How to Train Your Voice: Benefits of Vocal Training

Vocal training is the practice of training your vocal cords and learning breath control to improve the quality, range, and stamina of your singing voice. Voice training combines vocal exercises and warm-ups geared to enhance the sound of your singing voice while preventing vocal injury and strain.

Vocal training helps condition and strengthen the vocal cords, creating greater sounding pitch and better control.

Anyone interested in improving their singing voice (or public speaking voice) can benefit from vocal training. Here are a few of the benefits:

1. 1. Better sound: Vocal training helps coordinate your larynx muscles, which helps even out your vocal tone and condition your throat muscles, improving the sound of your singing voice.
2. 2. Increased stamina: Misusing your vocal cords may lead to damage over time, and early conditioning can help increase your vocal stamina. The more you train your voice, the longer you can use it without straining it. Learn how to handle vocal strain.
3. 3. Voice control: Training your voice can improve your breath and tone control as you sing. The right vocal warm-ups and exercises strengthen the amount of control you have over your vocal cords, potentially expanding your range and command of different vocal techniques.

Follow these steps to learn how to train your voice correctly:

1. 1. Warm-up properly. A vocal warm-up can help prepare your voice for singing (or even public speaking). Always warm up before performing or practicing singing to prevent injury and ensure the best vocal sound. Use a piano or music app to practice matching pitch, breathing, and mouth acoustics as you work through your vocal scales. Practice vowel sounds and watch the shape of your mouth as you say each of these letters. Keep your face relaxed as you project your voice.
2. 2. Work on breath control. Vocalists can do many different breathing exercises to help breath control, specifically diaphragmatic breathing, which focuses on breathing through the diaphragm. Proper breathing techniques can help a singer control the vibration of their vocal folds and expand their lung capacity.
3. 3. Find your vocal range. Vocal range is the scope of notes—from the lowest note to the highest note—that a vocalist can comfortably sing in their chest voice, which are the notes you can project from your chest. Different vocal ranges (also called vocal types) include soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass. Finding your vocal range will help determine what kinds of songs you can sing comfortably.
4. 4. Record your voice. Pick songs that fall within your most comfortable range, then record yourself singing them. Enunciate your words and work on your volume as you sing. Play the recording back and listen to your tone, cadence, and pitch. Listen to the song’s original recording, then listen to your recording as a comparison, noting any spots of weakness such as breath or tone. Take extra time to practice those areas.
5. 5. Emote and enunciate. Singing with emotion and enunciating your words improves your singing voice and enhances your performance, allowing you to connect to the audience.
6. 6. Sing confidently. Project your voice with confidence but accept that you may sing poorly at first. All good singing takes practice, but believing in yourself is the first step.

Follow these tips as you train your voice to prevent vocal injury or strain:

1. 1. Maintain good posture. How you position your body as you sing affects airflow through your vocal cords. Keep your chest open and shoulders relaxed, with your neck and jaw in a neutral position. Slumping over can negatively affect the way your voice sounds.
2. 2. Keep practice brief. Keep your practice sessions short but frequent (daily, if possible) to prevent your voice from overuse and strain. Make sure to rest your voice in between sessions. Over time, you can gradually increase the length of your training sessions.
3. 3. Stay hydrated. Keep your voice healthy by drinking lubricating fluids like water or tea throughout the day. Avoid ice-cold drinks, milk, or other dairy food products that may cause mucus buildup in your voice and affect sound and control.
4. 4. Work with a vocal coach. If you have access to voice lessons, consider investing in a voice teacher who can help take your singing to the next level. A voice coach can help you train your voice so that you can find your proper pitch and vocal range and potentially hit high notes.

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