deep breath. If your fingers are pushed up, you're breathing into your diaphragm.
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Your abdomen (in front, and to a lesser extent, back too) should move in and out. Put your hands on your belly or waist to feel what's going on.
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Don't suck air in; let it "fall into the cavity you make for it." Think of it as making the space, then letting the air in. Harder than it sounds, but it helps.
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Don't breathe in excessive amounts of air, even if it's a long line. This will only put pressure on your vocal cords and make it harder, believe it or not, to sustain the line.
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In order to not let all the air out too quickly, try to keep your lower torso 'expanded.' No, I haven't mastered this one! One way to feel this is to hold your hand against your side (right hand on right side or left hand on left side), fingers pointing up, thumb behind and fingers in front, around the region of the bottom of your rib cage. You can start so you're framing the bottom of the ribcage and move down a little. When you breathe in, you should feel this area expanding. Try to keep it expanded as you sing your line.
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Breathing deeply and regularly improves your air capacity and gives support to your sound. It also helps phrasing - makes the song sound like sentences that connect to each other and tell a story, rather than a collection of unrelated word or phrases.
3) Keep your throat open and relaxed when you sing.
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This is a tough one that takes loads of practice for most people.
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Yawn. You should feel the back of your throat open up.
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Another way to get this effect is to imagine that a frosty window is right in front of your mouth - try to melt the frost. This gives a warm, rich sound.
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To tell if your throat is relaxed hold your fingers under your jaw (one or two fingers, between the jawbone and the windpipe) so you can feel the muscles. Sing low notes. The muscles should be relaxed. Sing a scale upward. If you're like me, you'll feel increasing tension. This is bad. This part should be as relaxed on a high note as it is on low note.
4) Warm up!
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If you perform without being warmed up, you just won't sound your best. Warming up improves your range and volume.
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Sneak away and sing a few bars, or even hum for a while if you can't sneak away.
5) Project your voice.
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Aim your song/speech to the people at the back. This may take some work for some people.
6) Enunciate.
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Use all consonants and pronounce the words clearly. Enunciating isn't common in popular music, but listen to a Beatles song and you'll realize they made a point of it.
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Ever hear a song where you just couldn't make out the words? When this happens,
there is a failure to communicate the text of the song, even though emotion still may come through.
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The more you communicate with the audience, the more interesting you will be.
7) Banish nervousness.
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This prevents a small, nervous voice.
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Know your words inside out, backwards and forwards; if you master the words, you'll have brainpower left over for other stuff. Practice in front of pets, family and friends
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Warm up so your voice is at its best.
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Realize that everyone really wants you to do well; they're all on your side.
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The best way to get over stage fright is to just keep performing; it gets better with time and practice!
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Sometimes it helps to get together with a few friends to try performing in a truly safe environment before tackling a full feast-hall.
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The bardic circle can be great for first attempts because its less formal than a feast, most of the audience is really attentive, and it's dark!
8) Sing in your Vocal Range.
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Choose songs that fit your voice and style of singing - a comfortable
(or
at least, achievable with practice!) voice range is going to be easier to
perform, and more pleasing in general
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To learn your range stand in the shower and sing from your lowest note to your highest note. There will be a portion of your range that is easy to sing within and sounds very clear. This is your comfortable singing range, find songs that fit it, or drop the first note of a song you like into the middle of this range and start from there.
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Realize that your vocal range will change depending on practice, how tired you are, or how you are feeling that day. Try to take note of both where your range is and how large it is when you warm up. With practice you can increase your range.
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If you want to sing even when you are sick and have a bad cold be careful, because it is easier to strain your voice when you're already a little
froggy.
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If the sound isn't flowing easily on the breath, either you're singing beyond your range or you need to make a physical adjustment to how you're getting that sound out.
9) Phrasing.
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Learn where in your song you should take a deep breath, and where you should "sing through" for maximum air and dramatic effect.
10) Be Careful About Singing Around Campfires.
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A deep breath of smoke is a quick way to get a dry, sore throat and coughing.
11) Go to the Bathroom First.
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There's nothing like pressure to make you realize you really have to go.
12) Have a Small Drink Before You Start.
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Preferably water, but not milk, and nothing with chocolate in it (increases phlegm production).
13) Don't Strain.
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Don't try to reach every person in a hall, it almost impossible except
for a few people. Project, but don't yell.
14) Wear Comfortable Clothes.
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Wear clothing that lets you breath and doesn't bind you up. Dressing up for a performance can be fun and add glamour, but an amazing song out of a drab cloaked, mud-spattered singer can be just as effective. Dress for comfort and practicality.
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If you hope to be performing a lot spend the extra money to find a seamstress that will design clothes you can sing in (or take the time to make your own). Remember, the chest of a practiced singer can expand four or more inches as they breath.
15) Relax.
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RELAX!!! If all of your muscles are relaxed, your throat is more likely to be relaxed, and your sound will be much better.
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If it hurts, stop.
16) Facial Position.
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Keep your tongue relaxed and resting on the bottom of your mouth (when you're not using it for consonants).
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The jaw should be relaxed as well. The idea is to create a resonant space in your mouth for the sound to pass through.
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By "smiling on the inside", the soft palate is raised a bit, helping to create more space. Huh? Open your mouth and say "Ah." Now, while you're making that sound, and your jaw is dropped, and your tongue is on the bottom of your mouth, try to smile. You should hear a difference in the sound.
