How to Improve Vocal Control for Singing

Lesson Aim

To develop conscious control over breath (airflow) and vocal sound. So that the voice remains steady, free and responsive. Rather than forced, shaky, or breathy.

Vocal control is not about pushing or holding back sound. It is achieved through a precise partnership between two forces: the Air and the Voice. Simultaneous control means ensuring these two partners meet at the exact right moment and maintain a perfect balance throughout the sound.

How to Improve Vocal Control for Singing

1. The Air: The Fuel of Sound

The air is the energy source for all vocal sound. Control over the air is not about how much you breathe in, but how steadily you let it out.

  • The Role of Air is to create a constant, gentle pressure beneath the vocal cords. This pressure is what makes them vibrate.
  • The Control Point is through your core muscles, which are the diaphragm and abdominal wall. They must act as a Flow Regulator, resisting the natural tendency of the air to rush out. You achieve control by maintaining a gentle, outward resistance in your core as you sing, ensuring the air is released slowly and consistently.

2. The Voice: The Vehicle

The voice is the sound-making part-your vocal cords. Control over the voice is about precision in how the cords close.

  • The Role of the Voice is to close just enough to resist the air pressure, converting the steady air flow into vibrating sound waves.
  • The Control Point is the vocal cords themselves. Importantly, they must close cleanly and completely for a moment in each vibration cycle.

Understanding the Relationship Between Air and Sound

Every vocal sound is powered by air. If too much air escapes, the voice sounds breathy or weak. If too little air flows, the voice becomes tight, strained, or unstable. True control happens when airflow and sound move together, neither overpowering the other.

Think of air as the fuel and sound as the vehicle. Too much fuel floods the engine. Too little and it stalls.

Step 1: Establish Controlled Breathing

  1. Stand or sit upright and apply the VSL Harmonic Identity warm up, posture and we will proceed with the controlled breathing.
  2. Place one hand on your lower ribs, so that you feel your body’s response to your breathing.
  3. Inhale silently through your pursed lips as if sucking through the straw for five seconds. Allow your ribs/diaphragm to expand up and outward.
  4. Exhale slowly by blowing through the imaginary straw for five seconds. Your ribs/diaphragm will lower, falling inwards.
  5. Repeat this exercise, aiming for consistency rather than length.

This exercise teaches you to regulate airflow without sound, which is essential before adding the voice.

Step 2: Add Sound to the Air

Now repeat the same breath, but this time exhale on a ‘Hah’ sound.

  • The sound should feel easy and steady, as if relieved
  • No wobbling, pushing, or fading
  • You should feel the sound vibrate in you chest, which should stay relatively still

This connects breath flow directly to vocal sound.

Step 3: Sustain Vowels with Control

By now, you should be able to imagine that the ‘Hah’ could be any note and thus the ‘Hot Potato’ is controlling the flow of the air or song.

Focus on:

  • Choose a comfortable pitch and sustain ‘Hah’ ‘Hee’, then ‘Hah’ ‘Hoo’
  • Even airflow
  • Steady volume
  • No tightening in the throat or jaw
  • Each time you say the note, air will be controlled outward and the abdomen area will pull in.
  • Practice this until it is comfortable and easily done. It may not be straight away, but continue until you perfect this exercise.

If the sound shakes or fades, adjust the air—not the throat.

Step 4: Apply Control to Simple Phrases

Sing or speak a short phrase (e.g., “I am learning control”) on one breath.

  • Maintain airflow through the entire phrase
  • Avoid dropping volume at the end
  • Let the breath carry the sound naturally
  • Add in the beginning to your favourite song, as you become more proficient.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Holding the breath before singing
  • Pushing air to ‘make’ sound
  • Tightening the throat to control volume
  • Not controlling the air before the sound

Control comes from breath management, not tension.

Practice this lesson for 10–15 minutes daily. Progress is felt as ease, not effort.

When air and sound work together, the voice feels stable, flexible and free.

Key Takeaway

All VSL Harmonic Identity Lessons are precursors to singing. In this short lesson, the key to your completing it and mastering the vocal control, is to approach it as if you are singing. If you are attempting this lesson before the recommended one, then you may not achieve what you are supposed to.

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