Some tools
Yes, everyone can improve their vocal technique! All singers give priority to good posture and "breathing through the belly". And they have all learned the basic techniques below:
Adopt the right posture
- Make your pelvis point backwards, a movement that will naturally bring the bust slightly forward. This will allow for a column of free air. An image: try to align the toes and chin, imagining a rope connecting one to the other.
- Keep your head straight
- Stand upright
- Relax your joints
- Keep your feet firmly anchored to the ground, in line with your shoulders.
The easiest way to do this is to practice in front of the mirror.
Breathe deeply and regularly
When you sing, you must be able to inhale a sufficient amount of air, then exhale slowly and regularly, while keeping the ribs wide open, so that you don't lose support. To achieve this, you must use your stomach and not your chest: imagine breathing from the pelvis. Be careful not to reverse your breathing! To do this, the image of the balloon being filled with air is useful: when you breathe in, your belly inflates. This is the most important point that beginner singers have to learn.
Tips
- When you breathe normally, your chest goes up and down. When you sing, however, it should remain still.
- Lie down on the floor with both hands on your stomach. Inhale through your stomach to raise your hands, then exhale to return to your starting position. On the floor, as you breathe in, it is important to pay attention to your back as it "opens".
- Practice whistling. Whistling requires a fine and regular flow of air. Standing up, inhale by counting to 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) then exhale by counting again to 4. Then inhale by counting to 6, then exhale by counting this time to 10. Continue with shorter inhalations and longer whistles, until you are able to inhale by counting only 1 and exhale by counting to 20.
- The best singers use very little air to sing strong notes, which means that you should not neglect this exercise.
Mistakes not to be made
- Breathe in too much air: don't overfill your lungs, or you may have trouble breathing out properly. Rather than inhaling deeply, try to exhale as regularly as possible.
- Breathe: for a good voice tone, you must let the air escape from your lungs by itself, not force it out.
- holding the air: this error occurs when singers stop singing between inhalation and exhalation. After exhaling, try to relax everything so that you can resume proper support right after. It is also important to release the support between each breath, so that you don't have a permanent contraction that causes fatigue and loss of efficiency.
Read our previous chapter: how to learn to sing?
Read our next chapter: how to sing higher?