Category Archives: Singing Instruction

Singing

The illusion of power

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Too many times I hear over-compressed cords from students who think  they are singing with power. Unfortunately this sound is dull and to be quite blunt … ugly. Over-compressing the cords will only cause students trouble as they try to sing higher, because  they can’t release this sensation without flipping into falcetto. The answer is; mixing with head voice and allowing the cords to thin and stretch as you sing higher.

Men, you can find your head voice by singing a G above middle C in a connected, stable and controlled sound. This isn’t falcetto. This is head voice. If you feel your throat “choking” you then your larynx is probably too high. This coordination is not going to help you sing in optimum head voice mix, so work on getting that larynx down first.

Women, you can find your true head voice by singing a high C. Again, make sure this isn’t breathy or you are probably in falcetto (which means the cords have come apart).

Working this area of your voice is very important for mixing. Learn to love your head voice. It may seem weak and foreign to you, and that is all-the-more reason to figure out this area of your voice from this approach. Keep the volume at a medium to low level.

There are other elements that will help build a powerful and strong mixed voice too. Once your head voice is easy to control and identify, then you can work on pharyngeal sounds and exercises to bring out the illusion of power. Yes, the illusion of power. The illusion of a super-human sound that is actually just your head voice in a mix!

Pharyngeal sounds

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For those of you familiar with speech level singing exercises, the nasty “nay” sound is probably all-too-familiar. This is a sound that many singers do wrong. The goal here is to feel the resonance behind the cheek bone and nasal area, not in the mouth or at the back of the throat.

In Estill Voice Technique this sound is the schoolyard sing-song taunt. Again, it can be done incorrectly if you are using the wrong coordination.

The challenge is making this sound above the first passagio.

I suggest starting with a puppy dog whimper in your head voice. This will get your cords thinned out. Close your mouth and work this whimper in a hum. Raise your cheeks and think a “cry-like” sound.  If you are having trouble, take your volume down to a level where you can manage a simple light coordination of a whimper sound in your head voice. Keep your mouth closed……now you have thin cords.  Your larynx may want to rise, and certainly the ideal condition is for it to remain neutral. Take note of this. To counter the raising of the larynx, consider what is going on inside your mouth at the back of your throat. Lift your soft palate as best you can.

I suggest making this your home base. Men, this will be around F or F# above middle C, and ladies, this will be around high C or C#.

Once you can master the puppy dog whimper in your head voice, then you need to work the whimper through the first passagio. For men, you need to master the whimper from F# below middle C to F# above middle C.  Ladies, middle C# to high C#. If you feel a “catch” in your voice, then you simply need to do it over and over and over every day until that “catch” evens out. (If you practise everyday, it will eventually even out).

Consider taking the volume down to the point where you can master this.  Do the whimper both ascending and descending. You can turn this into a continuous whimper siren if you like. Notice your head voice is clearly present. Try to coordinate a balance that works for you. In other words, the lowest notes are predominantly chest voice and your head voice needs to allow this transition. The high whimper is mostly head voice, so again you need to allow this transition. If you find this challenging, then consider your volume again. There will definitely be a level where you can coordinate this transition. You might not be happy with the sound…..but that doesn’t matter. It’s not about the sound! It’s about the coordination. This is your starting point. Do not increase your volume until you can master this transition of puppy dog whimper through your first passagio.

So, now that you have good cord closure and you are mixing well through your first passagio, you can actually begin to work on your pharyngeal sounds like the nasty “nay” or “meow” sounds.

Am I mixing yet?

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One of the most common questions I get asked is “how do I know if I’m just in chest voice or in mixed voice?”

My best answer is that mixed voice allows you the freedom to crescendo and decrescendo at will.

Now, you may not have the stamina yet to actually follow through with a crescendo or decrescendo when you are in your mix (in other words you are running out of breath)….but that should be one of your goals…..to have the ability to vary your volume at the peak of your performance.

If you feel like you are hanging on for dear life on your highest notes….there is a good chance you are not mixing.

The struggles of two voices……

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I still remember when I was 16 and had ‘two different voices’. That’s right. I had my ‘not-so-great’ American Idol voice, and I had my ‘choir-like’ sweet voice. They were two separate voices coming from my throat, and they never met each other in the same performance.

I struggled with the challenge of deciding “which voice to use” for years. I would go out and sing with my band, or at a party with my ‘power’ voice. I now know that this was my chest voice, and I was pulling like crazy. It wasn’t uncommon to become hoarse after a night of singing.

