3 Tips To Help You Sing Better

Singing is one of the greatest activities that we have in this life. Singing allows us to express our feelings in way that no other form of communication allows. If you're like most people, when you're happy you walk around humming and singing songs. And when you're depressed chances are listening to music provides solace to your soul. Music is a gift that we should all treasure. It's worth making an effort to improve your singing.

If you want to be able to sing well, whether you want to be a rockstar or just be able to sing happy birthday without making people cringe. To sing well you need to learn a few basic singing techniques. By concentrating on just a few common problems most people can learn to sing well. These aren't difficult techniques to learn. All they require is a little work and attention to detail. Here are three suggestions that will dramatically improve your singing.

Learning to breathe correctly is a key way to improve your singing voice. Air is the fuel that drives your voice. If you've ever gotten to the end of a phrase only to find yourself unable finish because you ran out of air, then you need to improve your breathing. Another sign that you're not giving yourself enough air is that annoying crack that happens. Now no one thing will completely fix these issues, but often they are grounded in breathing issues (posture is the other likely culprit).

Learning to breathe correctly takes time because you have to turn it into an automatic habit. This is particularly hard because you have spent so much time building the habit of breathing incorrectly (most likely your whole life). This is a long process but an absolutely vital step in learning how to sing well.

Diaphragmatic breathing is proper breathing. To breathe diaphragmatically follow these steps.

1. Lie flat on your back and put one hand on your chest and the other hand below your rib cage.

2. Breathe through your nose making sure your stomach rises as if fills with air (it doesn't really fill with air but it is a useful image). Make your chest remains still throughout the exercise. You want your rib cage to remain up and expanded so your lungs will be able to operate at full capacity.

3. Now tighten your stomach and pull it inward (with your abs) forcing the air out of your mouth. Again make sure your chest doesn't move.

Once you are familiar with how diaphragmatic breathing feels stand up and try to sing using the same process. It will take a little while but once you get it you will find you are able to sing better than ever.

It was a hard decision whether breathing was more important than posture. The truth is they are both equally important. They are also related to each other and neither will function properly if you aren't paying attention to the other one. The reason breathing got first billing is it won the coin toss (literally, heads - breathing, tails - posture).

Singing with the proper posture is one of the most fundamental things you have to do to sing well. It not only improves you singing voice, it also helps your stage presence. If you are slumped over while you sing your lungs won't function at their maximum capacity and you will most likely be engaging extra muscles which will add unnecessary tension (also the audience may mistake you for Quasimodo, trust me it's not pleasant).

The correct posture for singing is as follows.

1. Your chin should be parallel with the floor

2. Your shoulders should be back and slightly down. Your chest should be out and your rib cage up and floating.

3. Your arms should hang relaxed by your sides. Don't lock them, but don't swing them either.

4. Keep your knees bent slightly.

5. Place your feet apart, with one foot slightly in front of the other. Be sure that your body weight is balanced between both feet.

Always make sure you are using the proper posture. I advise you to practice in front of a mirror to make sure you are using the proper posture.

Warming up your voice has many wonderful benefits. It is important to make sure the muscles in your throat and larynx are properly warmed up before you ever consider singing. If you have ever played a sport, you know the value of a good warm up. Being a singer is a lot like being an athlete. Both singers and athletes must train there bodies if they want to be able to play the game.

In addition to getting your muscles ready to sing, warming up also helps you fix problems in your voice. When you sing a song your mind is worry about the lyrics, melody and rhythm. When you perform vocal exercises you remove as many distractions as possible to allow you fix problems. Warming up is an opportunity to polish your voice. Its like running sand paper over a rough surface until its smooth.

One of the best ways to warm up your voice is humming. That's right humming. You see humming is very easy and has a relaxing effect on your voice. If it hurts when you hum you are trying way too hard (or you have a health problem and should see a doctor). Humming up and down the musical scale will help you strengthen your voice without adding tension that can slip in with other vocal exercises. If you have a piano start by playing a note that is extremely easy to sing slowly work up until it becomes difficult. Once you find yourself have a little bit of difficulty humming a note back up ad start again do this for a few minutes a day and I guaranty you will see improvements in both your range and vocal quality.

Another good exercise is the lip-trill. Lip-trills are great at making sure you are giving the voice enough air. It also helps make sure the muscles involved in singing are relaxed. To practice the lip trill place your index fingers on the side of your mouth and pucker your lips slightly. Blow air out so your lips make a "Buh" sound. Go to your piano and follow the same routine as you did when you were humming.

Ideally you will spend at least 5 -10 minutes a day practicing these exercises. If you do these exercises consistently you will definitely see improvements in your singing.