The Step-by-Step Method to a Strong and Healthy World-Class Singing Voice

This post helps you get started, but it’s only the beginning. What would it feel like to finally reach your vocal potential and feel an actual transformation in your voice? I’ve laid out all of the steps to building the right foundation for building a strong and healthy foundation for your voice in my latest webinar: Building a World-Class Voice: A Step-by-Step Method to a Strong and Healthy Award-Winning Voice.?Click here to get access .

The Step-by-Step Method to a Strong and Healthy World-Class Singing Voice

Do you ever wonder what methods world-class singers use to get their voices in peak condition? Do you wonder if you’re missing some of the key techniques that could elevate your voice and deliver award-winning performances to your audience? Or maybe you want to build a stronger or more healthy singing voice. If so, you’re not alone!

The majority of the techniques out there only adjust the surface sound. I call it “window dressing” – it looks good in the window (sounds good on the surface) but the foundation is faulty. These “quick fix” techniques don’t improve the actual foundation of the voice and how the singer makes sound, they just manipulate the sound up on the surface which over time can cause vocal problems. That’s why they are not sound and don’t REALLY work.

Today we’re going to talk about how to build a world-class singing voice: A Step-by-Step Method to a Strong and Healthy World-Class Voice. Students who have used these powerful techniques have experienced a dramatic shift in their voices and have even won Grammys using the method I will share today.

There are over 25 Steps in the foundation of building an award winning voice. Here are the first 5.

Step 1: Identify what muscles are working to create sound

One of the first things is to identify which muscles are functioning to produce sound. Which muscles are over-functioning and which are under-functioning? Over-functioning muscles are referred to as “compensatory muscles.”?

Common compensatory muscle patterning is a complex name for a relatively straightforward process. When primary muscles do not work properly in movement, the brain tells other muscles to perform that movement instead.

Which muscles are over-functioning to compensate for a weakness elsewhere Which muscles are under-functioning that need to be more active for the singer to really step into their full potential.?

Try this:??

• Stand in front of a mirror and watch as you sing looking to identify what muscles are engaging. I’ll give you a moment to get that set up.
• Sing AH-AH-AH-AH-AH (1-2-3-4-3-2-1)? in front of the mirror.
• Now let’s sing this scale again and now notice any subtle movements. What muscles are engaging.
• Do you see your neck muscles tightening as you sing? This signifies the over-functioning of the neck muscles.
• Is the jaw clenching or closing when you sing? This signifies the over-functioning of the jaw muscles.
• Sing the scale again. What more do you notice?
• Is your head or chin jutting forward as you sing? This signifies the over-functioning of the back of the neck muscles in singing.
• Is your chest caving in – even slightly? This signifies pushing air and the lack of breath control.
• Is your tongue reaching forward when you sing? This signifies the over-functioning of the front of the tongue.
• Are your eyebrows raising when you sing higher? This signifies the over-functioning of facial muscles.
• Jot down what you notice.?

Whatever muscles you visibly see reacting are indicators of an “over-functioning” compensatory or accessory muscle.?

The muscles and movements mentioned above are considered “compensatory” muscles that compensate for a weakness in the primary muscles we use in healthy vocal technique.

Step 2: Reduce tension in the muscles of the voice and surrounding muscles

Tension in the vocal instrument and surrounding muscles will cause issues with strong healthy vocal production and cause constriction limiting range and overall sound. We start by reducing the tension at the instrument and in the surrounding muscles as well as stripping away the compensatory muscles by retraining them to disengage through a series of movements and positions.?

The first step in reducing the “over-functioning” of the compensatory muscles is to monitor their involvement, and training the body with the correct positions to disengage from using them.?

Try this:??

• From the exercise 1 above, you identified what muscles are over-functioning.
• Now sing AH-AH-AH-AH-AH (1-2-3-4-3-2-1)? in front of the mirror.
• Notice what muscles are engaging.
• Now sing it again without engaging or using those muscles.?

Once you start reducing tension and the involvement of compensatory muscles, you can start cleaning up the “Vocal Path,” cleaning up your tone, and reducing tension at the throat.

Step 3: Clean up alignment + posture from the ground up

Singing is physically and mentally demanding, and many singers experience tension and strain in their necks, shoulders, and throats. The right alignment can help reduce this tension by releasing unnecessary muscle tension and to produce sound in a more efficient, effortless manner.

Good posture is essential for effective singing which leads to better tone, breath control, and a more open and resonant voice.

Start by lengthening the back of your neck and tipping your chin slightly down in a neutral position. Balance your head over your body as if it is resting there. At the same time, lengthen the small of your back.?

