Veteran vocal coach Cari Cole shares five singing tips to make your voice sound better.

Singing Tips: How to sing better right nowThis post originally appeared on Cari Cole’s “Standing in the Spotlight” blog and also on blog.discmakers.com

As one of the top vocal coaches in the country, I’m frequently asked, “What are your top singing tips for vocalists?” Well, I could rattle off a long list, and yammer on for hours. I’m a nerd’s nerd when it comes to vocals, and I have a long list of favorite tricks up my sleeve from more than 20 years of coaching singers… But I love a challenge – so I pretended I had only five minutes to tell you my best singing tips, and I wracked my brain to come up with the Top 5.

First, one of the things I am constantly teaching my private clients is that the voice is an instrument inside your body and you have to learn how to use it to get the most out of it. It’s very “physical” on the foundational level.

To have a strong voice and to have vocal consistency there are certain things you have to know and do, and there are some really simple methods you can use, right now, to get a great sound out of your instrument.

And the truth is most singers, even professionals, unless they’ve trained, don’t know this stuff. I’m going to give these singing tips to you as if I were actually giving you a voice lesson: right here, right now.

So, stand in front of a mirror, because I’m going to ask you to watch your jaw and your head position to control movement as you sing.

Cari’s Top 5 Singing Tips

1. The “instant fix”
This is a quick trick that makes you sound better instantly, so I call it the “Instant Fix.” Say A-E-I-O-U (watch your jaw movement in the mirror). Did your jaw close on any of the vowels? Chances are your jaw closed on the “E” and the “U” – and most likely on others too, if not all of them. Take your first two fingers and pull your jaw down two inches – or even better, use a plastic bottle cap or a wine cork to prop your jaw open. Now speak the vowels again. And repeat again (we’re trying to re-program muscle memory – so the more the better).

Now sing the vowels on one pitch. A-E-I-O-U. Your goal is to keep your jaw open (long not wide) without closing for all of your vowels. Repeat until you can do it. Now sing a phrase of one of your songs – and make sure your jaw opens to the same position on all of your vowels. You have to practice this a bunch before it becomes natural – but the more you do, the sooner this new movement is programmed into your muscle memory.

And you might be one of those lucky ones who notice the improvement in the sound right away (it will sound louder and more resonant with less vocal strain). If you don’t, don’t sweat it, you will. It just takes a little practice. You might have some unwanted tension in your neck, jaw and throat muscles – try loosening them up and try it again. The next time you perform open your jaw more on your vowels, it’s one of my quick singing tips that makes you sound better instantly!

2. “Think down” for high notes
When you sing a scale, try thinking of the way an elevator works: a heavy weight is attached to a pulley, and as the weight pulls down, the elevator goes up to the higher floors. So, the highest floor is reached when the weight is the heaviest. Similarly, you should use the most “weight” on your highest notes.

3. More power without strain
Who doesn’t want more power without strain? This is one of those simple singing tips that’s easy to apply – easier than the one above. All you have to do is to keep your chin pointed slightly down and your pectoral muscles slightly flexed (sometimes it’s a lot flexed) when you go for more power. Most singers reach forward or lift their chin up to sing with more power. While it may temporarily work, it causes vocal problems. Tipping your chin down not only works better and saves your voice, it actually SOUNDS better!

Stand in front of the good ‘ol mirror. Sing an “ah” scale up and down in one phrase (1-2-3-4-3-2-1). Press your chin slightly in (point your chin towards the floor), usually only 1 inch or so. Don’t let your head bob up as you raise pitch – keep it firmly in place. Go all the way up the scale of your voice keeping this position. Notice how the chin wants to move up as you raise pitch. Keep it planted. This will give you more power and control and eliminate strain. Practice it until it becomes natural!

4. Vibrato
Here’s a quick tip to get your vibrato working. Stand in front of a mirror; press on your chest with both hands, then raise your chest higher than normal. Take a breath in and then exhale, but don’t drop your chest. Sing one note and hold it as long as possible with your chest raised. Press on your chest halfway through the note (press kind of hard and raise your chest to meet the pressure). Relax the back of your neck and keep your jaw open as you’re singing “ahhh.” Imagine the air spinning around in your mouth while keeping your chin tucked down a bit and your chest raised. Keep in mind, overuse of vibrato is not a good thing in contemporary singing (pop, rock and R&B). At the same time, no vibrato is also not a good thing. So, try ending phrases with straight tone, then into a little bit of vibrato. The bottom line is to do what’s best for you.

5. HearFones®
A good vocal tone is not established by singing loudly, it’s established at medium volume. Good tone happens when vocal folds are strong enough to have a good closure but not touch.

Releasing too much air creates a “breathy” tone and releasing too little air creates a “nasal” tone. Unless you’re really going for breathy or nasal as a stylistic choice, somewhere right in between the two is the perfect balance. HearFones® allow you to really hear yourself and work on your tone at medium volumes.