Singing a lot CORRECTLY makes you sing better and preserves your voice for longer. Singing a lot with harmful technique might make you sound better at first, but after a while your voice will go.

Note: Always do some light stretches before singing – it frees up any tense muscles in your body – and mind you, any tension will affect your sound.

The first thing you should learn is proper breathing. Breathe deep enough to feel your abdominal cavity expand. This is what will help support your voice properly. Your shoulders shouldn't rise when you do diaphragmmatic breathing. Have you seen babies sleeping before? Notice how their stomachs go up and down when they breathe. That's how we should breathe when singing. And when you sing, try to feel as if the sound is coming from deep down within you as opposed to originating from your throat. (this is metaphorically speaking of course, our vocal cords are in our throats, so the sound will be made there no matter what we do) Feel your abdominal, dorsal and back muscles working to support the sound you're making. It would help you avoid putting unnecessary pressure on the tiny muscles in your throat. When you go up to high notes, think 'down' instead of up, and feel like you're opening up vertically – feel your air support coming from below but at the same time lift your soft palate to allow more space for the note to flow out. An image I use to help me remember it is to imagine myself stretching a rubber band vertically. You should feel more solid around your middle but yet free inside your mouth and throat. Don't push or shove the notes out, and don't clamp up inside when approaching higher notes.

The most basic exercises have to do with breathing and sound production. Practice breath control by taking a deep breath, holding it for a second or two in that open position you feel, then hissing like a snake to let out the air slowly. Try to keep that open feeling for as long as you can (in fact, think of yourself EXPANDING as you let out the air). Time yourself, you should improve over time. Don't clamp up when you feel like you're running out of breath. Just concentrate on thinking 'down and open' to keep your throat from closing up. You still have a few more seconds of air. This applies to actual singing as well. We have to learn to deal with the running-out-of-oxygen feeling all the time, lol! Scales are always useful. You might want to start with sustaining a single note first, then move on to do-re-mi-re-do (1-2-3-2-1), then to 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1, then on to a full octave scale. Practice on different vowels: ah, eh, ee, o, u. As a general rule, a more vertical mouth shape gives a rounder, warmer sound and allows more space for the notes to come out. So you'll want to keep that in mind. As you approach your lowest register though, your mouth shape has to gradually get smaller until it's about the same size as when you speak. This keeps you from blasting your notes out and putting too much pressure on your vocal cords from too much air pressure. My teacher always tells me to smile but keep the space in my mouth open when approaching my lowest notes.

For more detailed instruction though, please approach your chorus director or any CLASSICAL singers. The reason I say classical is because classical training gives you the basics of what to do and what not to do, and helps you develop healthy vocal habits. You don't have to wind up sounding like an opera singer if you don't want to – but in the initial stages of vocal training, you NEED a classically-trained teacher. Singing properly should feel free, even though it's hard work for our breathing apparatus. You shouldn't feel any pressure in your throat, and you shouldn't get a sore throat after singing properly.

Good luck!

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To gain confidence in singing you must have a strong voice, To strengthen your vocal cords I have some exercises that really do work:

Practice! Practice really does help, I recommend keep an hour free every third day AT LEAST for singing

Add twang, sing your songs in a really strong American or Australian accent while practicing, it will help you reach higher notes and to make your voice louder and clearer, Once your voice becomes stronger you will be able to sing clearly without putting on an accent.

Do your scales! When approaching your higher register [Section of your voice that is highest] put on your best little kid voice, it will help rise your Larynx [I explain that later on] so you can banish those breathy, blocked throat high notes, and welcome strong clear ones!

Breathing exercises are miracles for improving your singing voice, I recommend blowing bubbles, here how to do it, let your lips go floppy and blow through them so they make a noise like a bumblebee, blow bubbles in tune to a scale.

Blah's, This exercise is great for relaxing your jaw, when you are doing your blah's open your mouth wide and really let your jaw go relaxed. It's a slow exercise so don't rush it.

The Larynx is a part of our voice box. Place your hand on the front of your throat and say 'I like to sing' Can you feel your throat vibrating? That's the Larynx, it feels a bit like a little lump. The Larynx is larger in men, for men it's known as the Adam's apple, because It sticks out so much, for women it's much less obvious, but it's still there. Now say 'I like to sing' in a really high little kids voice, and feel your Larynx rise, Now say 'I like to sing' in the lowest voice you can manage and feel it fall. To strengthen your voice you must gradually train your Larynx to be easily able to transpose between high and low, but never strain your voice because you could hurt your Larynx.

Good luck with your singing!