Enhancing the vocal range to hit high notes is the goal of many people, including professional singers. However, not everyone is born with the ability to sing the highest notes perfectly.
Like other muscles, the vocal cords need exercise to get stronger. First, we want to mention that singing softly is quite tricky. The proof is that even professional singers sometimes find it quite challenging to do this.
Always remember that a soft tone is not a weak sound. Instead, it requires skill and practice. So, let’s explore how to sing high notes quietly!
How To Sing Quietly – Step By Step Guide
Do you know how to sing softly with high notes? Our voice, in essence, is a muscle. So, the more it is used correctly, the flexible it will become over time.
If you do vocal stretches regularly, your muscles will get used to being stretched. Then it will become easier to sing higher.
Step 1. Relaxing Your Muscles
It’s wrong not to warm up before playing sports, right? The same goes for singing.
So, if you think singing high notes means opening your mouth wider to let out more air, you’re wrong! You will get nothing but hurt yourself.
If the veins on your neck bulge when you get a high note, that’s a bad sign. That is why we recommend relaxing your muscles before singing to avoid injury.
- Use your fingers to massage the flesh under the chin to loosen up your muscles.
- Open your eyes and mouth as much as you can. After that, face up. Repeat this movement a few times.
- Yawn hard to lengthen your jawline and face
You should repeat this process several times to get the best results. Also, don’t forget to keep your shoulders and neck stretched.
Step 2: Warming up The Voice
It is wise to utilize a personal humidifier before singing. It allows warm, moist air to reach your vocal cords, which helps keep the vocal cords in the best shape.
Also, you should drink a glass of warm water before singing practice to help you reach higher registers. It is good to add honey to the water to prevent your throat from swelling.
Note
Do not drink coffee, milk, or ice before singing. These drinks can negatively affect your voice.
Step 3: Take Slow, Relaxed Breaths
If you are serious about singing, you probably already know that breathing is integral to achieving high notes without straining your voice. It is essential to relax to hit the high notes to avoid putting tension right into your vocals.
Place your hands on your diaphragm (just above your belly) and breathe deeply.
- Avoid lifting your shoulders while taking deep breaths. Instead of breathing in from the top of your chest, inhale from your stomach.
- Continue breathing until you feel your diaphragm expand.
- Next up, release the breath gradually to produce an “Shhhhhh” sound without interruption. Continue this process until you run out of steam.
You can easily use your breath to support the sound without pushing through this step.
Always remember that it is essential to control the diaphragm to produce precise, loud sounds, not by raising the shoulders and puffing out the chest.
Step 4: Developing Your Range
Once you’ve learned to relax your face and control your breathing correctly, it is time to practice singing the high notes without straining your voice.
Start by mastering the “Mmmm” sound while trying to pinpoint where you’re making the sound in your head.
Your sound should reverberate in the sinuses around your nose and forehead. Avoid getting it stuck somewhere in the back of your throat.
Pay attention to the vibration of the sound on your lips!
Next, convert the “Mmmm” sound to the “Ahhhh” at the end of your range. You will then perform the chord “Mmmmmmm-aaaahhhhhh” while keeping the resonance in your head.
Continue to raise the scale in your voice until you reach the top of the range. Focus on creating the resonance in the head instead of how high this note is.
You will find that you can sing higher with this exercise instead of singing a song. Most importantly, be patient and do not push yourself.
Instead, keep doing this exercise daily, and you will soon find that your high notes become more transparent and more robust.
Pro Tips
By combining the above solution and the following helpful tips, you will quickly achieve the voice you have always wanted.
1. Stay Hydrated
Drinking coffee, alcohol, soft drinks is your habit? They can be the best things in life, but they are the worst for a vocalist.
Do you know these drinks are bad for your voice? In most cases, after drinking these drinks, you will need to go to the toilet more often. Why?
The reason is that all of these drinks act as a “diuretic,” making you pee more often. So, in the end, you will lose more water.
Keeping the vocal folds hydrated is vital in keeping them healthy and lubricated. As a result, if you are serious about singing, avoid the drinks listed above.
According to vocal experts, you should use water at room temperature and avoid ice. Besides, according to health studies, adequate water consumption for women is about 2.2 liters per day and for men is about 3 liters per day.
Drink enough water to get healthy and strain-free vocals!
2. Singing in a Good Space
It’s beneficial to sing in a well-resonant space so you can hit the high notes without straining your voice. In addition, the echoes will help add sound to your voice, so you’ll be more satisfied, making practice more effective.
- Sing in the bathroom.
Singing in the bathroom is excellent for vocal practice. The sound bounces off the walls allowing you to hear more clearly. You may even find it easier to reach these notes with less strain. What’s more, the steam in the shower can keep your vocal cords lubricated.
- Don’t sing in your car
Unfortunately, singing in the car is something to avoid for professional singers. Inside the car, the sound does not bounce around. As a result, it will make your voice more strained because you cannot hear your voice.
You will even lose your voice trying to sing in the car
In short, finding a perfect space to practice singing is vital for your overall voice. So, choose carefully!
3. Know Your Body
If you pay close attention, you’ll realize that you can perform songs like a pro, but the next day, you just can’t seem to hit the high notes like you used to.
The cause may lie in the changes in your body. Besides hydration, as discussed above, many other factors can affect your vocals.
4. Menstruation
It is a special time of the month, which is only for women. This timing also significantly affects their accent. Specifically, their bodies undergo many changes before and during these periods, adding more stress to their vocal folds.
The reason lies in their sudden increase in blood supply to their larynx, making it harder to breathe during menstruation.
As a result, women may develop laryngitis, hoarseness, and fatigue when singing. Moreover, their vocal control is also poor, making it difficult to hit high notes.
5. Cold & Flu
Give your throat time to rest! Cold and flu can significantly affect your voice.
In this case, you should avoid speaking or singing until the situation improves. Even whispering is not advisable when your voice is not strong.
If you use throat lozenges as a habit, choose carefully. Some products may contain substances that numb your throat or vocal folds, making it impossible to feel your vocal folds while singing.
6. Patience and practice
Always remember that there are no shortcuts to success. Don’t expect miracles to come to lazy people overnight!
Just like with exercise, it takes time to strengthen your voice. Similarly, this process can take months or even years. To sing without straining your voice, you need to focus on vocal training, and determination is essential.
We recommend recording yourself regularly to keep track of your progress. All you need is a smartphone or an inexpensive recording device.
Why Can’t You Sing High Notes Quietly?
We all want to sing high notes quietly like a breeze, don’t we? So, what’s preventing you from it?
If you just sing the high notes only loudly, your vocal cords will respond by increasing thickness. The reason is that they are made up of muscle tissue.
Therefore, when you only use them in a specific movement, their ability to do other things would be limited.
The fact is that there are mechanoreceptors in the tissue of your laryngeal folds. But you never know how their complex changes can affect your vocal mechanism.
Fortunately, however, you do not need to care about any in-depth knowledge of those complex mechanisms. It is the job of scientists. All you need to do as a singer is control the vocal folds properly to keep your voice in good shape.
If you sing the wrong way, your cords can become too thick, leading to swelling. You may even have tissue damage.
So, continuously hone your singing skills by following the step-by-step instructions mentioned above. With determination, you will soon achieve the voice you have always wanted.
Conclusion
How to sing softly? You will have to go through an arduous practice process before achieving something great. So, just start by following the instructions above and repeat every day, and you’ll soon have the voice you’ve always wanted.
Remember that there are no shortcuts to success other than patience and practice! Thank you for reading! See you again in other valuable articles.