Singing Exercises to Improve Range

Those who have received formal training in singing know how important vocal exercises are. Those who haven't but are gifted singers, often miss out on improving the quality of their singing with the use of these exercises. If you are just starting out on your musical journey (are a beginner), know that it is a must to start your daily singing sessions with singing exercises warm ups. These help improve voice strength and quality and also remove muscle tension. There are also exercises to improve range and control. If you've always envied those who are able to hit the high notes with ease, or those who seem to hold a difficult note for eternity, then know that you can do it too. This article will teach you how to increase your vocal range through proper vocal exercises.

One of the preliminaries of singing is to get accustomed to abdominal breathing. Get used to breathing during natural pauses. A good posture, which includes keeping your chin level, head up, shoulders sloping and relaxed, toes pointed forward with your weight on heels and soles, front of the neck not stretched, abdominal and back muscles relaxed, is of utmost importance.

Being tense can affect your singing, which is why it is important to relax yourself. Follow the relaxation exercises with warm up exercises, that you have discussed with your teacher. It is best for you to start with warm up exercises at the mid-range, and then proceed to the higher and lower ranges.

Warm Up Singing Exercises

A simple warm up exercise is to yawn the way you normally do, inhaling deeply with your shoulders, jaw and tongue relaxed. When you exhale, do so with an audible sound. Another easy warm up exercise, is to start with the hmmm sound at a comfortable pitch, and then change it to aahhh as you proceed.

A little like how you exhale in yoga, you need to inhale slowly and deeply but when breathing out, squeeze the abdominal muscles sharply to exhale the air out on the sound of 'huh'. Among singing exercises for beginners, a good way to improve pitch range is to sing various combinations of consonant and vowel sounds at different scales ranging from low to high and vice versa.

A little more complex suggestion is to say your favorite childhood tongue twisters, such as 'Bring back the boys big brown blue baseball bats ' which helps loosen and relax the palate, throat, tongue and lips. For them to have a greater impact, you can singing the tongue twister at various pitch levels.

Exercises to Improve Voice Range

If you want to know how to strengthen your vocal range using singing exercises, you need to focus on those exercises that help you achieve a seamless sound when singing a series of notes without taking a breath. One is advised to start quietly and slowly build volume. One such exercise is to gradually sing from one vowel to another, such as E to AH, E to EH, E to OH or E to OO. Once you've done these, you can change the vowels. Do not contort the lips or put consonants in front of the vowels. The AH must be vocalized towards the front of the mouth. To get the maximum benefit, one should change pitch with each vowel exercise.

While your music teacher will be able to help you with additional singing exercises to improve range, it is important to train, not strain your vocal cords. Continue practicing the ones that give your results, while trying a new one every now and then.