Singing is my New Resolution!

Is learning how to sing or improve your singing on your new year’s resolution list? You are not alone. I have had a few new clients come to me with this very goal this holiday. So if that’s your goal, here are 3 simple things you can start doing today to improve and strengthen your voice.

Watch my video on 3 Tips for a better singing voice or read below.

ONE: Breathing– Singing is literally air passing through your vocal chords…if you are not breathing you are not able to sing- or for that matter live. So proper breathing and breath support is ESSENTIAL to good singing.

There is a lot I could say on diaphragm breathing, but here is a quick easy diaphragm breathing exercise to get you started. More in the video above

1. Lay on your back
2. Put your hands on your belly in and inhale
3. When you inhale your hands should raise up as your belly fills with air, as you exhale your hands should lower as the air leaves your body
4. Inhale for the count of 5 and let your hand raise up and your belly, lungs, back all expand
5. Exhale on a Shhhhhhhh sound with a steady stream of air for a count of 10. Your hands should lower, your body comes in and you exhale.
6. Repeat. As you get better and more connected to your diaphragm breathing, decrease the length of your inhale and increase the length of your exhale. (Just like when you sing a phrase in a song, you have a very short time to inhale all the air you need for the long phrase.)
7. ** Pay attention to that feeling at the end of your exhale when your abdominals tug up on your diaphragm in efforts to get any last air out. That is the diaphragm connection!!
8. For more on this please see my video.

TWO: Vocal warm ups– Okay so the vocal warm up is VITAL!! I mean if you were about to run a race, you’d do your warm up and stretches to get the best results on that race wouldn’t you. Same thing applies to singing. A proper warm up allows you to balance your voice so you have access to your full vocal range, strengthens and increases your vocal range and hit notes you didn’t think you could.

Here is one of the easiest warm ups you can do, no matter where you are. HUMMMM. Doesn’t have to be a big sound. Get the sound to tickle behind your noise, getting mask resonance. Try to keep the sound from coming from your throat.

Watch the video for a demonstration.

Another great little tip I love is humming along to an easy song. In a relaxed and non-forceful way, hum along to your favorite song and warm up your voice. There are so many more benefits from humming along to a song, we’ll have to cover another day. Remember to move the sound into the front of your face.

THREE: Make Space In Your face – Okay this is a strange one I know. But you have to realize singing is a whole body experience. Your body is the instrument. So you have to allow the air and sound vibrations to move through as they need to for each note. As you sing higher, the sound vibrations resonate higher and higher up the face. So get comfortable with letting your body be the instrument, to feeling the sound travel and vibrate in your body.

Again…the video has more details and examples.

P.S. Okay one more tip- Practice. You have to practice your breathing! You have to practice your warm ups. You have to practice to improve. It’s like going to the gym, build the muscles and the body connection, tap into your true voice, and see how your voice starts to take off.

We all know New Year’s Resolutions are hard to stick to. Check out my latest blog,  5 Steps to New Year Resolution Success to help set yourself up for success in sticking to your resolutions this year and every year!

As always, thanks for being a part of the Connect to Your Voice community. Find me on IG and facebook and follow here for more tips and tricks on everything song and singing.

Happy New Year!