A huge part of your vocal instrument is your EAR! 

Sing along with your favorite song and record yourself. 

- Listen to how you sound. 

- Listen to whether or not you are singing the right notes (Are you on key?). 

- Make sure you are singing and not yelling.  Do you sound relaxed as you reproduce the words and tones?

- Listen to your pronunciation.  Can you understand what you said? 

- Pay attention to your phrasing (or when you take a breath).  Do you breathe in the right places for what you are singing and expressing?

- Are you straining when you sing? 

Listen, listen, listen.  Hear yourself and examine what you do.  Don’t listen with the intent to heavily criticize yourself because you don’t like what you hear, but listen with the intention of improving what you are doing.  Listen so you can know what areas to work on. 

Always, always, always appreciate your voice and your sound.  So many of my students will say initially, “I hate to listen to myself.”  But, that is where you begin.  Begin with you, your voice, your sound.  It is a gift from the Creator to you.  Respect it, love it, appreciate it.  It’s yours!  You can work to enhance how you use it and thus the subsequent sounds that you produce with it.

So, as you listen, if you find you are having trouble with sustaining notes, holding notes, or hitting higher notes (make sure you aren’t singing something totally out of your range!), lay down with a book on your abdomen and sing the song slowly, one phrase at a time.  Pay attention again to how relaxed your body is, how you are breathing and how your body is creating the sound.  Pay attention to your phrasing of the words and breathing.

Now stand up and maintain all of those senses of the body and sing again. 

We have to teach the body these good habits when it comes to singing and creating sound.  It may take a while to develop supportive breathing habits and relaxation, but with steady practice, it will happen!

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