How to Sing Louder Right Now

Remember the kids that came trick-or-treating to your house a couple months ago?  Some of them wore masks, right?  Remember how their voices sounded when they said "trick or treat"?

Their voices were muffled and quiet, weren't they?

You have probably already figured out this week's rocket-science tip:

To sing louder, open your mouth.

Simple, right?  Yes, it is.  But most beginning and even intermediate singers don't do it!

How far to open?  A finger width or two.  Try stretching your jaw comfortably far, and then seeing how far back it settles once you let it just hang.  Then, sing to yourself in a mirror and see how long you maintain that openness.  Of course, you do have to close your jaw to actually pronounce words.  But when you are singing vowels - the "meat" of vocal tone - your mouth should be open, like the photo on the right.

If you don't open your mouth, how is the sound going to come out?

Singing with your mouth almost closed is like singing through a Halloween mask.

Of course, this tip is only a start.  There are a lot of other things you can do to sing louder if you have issues with volume, resonance, and projection.  But opening your mouth will get you a lot of mileage right away!

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(c) 2009 Adrienne Osborn

Adrienne Osborn is a vocalist and performance coach based in Colorado.   For more free articles and tips, visit http://PerformanceHigh.net.