How to Improve Singing Voice Tips for Better Performance

Katherine Dvoskin, Co-Founder of K&M Music School

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Author: Katherine Dvoskin | Co-Founder of K&M Music School
Published October 23rd, 2024

Learn pro singing techniques to improve vocal tone, resonance, power, and performance. This guide covers warmups, mic use, health tips, and more.
You must practice if you want to impress crowds at concerts or feel confident singing karaoke. Improving your singing voice takes time and consistency. However, the hard work is worth it! With practice, you will see great results.
In this guide, 10 tips and exercises to improve your singing. We will talk about proper technique and how to build vocal power. You will also learn how to avoid strain and prepare for performances. Plus, we’ll cover how to keep your voice healthy.
Bookmark this page for vocal training tips. Use these tips to

Brand/Technique	Description	Benefits
Breathing Techniques	Focus on diaphragmatic breathing to enhance breath support and vocal power.	Improved vocal projection and stamina, reduced strain, and enhanced control over vocal performance.
Vocal Warmups	Includes lip trills, tongue trills, humming, and scale slides to prepare the voice for singing.	Increases vocal range, flexibility, and reduces tension, ensuring a smoother singing experience.
Hydration and Health	Emphasizes staying hydrated and using herbal teas and supplements to maintain vocal health.	Keeps vocal cords lubricated, reduces inflammation, and supports overall vocal endurance.
Microphone Technique	Proper mic distance and angle adjustments for optimal sound clarity during performances or recordings.	Ensures clear sound without distortion, protects voice from strain, and enhances live performance quality.
Vocal Power Exercises	Start with low-intensity exercises and gradually increase to build vocal strength and endurance.	Allows for longer performances without fatigue or injury, improves control over dynamic singing.

Here are some tips to improve your singing:

Breathe properly: Good breathing helps your voice.
Practice vocal agility: Use drills to improve how quickly you sing.
Transition smoothly between notes: Work on moving easily from one pitch to another.
Relax your neck: This helps reduce tension while singing.
Build endurance: Practice singing long notes to strengthen your voice.
Aim for a rich tone: Focus on creating a warm and full sound.
Stay hydrated: Drink water to keep your vocal cords healthy.
Use scales and riffs: These help you improve your range and flexibility.
Work on intonation: Make sure you sing in tune.
Try throat coat spray: This can soothe your throat before singing.
Practice microphone technique: Learn how to use a mic correctly.
Be confident on stage: A strong presence helps you connect with the audience.

Proper Alignment and Breathing Technique

Singing relies on effective breathing to power and project your voice. Mastering alignment along with specialized breathing techniques sets the foundation.

Work on Posture

Stand or sit tall with your shoulders back while singing. Slouching or hunching over constricts your diaphragm, limiting breath capacity and vocal power.
Engage your core and keep your weight over the balls of your feet. Don’t lean or lock your knees. This helps you stand straight.
When your spine is aligned, it improves your breathing and singing technique.

Tension Impacts Technique

Extra tension in your body can hurt your breathing and singing. Check for tightness in places like your jaw, throat, shoulders, and torso.
Relaxing these areas can help improve your voice.
Tip your chin slightly down to keep your throat and jaw relaxed.
Before singing, release tension with stretches.
Continually monitor and relieve tension as you practice and perform.

Learn Diaphragmatic Breathing

Regular breathing uses the chest. In contrast, singing needs diaphragmatic breathing.
This type of breathing helps you have smooth and steady breath support.
The diaphragm is the muscle below your lungs that controls inhalation and exhalation.
Learning how to engage this muscle is key to projecting your voice with power and stamina.
Practice belly breathing and lying down exercises mentioned earlier.
Over time, diaphragmatic breathing will become easy for you. Keep working on it!

Improve Breath Support

Imagine your exhale like a steady stream of water pouring from a pitcher, not a blast of air from a hose.
Work on sustaining notes, phrases, and entire songs with smooth, consistent breath support.
Avoid pushing too much air which strains your voice and makes the tone sound airy.
Dial back pressure while maintaining diaphragmatic support.
Record yourself and make adjustments where the tone sounds strained or breathy.
Good posture, relaxed muscles, and deep breathing help you master singing.
These are important skills to remember as you practice the exercises.
Focus on these core ideas to improve your vocal technique!

Vocal Warmup Exercises and Drills

Warming up your voice is like stretching before a workout. It gets your muscles ready and helps you sing better. Warming up also expands your range, so you can hit more notes!

Warm Up With Lip Trills

To do a lip trill: Relax your jaw and vibrate your lips together on the pitch. Start low and trill up and down your range. Focus on keeping lips loose, and throat open.
Benefits: Lip trills help relax your facial and vocal muscles. They also relax your throat and improve breath support. Try to wait for 5 minutes before doing other warm-up exercises. This will prepare your voice for singing!