Then I would wake up the next morning and go to church and sing with my sweet voice. My sweet voice was breathier and not really that powerful…..but my choir director seemed to like it a lot. Every time I tried to add a heavier sound in the choir, I was instructed to blend with the other voices. I know now that I was singing in my head voice only….I wasn’t mixing…..it wasn’t until years later, that I finally figured out how to mix my two registers (mostly chest to head mix) to get a nice balance of both registers.

It took me 20 years to figure out how to mix my voice!! I’m 50 now, and my voice is sounding better that ever before! And that’s because I now know what I’m doing. I now understand exactly how to coordinate my laryngeal muscles to achieve exactly the sound and textures I want.

I still continually challenge my voice in new and different ways. IMHO, you never stop learning, and you never need to settle for “what is”.

I’m currently working on my 4th passagio.  And, although I may never make a noise beyond F6…..I know I will continue to vocalize everyday in the same manner that I have for the last ten years. Because, before the age of 40 I could never sing C6!  That’s right….these notes have transpired in the last ten years.  Who knows what notes I’ll be squeezing out at age 60!

Nasality or Twang?

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Nasality and twang are not the same thing. They may, indeed, seem or sound similar, but they are definitely not the same.

Nasality is the sound we hear when a singer has his nasal port open. Is this good or bad? Well, I guess that depends on what kind of sound you want to make with your voice. For the most part, nasality is not considered an esthetically-pleasing sound; however, some singers may indeed do this and consider this their signature sound.

Twang on the other hand is an important coordination that every singer should learn and understand. The ability to “twang” creates particular frequencies in the voice. There frequencies add volume, brassiness, brightness, crispness, and/or fullness. This is an important coordination that when used with other vocal coordinations gives the singer freedom to express themselves dynamically and with texture.

Twang may sound unpleasant in its’ purest form, but when added to the voice in varying degrees, allows a voice to be interesting and believable.

? University

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What I’m about to say has been said before, but it needs to be said again, and again, and again. BEWARE of your educational choices when pursuing your singing/music career.

Do not assume that what you learn at university is your ticket to staying up-to-date on the latest information and scientific research about the voice (or getting you a singing job). In fact, many universities will reject and delay updating curriculum that is vitally necessary to singing your best in the 21st Century. Let’s just say many jobs and many egos are at stake.

Do your homework, and learn up-to-date singing techniques from as many reliable sources as you can find.

HINT, HINT: Take private singing lessons from a coach you trust, and go to a college that specializes in your desired speciality……musical theatre? music business, recording engineering, production? song writing?   Go to a university if you want to TEACH ……. but, by the way, there are no teaching jobs……

Vowels

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A great deal of singing better is dependent on your ability to form vowels which involves the entire throat, the soft palate, the tongue, and the mouth all the way out to the lips.

Your efforts in perfecting your vowel formation can make dramatic advances towards your goal to become a better singer.

There are tons of tiny muscles pulling and pushing simultaneously as you form your words. Your strict attention to detail in this area will engage these muscles, eventually allowing you to raise the soft palate higher, move the tongue with ease, keep the throat open, etc.

The oo vowel (as in “boot”)  is especially helpful to allow the up and down changes in resonance. In other words, it helps you access your head voice. Work with oo everyday, and continually try to elongate and narrow the vowel even more. Relax your jaw and lift your soft palate as much as you can…..think of the beginning of a yawn and raise your eyebrows, and you will be well on your way. Again, exaggerate these movements to engage muscles that you don’t regularly use.

Another important vowel is ee (as in “beet”). Careful that you don’t squeeze this and make it thin and reedy. Instead, start with oo and keep that elongated open feeling in the back of your throat. Now, simply change the vowel to ee without changing the position of your jaw. Let the back of your mouth, tongue and soft palate do the work. Think of the ee as a horizontal line at the back of your throat. Be careful not to close the throat. This can be very challenging for some singers, but it’s very important work.

Any questions? Please let me know.

How to Become A Vocal Athlete

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To become a better singer, you must simply exercise. You must exercise with correct form and attention to detail. It’s no different than going to the gym to workout your body.

We have all seen people who go to gym and simply go through the motions. Their form is not disciplined, and therefore the correct muscles are not activated when doing the exercise.

This is the same situation when singing. If you are not activating the correct muscles and coordination within the throat and larynx to do the exercise on hand, then you are simply wasting your time. Other muscles are doing the job instead……..and that is what we are trying to change in the first place!

 

 

It’s an illusion

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Don’t be deceived about the “size” of commercial voices you hear on recordings. They are sometimes produced in the studio to sound big and thick and bright. If you heard these singers in your average-size living room, you may be shocked to realize they sound nothing like they do on recordings.

