How to get a sweet voice naturally for singing: Exercises and tips
The human voice is inarguably one of the most expressive and essential modes of communication. Everyone's voice is unique due to the combination of tone, cadence, and pitch. It is highly unlikely to come across two people whose voices sound exactly the same. We have all heard people with amazing voices and others with not-so-good ones when it comes to singing. We will look at how to get a sweet voice naturally for singing.
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Getting a sweet singing voice takes a combination of steps that include dietary changes, exercises, and professional voice improvement.
How to get a sweet voice naturally for singing
Here is a look at some of the simplest natural ways to get a softer voice for singing.
How to make your voice beautiful at home
Some of the most effective actions to improve your voice can be carried out right at home.
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Examine your current voice
Before trying to improve your voice, you need to understand your current voice. This includes an assessment of six main voice components.
- Articulation: Do you slur your words or mumble?
- Overall pitch: Do you speak in a shrill, high tone or a deep, low pitch?
- Pitch variation: Do you speak in a monotone?
- Speed: Do you speak too quickly or slowly?
- Voice quality: Is your voice nasally, breathy, or raspy?
- Volume: How loud do you speak?
Record your voice
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Most people have probably made recordings of themselves and got less than impressive results. Generally, a lot of people do not like the sound of their recorded voice. However, it is important to remember that your recorded sound is pretty close to what others hear when you speak.
By recording yourself, you can easily understand the numerous details that comprise your vocal profile. These include speed, articulation, variation, pitch, quality, and volume. Once you assess your profile, take note of the flaws and decide the aspects you would want to improve.
Get enough sleep
Whenever your body is fatigued, one of the most highly affected aspects is your voice. Typically, one is advised to sleep for 7-9 hours, even though this may vary from person to person. If you are sleeping for about 8 hours and still feeling fatigued in the morning, you might need to consult a medical professional.
Relax
Stress is an enemy of a good voice. When trying to get a good singing voice, try and do away with situations, places, or anything else that might be causing a stress buildup. The best activities to reduce stress vary among individuals depending on personal preferences.
Avoid screaming
Screams have been known to harm a person's voice for anything from a few hours to a few days.
Learn to relax your voice
When a person is relaxed, they speak from their diaphragm instead of their throat. The latter has been known to result in forced, harsh, and tense voices. To relax your voice, start by talking while placing your hand on your throat. This will help you gauge the presence of any tightness on the throat.
Keeping your body in peak condition for the perfect voice
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It is said that the physical state of your body plays a huge role in the quality of your voice. Singers are somewhat considered ‘athletes’ in that they constantly move the tiny muscles associated with voice projection and coordinated breathing.
Here are some tips to keep your body in peak physical condition for a beautiful voice.
Do yoga and stretching exercises frequently
Stretching and yoga are said to keep the spine free from injuries. Singers who do yoga are said to have better postures and, as a result, better voices. Additionally, yoga is also said to help relax the mind, thus reducing any stress build-up that would otherwise affect the voice adversely.
Lifting weights
Weightlifting can be beneficial for singers but only when done correctly. Ideally, one needs strong abdominal and pectoral muscles to support a perfect breathing rhythm for the best voice. The pectoral muscles anchor the human larynx. Strengthening this group of muscles is said to result in enhanced tonal control.
Pilates are excellent
Pilates is a low-impact workout meant to enhance flexibility, mobility, strength, and balance through controlled movements. This exercise lengthens the abdominal muscles, resulting in improved support on the diaphragm, resulting in improved vocal control.
Aerobic exercises
Cardiovascular health is crucial for a good voice. First, your body needs to have the ideal lung capacity when performing. Your lungs are said to benefit greatly from aerobic exercises such as running, jogging, walking, and swimming. You could also try singing while running on a treadmill to practice tonal control and enhance vocal strength.
Try the Alexander Technique
The Alexander Technique was designed to remove muscular tension by releasing muscles (having them do nothing). The technique is particularly useful for the ribs and diaphragm and is said to improve the balance of one’s throat and head.
The technique results in a freer and fuller voice and vocal cords that are less susceptible to injury.
Avoid cigarettes
The smoke from cigarettes irritates the vocal cords, resulting in a harsh voice.
The Feldenkrais Method
This technique releases the body’s deep-seated tensions and softens its ligaments and muscles through coordinated subtle movements. It is widely used by actors, athletes and musicians to explore breath control, posture, and movement coordination.
Master tonal control
Tonal control is one of the biggest elements of a good voice. Here is how to make your voice sweet and soft naturally by mastering tonal control.
Control your breathing
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Breathing is essential for good sound projection. Start by taking deep breaths and then exhaling slowly. While doing this, count from 1 to 12 while using your abdominal muscles to project the sounds. Additionally, avoid tensing your larynx.
When singing, you always want to breathe steadily and slowly through the diaphragm. Practice this by placing your hand on your stomach when breathing. Ensure that you can feel your stomach expand and contract with every inhalation and exhalation.
To further control your breathing, learn to read sentences in a single breath. Have a mix of short and long sentences to make it more realistic. Exhale as you read out every sentence aloud. After you are done, breathe in and read the next sentence while exhaling slowly.
Record and listen
The best way to master tonal control is by assessing how far you are from the ideal level. Then, when recording yourself, alter the tone to hear which version sounds like the best starting point. You can do this by incorporating the breathing exercises mentioned above into the recordings.
