How to learn to sing at any age

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

It's simple. Breathe correctly, develop your vocal cords and be more confident.

1. Work on your posture

This is the first thing to do if you want to learn to sing. When you habitually slouch, this is what happens:

• The airways are bent and air cannot pass freely through them.
• Internal organs are compressed. The lungs suffer in the first place: it is difficult for them to expand and contract and they are able to take in much less air than in a free state.

As a result, while singing, you constantly stumble to grab the missing oxygen. And your voice does not sound as powerful and deep as it could - it remains quiet and deaf.

Correct posture - straight spine, open shoulders, open chest - allows you to maximize lung capacity, ease the passage of air and enable you to sing more loudly Correct Singing Posture / University of Kansas.

How to sing while standing

• Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart and one of them slightly forward.
• Imagine that your spine is a string going up into the sky.
• Lift your chin so that the bottom line is parallel to the ground.
• Unfold your shoulders.
• Putting your hand on your stomach in the area of the diaphragm - this disciplines, not allowing the stomach to protrude forward, and additionally helps to control breathing (more on that later).

This position will facilitate your breathing as much as possible and allow your lungs to fill.

How to sing while sitting

• Sit in the front half of the chair, do not lean on the back.
• Remember: your spine is a string going into the sky.
• Place both feet parallel to each other without lifting your heels off the floor.
• Unfold your shoulders.
• Keep your lower jawline parallel to the floor.

This position may not seem very comfortable at first. But during training, it is extremely important to sit this way in order to accustom the body to the correct position. Well, and get acquainted with your own, not constrained by the usual stooped voice. He may surprise you.

2. Find a comfortable position

Correct posture is important for the strength and sonority of the voice. But a comfortable posture is for self-confidence, without which it is difficult to speak in front of the audience.

Try to combine these two factors: look for a position in which you feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible, and which at the same time gives freedom to your lungs.

João Ribeiro Vocal teacher.

Find a position that makes you feel like a superstar.

3. Learn to breathe correctly

Correct, effective breathing is the foundation of singing. We need enough air to draw long sounds. And the ability to inhale quickly, so as not to interrupt the vocals and not disturb its melody.

How to learn to inhale correctly

Your task is to fill your lungs with air quickly and to the maximum. You can develop this skill using the following exercises Breathing Basics For Singing / Dummies. They must be repeated every day.

1. Imagine that the air you are breathing in is very heavy. Well, for example, it weighs 10 kg. Visualize this weight and let it literally fall into your body, below the level of your navel (feels like, naturally). Boom! An important point: when "10 kg of air" falls, the belly expands, not the chest. Try to breathe this way - belly. In this case, the diaphragm, a muscle that provides maximum expansion of the lungs, will actively work. Take 5-10 slow breaths in and out with your “belly”.
2. Speed up your belly breathing. Again, pretend the air weighs a lot, but allow it to sink into your body as quickly as possible. Take 10-15 quick breaths and slow breaths.
3. Try filling your lungs with air as if you were a balloon. Inhale with the diaphragm as deeply as possible. Feel the belly and lower back expand. Do 3-4 sets.

How to learn to exhale correctly

Breathing out is equally important. It should be even and smooth to help you hit and hold high notes and long musical phrases. To work out exhalation, do one of the following exercises (or both).

1. Run a feather around the house. Or, if it is not at hand, imagine. Now lift the feather in the palm of your hand to the level of your mouth, take a deep breath and blow on it - so that it rises into the air as high as possible. Further, your task is not to let him fall as long as possible. Blow on the feather while you can. At the end of this long exhalation, you should feel an urgent need to inhale immediately.
2. Sing any note at a relatively high volume. Keep this sound for as long as you can. You will need a stopwatch to test the effectiveness of this workout. Time yourself out to sing a note. And then watch how this time gradually increases every day.
3. Make a hiss. Inhale slowly and deeply, hold your breath for 1-2 seconds and begin to release air with a constant low hiss: "Shhhhh …". Listen to this sound and make sure that the tone does not decrease or increase, and that the sound flows without pauses or hiccups. Hiss until there is enough air in your lungs.

4. Work on your singing technique

Vocals can be trained, just like muscles in a gym. But it's important to do it right.

1. Stretch your vocal cords before exercise … For example, like this. Start by singing any note at a volume that is most comfortable for you. Then sing in a lower pitch (in a low voice). Then - raising (in a high, thin voice). If you feel that at some point the vocal cords are overextended, stop, take a break, and then repeat the warm-up from the beginning.
2. Train your resonance … It is he who gives the voice strength, sonority, richness of timbre. You can control the resonance in two places: by placing the fingers of one hand next to the wings of the nose (in the area of the sinus sinuses) or by leaning your palm against your chest, 10 centimeters above the solar plexus. When you sing, your fingers or palm should feel the vibration. The more perceptible it is, the better the resonance.
3. Learn to hit the notes … For this exercise, you will need a voice recorder (you can use the simplest one built into your smartphone). Record on it how you sing along with your favorite song performed by your favorite vocalist. As you listen to the recording, you will find out where your voice sounds unnecessarily high or low. Adjust the pitch to match the notes. The more often you do this exercise, the more accurate you will sing.
4. Articulate … It is important that the singing is intelligible and the listeners can make out it, because few people like someone else's purr under their breath. Work your lips more actively, pronouncing each word.

5. Sing every day

If you want to build muscle, you regularly go to the gym. Singing is the same story: in order to train your vocals, it is advisable to practice daily.

Train your posture, breathing, and singing techniques at the earliest convenience. Sing in the bathroom, while driving, while cleaning the house. This will help you get to know your own voice better, recognize it in all its forms, and eventually learn how to use it.

A good way not to miss your workout is to join an amateur choir. Collective singing is often associated only with the church (although, on the other hand, why not? There are many world-class vocalists from church choirs.) But in fact, a choir can be part of different organizations.

Perhaps it is practiced at your work - as part of team building. Or there is a choir singing club for adults at the music school where your child goes. Or maybe you will join a group of folk song lovers, which operates in the nearest cultural center.

The style and genre in which the choir operates are not that important. Regular exercise can still help you open up your voice. The choir director and colleagues will point out possible vocal mistakes and suggest how to overcome them.

6. Learn from the professionals

The most effective way to learn to sing is to take lessons from a vocal tutor. But there is also a more budgetary way - turn to YouTube training channels.

For example, in this video you will be shown that everyone can sing beautifully. Even someone who, at first glance, has neither hearing nor voice.

Here they will reveal the secrets of how to learn to sing from scratch at home.

This video offers chants and vocal exercises that will make your voice resonant and effective.

There are a million educational channels on YouTube. Choose according to your taste and pump your vocals every day. This is easier than it sounds.