Try this:

• Stand evenly in the center of both feet
• Soften your knees so they are not locked
• Scarecrow: Head sitting on top of spine
• Tuck your pelvis slightly underneath you
• Pull up tall out of the waist
• Shoulders at rest (heavy): down and back
• Lengthen the cervical spine (neck)
• Lift the base of your skull up towards the ceiling
• The head is level + placed over your body (not in front of)
• The chin slightly tipped down to achieve a level head position and a long cervical spine

As you stand in this alignment

• Notice if you feel your body working more on one side?
• Do you feel any tension anywhere?
• Do you feel any muscles pulling or pain anywhere?
• Any areas you feel tension are indicators of shortened muscles and areas that need attention and lengthening.

If you feel tension, after you get into position, gently take a step back and soften those areas. Over time this tension will go away. For now, practice this alignment prior to singing and during singing and notice what is occurring and make notes.

Step 4: Movements to open the throat and reduce tension at the instrument

Many singers

Try vocal massages to decrease tension at the throat.

Vocal massage helps return these muscles to their original position and remediate the extra tension that is accumulating.

Try these vocal massages to help reduce strain in the vocal instrument. Vocal massage will help decrease tension in your throat, and will also help reduce hoarseness that accumulates from over-singing.

• Vocal massage 1:Place your thumb and forefingers at the top of your throat holding the throat gently.Begin a yawn and notice the throat slip downward.Gently massage the throat downward.This motion helps to relax and open the throat before singing.
• Vocal massage 2:Place your thumb and forefingers at the middle of your throat holding the throat gently.Gently move the throat back and forth side to side.The laryngeal muscles are all soft cartilage that should easily slide back and forth horizontally in the throat.Gently massage the throat back and forth to relax and gently stretch out the throat muscles to decrease tension pre-performance.This motion helps to relax and open the throat before singing.

Practice these vocal massages and more inside my?Singers Gift Vocal Warmups ?— OR join my?Vocal Freedom Circle ?to get the full vocal method including the warmups to develop a strong and healthy award-winning voice.

Step 5: Align the "Vocal Path"

Next up, we want to align the posture and diaphragm position to support correct vocal production.

Posture plays a very important part in the Vocal Path. Postural alignment affects the “vocal path” of the sound. Poor posture will thwart the vocal path and cause tensions to arise that affect overall vocal production.

Most people have a slightly slumped chest and a forward head.

This causes several issues for singers:

• Causes them to sing from the throat as there is no support.
• Prevents them from breathing deeper into the diaphragm and causes a disconnection from the support of the chest and torso of the body in singing therefore falling back on the throat.
• The “forward head” causes issues with neck tension that constricts the voice and cuts off the connection forcing strain at the throat.

The pectoral muscles are the first muscles that anchor the larynx to the trunk of the body. When the laryngeal muscles are anchored you’ll have more control over your high notes and will avoid cracking, breaking or having a “thin” sound to your high notes.

It starts by keeping a raised chest position. When the chest is in a high position for singing, the pectorals are more active in providing support for the voice, helping to anchor the laryngeal muscles, provide better breath support and control over high notes.

Try this:

• Tip the chin slightly downward.
• Lengthen the back of your neck up towards the ceiling.
• Grab the hair at the top of your spine and pull upward lengthening and straightening your neck.
• Balance the head over the body.
• Lift the chest upwards toward your chin.
• Now press on the chest with your fingers keeping the backs of your hands together. Press wit 3 lbs of pressure. Position your fingers about 4-5″ down from the collarbone.
• Sing “AH”. As you sing apply 5-7 lbs of pressure while keeping your neck relaxed.

This is an effective technique for stimulating the use of the pectoral muscles in singing, supporting high notes, and strengthening the sound and volume of the overall singing voice.

I’ve laid out all of the steps to building the right foundation for building a strong and healthy foundation for your voice in my latest webinar: Building a World-Class Voice: A Step-by-Step Method to a Strong and Healthy Award-Winning Voice.?Click here to get access .

What would it feel like to finally reach your vocal potential and feel an actual transformation in your voice in 8 weeks? Come join the thousands of singers who have already transformed their voices with my Cole Vocal Method?. Set your voice free in only 20 minutes a day with these transformative vocal method of over my 70+ exercise system found only here!?Click here to find out more .

JOIN ME EVERY WEDNESDAY AT 12 pm Eastern: Join me on?YouTube ?(and Instagram, Facebook)– where I discuss the Blog of the Week followed by a short Q&A where you can ask me questions.

About Cari Cole

Cari Cole is the CEO / Founder of caricole.com and CCVM: Label Without Walls. She is a Holistic Vocal Coach, Artist Development Expert, A&R Director, and Songwriter based in New York City helping artists for the past 38 years. She is a mentor for Women in Music and The Association of Independent Music Publishers. Her latest venture, CCVM a label services company, provides artists with a seamless path from creation to completion. After 30+ years of observing the overwhelm and challenges that artists face, Cari pulled together the best top creative professionals and designed a new approach to supporting our artists.

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