In today’s article we’re going to give you four instant ways to improve your rap voice.
Each piece of advice here is going to be something you can IMMEDIATELY do if you’re having trouble with your vocal tone or delivery when spitting out a rap…
…And it will be organized based on common issues you might experience if you’re dealing with rap voice frustrations:
- How To Fix Vocal “Fatigue” In Your Rap Voice
- How To Deliver A Rap Voice That Fits The Track
- How To Sound More Commanding In Your Rap Voice
Now before we begin, some of the terms we’ll be using today will be broken down in full on our free How To Rap dictionary that we’ve just started which gives you the top terms for learning how to rap… it’s a free resource in the form of a spreadsheet that you can pick up by clicking HERE.
FREE How To Rap Dictionary
1. How To Instantly Fix Vocal “Fatigue” In Your Rap Voice
Now, the first instant fix for your rap voice is a simple vocal method to help your voice sound more clear and precise even when it’s tired.
It’s a vocal exercise that comes directly from voice coaches and singing lessons, so we know that it’s the real deal.
I’m not voice expert but I’ve taken enough voice lessons and done these exercises enough to know they work. If you want to have a go at me in the comments, fine, but I’d suggest first trying the exercise first before arguing over terms.
The first thing you must know is that the sound of your voice is created by things called “the vocal FOLDS”, a phrase you’ve probably heard before…
…That when pushed together, create the sound of a “voice”.
When your voice is energetic and not tired, they “rub together” nicely and create a clear, concise tone.
When your voice is tired, they rub together in a HARD way which gives your voice a harsh, rough quality.
(It should go without saying that giving your vocal folds more “air” helps give a clear quality)
In any case, an instant trick to make your vocal folds re-connect in a healthy and clean way is to put your lips together and do a “bubble burping sound” as we call it… sort as if you were making the sound of bubbles going in the air while making a little bit of noise.
Steps To The Exercise
(Watch the YouTube video to see it in action)
- First, say a couple words “out loud” to ‘feel’ and here how your voice sounds currently. This will let you feel the difference when you’re done. So, say, “How To Rap. How To Rap.” If your voice is tired, you’ll ‘feel’ and hear the fatigue.
- Put your lips together and throughout the exercise make sure to keep them together. You’ll want to let a little sound through but overall keep them together.
- Push out a little air from your throat and make a light ‘up-and-down’ noise like you’re impersonating a xylophone. Make sure your lips are still connected so that it sounds like a bubbler.
- Continue doing the ‘up-and-down’ xylophone noise for 1-2 minutes. If you feel a little light headed or your mind wanders, that’s a good thing since your brain is using more air than usual to support the vocal cords. Again, check out our YouTube video to see this in action.
BOOM!
Now say, “How To Rap” a few times after you’re doing. Say something other words as well. If you did the exercise well, your throat should feel smoother and your words will sound more resonant.
Feel free to use this exercise ANY TIME before you start rapping OR whenever you feel like your voice is getting tired in a session.
One other adjustment I make (again, taught by a voice coach) is to fill my cheeks up with air on this exercise and “aim” the noise down at my Adam’s Apple.
This will help open up the throat a bit more (pause!) and is especially useful if you’re feel a lot of tension in your throat from yelling too much.
You can alternate between these exercises at will and find whichever style works for you.
2. How To Deliver A Rap Voice That Fits The Track
The second instant fix to issues with your rap voice is aimed to help you deliver your raps in a more believable fashion.
If you’re an artist that struggles with having a voice that sound monotone or energy that fits the beat, this is the exercise for you.
Now, this one I created myself and has really helped me to sound more in tune with whatever emotion I’m going for on a beat.
The main idea here is that we want to emulate the voice that we would use when talking to whoever the song is aimed for… with our rap voice.
So for this exercise, take your lyrics out and think of whoever the track is aimed for.
If you don’t have any lyrics you can just follow along with me. We’ll just use two random bars to keep it quick and easy to go along with.
Let’s say your lyrics are:
How To Rap, the best channel – no doubting that
This beat’s a loud pack, the flow is like a shouting match
Sample lyrics
Next step is to think of audience or the vibe of the instrumental. So let’s say just to make the example easy to understand that somehow these braggadocios lyrics are on a song for a female love interest.
Once I’ve decided that, I read the lyrics out loud a few times WITHOUT A BEAT in a tone of voice like I’m spitting game to a girl on the phone or whatever…
I make sure my voice is calm, smooth, and chill like I would with a female…
Once I’ve gone through that a few times, then I might hit record on my voice will be more in sync with the vibe of the instrumental.
Now, let’s say the beat is a uptempo street banger.
I would read through the lyrics without a beat a few times with more BRAVADO and VOLUME and then go into record.
So, essentially what you’re doing is “practicing your lines” like an actor before delivering the final take.
Unlike an actor, however, you’re not faking an emotion or delivering something somebody else wrote… you’re just syncing up the voices NATURALLY within yourself to be more authentic.
This is another instant tip you can use at will anytime you’re in the studio to help improve your rap voice.
3. How To Sound More Commanding In Your Rap Voice
The last instant fix to troubles with your rap voice is to pay more attention to the LAST WORDS of each bar of your rap and then make ADJUSTMENTS to the tone on those specific words.
One of the easiest ways to tell if someone’s a beginner-level rapper is that they lose steam at the end of the bar OR they don’t deliver the LAST WORDS of each bar with any flair.
In any case, at How To Rap we coach you to focus on “powering through the bar”… which means to deliver the end of the bar with the same intensity you START the bar with…
AND to make tonal adjustments in the LAST WORD of each bar to give it a melodic feel even if it’s just rapped…
(If you have any questions about what a bar is, powering through the bar, or more technical definitions, pick up the free How To Rap dictionary by clicking HERE)
In any case, for this exercise, let’s assume you’ve already recorded your verse OR you are practicing your verse before recording.
What I want you to do is take your written lyrics and either BOLD or UNDERLINE the last word of each bar to indicate as you deliver them (or review them if they’re already recorded) so that as you listen / deliver you FOCUS IN on if EACH last word is delivered with the correct amount of POWER to sound commanding.
By giving a clear indicator in written form that THESE WORDS are the PRIORITY… you highly increase the chances that you will hear when you run out of steam delivery-wise.
Now it should kind of go without saying that after you run through this exercise, any last word that is delivered poorly or without enough energy…
You need to go over again and either re-record or rehearse them until you have them nailed.
Conclusion
Let’s review the instant fixes we talked about today:
1. How To Instantly Fix Vocal “Fatigue” In Your Rap Voice
Do “bubble burping” exercises (as shown in the YouTube video above) to help re-connect your vocal folds and instantly give your voice more vocal support.
2. How To Deliver A Rap Voice That Fits The Track
“Rehearse” your lyrics without a beat prior to recording in the tone of voice you’d use to speak to the target audience in a normal conversation.
3. How To Sound More Commanding In Your Rap Voice
Underline and/or bold the last word of each bar and re-record OR rehearse to make sure each of those words is delivered PERFECTLY with a commanding presence. Power through the bar, as we’d say.