10 steps to express your individuality

Today, we will talk about how to access your vocal talent. 

We have all been blessed with a unique voice. Learn to respect it. No one will appreciate your voice if you don’t. There’s no sense in just imitating others. Express yourself individuality.

Step 1:  The Right Posture for Singing

Fixing your posture is one of the quickest and easiest things you can do to learn to sing better. The correct posture for singing is called the tall posture. Having a tall posture means keeping your body in good alignment, so you sound your best.

3 Easy Steps:

1. Stand up and spread your feet apart so that they’re about shoulder-width apart.

2. Next, with your feet at shoulder width, watch where your hips are and bring your shoulders in line with your hips and feet. Your feet, hips and shoulders are all in a bar, not slouching.

3. Finally, keep your chest comfortably lifted and ensure that your neck and chin are straight.

It’s important to check yourself in front of a large mirror. In front of the mirror, turn to your side and make sure that your back is straight. That’s it!

Step 2: Breath Support

“How do you not run out of breath when singing?” The correct breath for singing is called the diaphragmatic breath.

Singing from the diaphragm means breathing deep enough to activate your diaphragm rather than your chest or shoulders. And when you breathe from your diaphragm, you can take much fuller and more efficient breaths than when you live from your chest or shoulders.

3 Easy Steps:

1. Stand in front of a mirror and turn to the side to see your chest and stomach. 

 2. Next, place your hands around the bottom of your belly and inhale so that your stomach comes out as you breathe in. 

 3. Finally, exhale so your stomach comes back in as you breathe out. Ensure that you’re not moving your chest or shoulders when you inhale. If you keep all the movement isolated to your stomach when you’re breathing, you’ll notice that your belly has to come out as you inhale. Simple huh?

Step 3: Sing on Pitch

Most people can hear if you’re on the pitch or not within seconds. Singing in tune takes the proper feedback and vocal techniques.

3 Easy Steps:

1. Count from 1 to 5 and back down out loud in a strong speaking voice like this: “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”

2. Next, find a comfortable note at the bottom of your range (try C3 for guys and G3 for girls) and sing that first note on the word “one”.

3. Now, start counting each note on a 5-tone scale from the first to the fifth note. Don’t be afraid to let your voice go up or down when you’re trying to find the first note. Many students need a single correct note to set up the rest of the pitches in the scale.

Step 4: Learn to Project

Who cares if you can sing well if nobody can hear you? The best way to learn to project is to use the power of your speaking voice when you sing.

3 Easy Steps:

1. Take a phrase from a song that you want to sing stronger.

2. Next, say the words of the phrase out loud like you’re on stage and you need to reach the back row of the audience. Find this substantial volume without whispering or yelling. 

3. Finally, go back to the lyrics and “speak-sing” the words on the pitch with the same feeling that you just spoke them. You should notice that your vocal power is much stronger and that you have a clear and projected tone.

Step 5: Sing in Chest Voice

Terms like chest voice and head voice are confusing when you’re first starting. That’s because it’s difficult to know if you’re singing in chest or head voice correctly on your own.

3 Easy Steps:

1. Place your hand on your chest and start saying the word “Gug” (as in “Gutter”) out loud at a substantial volume. You should feel a strong vibration against your hand as you say it.

 2. Next, find a comfortable note at the bottom of your voice (try C3 for guys and G3 for girls) and sing the word “Gug” on that note with the same strength as you were speaking it. Keep the " Gug " exercise strong as you sing the “G " consonant. You won’t believe how powerful your voice is when you start learning to sing with a chest voice!

Step 6: Sing in Head Voice

Now that you’re singing with your chest voice, it’s time to find your head voice.

3 Easy Steps

1. Place your hand on the back of your neck and say the vowel “ooh” as in “oops” out loud at a comfortable volume.

2. Next, sing the “ooh” on a comfortable note at the bottom of your voice.

3. Finally, with your hand on your neck, sing a vocal siren where you go from the low note to the very top of your voice and back down. Don’t worry if your voice breaks as you sing through your range. The vocal break is just a sign that you’re “switching” to your head voice at the top.

Step 7: Sing with a Mix of Chest and Head

Now that you’ve sung with chest and head voices, it’s time to mix them.

 

3 Easy Steps:

1. Say the word “Gee” as in “Geese” aloud at a comfortable volume.

2. Find a comfortable note at the bottom of your voice (try C3 for men and G3 for women) and sing the word “Gee” on the message with the same power you used to speak it.

3. Sing the word “Gee” on an octave and a half-scale, where you replace each note of the scale with the word “Gee”. When using the " Gee " exercise, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to hit those fantastic high notes with power when using the “Gee” exercise.

Step 8: How to Belt

Belting means singing high notes with the power of your chest voice.

 

3 Easy Steps

1. Say the word “Nae” as in “Nasty” out loud in a bratty way. (To get the bratty sound, imagine that you’re a little brat on the playground using a teasing voice.)

2. Find a comfortable note at the bottom of your voice (try C3 for guys and G3 for girls) and sing the bratty “Nae” on that note.

 3. Sing the “bratty Nae” on an octave repeat scale so that you’re repeating the top note four times. And you’ll be amazed that just using a bit of this bratty sound can help you hit high notes with tons of vocal power.

Step 9: Sing Songs

The only reason to do song training is to sing songs better. Songs are way more complex to sing than vocal exercises.

One Simple Exercise:

1. Select a phrase from a song that’s been difficult for you.

2. Next, sing the melody of the phrase but replace each word with the vocal exercise “Gee”. So, for every note, sing the word “Gee” instead.

3. Finally, go back to the lyrics and sing the words with the same feeling that you got with the “Gee” exercise. You’ll be amazed at how singing the melody on one word can improve the whole song. And once you’ve gotten that song down, you can apply the same feeling to the actual lyrics.

Step 10: Come to 圆梦!

 And if all these instructions are just too difficult to decipher, email us at connect@yuanmeng.asia to book your song sessions, and our song coach will be here to guide you to find your voice!

You are just minutes away from your singing dream!