3 Daily Vocal Exercises to Transform Your Singing

If you’re looking for a quick routine that will truly transform your voice, you’re in the right place. These three exercises take only a few minutes a day, but if you practice them consistently, they will strengthen your technique, expand your range, and make singing feel easier and more natural.

Exercise 1: The “Wings” Exercise

This exercise connects your chest and head voice so you can move smoothly between registers without strain.

How to do it:

1. Stand tall and open your arms to the sides like wings. Keep your elbows straight and rotate your palms upward.

   • Important: don’t pull your arms back; instead, let your shoulder blades stay slightly apart or even a little forward.

2. Inhale as you perform this movement.

3. Once your arms are open, sing a glissando (slide) down and up on the vowel “ooh”.

👉 Remember, a glissando means sliding through every pitch between two notes—not jumping from one to the other.

It’s perfectly fine if the top sounds floaty—oohs aren’t meant to be belted. The goal here is simple: connect chest and head voice with ease.

Try a few repetitions, inhaling with the arm movement each time before sliding.

Check the VIDEO for a demonstration

Exercise 2: Vocal Onset Training

A healthy vocal onset—the way your vocal folds come together at the very start of a sound—can completely transform your singing. It allows for better control, easier pitch accuracy, and a much healthier voice.

The three types of onset:

• Pressed onset: The vocal folds slam shut before you release air, creating a harsh “click” sound. This makes singing harder and can damage your voice.

• Breathy onset: Too much air escapes before the folds close, leading to weak, airy tones.

• Balanced onset (ideal): The folds close as the breath is released, creating a clean, resonant start.

How to practice it:

1. Inhale while lifting your arms, just like in the Wings Exercise.

2. The moment your arms reach the top, snap your fingers and start the sound at the same time.

3. Use the vowel “oh” on one note at a time.

👉 You should not hear a click or feel yourself holding your breath before starting. Aim for smooth, immediate sound.

Repeat on a few pitches, focusing on coordination and balance.

Exercise 3: Resonant Humming for CO₂ Tolerance

This final exercise builds CO₂ tolerance, which helps singers perform with resilience, maintain a sense of openness in the throat, and handle the stress of singing in public.

How to do it:

1. Close your lips gently but firmly—they should feel active, not floppy.

2. Keep your teeth slightly apart inside your mouth.

   • Avoid clenching or pressing your teeth together.

3. Hum with good tone: strong, resonant, but light. You should feel vibrations throughout your mouth.

4. Once you have a proper hum, sing a five-note scale (do-re-mi-fa-sol and back).

5. As you go higher, allow your teeth to separate slightly more to keep air pressure even.

This exercise promotes a healthy balance of resonance, airflow, and openness—vital for confident singing.

Putting It All Together

This short routine—Wings, Vocal Onset, and Resonant Humming—takes just a few minutes a day, yet it builds the essential foundations of powerful, healthy singing.

• Wings Exercise connects chest and head voice.

• Vocal Onset creates clean, efficient sound.

• Resonant Humming strengthens breath control and resilience.

Practice them daily, and little by little, you’ll notice your voice becoming stronger, freer, and more reliable.

Work with me!

✨ If you want to take your training further and engage in a powerful and structured program, check out my coaching program: 'The Functional Singer - Foundations', designed to give you the results of a year's worth of vocal training in just 10 weeks.