How to Be an Amazing Singer: Strategies for Singing Songs Better

These Strategies will absolutely improve your singing.  Keep these ideas in place when singing your songs:

1. Neutral mouth position

Keep the mouth neutral and don’t spread the lips. Place the palm of the hand on the chin, with the thumb on one corner of the mouth and the index finger on the other corner to prevent spreading.

Never sing with a wide, spread mouth. Show two teeth in front (apple biting shape) but not ten teeth in front.

Allow the jaw to drop for higher pitches. A singer needs more vertical space to go higher in pitch. If pulling is still an issue, push the lips forward and sing the song through pursed, forward lips.

This will sound strange but will provide more release. Then, bit by bit, relax the forward lip position.

2. Vowel modification/substitution

Refer to the  Vowel Modification Tracks chart below. Straining usually occurs in the notes approaching the first bridge, and in the first bridge. To counteract this, substitute a more closed vowel, or shade the current vowel to a more closed version.

Modifying the vowel creates greater release when transitioning through the first bridge. Moving to a more closed vowel substitute as the pitch ascends maintains connection and prevents voice breaks.

Sing on closed vowels to address straining and pulling the lower register too high; sing on open vowels for breathiness.

Combination vowels: adding the vowels [ʌ] as in the word gun or [ʊ] as in the word good to any vowel will encourage a smooth transition through the first bridge; these vowels lower the larynx.

Every vowel should also have some percentage of [ʌ] or [ʊ] for depth of sound. Think of it as a fraction, with various amounts of [ʌ] or [ʊ] added to the original vowel: [ɑ]/[ʌ] (AH/UH).

Staying on track: Remember that you modify a front vowel to its next closest and more closed front neighbor, and a back vowel to its next closest and more closed back neighbor using the Vowel Modification Tracks chart below.

Stay on either on the front vowel track or the back vowel track.

3. Key Transposition

Problems occur for the Unbalanced-Pulled Lower singer when a song is set in a key that is too low. This singer remains stuck in the lower register or chest voice and has difficulty transitioning through the bridge without flipping.

The solution is to move the key up- sometimes as much as a minor third- so more of the song must be sung in the mix.

This may feel uncomfortable at first if you are used to belting, pushing, and using excessive air pressure to push the lower register a few notes higher. But the longer you live in this unfamiliar coordination, the stronger and more comfortable the mix will become.

The online company Musicnotes.com is a good source for transposing sheet music. You can transpose a song to any key and even hear a digital recording of it in the new key to see if it is right.

To transpose an mp3 accompaniment track, use The Amazing Slow Downer.

The Amazing Slow Downer will allow you to import a track, transpose it, and then export it in a higher key without altering the sound quality of the track. Make sure you aren’t changing the tempo as you adjust the key!

To purchase accompaniment tracks, try i-tunes. You can purchase a single track for around a dollar.

Working on songs in higher keys will develop the upper register mix, a smooth transition through the first bridge, and a strong lower register-in other words, balanced registration.

Songs set in keys that encourage mix include Somewhere Over the Rainbow, The Star-Spangled Banner, Firework (Katy Perry), Nightingale (Demi Lovato), Titanium (David Guetta), Chandelier (Sia).

An accompaniment for The Star-Spangled Banner is provided in Step 0: Assessment and Diagnosis.

Eva Cassidy’s rendition of Over the Rainbow is compelling. You can find the accompaniment for this version of the song on i-tunes.

4. Syllable Substitution

Substituting singer-friendly syllables like n[ei] or gug for words or phrases that are challenging will help the neuromuscular system become used to producing those pitches correctly.

Later, you will slowly re-introduce the problematic word. Toggle back and forth between the syllable and the challenging word/phrase.

For straining, substitute a closed syllable such as a hooty [ju] (you) or w[i] (wee) or [ʊ]. Push the lips forward; this lengthens the vocal tract and makes releasing easier. If the upper register is weak or breathy, substitute n[ei] or ny[æ] to get more power in the mix.

If the lower register becomes breathy, reestablish adduction with the spoken AT exercise (AT-AT-AT!). Then sing a five-tone scale on a pharyngeal [æ], followed by the melody of the song on b[æ].

At this point, the adduction should be better, but the larynx will be high.

The next step: sing an imposed larynx exercise like GO, GUG, or BWUB to get the larynx down.