Tongue Trills

To do a tongue trill: Trilling your tongue against the roof of your mouth creates a beneficial vibration. Start low and try different pitches, working your way up and down your range.
Benefits: Keep your tongue and throat as relaxed as possible. Tongue trills help warm up your vocal cords and resonating chambers.

Humming

To hum: Humming helps warm up your vocal cords. It gently massages them together without straining. You don’t need to shape words, which makes it easier.
Benefits: This is a great way to prepare your voice before practice! Start low and hum up and down your range. Focus on smoothness and resonance. Check for unwanted nasality or strain. Keep your throat relaxed.

Scale Slides

To perform scale slides: Gliding up and down the scale on different vowel sounds (try “me”, “mi”, “mah” and “moo”) warms up your range. Start low slide up an octave and back down smoothly.
Benefits: Focus on pure, consistent vowel formation throughout the entire slide without shifting. Increase speed and range as you repeat. Vocal slides improve flexibility.

Chant Talking

To chant talk: Before singing lyrics, “chant talk” lines of songs on just one or two pitches. This connects speech and singing areas of your brain to improve lyric diction.
Benefits: Focus on clearly pronouncing consonants and vowels accurately. Then sing the line and notice clearer articulation.

Sirens

To perform sirens: Sirens imitate the sound of a police car sliding up and down in pitch. Practice sirens starting low and glide up and down your range in a smooth, steady motion.
Benefits: Work on keeping the slide even without a wavering pitch. Increase range and speed with control. Sirens build vocal agility and smooth pitch transition.

Tip: Warm up your voice for at least 10 minutes before rehearsals. For performances, aim for 30 minutes of warm-ups. Use your full vocal range to activate your muscles and open up your voice.

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Vocal Power and Stamina Exercises

Just like athletes train, you need to build your vocal strength. This helps you control your voice better. It also helps you perform longer without hurting your voice.

Start Low and Slow

How to do it: Begin power-building exercises in your low to mid-range at 50-75% capacity for a few seconds. Take a 10-second break, then repeat a few times.
Progression: In each practice session, try to sing for a few more seconds. After that, work on hitting higher and lower notes. Over time, you will be able to sing full songs without losing your breath or power!

Increase Intensity

How to do it: As your endurance improves, bump up the intensity too. Rather than staying mid-volume, experiment with crescendos and decrescendos.
Techniques: Swell from piano to forte then back again. Then try Fortissimo! Build the control to handle singing both extreme lows and loud high notes.

Take Regular Breaks

How to do it: Pushing your voice too far too fast can cause injury. Gauge your limits and take short 1-2 minute breaks for water as needed.
Recovery: Rest your voice completely if you ever feel pain, soreness, or lose your range. Pace yourself during demanding rehearsals and performances.
Benefits: With regular practice, your voice will get stronger. This will help you sing higher notes and perform longer. Take your time, and you’ll improve over time!

Eliminate Vocal Strain and Fatigue

Straining your voice leads to inflammation, fatigue, loss of range, and vocal injury. But certain remedies can prevent and alleviate strain.

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

Why: Dehydration is hard on your voice. It makes your vocal cords work extra hard.
How to do it: To stay hydrated, drink at least 64 ounces of water every day. Herbal tea is also a good choice! Avoid drying caffeine and alcohol, especially before singing. Carry water during practice and performances to maintain hydration.

Soothe With Herbal Tea

How to do it: Sip antioxidant-rich green tea daily to hydrate vocal tissues. Drink throat coat tea at the first sign of irritation to coat and soothe your throat. The gel it produces also thins mucus secretions for a clearer tone.
Additional options: Ginger tea with honey is great for reducing inflammation. Cinnamon helps stabilize blood sugar and keeps your energy levels steady. Both are excellent options for your health!

Take Anti-Inflammatory Supplements

Benefits: Turmeric, omega-3s, pineapple, and manuka honey help keep your voice healthy. They reduce swelling and irritation. These anti-inflammatory agents also aid recovery.
How to do it: Mix turmeric and antioxidant-rich berries into a smoothie. You can also take capsules every day. This helps protect your voice from strain and fatigue.

Use Throat Relief Spray

How to do it: Keep throat relief spray, like Entertainer’s Secret, handy. Use it before performances or when your throat feels scratchy. The spray coats your throat right away for quick relief.
Additional tip: Here’s a bonus tip: Suck on throat coat lozenges during long rehearsals or lessons. This helps keep your throat moist!

Drinking enough water and using remedies can help reduce strain on your voice. This way, you can sing without pain!

