5 Keys to Sing Better and Increase Sound and Power Without Strain

This post helps you get started, but it’s only the beginning. Do you ever wonder if there is more for your voice? Many singers, even professionals miss key elements and techniques that can open up an entire new world of vocal power and ability. At the upcoming?FREE 4-Day Better Voice Challenge, you’ll flow through 4 one-hour workshop style sessions to experience a transformative shift in your voice. Each session builds on the other in sequence to open up your voice, begin restoring your natural sound and increase vocal power with simple and effective methods. Come join me and learn the methods Grammy winners and legends use to transform their voice and keep them performing at their peak!?Click here to get access.

Keys to Sing Better and Increase Sound and Power Without Strain

Do you ever wonder if there is more for your voice? Many singers, even professionals miss key elements and techniques that can open up an entire new world of vocal power and ability. In today's blog, I’ll be discussing the 5 keys to singing better and to increase sound and power without strain.

1. Establish a consistent, non-negotiable daily practice

A key to singing better, increasing sound and power without strain is to develop a strong and healthy singing voice. The way to do that is through a consistent daily practice.

Establish a consistent daily practice of 20 minutes minimum and a maximum of 50-60 minutes a day to improve your vocal strength and health.?

I start singers with a 20 minutes a day practice because it is proven that 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week over time improves the quality and strength of the singing voice more than a longer practice a few times a week. So make your practice a 20 minute minimum to establish your practice. Then if you have more time you can add to it, but don’t miss those 20 minutes if you want to build a strong and healthy voice.?

One of the keys to establishing a strong consistent daily practice is to make it non-negotiable. There will always be things to pull you away. But when you insist upon that practice time by making it non-negotiable is when you get the results…

Try this:??

• Find the right time of day that you are most likely to be undisturbed for your practice. I like to get vocal practice down earlier in the morning so I can go about the rest of my day knowing it is completed.
• Schedule your daily practice right on your calendar like you are going to a job that you must attend.
• If you live with others, put a “do not disturb” sign on your door and let them know that you are not to be disturbed during that time unless the house is burning down :).?

When you establish a strong daily practice you give your voice a chance to develop into it’s full potential. Make your practice non-negotiable and you’ll be surprised how fast it improves! Start here with my Singers Gift Vocal Warmup. Use the COUPON code: SG25off at checkout to save $25.00.?Click here to learn more.

2. Work on weak areas to build more strength

To increase sound and power without strain you want to build a strong voice. Which includes working on your weak areas.?

The weakest part of the voice is right smack in the middle. This is where the biggest “break” or register shift is. And usually this area is the “muddiest” lacking clarity or punch. It’s easier to “dig into” the higher notes because you can feel them more. But the middle is muddier and lacks clarity of vowels and tone.? ?The middle notes are actually what develop the “overtone series” and true range.

Most people shy away from working on weak areas because it’s hard to listen to. But once you understand that the voice is an instrument and it needs your help turning it into a strong, capable voice it’s easier to do the work. Think of it this way, athletes practice drills to strengthen their weak areas. Singers can do the same!?

To work on weak areas, try this:?

• Practice scales in the middle of the voice that go right through the passaggio or register shifts.
• Use a deeper tone as you move through the passaggio to help give the larynx more depth in position. This will help you navigate this area without cracking or breaking as much.

To work a set of exercises that go right through the middle of the voice, practice the Master Voice Building Exercises inside my Cole Vocal Method. You can learn the Cole Vocal Method and the Masters inside my Vocal Freedom Circle for less than the price of a private session with me. Use the COUPON code: VFCSPECIAL at checkout.?Click here to learn more.

3. Establish good support for your singing voice

The keys to increase sound and power without strain start with establishing good and ample support for your singing voice.?

Many vocal coaches talk about using the abdominal (and butt) muscles as a support. Yes those muscles will engage, but they are not the prime area of support and tucking or squeezing them can result in tension in teh voice. Just squeeze your abdominal muscles right now. Do you feel the tightness in your throat? In proper vocal training we never squeeze or “tuck” these muscles in because they cause tension at the throat.The abdominals are active but more in an outward position. Good support is established using the proper muscles to support the sound without causing tension or vocal problems over time.?

Here are the five areas to work on:

1. An expanded chest wall with a lifted sternum and the head sitting on top of the spine (not forward).
2. Strong active pectoral muscles with a long lengthened and relaxed neck.
3. Strong abdominals – but in an outward position, not tucking inward.
4. Intercostal movement outward (ribs) to breathe into the diaphragm and power the lungs.
5. Alignment: head sitting on top of the spine with the chest?

