Hey everybody,
As a singer teacher and singer for more than 14 years, I enjoy seeing the light bulb “Aha!” expression on my students’ face every time they discover something that makes them sing better.
Singing involves wrapping your head around abstract concepts, so I like make it simple for students to understand these concepts.
Posture
This is the foundation of your singing technique. How you stand or sit when you sing can affect your singing. A singer is a human wind instrument. Singing in a bad posture will not only create tension but will also make it hard for you to sing well.
Breathing
A singer is a human wind instrument. Guess what you need to sing? Air! Air from your lungs vibrates the vocal folds when you sing. So, correct breathing techniques will give you a great foundation for singing, including singing higher notes. It is your fuel for singing. Do breathing exercises to make correct breathing techniques second nature to you.
Phonation
Phonation is the process of making sounds with your voice. This relates to pitch accuracy, coordinated onset, vocal range and registers. Only 1% of the population is tone deaf. You’re probably not one of them. Proper ear and vocal training will improve your pitch accuracy.
Resonance
A guitar has a hollow body to project sound and so does your body. Your larynx, vocal tract and skull are the main resonators of your voice. They help you to project your voice. You want to sing with an ‘open throat’ to maximise your resonance and get rich overtones in your voice.
Articulation
How you enunciate consonants and vowels of a song’s lyric can make or break your singing. You want to emphasise the vowels and not overenunciate the consonants when you sing.
There you have it. The 5 aspects of singing. Think of them as the 5 components of your instrument (your voice).
I believe that anyone can sing and just like any worthy pursuit, it involves hard work and patience. Having the right vocal coach with a keen ear, you’ll improve much quicker and get more enjoyment from singing.
Happy singing!
– Benny
Benny Ng is a master singing teacher/vocal coach on the Northern Beaches, Sydney. He’s been teaching singing lessons in Sydney since 2011.
https://www.singnowstudio.com