Author: samuelrangira

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” ― Plato

Would you like to sing like a pro? I also used to ask myself such a question. However, the answer is simple; Knowing what it takes is the key to achieving it. I’ll basically talk about the basic posture or how to stand while doing your singing practice and the mindset you should have so as to be successful.

As someone who wants to be successful in your singing, you need to have a certain mindset. First, you need to have self-confidence that you can surely sing well, and that people might appreciate your singing. This makes your advance quickly since you master steps very easily. Have you ever felt self-confident before? Now is the right time!

Second, your attitude while singing has to be positive. Otherwise, it would be a complicated thing to do when challenged with singing notes for some songs. Well, but if your attitude is positive, you give yourself thumbs-up and carry on despite the challenge.  As a result, your singing rewards and you feel happy when you are now able to sing what was challenging at the very beginning.

Now, let’s proceed to basic posture while singing. Keep in mind that this may not only be used by a beginner but also experienced singers, since practice never stops. One can still improve no matter their level of mastery. We’ll talk about positions of a singer that allow you to make effective and fruitful practice.  Have you ever started singing and were about to fall? Perhaps you were in a bad position. In maintaining a good posture, first, you need to keep a distance between your feet to allow yourself free balance. This makes you comfortable with your singing.

Second, keep your knees loose to ensure your stability and comfortability. Then comes your hips! Not paying attention to the position of your hips could lead you to creating tension that might cut off your breath while singing. In the posture lessons of Stephanie, you find that your hip posture matters in maintaining your breath-which is something crucial when you are singing. Vocal Coach Ken Taylor said “Breathing from the diaphragm is an important part in singing”. However, this can’t be done while your hips aren’t well tucked or folded for singing. Last but not least, your chest must be in an open position to allow necessary lung expansion, and your head kept neutral-not raised far up and not lowered far down.

Great! Great! Great! He’s my last word about this post: Keep practicing; Practice always-every day actually. You are advised to take a minimum of 30 minutes per day to practice.  Remember, practice makes perfect, and you will soon share with me your progress as I provide the next tips to those of you who would like to sing like a pro.

I would love to hear from you via the ‘comment’ section of my blog. Feel free to give feedback so as to allow me deliver to you what is most necessary. Thank You!!

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”— Henry David Thoreau

Now that you’ve learned several steps to take for you to sing like a pro, it is time to have the most important necessities in mind. Below are 3 important things to consider if you are going to sing like a pro.

1. Whether you are sitting or standing, keep your position favorable for your singing: Your body is completely unified. So, don’t think you will be able to sing well if your posture isn’t appropriate. Consider the images below. The tick signifies the best position to take while singing.

Standing position

Sitting position

• What is your vocal range? This is the lowest note you can sing to the highest note you can sing. Vocal ranges are mainly categorized within six voice types: Bass, Baritone, Tenor, Alto, Mezzo-Soprano, and Soprano. Through continued singing practice, you can determine the vocal range in which you belong. Knowing this will allow you to know which songs you are comfortable to cover in karaoke.

• Head voice or chest voice? Which is better? Head voice is an airier, thinner sound that simply grows stronger as singers execute higher notes. A post by Allison says that the head voice is the richer, more mature voice that instinctively more people enjoy on hearing it. As a singer, if you are likely to be complimented on your head voice, use it as many times as possible. Similarly, if you are likely complimented on your chest voice, use it regularly though it important to develop both.

You’ve probably been wondering why your singing voice doesn’t show improvement though you yearn to be an outstanding singer. If that’s the case for you, as it is for many, you are on the right page. Enjoy the 6 ways to improve your singing considerably. I’ll stress this, “Considerably!”.

1. Read aloud each day: Developing a good singing voice isn’t just about practicing singing. Reading aloud each day can also help you to work on your inflections and to build up endurance.

