Sunday, August 8, 2010

How To Sing Even If You're Scared To Death!

By Razile Dalap

Every person understands how to sing, well anyway that is what most people think. We all have a thinking that everybody knows how to sing. Well, sort of. Believe it or not, there is a right way and a wrong way to sing. Or, perhaps more accurately, a healthy and sustainable way as opposed to unhealthy and potentially harmful ways.

Look After Yourself and Your Voice

Whether you dream of having a professional career in music or are a purely recreational singer, you want your voice to sound as good as it can and to last your lifetime. And like mentioned, the best way to keep your voice sounding great is to keep yourself physically fit and in good overall health. To do this, maintain a healthy diet, adequate sleep, and moderate exercise. Avoid smoking, illegal drugs, and excessive use of alcohol.

The image that those hard-partying rock star is not always true. There were famous singers before who abused what their body can take which today's recording artists are trying to avoid by taking good care of themselves.

You most certainly need some training on how to sing if you really want to be a serious singer, whether professional or recreational. Aspiring professionals like nurses, engineers and accountants must got to school to pursue their chosen occupation. You can either use an online singing course or find a local teacher and take lessons. Singing is Easy by Yvonne DebBandi or Singorama by Emily Mander are two example of online singing course.

You need to learn how your vocal apparatus works and how to use it, and also avoid or deal any voice problems regardless of which method you choose. Remember that learning how to sing can be fun and exciting with the right teacher or program you got.

Your posture and breath support are the first things that any good teacher or online course should address. This will allow production of the best vocal tone. Standing erect but relaxed, feet about hip-width apart and one of which is slightly forward is the best singing posture. For shoulders, it should be in back and the chest high but it does not the same as a soldier standing at attention. Not that rigid but a little relaxed.

Here is an easy exercise to help you achieve good singing posture. With you arms at your side, stand with your feet hip-width apart. Bring your arms in a rapid circular motion across your body and over your head, rising onto your tiptoes at the same time while taking in a good, deep breath.

Slowly start to exhale, bringing your arms down to your sides and coming down from your toes. As you exhale and bring your arms down, try to keep your chest and shoulders in the same position they were in at the top of your stretch.

Without straining your throat, breath support enabled you to produce a pleasant tone. When you inhale to sing, you should feel expansion all around your midsection. Your diaphragm, abdominal, and spinal muscles should all be working together. During this time your abdominal and spinal muscles should all be working together as well as your diaphragm.

Once you have taken in a good breath, breathe out on a hissing sound while trying to maintain the expansion of your midsection. You will learn to sing in a healthy manner and with better tone and less vocal fatigue once you've strengthen those muscles. It may take some time, but it is worth it.

The only foundation of how to sing well is the posture and breath support. The next level is tone placement and quality. The chest, the pharynx (mouth and throat), and the head (sinuses) are the three primary areas where our vocal tone resonates. For lower notes, you use your "Cheast voice" and you use your "head voice" for higher notes.

In most cases, you will want to use what voice teachers call a "mixed tone", with the sound coming from both the pharynx and the head. The combination is called mask resonance, because you want to feel the sound vibrations in the area that would be covered by a half-face Halloween mask.

With this simple exercise, you can feel the mask resonance. Tale a full deep, supported breath. Starting on a high note with the syllable "hoo" or "hee", slide from the top of your range down to the bottom. It should feel a bit like yawning, and you should feel vibration in the soft palate (roof of your mouth) and in the triangle between your eyes and the bridge of your nose.

Mastering these basics is the first step in learning how to sing. It will take time, effort, and practice, but if you work patiently and consistently, you will see results.

About the Author:

0 comments:

Post a Comment