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There should be enough room in your mouth that you don't need to force the sound out your nose.
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Top Artistic Hints to Sing Better
D
(by Whistler MacEwan, Viridis Solari, and Kataryna
Tkach)
In no particular order
1) Practice.
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Practice lots, regularly, all the time.
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Regiment your practice before implementing your program. If this is a serious attempt to improve you will need Bi-weekly practice sessions at least.
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Determine how much time you can direct toward these practices and what time you have the least distractions and stresses on your mind.
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Don't practice angry or exhausted. You need to be able to concentrate on your voice and have the time to repeat things over and over.
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Be patient with yourself. There are few people in this world who are geniuses, everyone else just has to work hard, practice, and be content with being the best they can be.
2) Sing something you enjoy.
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Your enjoyment will show in what you are doing, and if you are more comfortable with a piece it will be easier to relax and to concentrate on your singing.
3) Banish Nervousness (Again).
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If you are nervous, sing to your pets, then your family, then your friends - most people are nervous, you aren't alone!
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Meet more people, especially other singers - then everyone you sing to is your friend. Friends will give kind advice, clap for you, and push you to perform when otherwise you might stay silent.
4) Sing for people who are listening.
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The power of a receptive audience cannot be overestimated.
5) Don't stop.
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Even if you've royally goobered, a good chunk of being "professional" is that the show must go on.
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Every one forgets; if you're having a good night fudge your mistake over. If not; just continue from a point where you remember. Some days even the well-seasoned performers forget everything (well at least I do) and you just have to stop and sit down. Let someone else have a go, and do a different song in a bit - remember it's not the end of the world. Try not to start the song over if you can help it.
6) Self-analysis.
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This does not mean self-criticism.
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Analyze your style to seek out the areas you need to work on do not assume that these are flaws or that any of them make you a bad singer. Positive attitude will bring you down the right road nine times in ten.
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Self-analysis needs to be meticulous. If you are intent on taking one step or jogging a mile you need to identify your path clearly. Don't start out with a vague plan for how you will go about this. Clearly identify the signposts of what you want to improve and then construct the means to go about it.
7) Don't be afraid to get help.
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Find the gear you will need for the journey. If your path is to work on tuning then you will need outside help to assist you in identifying what an 'A' sounds like so you can learn to hit it perfectly every time. Whether that means needing a tuning fork or just needing to have a recording of scale work to sync your mind up with the intervals between tones you have to have the tools to assist you before you begin the journey otherwise you're taking something much larger upon yourself.
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Identify the music that will aid you best in achieving your goal. If you want to learn to hold a tone well or extend your breathing I recommend hymns or something slow and sonorous with extended held notes. The music you choose to practice is a tool as much as a tuning fork, and certain music will allow you to isolate your needs better than others.
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Ask for help. No matter what you are trying to accomplish it is going to eventually seem like a Herculean task to get where you want to go. Stop and ask for directions every once in a while. At the least it will give you some reassurance that you are getting somewhere or following the right path.
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Be sure of the person you are asking. Be sure that they have the knowledge to advise you soundly on what you are doing and be sure that they are able to focus on you when they are advising.
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Second if you are asked to advise - be gentle. That soul who has come to you is in a
place of need and fragility and they have deigned to call you Teacher. Earn that position in those few moments or else be polite and send them on their way.
8) Branch out.
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Look into Jazz and Hip Hop sometime, or maybe Opera or Salsa music. There are so many art forms within this arena that simply focusing on our own tastes will eventually stagnate our growth as artists. We all adore Celtic music and ballads and marches but every now and then we can learn something from Bob Marley and Frank Sinatra...yes definitely Frank.
9) Sing with your whole being.
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Understand that your voice involves more than your vocal chords. Your lungs, back, shoulders, and throat all play a key role in getting the right sound. Be aware of your body as a whole as you train and understand that the sound you produce is affected by a great number of variables and all of them deserve due respect.
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Sing because you love to, sing because something inside of you has to. It is the very best reason of all.
10) Balance.
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There is a balance between technique and emotion. Set it to yourself.
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Let your facial expressions follow what you are performing - sad face for sad songs, smiling for happy/funny ones; this will both engage your audience and influence the sound of your song.
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Singing is about evoking a response in an audience. The two greatest variables on what kind of response you will receive are Technique and Emotion.
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The emphasis you place on each will determine the response. A greater emphasis on one will invariably detract from the other. It has to do with headspace.
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To convey emotion you need to feel that emotion, be inside of it. The more you give yourself over to that emotion the less head space you will have to concentrate on posture, shaping of vowels and sharp consonants etc. The more you focus on clearly enunciating each syllable the less involved you will be, intimately and personally, in the song.
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So the more you intend to focus on one area or the other the more your skill in the neglected area needs to be innate or second nature. Therefore if you see that you have a greater natural talent in the emotion of your performance you need to be practicing your technique twice as much as your emotional portrayal because when you sing your technique needs to be something you are so good at that you don't need to give it a lot of thought and you can focus on putting your soul into each and every word.
11) Composing
- just try it!
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Many people are not comfortable composing, but trying to put a bit of our own poetry to a tune gives us insight into how to look at the songs we sing.
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Your compositions may only be fit for the shower but are still worth the effort.
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If you know the song is the first outing of an original composition, please be supportive and attentive to the singer. To sing your own work is like baring your soul in public - some of us are able to do this, and some of us are not. It doesn't make you less of a performer.
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Don't be afraid to take this step and try.
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