How to Sing Better by Smoothing Vocal Breaks

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By Diane Cass
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Sing Better

You CAN learn how to sing better! There is nothing more horrifying than to have your voice break in the middle of your song. There is a very simple, yet effective exercise that will ELIMINATE this common vocal problem and help you sing better.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Piano (optional)

Step 1

Sing Better

LEARN THE RIGHT TECHNIQUE: My husband once had to sing a Frank Sinatra song that was almost entirely in his middle range, the dread of every singer. His voice was constantly trying to adjust between his upper and lower voice ranges with disastrous results. His voice kept breaking. He came to me for help and I taught him this simple exercise. He did it a few times every day for a week, and by the end of the week, he had no more breaks in his voice and sang in the concert beautifully!
Step 2

LEARN WHY THIS EXERCISE WORKS: This exercise basically extends the lower range upwards and the upper range lower. It creates an area in the middle with a significant overlap of the two ranges, resulting in strength and smoothness of tone.
Step 3

FIND YOUR WEAK SPOT - At the piano, slowly sing a scale upwards from the lowest note you can sing to the highest note you can sing. Write down the note where you feel your voice want to change from it's lower range to it's higher range. Do the same thing, only this time sing from your highest note down to your lowest note. Write down the transition note again.
Step 4

LOCATE THE MIDDLE VOICE - The two voices will usually overlap a little, usually between 3 - 5 notes. This is the area you want to concentrate on.
Step 5

SING ON "NG" - You are going to block off the back of your throat with your tongue, as you sing, "NG". You can say "h-NG" if it helps you get to the "NG". Keep your mouth open as you sing. The goal is to get an extremely nasal sound by directing your voice into your nasal cavity.
Step 6

Singr Better

SING SLOWLY- Start at a note in the middle of your weak spot and slowly sing a scale downwards for 5 notes, on "NG". The lowest note you sing should be 2-3 notes lower than the lowest point of your weak spot. Sing very slowly and slur one note into the next.
Step 7

REPEAT-HIGHER - Do it again, only start one note higher this time. You should begin to actually "feel" where the tones are being placed, or sitting against the hard palate (roof of your mouth). It will feel like they are moving forward as you go down the scale. THIS WILL NOT PRODUCE NASAL SOUNDING SINGING. That is caused by something else that I will talk about in another article.
Step 8

Keep doing this until your starting note is about 2 - 3 notes higher than the top note of your weak spot. When you get good at this, you can try the more challenging, Advanced Exercises - see photo on Step 4.
Step 9

Do this every day for a week and you will notice a BIG improvement in your ability to control your middle range, and it will show a marked improvement in strength and smoothness in your transition zone. No more fears of middle range songs. You CAN learn how to sing better!