- 1. Exercise to increase breathing capacity
- 2. Exercise to warm up the vocal cords
- 3. Exercise to improve resonance
- 4. Exercise to relax the larynx
In order to sing better, it is necessary to focus on some essential aspects, such as improving breathing capacity, to be able to maintain a note without having to take breaks to breathe, to improve resonance capacity and, finally, to train the vocal cords and the larynx, so that become stronger and can produce more harmonious sounds.
Although some people are born with a natural gift for singing and do not need much training, the vast majority need to train to obtain a beautiful singing voice. Therefore, in the same way that body muscles are trained in the gym, those who need to sing, or have this desire, must also train their voices.
To guarantee the best results, it is always best to participate in singing lessons and have a teacher who helps to train individual failures, however, for those who only need to improve their voice to sing at home or with friends, there are X simple exercises that can improve the voice in a short time. These exercises must be done at least 30 minutes a day:
1. Exercise to increase breathing capacity
Respiratory capacity is the amount of air that the lung can reserve and use and is very important for anyone who wants to sing, as it ensures that you can maintain a constant flow of air through the vocal cords, which allows you to keep a note for longer, without having to stop to breathe.
A simple way to train the lung and increase breathing capacity is to take a deep breath and retain as much air as possible inside the lung, then slowly breathe out the air while making the 'ssssssss' sound, as if it were a ball deflating. During the process of venting the air, you can count how many seconds it lasts and then try to increase that time.
2. Exercise to warm up the vocal cords
Before starting any exercise that uses the voice, it is very important to warm up the vocal cords, as it ensures that they are ready to be worked well. This exercise is so important that it can even improve your voice in less than 5 minutes, but it must be worked out frequently to ensure better results. In addition to heating the vocal cords, it also helps to relax the muscles responsible for the production of sounds. See other exercises that help to relax your muscles and improve diction.
To do the exercise, you must make a sound similar to a "zzzz" bee and then go up the scale by at least 3 notes. When the highest note is reached, it must be maintained for 4 seconds and then go back down the scale.
3. Exercise to improve resonance
Resonance is related to the way the sound produced by the vocal cords vibrates inside the throat and mouth, just as it does inside a guitar when you pull one of the strings, for example. Thus, the greater the space for this resonance to happen, the richer and fuller the voice will be, making it more beautiful to sing.
To train the resonance capacity, the word " hâng " must be said, while trying to keep the throat wide open and the roof of the mouth raised. After doing this, you can add an 'á' to the end of the word, resulting in " hâng-áá " and do it several times over and over.
During this exercise it is easy to identify that the back of the throat is more open and it is this movement that must be done when singing, especially when it is necessary to keep a note.
4. Exercise to relax the larynx
When the larynx becomes very tight during singing, it is common to feel that a "ceiling" has been reached in the ability to sing more loudly, for example. In addition, the contraction of the larynx also causes a feeling of a ball in the throat that can end up harming the way the voice is produced.
So, whenever these signs appear, a good way to relax the larynx again is to say the word 'ah' and keep the note for a while. Then, you should repeat the exercise until you feel that the larynx is already more relaxed and that the sensation in the throat is disappearing.