Learn how to pitch your voice
To ensure that your audience is captivated, learn how to modulate your pitch so that your tone emphasizes what you are saying. Typically, low-pitched sounds are more pleasing to the human ear than high-pitched sounds.
To develop pitch control, practice by humming different songs in a low register.
Learn the correct posture
Posture control is crucial when it comes to figuring out how to be a good singer. Your tone control is easily affected by your posture. Learn to stand straight so that your lungs can get full air capacity.
Since breathing is crucial for the perfect tone and pitch, it goes without saying that a posture that enhances ideal breathing is important.
Moderate and check your volume
If you are singing to a small crowd without the use of external sound amplifiers, you can exercise tonal control by saying a phrase and checking with your audience whether it was loud enough. Singing louder than the ideal level will result in a higher pitch, resulting in poor tonal control.
How to improve your singing voice professionally
At times, learning how to have a good voice requires one to engage the services of a professional.
Listen keenly to good singers
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Download some songs from your favourite artist and take some time to really listen to their vocal delivery. Listen to their pitch and tonal control and how their cadence and volume changes throughout a song.
An essential part of getting a good voice is by familiarizing oneself with singers who have good voices. Doing this regularly will gradually affect the way you sound when you sing.
Get some professional elocution and singing lessons
One of the most effective ways to improve your voice is by enlisting the services of a professional voice coach. Find a professional sound coach in your area and try out some lessons with them. You will soon discover numerous ways to improve your voice.
Compare live and recorded sounds
It is amazing what a good sound engineer can do. This explains why some recorded songs sound way better than their live performance versions. If you like a particular singer's recorded song, find out what sound editing has been done on the song and decide whether you can have the same on your songs.
Foods for improving your singing voice
As with numerous other body-related issues, one's diet goes a long way in determining the quality of their voice. Here is a look at the foods to eat when trying to improve your singing voice.
Water
Well, it's technically not food, but hands down, the most important thing to consume when learning how to have a beautiful voice. Try and substitute most beverages with water. These include soft drinks, coffee, alcohol, and milk.
It is advisable to take room temperature water, not hot or cold.
Unsalted crackers and toast
These two foods help in improving hydration, an essential element of sounding good. "How?" You might ask. When you consume these two foods, the mouth is forced to produce more saliva to moisten and break them down. The end result is improved moisture around your vocal cords.
Fresh fruits
Fruits such as apples and oranges have been known to do wonders for the human voice. This is due to their high fibre and vitamin content. Avoid consuming fruits in their juiced versions since these go directly into your bloodstream.
Chicken
Chicken is a good source of protein and provides one with the energy needed for tonal and breathing control. Go for lean chicken cuts to avoid overwhelming your vocal cords with the oils and fats present in fatty cuts.
Low-fat fish
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These include pike, catfish, pollock, and hake. They contain sufficient protein levels but do not have too much fat. Consumption of excessively fatty fish can lead to indigestion and the removal of fluid from the body.
Honey
Add a spoonful of honey to your water or tea. The honey helps sooth your throat, resulting in a better tone and pitch. You can take the honey before you sleep, or immediately you wake up. However, keep in mind that honey has high sugar levels, so do not consume too much of it.
Nuts
Nuts are amazing snacks for singers. Feel free to consume your favourite ones; almonds, cashew nuts, groundnuts, or any other and then wash them down with some room temperature water.
Cantaloupe
Also known as the rockmelon, the cantaloupe is a sweet variety of watermelon and has high water content. This fruit goes a long way to ensure your vocal cords remain hydrated for that sweet voice.
Foods that can harm your singing voice
Here are some foods to avoid when trying to get a better singing voice.
Dairy products such as milk, yoghurt, and cheese
Dairy products are generally hard to break down and can easily result in acid reflux. Additionally, these products can result in thickening the mucus membranes that inhibit the vocal cords' flexibility, resulting in a bad tone.
Chocolate
Yes, this yummy delight is not exactly good for your voice. Since chocolate naturally contains caffeine, it can result in dried up vocal cord muscles. Additionally, chocolate has been known to have significantly high sugar levels.
Deep-fried foods
Most deep-fried foods tend to have very high oil contents. Consuming these foods results in excessive mucus production in the throat, which is bad for the voice.
Butter
Butter is among the oiliest foods out there and greases up one's throat. This then results in the thickening of the mucus membrane on the throat, and as you might guess, that is not good for your voice.
Ice water
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While room temperature water does wonder for your voice, ice water has the opposite effect. It constricts the muscles in your throat, resulting in the loss of flexibility and unnecessary stress on the muscles.
Carbonated drinks
Typically, sodas are full of sugar or sugar substitutes, ingredients that can result in burp-like effects when singing.
Alcohol
While some singers take some alcohol to calm their nerves before a performance, it is not advisable at all. The ingredients in alcoholic drinks can dry out one's throat, resulting in harsh voices. Additionally, some alcoholic drinks have high sugar levels that are bad for the voice.
Spicy foods
Avoid consuming spicy foods, especially before a performance. This is due to the undesirable effects such foods have on your throat.
Figuring out how to get a sweet voice naturally for singing is not as difficult as it sounds. While everyone has a unique voice, that does not mean that one is stuck with a bad singing voice. On the contrary, the dietary, lifestyle, and professional methods outlined in this guide can significantly improve one's singing voice.
DISCLAIMER: This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!
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