Vocal Coaching on Controlling Voice Volume
Singing Exercises on How to Sing Loudly and Softly With Ease
Oct 27, 2009
Students wishing to learn to sing well will soon realise that voice control during singing means more than mere pitch. The student must also learn how to control the volume and power of the voice in order to inject expression and meaning into the performance. The singing teacher may begin by playing recordings of novice singers making common errors when singing loudly (crescendo) and when singing quietly (diminuendo) to demonstrate what to avoid. Typical problems might include the following:
- The voice sounding more like shouting when singing loudly
- Emitting a glottal sound at the back of the throat when stopping dead
- Difficulty with singing softly after singing at volume
- Difficulty controlling the mid range notes at the breaking point when singing quietly
Singing Lessons on Voice Amplitude
After a proper warm up exercise, the singing tutor may instruct the student to sing a series of simple four syllable phrases such as,
- “When singing soft
- And singing loud
- It makes my voice
- Have better sound…”
Or a similar simple phrase.
When singing the four syllables, the student may move up and down the scales, but importantly, the last note of each syllable must last for four beats each, during which the voice must crescendo and diminuendo on the last note. The singing teacher may offer singing tips to the student via guidance on the following:
- Correct voice placement, that the sound of the voice is aimed towards the front of the mouth rather than the throat. This will help prevent a glottal sound when stopping
- The face, mouth and throat remain relaxed throughout
- Adopting the correct posture and breathing technique, which entails standing upright and breathing from the lower abdomen rather than the throat. Doing so will help prevent a shouting sound in the voice and give the singing voice more power
How to Sing Low Notes Powerfully
Low notes are more difficult to sing at loudly than high notes. If the student experiences particular difficulty with this, the teacher may instruct the student to experiment with directing the voice further back into the throat, but not so much that the voice adopts a dark, hollow sound. The student may experiment with this singing technique through trial and error until low notes can be sung with better amplitude.
The tutor must note that this technique is best practiced after the singing student has become familiar with forward placemen and had mastered this technique fully.
Vocal Technique in How to Control Power in the Voice
Learning how to control voice pitch is only part of mastering singing. Students in singing class must also practice how to control the volume of the voice in crescendo and diminuendo. This is done by singing loudly and softly whilst practicing voice placement and correct breathing and also by keeping the face and throat relaxed.
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