Strengthening vocal cord muscles: Five exercises
Building vocal cord muscles is key for singers, speakers, and anyone looking to improve their voice quality. Technically called vocal folds, these bands of muscle in your larynx vibrate to create sound when air flows over them. Just like any other muscle, they can be strengthened with exercises that increase their flexibility and endurance. Here are five exercises specifically for that.
Humming warm-ups
Turns out, humming is a great way to warm up your vocal cords! It increases blood flow to your throat and gets your voice ready for more demanding exercises. Just close your lips and hum at a comfortable pitch, then slowly experiment with higher and lower pitches within your vocal range. Do this for at least five minutes daily.
Lip trills
Lip trills help release tension in the lips, face, and throat, and also build strength in the vocal cords. To do them, you need to relax your lips and blow air to make a brrr sound. While keeping this up, sing your scales or go up and down your range. It is a very effective exercise to warm up the voice and increase breath control.
Siren sounds
The siren exercise entails smoothly sliding from the lowest note you can comfortably sing to the highest note you can reach and back down again on an "oo" vowel sound. This exercise imitates the sound of an ambulance siren. It's a fantastic way to stretch and strengthen the muscles responsible for pitch control, fostering flexibility across your entire vocal range.
Resonance exercises
Resonance exercises aim to enhance tone quality by optimizing vibration in various areas of your face and head, referred to as resonance chambers. A basic exercise involves sustaining a note on an "ng" sound (as in 'sing'), which promotes nasal resonance. When executed properly, you should experience vibrations in your nose, cheeks, or forehead region.
Breath control practices
Strong vocals depend on solid breath support, the engine driving sound production. One fundamental exercise is diaphragmatic breathing. You need to take deep belly breaths, not shallow chest ones. Inhale deeply, pause momentarily, then exhale slowly, releasing the air with a hissing "s" sound. This exercise helps regulate airflow during singing or speaking, crucial for holding notes and minimizing strain on your vocal cords.
