It may seem to some that singing is nothing more than just opening your mouth and making sounds come out. It should be simple with a little practice, and everybody should know how to sing right? Believe it or not, it takes a lot more skill and acquired knowledge than most people might think. There's a right way and a wrong way to sing. Or, in other words, there's a harmful way to go about singing, and a healthy and sustainable way which all singers should learn about.

If you want to be a singer, whether professional or just for fun, you'd want to learn how to sing beautifully and have a voice that lasts a lifetime. Unknown to most people, is that in order to preserve your voice you need to keep physically fit, maintain a good diet, get adequate sleep and exercise. Any unhealthy substances like smoking, drugs, and excessive use of alcohol will seriously harm your chances of developing a great singing voice.

If you want to take your singing seriously and get to the next level with your voice, you need to learn the physiology of your voice. Understand the fundamentals of your vocal apparatus, and how it works will help you avoid voice problems in the future. At the same time, this knowledge will help you utilize your vocal chords properly and tune yourself towards a beautiful voice.

It is also important to take singing lessons and seek some training on how to sing. It's advisable that you learn proper singing techniques that will bring you to your goals. Just like lawyers and doctors, it is essential for aspiring professionals to go through school and take lessons on their topic. You can either find a teacher offering local singing lessons or use singing courses online. Both are effective and each have their strengths and weaknesses.

The first thing any good singing teacher or online course will point out is the importance of posture and breathing. A good singing posture allows you to stand relaxed but in control. A good tip is to keep your shoulders back and wide, and bring your chest forward and up. Not too much that you look rigid like a solider.

Having good breathing practice will give you a great sounding tone without straining your throat. When you are singing, your breathing should be coming from your diaphragm. Your stomach and abdominal muscles should all be working together.

Take this simple exercise for developing good posture and breathing.

- Stand with your feet hip-width apart with your arms resting at your sides. Move your arms in a circular fashion over your head and across your body elevating yourself on your tiptoes while inhaling deeply.

- Slowly begin to breathe out, moving your arms down to your sides and coming down from your tiptoes. While exhaling, lower your arms, but attempt to maintain the same shoulder and chest position that you had at the peak of your stretch.

- After taking in a good, deep breath, exhale while hissing and attempting to keep your midsection expanded.

Breath support is merely the foundation of how to sing well. Mastering the basics of breathing, and posture is only the first steps to learning how to sing. It takes effort, determination and practice to develop your voice. If you work at it enough, you will soon notice that your voice is starting to sound much fuller and achieved a better tonal quality.