Finally: finish with MUM to center the vowel and relax the larynx, and then sing the words of the song again.

5. Marking the Music

When learning a new song, singers should:

• Print the sheet music (from musicnotes.com).
• Circle the notes in the first bridge, so they are aware when they need to “shift gears” to the upper register.
• Write in the substitute vowels or syllables. These vowels and syllables are the counter or opposite of the singer’s current tendencies. Use the TOOLS FOR TRAINING VOICES chart.

     • Write the vowel modification on you rmusic.  Open vowels modify to the next vowel on the open track; closed vowels modify to the next vowel on the closed track. Use the VOWEL MODIFICATION TRACKS chart below.

SINGING SONGS WITH RIFFS

Almost nothing is more cringe-inducing than listening to someone singing out of tune and rhythmically inaccurately.

Many singers want to riff and run but their ear training is not advanced enough to hear the riff accurately and their technique is not developed enough to sing the notes precisely.

Beginning singers who want to riff should first work through the Flexibility exercises in Step Seven and the Basic Riffs and Runs, Pentatonic, and Blues exercises in Step Eight to build skills, confidence, and ear training.

When working on riffs and runs, here’s how to improve precision and good intonation.

CHUNKING

Use The Amazing Slow Downer app: just drag an mp3 into The Amazing Slow Downer software. Decrease the tempo to about half. Select the section you want to work on, and loop it. 

The track will be slower but will remain at the same pitch, allowing you to hear and sing along with the notes of the riff slowly while learning it. If the track has a lot of background music, it is going to sound a little weird, but it will still get the job done. Once every note is in tune, with precise rhythm, gradually increase the tempo.

Please, please, please do not indulge in sloppy, out-of-tune, rhythmically incorrect singing.

Build skills sequentially, by working on exercises. Break down difficult riffs by slowing down and isolating the riff in sections. Chunk it- take it in small sections and then string those sections together.

Don’t sing the whole song, sloppily, out of tune, and rhythmically incorrectly, over and over.

Remember-practice doesn’t make perfect- it makes permanent.

STRATEGIES FOR FIXING CHALLENGES IN SONGS

Remember Your Objectives

Remember that the objectives of good singing are:

• Appropriately adducted vocal folds (clear, strong vocal sound).
• A relaxed neutral larynx that doesn’t hike for higher pitches (extrinsic muscles not activated).
• Freedom from interfering muscles (extrinsic muscles not activated).
• Balance- balance between air pressure and the focusing strength of the vocal folds, balance between the lower and upper registers, and balance of tone colors and resonance- chiaroscuro.

To achieve those objectives, choose the appropriate option from the list below:

Semi-Occluded Sounds: Vocalize the melody of the song on a lip roll, straw phonation, or other semi-occluded sounds for release and balance of subglottal and supraglottal air pressure.

Imposed Larynx Sounds: Vocalize the melody of the song on a  hooty g[i], or other imposed larynx sound for depth and register connection.

Pharyngeal Sounds: Vocalize the melody of the song on a bratty n[ei], or other pharyngeal sounds for adduction.

Friendly Compression Sounds: Vocalize the melody of the song on  NG or MM for mix and balanced onset.

Central Vowels: Vocalize the melody of the song on mum to center the vowel.

Eliminate Consonants for Legato: Eliminate the consonants and vocalize the the melody of the song on vowels only. For example, the phrase on and on would become [ɑ]-[æ]-[ɑ]. Since we sing primarily on vowels, eliminating the consonants improves legato and overall vocal production tremendously.

Speak It, Then Sing It: Speak the text of a phrase, then sing it, keeping the same clear, balanced vocal production you found when speaking the phrase. This encourages speech-level singing.

Watch Out for Diphthongs: Remember to watch out for diphthongs! Delay the final vowel sound of a diphthong until the very last moment- it should be an afterthought.

Physicalize: For release, bend forward or plie on high notes. For adduction, try the “cry.” Bending forward or bending the knees when approaching a high note tricks the extrinsic muscles into letting go. The “cry” encourages appoggio.

Volume: Maintain even volume from the bottom to the top, even if that means reducing the overall volume so the lower and upper registers match in volume.  Only sing as loud on the bottom as you can match on the top. Often, particularly with ascending melodies, singers need to decrease overall volume to find a better balance between the registers.