There are many different exercises that can be used to improve singing. Depending on which aspect of singing you wish to improve exercises can be categorized in the following manner.

1. Timbre

2. Articulation

3. Coloratura

4. Support

These are the basic areas of singing that will help you get better at singing.

Timbre

The timbre or tone of the voice is important in that you want the voice to be as seamless as possible.

What this means is that the same vocal quality is evident throughout the voice and there are no ugly breaks or register changes in the voice.

The only way that this can be accomplished is by slowly and repeatedly using the Italian vowels, "a", "I", "e", "o", "u" in slow exercises that will help with the placement of the voice.

To consistently produce the same sound, firstly the support has to be in place. By doing scales on each one of the vowels throughout the range of your voice, you establish the placing of the vowels in your voice.

An important tip for when you are practicing is to record yourself. This helps in being able to establish which sounds you are producing that is not correct.

Articulation

The important of articulation is paramount in singing. Firstly you are singing words, and people need to be able to hear those words. If you have bad articulation, not only will nobody be able to hear what you are singing about, the sound will also be muffled and will not carry, whether you are amplified or not.

When practicing a song, it is important to say the words first to establish if the articulation of the words are correct.

While there might be some vowel modification as you go to the upper register of your voice, it still needs to be clear. Speaking the words out loud, and in rhythm to the song will help you. Again recording yourself while doing this will help you ascertain whether your articulation is clear.

Coloratura

Coloratura or agility is important in a voice. Not all the songs that you will sing will be slow, so you need to be able to get better at singing fast, but also clear. The key to this is using the exercises that is outlined in the timbre section, and start to do them slowly.

When the timbre and articulation is seamless, you can start increasing the pace of the scales. It is important that the increase of speed be gradual, because if you start going too fast without the articulation and timbre being in place it will come out uncontrolled.

Support

All of the above exercises that is used to improve your singing is based on being able to support the voice properly.

If the support is not correct the timbre of the voice will not be even, articulation will not be good and coloratura will be nonexistent.

In the same way if a house is built on a foundation that is not correctly placed or is unstable, cracks will begin to show in the walls. In the case of your voice, if the foundation of your support is not correct, then your voice will crack and wobble.

An easy way to make sure that you are breathing correctly is to lay on the floor with your body entirely relaxed. Concentrate on breathing in and feeling the expansion of the breath in your rib cage all the way to lower abdominal muscles. When you sing you gently lean on this air cushion that is supplied by breathing in.

The louder you sing, the harder you lean. The same applies to singing softly. It is more difficult to sing softly as opposed to singing loudly. To sing softly you need the same amount of support as when you sing loudly.

These are then vocal exercises that you can use to get better at singing. Remember that if you feel pain or discomfort in your throat it is possible that you are doing something wrong so stop immediately.

It helps tremendously to work with a vocal coach or singing teacher that can guide you in the correct techniques to use for your voice since each persons’ voice is unique.