Build strength, stamina, and confidence through daily practice
Whether you’re preparing for a school performance, aiming to sing with more confidence at open mic nights, or simply want to feel more in control of your voice, vocal strength matters. And the good news is: it’s something you can build, step by step, with the right exercises and consistent practice.
At Unlock Your Voice, our singing students in Bondi Junction and across the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney learn proven vocal exercises that strengthen the voice, prevent strain, and unlock vocal power.
Here’s a practical guide to some of the best techniques we use in our studio to help singers of all ages improve vocal tone, flexibility, and endurance.
Why Vocal Strength Matters
Strong vocal technique gives singers the ability to sing longer, hit higher or lower notes more comfortably, and stay in control when it counts, whether that’s during a performance, audition, or even a school recital.
It’s not just about power or volume. Vocal strength means stamina, control, tone consistency, and vocal resilience.
Research from the National Center for Voice and Speech (NCVS), based in Utah, shows that singers are at a higher risk of vocal fatigue and voice-related strain due to the demands placed on the voice. That’s why strengthening exercises aren’t just helpful, they’re essential for long-term vocal health and performance.
10 Vocal Exercises That Help Build a Stronger Voice
1. Breathing Exercises (Diaphragmatic Breathing)
Let’s start with the foundation of it all: breath. If you’ve ever felt like you’re running out of air mid-song or struggling to finish a phrase, it’s likely a breath support issue, not a vocal one.
Practising diaphragmatic breathing (often called “belly breathing”) teaches you to engage your abdominal muscles, not your chest. This gives you more control over your airflow and ultimately helps you sing with better tone and stamina.
In fact, studies show this kind of breath control can increase lung capacity by up to 15%,giving you more room to move vocally.
2. Lip Trills
This exercise is a favourite in our studio. Lip trills may sound funny (and yes, they make your lips buzz), but they’re an incredibly gentle and effective way to wake up your voice without stress.
By blowing air through your relaxed lips while humming, you create a light vibration that activates your voice, warms up your breath connection, and eases tension.
It’s perfect for singers of all ages, whether you’re a shy teen or an adult building vocal confidence from scratch.
3. Scale Work
Singing scales isn’t about memorising patterns, it’s about building pitch accuracy, vocal agility, and muscle memory.
Running through scales in different keys strengthens your ability to stay in tune and transition between notes smoothly. We often use ascending and descending scales in warm-ups to help singers find their range and control tone across different registers.
It’s a staple in every great singer’s toolkit, because it works.
4. Resonance Exercises (Like Humming)
Humming might feel like the simplest exercise in the book, but it’s not one to be underestimated. It’s one of the best ways to find and develop natural vocal resonance.
By humming gently, you activate the “resonators” in your head and chest, your body’s natural amplifiers. Over time, this leads to a richer, fuller tone that projects clearly and feels more effortless.
We use humming regularly in warm-ups, especially when helping students unlock more warmth and clarity in their voice.
5. Vowel Exercises
Clear tone and diction start with how you shape your vowels. Practising singing sustained vowels like “ah,” “ee,” “oh,” “oo” helps you fine-tune your tone, improve pitch stability, and train your mouth to stay relaxed and open.
It also strengthens your ability to articulate lyrics clearly and sing with more consistency across your range.
6. Sirens
Sirens, sliding smoothly from low to high notes (and back again), are incredibly useful for developing range and vocal flexibility.
They help eliminate those dreaded cracks or breaks that can happen when moving between vocal registers (like chest to head voice). We use this often with teens and adults to help them build control and smooth out transitions between notes.
It’s a simple but powerful way to stretch the voice safely.
7. Tongue Twisters
While they’re fun (and sometimes hilarious), tongue twisters are a serious tool for improving articulation and vocal agility.
Practising phrases like “red lorry, yellow lorry” or “unique New York” helps relax the jaw, engage the facial muscles, and fine-tune pronunciation, particularly useful for younger singers and those preparing for performances where clarity matters.
8.Straw Phonation
If your voice ever feels tired or tight, this is the exercise we turn to. Straw phonation involves singing or humming through a straw, and it’s a technique widely used by vocal coaches and speech therapists alike.
It reduces tension on the vocal cords, encourages healthy airflow, and helps the voice recover after strain. It’s also a fantastic gentle warm-up for days when your voice needs a softer start.
9. Gentle Glottal Onsets
Some singers begin phrases with too much force (a hard “glottal attack”), while others start with a breathy tone. Gentle glottal onsets help singers find that perfect middle ground, a clean, controlled vocal entry.
We use this technique to help eliminate vocal fry, smooth out tone, and bring more control to the start of each note or phrase.
10. Cooling Down After Singing
It’s easy to skip this, but cooling down is just as important as warming up.
A few minutes of light vocal work, like humming, lip trills, or soft sirens, can help relax your vocal folds and reset your voice after singing.
The British Voice Association recommends cooling down after performances or intense practice sessions to reduce tension and support vocal health long term.
Want to Strengthen Your Voice with Guidance?
Whether you’re completely new to singing or you’ve been doing it for years, the right exercises, combined with expert support, can completely transform your voice.
At Unlock Your Voice, we help singers across all levels and age groups build confident, resilient, and healthy voices. Located in Bondi Junction, we specialise in in-studio vocal training for kids, teens, and adults across the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. (Online lessons are available by request where necessary.)
