Every singer you’ve ever admired, whether they knew it or not, was doing something right, technically. Great singing doesn’t happen by accident: it's the result of applying certain techniques - and picking the right vocal exercises to implement them.

This guide to singing techniques breaks down everything from vocal strain to belting, vibrato, and high notes. So you can sing with freedom, power, and confidence. We'll start with removing obstacles such as straining and a raspy voice.

Once that's done we move onto increasing volume, range, high notes, and other 'quantitative' factors. After that, you can work on expressiveness like vibrato.

1: Know your voice type

As a singer, you need to understand what voice you’re working with. So before we'll jump to cool techniques like belting, vibrato and singing, let's start with some perspective.

What is your voice type?
Every singer, at some point, wonders: Am I a soprano, a tenor, a baritone? Or maybe something more specific, like a lyric mezzo or coloratura soprano? It feels like the key to unlocking your repertoire and your identity as a singer. But here’s the truth: labeling your voice type too early can be confusing, misleading, and even hold back your progress. Why it’s tricky?

And let me help you unlock your voice and voice your truth

Range can fool you – just because you can sing high or low doesn’t mean that’s your true category. Many mezzos, for example, have wider ranges than sopranos.

Depth can be misleading – a voice may sound “baritonal” or “mezzo-like” at first, only to reveal more brightness and power with training.

Self-awareness takes time – we don’t always hear ourselves accurately, and comfort zones shift as the voice develops.

So what should you do? If you’re a beginner, don’t rush to define yourself. Your voice type often becomes clear only after your instrument is free, healthy, and trained.

Work with a skilled teacher who listens not just for your range, but for where your voice resonates with ease and fullness.

In the meantime, sing a variety of repertoire: some that feel natural, some that challenge you, and some “stretch pieces” to grow your abilities.

The bottom line: voice type matters for auditions and advanced repertoire choices, but your priority should be building a healthy, free, and flexible technique. Once that foundation is set, your true category will reveal itself naturally.

2. Free your voice from strain, rasp and tension 

Before we can work on fancy techniques, we have to get some things out of the way. I break this up in three steps. First, stop straining, second fix a raspy voice, and three, learn about open throat singing.

First, stop straining

If there’s one thing that holds singers back more than anything else, it’s strain. That tight feeling in the throat, that push to hit a note louder or higher—and the frustration when it doesn’t come out right. Strain doesn’t just block progress; it’s the enemy of joy in singing. The good news? You can absolutely learn to sing with power and freedom—without hurting your voice.

Straining happens when your vocal cords are overpowered—by too much air, too much muscle tension, or both. Most beginners try to "support" by pushing harder. But the real magic happens when you learn to use less air, not more. That’s right: less is more. When the breath is managed properly—contained in the body, not blasted out—it allows your vocal cords to close efficiently. That’s what creates a clean, resonant, effortless sound.

Linor often says: “If it doesn’t feel good in the throat, it doesn’t count.” That’s your north star. Singing should feel easy and sound full, like the voice is flying out on its own. Once you learn how to “drop” the jaw instead of forcing it open, breathe without tension, and resist the urge to over-express with effort, your voice will start doing things you didn’t think were possible.

If you want to learn the step-by-step strategy for singing freely—especially on those difficult notes—check out the full post How to sing without straining:

Second, fix a raspy singing voice 

If your voice feels raspy, tired, or hoarse after singing—or even while speaking for long stretches—you’re not alone. Especially if you're a beginner or still developing solid technique, raspiness is a common and solvable issue. The good news? It doesn’t mean your voice is broken. It means your vocal cords need better coordination and care.

One of the most common causes is not fully closing the vocal cords. That breathy, intimate tone you might associate with "soft singing" can actually overload the cords with too much air, drying them out and wearing them down. Your vocal cords need to come together firmly and cleanly—either closed or open, nothing in between. That’s what gives your sound clarity and power without the damage.

So how do you train this healthy closure? Three powerful tools Linor uses are:

• The glottal stop – a small “explosive” onset that teaches closure.
• The squeaky “twang” voice – think Janice from Friends—to engage cord contact and resonance.
• Lax Vox straw phonation – a gentle yet potent healing method for fatigued voices.

But healthy vocal cord closure isn’t the whole story. Posture and breath habits matter too. Many singers lift their shoulders, push their chest out, or inhale way too much air before singing. That creates subglottal pressure—a buildup of air that forces your vocal cords apart. It’s like trying to sing with a balloon blowing underneath your larynx. Not ideal.

The antidote? Learn to breathe less, not more, and let the air come in as a reflex—not a preparation. Combine that with aligned posture and light, connected cord closure, and your voice will not only feel better—it’ll sound better too.

