Since the success of American Idol and the massive proliferation of Karaoke and sing-along bars, many millions of people around the world now dream of one day hitting the stage as a professional singer. People should at all times be encouraged to follow their dreams but if they want to become a professional singer, they should take the time to learn some basic vocal techniques or else face the prospect of blowing out their vocal chords.
The vocal chords are surrounded by muscles in the throat and diaphragm and you need to utilize these muscles in order to get naturally sweet sounds from your instrument. Many singers just sing without breathing and if they are doing enough songs in an evening they will find that they go hoarse or start singing off-key or flat. With some easy to learn vocal techniques these aspiring musicians can find the true power of their voice and perhaps go on to enjoy a great amateur or professional singing career.
One of the best vocal techniques is breathing, but it is also the hardest to properly teach. Deep breathing is very important and means more than just taking deep breaths. It requires that you exhale slowly and precisely while using your diaphragm muscles (located mid chest below the sternum) to push the air through the vocal chords. This does two things right away: first, it opens up the nasal passages because you are not breathing with just your head, and secondly it gives much more air so that the note you are singing can be sustained and powerful.
If you ever get to go backstage, you will maybe see singers warming up with strange warm up vocal techniques like stretching and oohing or even meowing like a cat. Whatever helps you to open up the nasal passages will give you a fuller tone. The point to a lot of these types of vocal exercises is to warm up the vocal chords, which can accumulate phlegm and other particles that you breathe in. These must be expelled somehow before a vocal performance. These exercises or even just singing softly can help to open up your chords. Be careful not to warm up too loudly for too long a time, you could end up going hoarse.
With good breathing comes good phrasing. The best way and only way to really nail the phrasing of any song is to know the words by heart. If you are unsure of the words, you will not know the phrasing and therefore may take too shallow a breath. The end result of this is that your note will lack enough air to sustain and this causes pitch problems, usually of the flat note variety. There are few things more deflating to the ego than singing flat or off-key in front of an audience. And believe me, they will let you know it. A bad performance is hard to hide and all of the misery can be avoided with practice and vocal techniques.