6 Tips to Improve Your Singing

If I were asked "how can I learn to sing", my answer would be this one: "Just sing". Because you really learn to sing just by singing, and the more you do it, the better you become.
However, let's say that I'm doing a Google search on "how to improve your singing" and I found a post that tells me "just sing" without adding anything more, well I would freak out because I'm probably looking for some more specific advice which can be applied immediately.
Therefore, here are 6 tips to get the most from your voice.
All of those tips come from my own experience.
1 - Listen to a lot of music, listen to lot of music that you like, when you find a song that you really vibe with listen to it over and over again, listen to it until you know every second of it, not only the vocals but also the instrumental track. If you're a bit like me, you will quite naturally do (it's amazing when you find a song that you like and listen to it 10 times a day) and you'll often find yourself just humming the tune, simply because you have it in your mind.

When you find yourself doing that kind of thing, smile.

That means that you've memorized the song and now you are well along your way.

In fact, knowing the song very well is the first step to sing it at your best. And yet I've heard some people forgetting about the song's words while they are performing.
How do you expect to do a decent performance if you don't have a tune clearly written in your mind? I continue to argue on this point because it is key.

When I record a Cover of a song that I've heard for at least 2 or 3 days, I manage it soooo much better than a song that I've heard for the first time the same day as I Cover it. 2 - Sing in the key that is more comfortable to you.

If you have a low-pitched voice, do not try hard to sing like a tenor. If you have an high-pitched voice, do not try hard to sing like a bass. In both cases, you are wasting your time (and your voice).

With practice, I was able to greatly improve my vocal range (especially my low notes) but that certainly does not make me a natural bass.
So I refrain from interpreting songs of Johnny Cash or Barry White.

Similarly, I avoid singing songs of Bruno Mars or Train in their original key (I don't mind their high pitched voices and I do like a lot of their songs, but that's definitely not my vocal range), so If it happens to Cover their songs, I pay attention to change the key in a way that suits my voice.

I feel very comfortable with songs by Goo Goo Dolls, The Verve, Coldplay, and Radiohead, because the singers of these groups have a vocal range which is quite similar to mine. Are you aware of your vocal range? What are the songs that you feel most comfortable with? Work on those songs, work on enhancing your strenghts rather than worrying too much about your weaknesses.

If you discover any effective technique to increase the vocal range, that's an excellent idea.
Go for it. But nevertheless, continue to work on those songs that you can sing with great ease and that excite the most, because that's where where you can give it your best.
3 - Sing often, but not too much.

Training the voice is like training a muscle. The more you train it, the more your muscle is strengthened. But if you train it too much, you will feel pain and you will be almost forced to stop. The same happens with your voice. If you sing daily with consistency and moderation, your vocal technique would clearly benefit from this practice. But if you overdo it or if you try to sing in a way which is unnatural to you for too many consecutive hours, you will feel pain and you will be forced to stop for as longs as itakes for you to feel better. 4 - Pay attention to your breathing.
It is not the purpouse of this post to describe breathing exercises.
A lot of people are talking about the importance of proper breathing (not just for singing but for your general well-being) and based upon my experience I can say that proper breathing really works.

It can really make a difference Beyond singing, I practiced breathing exercises for a big number of reasons. For example, when I was practicing martial arts I learned to breathe using the diaphragm and this techinique has also helped me with my voice.

Furthermore, I use conscious breathing as a relaxation technique, and this practice has beneficial consequences on my entire vocal tract.

However, there is not a specific technique that I have created for the singing process, for when I'm singing I'm not there to count my breaths.

As I said, I learned to pay attention to the breath for purposes of general well-being, which are not strictly related to music.

Thus, I have mase some "movements" go on autopilot through practice and now I only care about not running out of breath when I'm singing, so that I always have plenty of oxygen to hit those notes. If you are completely new to this subject, I recommend to do some Google Search and / or referring to a qualified instructor. In my experience, beyond the various breathing techniques (there are quite a lot) what really matters is to pay attention to your breating, being aware of it.
It really helps a lot. 5 - Maintain a good posture. But at the same time do not create tensions, keep all of your muscles as relaxed as possible.

Your voice will improve, and you will be able to sing longer without being tired.
6 - Whisper a note while maintaining a low register, such as "mmmmmmmmmmmm" (yeah, just like the Tibetan monks).

Make this "mmmmmmmmm" resonate in your chest when you feel inclined to, or just spare ten minutes a day to practice this simple exercise. If you do it with consistency, you will feel an increasing in the depth of your voice and in the power of your vocal emission.
This exercise (along with a few similar others) helped me a lot to extend my voice into the low register and as a consequence my high-pitched notes improved as well.

I have also found this exercise to be very useful to dissolve any voice blockages, it makes my voice cleaner and clearer.
I use to put an "a" or an "e" before the "mmmmm" so that it sounds like "aa-mmmmm" or "eeee-mmmmm". It's very good to do it for a few minutes before you start singing.