Want a step-by-step guide to restore your voice and prevent future fatigue? Explore the full tutorial

3. Work on open throat singing

Right after strain and raspiness, one of the most mysterious instructions singers often get is: “Open your throat!” It sounds poetic… and terrifying. I still remember the panic when I first heard that in college. What does that even mean? Am I going to damage something? And yet—when done right—it’s one of the most powerful ways to release your voice.

Here’s the core idea: open throat singing means singing without unnecessary tension, especially around your larynx and pharynx (your main vocal resonator). It's about removing effort from your singing and allowing your body to do what it already knows how to do—when it’s aligned, relaxed, and not “helping” too much.

You’ll start by aligning your posture using body-awareness tools like Alexander Technique or yoga, since tension anywhere in the body often shows up around the throat. Then comes the real magic: developing a kinesthetic awareness of what I call your “cold spots”—that cool sensation in the pharynx when the space is truly open. This tells you your throat is relaxed, your sound is resonating freely, and you’re not manufacturing tone with effort.

To find and train that space, I guide you through gentle exercises like:

• The Skull Lift – to align the neck and spine,
• The Cold Spot Humming – to feel airflow and resonance,
• The “Bite the Finger” Exercise – to connect breath, space, and tone.

These exercises aren’t about doing more—they’re about undoing. And once you feel that openness, your sound will become fuller, freer, and more effortless.

If you’re ready to explore your own “cold spots” and unlock vocal space you didn’t know you had, watch the full post here:

And let me help you unlock your voice and voice your truth

4. Get a checklist: focus on max. three technical aspects

When you’re learning to sing, one of the most unproductive habits is saying things like “That was bad” or “I’m just not good at this.” Judging yourself in broad strokes doesn’t help you improve—it only feeds frustration. What you need instead is a clear, specific way to measure progress. That’s where the checklist comes in.

The checklist is a short list - no more than three vocal techniques - you’re actively working on. It could include things like relaxing your jaw and shoulders on inhale, or planning your breath support before making a sound. These aren’t just abstract ideas; they’re concrete actions you can track and adjust.

Here’s how it works: You sing a phrase or an exercise. Instead of reacting emotionally, you go back to item one on your checklist and ask, “Did I do it?” If not, try again, focusing only on that element. If you did do it, ask yourself how well—from 1 to 10—and whether you can scale it up. Only when you’re satisfied do you move to item two, and then three.

This process turns vague self-criticism into targeted learning. You’re not just repeating exercises—you’re practicing with purpose. Over time, your checklist will evolve as you identify your biggest obstacles and most promising strengths, giving you a personalized map for real vocal growth.

5. Work on vocal technique unlocking vocal strength with singing exercises

So your voice is functioning freely - without strain, raspiness, or tension. And you have a checklist, meaning you know which singing techniques to work on. Ideally, with the help of a vocal coach. Mm, who could that be, wink?

Maybe they have to do with what most singers secretly (or not-so-secretly) crave: power, range, easy high notes. This is where you move beyond just fixing your voice and start to expand it. High notes and belting can feel like impossible feats at first, but they’re not about force: they’re about smart coordination.

Here we dive into two of the most exhilarating techniques in singing: how to sing high notes without cracking, and how to belt with power without shouting. Both are 100% learnable when you build them on the solid, healthy foundation you’ve been developing so far. Let’s get to it.

Any technique you want to improve on, be it belting, range or head voice - there are vocal exercises for that. Here I have made a video tutorial for each vocal purpose. 

My rule: the tutorials in the posts below come into play in the third part of a practice session, after starting with doing bodywork and a warm-up (which is a set of vocal exercises in its own right). 

Exercises to sing high notes

Struggling with high notes? You’re in good company. I used to wrestle with them constantly. I’d learn a trick in a lesson, try it at home, concentrate with everything I had—and… nothing. Just tension, frustration, and the haunting feeling that I was doing something wrong. The truth is, singing high notes isn’t about pushing harder—it’s about doing less, but smarter.

One of the biggest obstacles to singing high notes is overthinking. Right before the note, we tend to anticipate failure—and our body responds by tightening up. Our trachea tenses, our jaw stiffens, and all those helpful muscles we worked on in lessons suddenly vanish. In other words: we prepare for the sound not to come out.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. In this lesson, I walk you through three of my most effective tricks for mastering high notes:

1. Plan the support, not the sound – Think about your breath management before the note, not during. Prepare the setup, then let go.
2. Give more support, not more effort – Keep the body relaxed but supported. Don’t over-manufacture the sound—just give it a reliable foundation.
3. Think tiny, sing open – Imagine a squeaky toy or a baby’s whimper. That “small” mental image helps you avoid overblowing the sound. At the same time, keep your body wide open—lungs expanded, throat relaxed. Big space, small sound.

