5 ways voice lessons will improve your singing

To learn the best ways to sing your heart out without wearing your throat out, seek vocal instruction from a trained professional. Here are five things you will learn.

• A vocalist doing warm-up exercises is like a runner stretching before a race. Lip and tongue trills will initialize efficient use of breath and airflow while stimulating circulation to the tongue, lips, jaw and soft palate. These areas are known as articulators. They shape the sound as it leaves your throat.
• Next, light humming followed by rising and descending scales will stretch and increase circulation to the vocal folds. Resonance exercises are warm-ups that focus on enhancing chest and facial mask vibration, which allow you to broadcast your voice further with less effort.

• Learning about breath support means understanding how to create a steady, controlled flow of air through the larynx to consistently stimulate the vocal chords without straining them.
• The pressure is created by slowly contracting the lower abdominal muscles to regulate exhalation of a full breath of air. The throat can then remain relaxed while a rich tone is held for an extended period.

• Pitch control is achieved by learning to control the soft palate, the area at the back of the roof of the mouth near the throat. A nasal-like pitch occurs when the soft palate is constricted by bad technique.
• Understanding how to relax, raise and lower the soft palate will help you hit high notes without straining while avoiding the not-so-favourite sound of someone singing through their nose.

• A good vocalist's head is like an amplification chamber that turns breath into sound and broadcasts it widely with little effort. Part of this occurs through the use of facial vibration, otherwise known as "resonating the mask."
• This skill is learned by combining breath support and facial articulators to effectively harness the frequency of sound coming from your larynx and project it outward at maximum capacity.

• Lastly, voice lessons teach you the importance of hydration. Drinking plenty of water allows your vocal folds to remain well lubricated, a condition that also depends on what foods you eat.
• You will learn to minimize foods high in salt that will dehydrate you and to choose things with high water content like grapes, melons, apples and pears.