Try this:?

• Stand evenly on both feet in the center of your feet.
• Relax your knees.
• Tuck your pelvis slightly under you.
• Pull up tall out of the waist
• Shoulders are back and down
• Chest raised up towards the chin.
• Chin tipped slightly down.
• Lengthen the base of the skull up towards the ceiling.
• Breathe in and exhale without dropping your chest.
• Breathe in again feeling the bottom and sides of the ribs swing outward.
• Exhale without dropping the chest.
• Now flex and activate the pectoral muscles by squeezing your arms to your sides.
• Keep the neck relaxed and long.
• Now breathe in again feeling the bottom and sides of the ribs swing outward.
• Exhale without dropping the chest keeping the pectorals flexed with the neck long and free.?

This is the beginning of establishing a good support for your singing voice. This motion practiced over time will become natural when you are singing. Practice this movement daily at the top of your vocal practice.

4. Stop singing from the throat and start using the "trunk" of the body to support the sound

In order to sing freely with ample sound and power without straining the voice the first thing is to get your voice out of the throat. Real support comes from the “trunk” of the body, not the throat and the neck muscles.?

In the exercise above we practiced using the pectorals, chest wall and intercostal muscles functioning correcting to support the sound. This helps to take the pressure off the throat and use the body to support the sound.

Singing from the throat is more common than you think. If you haven’t trained, you are most likely singing from the throat. This means you are over-using the throat and neck muscles to produce sound. This wears out the voice and causes problems like strain and fatigue. It can lead to more serious vocal problems like nodule and hemorraghes as well.?

The “trunk” of the body relates to the area of the middle of the body from the collarbones to the pubic bone and involves many muscles that support the voice including the diaphragm and your breath.?

The voice is powered by “air” and “muscle” and a coordination between the two. Overuse of muscle or pushing air are the result of poor technique. Learning which muscles are over-functioning or under-functioning is key to singing with power and volume without strain.

The muscles in the trunk of the body that support the sound are:?

• Pectorals
• Abdominals
• Diaphragm
• Spinal erectors
• Intercostal muscles (ribcage)
• Lats (back)

In the next exercise below you will practice using these muscles to establish the proper support to take the pressure off the throat using the “trunk” of the body to support the voice to sing with more sound and power without strain.

5. The power of the point of appoggio

The point of appoggio in singing means the point of maximum pressure you feel during singing.?

Untrained singers feel the point of appoggio at their throat or abdominals. Well trained singers feel the point of appoggio at their chest and sternum.?

The problem is, most voice coaches talk about using the abdomen and diaphragm and don’t even mention the chest and pectoral muscles as a support for the singing voice. They weren’t trained that way. It is one of the best kept secrets of great singing.?

To understand the point of appoggio at the chest and sternum instead of the abdominals or throat you’ll need to establish good posture with a lifted chest and a long lengthened neck at the base of the skull.?

Try this:??

• Stand with your back pressed into a wall an your feet about 2 feet away so you are leaning into the wall. Press your lower back flush into the wall which keeping your head against the wall.Does your lower back come away from the wall when your head is against the wall? This indicates you need to work on your posture.?If your lower back is flush against the wall with your head also against the wall, you’re in good shape. Now you want to maintain that posture when not against the wall, especially during singing.
• Next lift your chest up towards your chin without arching your back. Press your fingers with the backs of your hand together on the chest about 5-7″ down from the collarbone.Apply 5-7 pounds of pressure to your chest and exhale without letting it drop at all.Relax the back of your neck while you do this. Now sing an “AH” using this technique. This puts the “point of appoggio” at the chest wall which takes the pressure off of your throat.This is the first step to using the chest wall and pectoral muscles to support the sound instead of the throat or abdominals. The abdominal muscles will engage naturally without you overusing them.This also keeps the diaphragm down with air in the lungs and helps to control the breath providing ample air for a rich and resonant sound.

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The Cole Vocal Method –?Click here to learn more.

At the upcoming?FREE 4-Day Better Voice Challenge, you’ll flow through 4 one-hour workshop style sessions to experience a transformative shift in your voice. Each session builds on the other in sequence to open up your voice, begin restoring your natural sound and increase vocal power with simple and effective methods. Come join me and learn the methods Grammy winners and legends use to transform their voice and keep them performing at their peak!