Once I learned to stop “aiming” for the high notes and started trusting these tricks, my range expanded and my fear disappeared. It’s not about conquering the note—it’s about coordinating with it.

Ready to experience this shift for yourself? Watch the full post here:

And let me help you unlock your voice and voice your truth

Range and resonance exercises

Related to exercises to improve your high notes are range and resonance exercises. Why?

Resonance equals efficiency for high notes
The resonance exercises, like NG humming, “yo-yo-yo” with speaking quality, or lip trills into vowels, train you to close the vocal folds efficiently and to “trap” vibrations in resonant spaces rather than pushing air. This efficiency is exactly what makes high notes possible: instead of muscling up, you learn to let the sound get smaller, squeakier, and more resonant.

High notes require the same backward and downward sensations
In the resonance set you’re encouraged to visualize sound going backwards or down into the pharynx, not forward and out. That mental trick prevents throat tension and encourages space opening — the same strategy used in range extension exercises to keep high notes free instead of tight.

Both rely on reduced air and clear cord closure
A whispery, airy sound means less resonance and weaker high notes. The exercises that emphasize speech-quality closure and minimal air, such as “yo-yo-yo,” directly build the cord closure strength needed to carry into higher pitches without strain.

The squeaky quality is the bridge
As you go higher, the speak-y resonance naturally becomes squeaky, which is not a mistake but the functional basis of healthy high notes. Resonance work therefore conditions singers not to fear that thinner, brighter quality but to embrace it as the natural transition into the top of the range.

In short, resonance drills teach the airflow, closure, and space management that make high-note drills sustainable. Range exercises then apply those same principles systematically across pitches.

Would you like me to also reframe this as a short teaching script you can say directly to students?

Vocal cord exercises and support exercises

Support is something that always everyone has to work on. But it's important to do it from two angles. Not just rib/diaphragm area, but also the vocal cords. Because the respiratory system has two ends. Ribs/dia and vocal cords, which are the gate. Their resistance to the airflow is part of support. And if you only work on your support from the bottom part of the body, ribs/pelvic floor/ abs, and not work on vocal cords, then your efforts are futile, going to waste. Make a lot of effort but your air is going to escape.

Vocal exercises for the registers: chest, head and the elusive mix 

Understanding vocal registers is like learning the gears of a car—without them, you’ll keep stalling. Most singers can intuitively feel a difference between their lower and higher voice. What you might not know is that these sensations correspond to specific registers: chest voice, head voice, and mix voice.

Chest voice is the register we use when we speak—full, warm, and strong. You feel it vibrating in your chest. It’s great for lower notes, but push it too high, and you'll start to strain or shout. That’s where head voice comes in: lighter, brighter, and usually higher in pitch. You feel it vibrating in your skull or forehead. It’s often confused with “falsetto,” but in a healthy head voice, the vocal cords are still connected—just stretched thinner.

Now for the holy grail: mix voice. This isn’t a fixed “place” in the voice but rather a coordination—a flexible blend between chest and head that allows you to navigate your range smoothly without breaks, flips, or strain. Most singers struggle here because it requires control, not power. But once you find that coordination, high notes suddenly become possible without shouting, and low notes retain their warmth without getting breathy.

This balance is what lets pros soar through their range seamlessly—and it’s absolutely trainable. If you're ready to start exploring mix voice and get over the dreaded "break," try some dedicated exercises in this.

6. Artistic tools – from control to creativity

Once your technique is grounded—your voice free, strong, and resonant—it’s time to shift gears. This is the phase where singing becomes more than “doing it right.” It becomes expression, play, and artistry.

Think of this as your color palette. These tools may not be essential for vocal survival, but they do let your voice sparkle, communicate more clearly, or break the rules with intention. Whether it’s vibrato, stage movement, mic control, or blending your singing with an instrument—this is where your voice steps into its full identity.

Singing and playing an instrument at the same time

If you’ve ever tried to sing while playing piano or guitar, you’ll know: it’s not just a multitasking challenge—it’s a whole new skill. Your voice and your hands often want to follow each other. If the chord changes, your pitch might slide. If the rhythm shifts, your breath might hitch.

But here’s the secret: the goal is not perfect synchronicity. It’s independence. When you train each part of the body to operate on its own timing, you free yourself to focus on expression.

In this article, I guide you through how to:

• Practice the vocal line separately from the instrument
• Use slow-motion coordination to rewire your muscle memory
• Choose simpler arrangements that let your voice lead

This isn’t just for singer-songwriters. Whether you want to accompany yourself, lead a choir from the piano, or sing with a loop pedal—these coordination tricks will help you become a more grounded and expressive performer.