This is, in fact, part of the perception problem that happens when we try to copy some of our favourite singers.  We try to mimic what we think is the singer’s vocal power, when it is actually an illusion of power created in the studio with amplification and effects. Even on our favourite shows like American Idol and The Voice, there is tons of reverb, delay and EQ effect added to a singer’s voice to make it sound “larger” than it really is.

What makes a great “big” voice is a singer’s ability to control their voice during register shifts, changes in volume, and use of correct resonators. These things can only be done well when a singer’s larynx and vocal cords are in good shape. These abilities have nothing to do with whether a voice is actually “big” or not.  (A big voice is when a person is loud when they are talking … not just singing … and this usually means they have thick vocal cord).

Amplify a voice that has great control of the above qualities, and you get one heck of an awesome voice. And yes, this voice can be “big”.

 

 

Diary of a singer

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Wow, what a busy weekend.  Three singing bookings plus Sunday morning church equals 4 plus 2 plus 4 plus 2 hours of singing between Friday evening and Sunday morning…..and I must say I pulled it off without a hitch.

But, not without a lot of planning, vocalizing, and careful monitoring. Sure enough, I made it look like a breeze. My audience’s feedback was everything from “your voice is like butter” to “Wow, how do you do that with your voice?”

So, here is how it happened.

Friday morning I woke up with a tickle from the dry air caused by having the furnace on for the night. It quickly reminded me to get out the humidifier for Friday night’s sleep. But in the meantime, I had a full weekend of singing scheduled, so I carefully had to set my course.

As always, I started with my head voice, narrow vowels and a volume less than that of regular speech. I did lip rolls and woos endlessly to get the blood flowing. I always vocalize at a low volume. This helps me balance my air flow first, and send signals to the rest of my body that if I want to have any power later on, I had better work for it now. This means engaging my entire body in the process of breath control. My stomach is involved, my ribs are involved, my back is involved….you get the drift….my entire being is engaged. This is slow and methodical, all the while testing and re-adjusting the attack of my consonants, and tone of my vowels on exhale. It’s not easy work, but it’s a sensation I am all-too-familiar with. It’s a balancing act of pressure inside my lungs versus pressure outside my lungs.

By 3 pm I’m ready to load my gear, shower and dress for my show. I keep in touch with my body and it’s direct energy that is connected to my breath control. I know this is what I will need to do for the entire evening if I am going to be at my best.

And I was. I was still able to sing as well at 1:00 am as I did when I started at 9:00 pm.

Saturday morning ritual started similarly, but I was tired. I had a shower and relaxed in a hot bath. I spent some time focusing on deep breathing and releasing narrow vowels on a continuous smooth breath of air. I didn’t push it. My body slowly started to gain more energy and strength. Within two more hours I had the stamina and consistency to continue my vocalizing. Again, mixing well at a low volume. I paid special attention to my ability to create the exactness and smallness of my “cry” which is crucial for good vocal cord closure.

My Saturday afternoon gig was basically like a warm-up for the evening gig. This is because the venue was smaller with a more intimate audience. This was great because it made me work hard to sing intensely and beautifully in a small environment. I set the volume of my speaker system loud enough so that I could get a bass boost on my voice when I had the microphone touching my lips.  This is a great technique for singing the verse of ballads, and when you want an intimate and conversational style. Then, for variations in intensity and texture on my voice, I would “dance” with my microphone allowing for immense control of dynamics. I was able to pull back just enough from the mic on high notes to allow my chest voice to mix nicely from the bottom up giving the illusion of “big”.  Because I have what is considered a “small” voice, the microphone added a wonderful depth and texture to my tone. With the microphone taken away, my audience could have still heard me sing, just as one would hear you sing in an open-concept large living room. The point here is that without the microphone I would have been inclined to sing a lot louder. But, in this case, the microphone, and my to-die-for monitor system, allowed me to sing with superb awareness and subtlety at a balanced and controlled volume.

I sang again into the evening from 9:00 pm to 1:00 am with sheer confidence, and a slight bit more extremeness than the night before. Knowing I could push the envelop ever-so-slightly made my belting songs such as Cabaret, I Will Always Love You, My Heart Will Go On (etc), just a bit more dramatic. Then and only then did I blow a little bit harder than was actually necessary to accomplish the task.

So, what should you take from this post?

IMHO, singing is very physical work. It is exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. Learning how to pay attention to your body and its’ ability to do wondrous things for your voice is an intense and personal journey. This is something that is not easily taught. No one taught me how hard I would have to work to sing so well. I have learned from years of experience, there is only one person you can count on…….and that is yourself.

So, how hard did you work today?