How To Improve Your Vocal Tone Quality

In order to improve your tone quality you must first understand how vocal tone is created. If you listen to 100 different people talk then you will notice that you can distinguish between each individual's voice just like you can distinguish between each individual's face. Everybody's voice has distinct characteristics just like how everybody's face has distinct features. Also, just as some people may look very similar, some people may also sound similar. However, the point is that in general everybody has a unique voice. In order to discover and improve your vocal tone quality you must first understand how tone is created.

Unique voices are due to a variety of different things. One is the size and length of your vocal cords. An individual with thick and short vocal cords is going to express a deeper voice and different vocal tone quality than someone with longer and thinner vocal cords. Think of those two examples as a bass guitar versus a standard acoustic guitar. The bass guitar is deeper in pitch and has different tone qualities due to those thicker strings. It is similar for the human vocal cords since the human voice is also an instrument.

A more important reason why vocal tone quality is unique amongst various individuals is the distinct formation of the cavities within our mouth, nasal cavity, etc. Sound waves will vibrate and express different characteristics when passing through cavities of different forms. This is the basis for different instruments sounding differently. If a saxophone and a trumpet both play the same note at the same pitch they will sound differently even though they are both playing the same note. This is due to the unique physical characteristics of the instrument. We all have differences in the formation of our internal cavities which results in the difference in vocal tone quality.

Another factor is strain and/or tension in your voice. This is caused by the incorrect muscles becoming engaged while you are singing. To see if you are using the wrong muscles, do this quick test. Place your finger on your adam's apple (the lump in your throat that is most prominent in men). Now swallow. If you have your finger in the correct position then you will notice that all of those muscles in your upper neck are tensed when you swallow. Those muscles are not supposed to be used when singing. If you feel those muscles tightening up when you sing and causing your larynx (voice box) to rise up too high then your vocal tone quality is going to be negatively affected. While we are discussing the larynx it is also important to note that the position of your larynx will also have an effect on your vocal tone quality. A low larynx may sound a bit more muddy while a high larynx may sound a bit more squeezed. If you want to improve your vocal tone quality then you will need to find the correct balance of all of these factors. A great way to do that is to practice singing (or vocalizing) with exercises that automatically work to improve your vocal technique and make singing effortless. Once you learn to disengage all of the unnecessary muscles causing strain and tension then you will be on your way to singing with ease and singing with a better vocal tone quality.

If you are currently unhappy with your singing voice then I am sure you are still singing with some strain and tension. The reason I make that assumption is because you will never know what your true singing voice sounds like until you eliminate all of that strain and tension that is hindering your voice. If you want to improve your vocal tone quality then the key is vocal freedom to allow your vocal cords to produce that natural sound. Until you eliminate the strain you will never know how beautiful your voice really is. You don't want to give up before you make that discovery, do you?

After all of this, there are also a few other factors that will affect your vocal tone quality such as cord closure and compression. Once you start getting into the tone color creating process of singing you will notice that singing is just like an artist having a palette of different colors to apply to his picture. However, before you get that deep into vocal technique you must first get a proper understanding of vocal technique and how the human voice works. After you establish that strong and sturdy vocal foundation you may move on to painting your voice with different colors with various artistic tones.

Anybody can learn how to sing and discover their unique "radio voice." It is just a matter of hard work and determination to unlock the "mysteries" of how the voice really works. Luckily for you there is a wealth of information on this website for you to browse through and educate yourself. All of this knowledge combined with the resources available here will help you to improve your vocal tone quality.