Develop Clear, Resonant Tone

Resonance means having a rich and clear tone. It should not sound breathy, nasal, or raspy. Use these tips to improve your resonance and consistency!

Work on Forward Placement

How to do it: Good resonance starts with correct mouth and tongue position. Tip your chin slightly and imagine tone vibrating in the mask of your face instead of back in your throat.
Techniques: Try shaping vowels high in your mouth. Project the sound forward instead of letting it go through your nose. This helps make your voice sound stronger and more resonant.

Smooth Out Vocal Fry

How to do it: Vocal fry happens when your vocal cords vibrate loosely at low pitches. This creates a raspy, cracking sound. You can use fry creatively, but practice transitioning smoothly in and out of it.

Reduce Nasality

How to do it: Some sounds should come from your nose, but too much can make your voice sound unclear. Focus on rounding your vowels and keep your soft palate lifted. This helps direct air through your mouth instead.
Techniques: Hold a finger horizontally under your nose. If air hits your hand, tweak your mouth position to reduce nasality. Record yourself and listen for improvements.

With daily resonance drills, you’ll develop a consistently clear, professional-grade tone.

Improve Pitch and Intonation

Even good singers can go off-key sometimes. This can happen when they are distracted or changing their vocal range. Use these tips to help improve your pitch!

Record Yourself

How to do it: Recording your rehearsals lets you listen to your voice later. This helps you find any pitch problems. You can compare different recordings to see how you improve!
What to look for: Pay attention to sections where the pitch wavers or moves off-key. Take note if this happens during register shifts or on certain vowels. Then drill problem areas.

Use Pitch Visualizer Apps

Examples: Voice Analyst and Pitch Monitor
How to do it: Apps like Voice Analyst and Pitch Monitor show your pitch on a graph while you sing. This makes it easy to spot and fix any pitch problems. The visual helps you improve quickly!
Techniques: Record yourself using the app. Then, look at the graph to find where your pitch is off. This helps you see what to improve quickly. The recordings give you helpful visual feedback.

Use a Tuner

How to do it: Recording yourself is helpful. However, using a tuner gives you instant visual feedback. This helps you make quick adjustments while you sing.
Techniques: As you sustain notes and sing scales, watch to see if you go sharp or flat so you can instantly self-correct. Handheld tuners are affordable and easy to use anywhere.

Match Pitch With a Drone Note

How to do it: Matching a steady drone note helps train your ear and voice. First, let the drone play your starting pitch so you can match it perfectly. Then, turn off the drone. Focus on staying centered as you sing.
Tip: Singing harmony lines along with a drone set to the melody note helps improve intonation.

Sing With Good Technique

How to do it: When vocal technique suffers, so does pitch control. Ensure you support notes fully with breath instead of underpowering. Release excess tension which restricts your range.
Techniques: Make sure to transition smoothly between your vocal registers. Avoid cracking between your chest and head voice. Keep your throat open, not tight. Using good technique helps prevent pitch problems.
Tools: Use tools like recorders and tuners to help you understand pitch. Then, practice vocal techniques to sing in tune. This way, you will always sound beautiful and stay on key!

Optimize Vocal Health

Taking care of your health helps protect your voice. It keeps you singing your best at every performance. Staying healthy helps you avoid losing energy!

Improve Your Diet

How to do it: A balanced diet with lean protein, fruits, and vegetables helps reduce inflammation. This diet gives your voice the nutrients it needs to be strong. Eating well is important for healthy singing! Stay hydrated with water and herbal tea.
What to avoid: Avoid dairy, too much sugar, and fried foods. These can increase mucus and make your voice sound unclear. Eating anti-inflammatory foods helps keep your vocal health strong.

Lower Stress Levels

How to do it: High stress causes muscle tension which negatively impacts breathing, resonance, and vocal control. Make time for relaxing activities like yoga, meditation, massage, and nature walks.
Tip: Singing itself can lower stress levels and improve mood! Belt out your favorite uplifting song.

Prioritize Quality Sleep

How to do it: Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night to allow your body and voice to fully recharge. Being well-rested maximizes vocal recovery between demanding performances.
Tips: Avoid screens and caffeine close to bedtime. Develop an evening routine that sets you up for restful, restorative sleep.

Stay Active

How to do it: Regular exercise is good for you. It helps your blood flow and improves how you breathe. This reduces tension in your body. All of this helps your singing voice!
Techniques: Taking a 30-minute walk every day is helpful. It keeps your vocal cords and the muscles around them flexible and ready to use.
Benefits: Adopting healthy lifestyle habits protects your voice from unnecessary strain, illness, and inflammation. Make self-care a priority if professional-grade singing is your goal.