• Do breathing exercises to strengthen your diaphragm muscles: Hope this sounds a familiar thing, isn’t it? Let’s check it out! Though it sounds easy, you need some organized practice to make it. Consider the following steps:
  • Count 1: Inhale to have your lungs ¼ full.
  • Count 2: Inhale to have your lungs 2/4 full.
  • Count 3: Inhale to have your lungs ¾ full.
  • Count 4: Inhale to have your lungs completely full.
  • On counts of 5 to 12, exhale slowly and gradually.
  • Lastly, repeat the process.

By doing this, you will be able to enhance your breath control while singing. Hey! You got this! Just take action. Consider this video too.

• Drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water per day: Now, this is interesting. Do you think so? Most people don’t feel like drinking water especially when it comes to making it a routine; “6 to 8 glasses of water every day, oh my God, I can’t make it!” That’s how some people exclaim. My friend, remember that you reap what you sow. As the plants can’t grow well in the desert as your singing won’t improve without water.

• Sing a familiar song over and over: Did you ever meet the word ‘lyrics” before? Well, probably not the first time. They are words in a song. Print out the lyrics of a song that you love and that is in your vocal range to avoid straining. Repeat it until you master it, then work on transforming it innovatively. Believe me, you will make it. I, personally, made it! You might consider singing current hits on Billboard like Old Town Road, Bad Guy or another that suits you.

• Work on discovering your vocal range: Vocal range is the range from the lowest note you can possibly sing to the highest note. So far, based on the findings, Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose has demonstrated the greatest vocal range in studio. Mariah Carey comes on the second position (Newstalk, 2014). Why not you? Remember that practice makes perfect.

• Know what foods affect your voice negatively or positively: Good health of your voice will depend on the food you eat and how you eat it. You probably used to eat or drinking very cold foods or drinks. How sweet! I liked it too! However, very cold stuff can hinder the progress of your singing voice. In addition, avoid spicy or greasy foods though it is not all people that are affected by it.

Keeping that in mind and applying it daily will help you to perfect your singing voice and you will surely enjoy your achievement. Let me hope that you have greatly enjoyed this post. Please comment on this post, by giving us feedback on how you enjoyed, what to change, and what you would like to know more. I’ll be waiting for your comments before I deliver the next inspiring post.

Thank you!

Vocal warmups are key if you want to improve your singing. Below are 5 of the best warmups you should consider in your everyday rehearsals.

1. Lip Buzz: This technique is simple. Simply vibrate your lips together without pitch, at first. Next, you try to add a pitch to your buzz going higher in a musical note, and hold it from 3-5 seconds. There should be funny and tickling sensation in your nose. Try harder if you don’t feel it. Check the illustration in the video below.

• Solfege: You are probably familiar with “Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do” from the sound of music. In your practice, try singing from Do and back without skipping any chord even from the opposite direction. Try it with a piano, but later on try using it without a piano to train your ear. The video below will help you in the practice. Sing as the piano plays.

• “I love to sing” vocal warm-up: This technique allows you to sing the statement “I love to sing” by going higher in the note. You have to do this with a smile because smiling allows you to develop a clear and bright sound. it is all done in one breath when singing the “I love to sing”. The illustration is below

• “Mah-May-Me-Mo-Moo”

With one note, sing this sound nice and slow, really pronouncing the Ms. Start low, and sing up the scale to an octave above. Try to check whether you can possibly sing this warm up all in one breath. Don’t push, rather make it nice and relaxed.

• Siren: This is done by inhaling first. Then, you sing sound like “oh” or “oo” from your lowest comfortable note all the way up to your highest comfortable note, and back down. If you frequently struggle with a transition from your chest voice to your head voice, this is an excellent exercise for you!

So, far you’ve learned 5 vocal warm up techniques to use so as to sing like a pro. Remember, practice makes perfect. Sure? Yeah sure, as you practice as you get better at what you do. So, keep practicing those warm up exercises and feel free to share with me your progress in comments.

Music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common_Sarah Dessen