Tips to Reduce Nasality in the Voice

Wondering how to not to sound nasal when you sing?

Well, first, let's understand what's happening when you sound too nasal.  A nasal sound happens when too much of your voice exits your head through your nose and not enough exits through your mouth. 

Now, why would sound exit through your nose rather than your mouth?  It happens if you block off the "exit route" of your mouth.

Here are some quick and simple ways to reduce nasality in your voice.

1) Open your mouth

Yes, this was also last week's tip on achieving greater volume.  But if your mouth is nearly closed, at least some of your voice has to escape through your nose.  So get in front of that mirror, sing a song, and see how open your mouth is.  Can you fit at least one finger between your teeth?

2) Yawn

First, run the tip of your tongue along the roof of your mouth, front to back.  When you get to the very back and it changes from hard to soft, you're touching the soft palate.  OK, let the tongue relax.

Now, think about yawning... take a big stretch with your arms... aah... yawn... Are you yawning yet?  Good.  Pay attention to what's going on in the back of your mouth:  you should notice the soft palate rise.  Try to sing "uuuh" while you are yawning.  I guarantee it will not sound nasal, because you have totally opened the "exit route" for the sound to come out of your mouth.

Now, I know you don't want to sound like you're yawning all the time.  But knowing how to lift the soft palate will allow you to create more space and sound less nasally.

3) Sing dumb like Yogi Bear

Do some exercises where you sing with a dopey tone.  This keeps the back of your tongue down, creating yet more space in the back of your mouth - increasing the size of the "exit route" through your mouth.

How to test if you are singing nasally

Sing "ee-aah-ay."  Then hold your nose and sing the same thing again.  Did the sound get blocked off?  If it did, you're singing through your nose.

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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.