Category Archives: Singing Instruction

Singing

Tilting is good, rising is bad

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The ability to tilt the larynx happens at the thyroid cartilage and the cricoid cartilage (in the larynx) which are connected at the cricothyroid joint. There is a space in between that can be either open or closed. Tilting happens when the space is closed.

Working on the ‘ng’ sound through your break will work the small muscles that tilt the thyroid cartilage. If you are breathy as you ascend through your bridge, then you need to practise the thyroid tilt daily.

Another great sound that helps tilt is the puppy dog whimper. Again, key is ascending upward through your passagio without getting louder. (Use your breath control and body anchoring from your neck down to try and achieve this sound).

How did it go? Can you do it?

Laryngeal rise versus laryngeal tilt………

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There’s a big difference between the larynx rising and the larynx tilting.

Too much raising of the larynx will only cause you grief. You are basically choking yourself into a squeezed sound with nowhere to resonate.

Tilting the larynx, on the other hand, will allow you to sing in your high register because the cords are being stretched and thinned. Good tilting will actually give the listener the illusion of thicker cords (chest voice).

One of the best exercises for laryngeal tilt is the ‘ng’ sound. Say the word ‘sing’. See how the tongue touches the roof of your mouth. Leave it there. The ‘ng’ will block off sound leaving the mouth. With two fingers, plug your nose to see if you are doing it correctly…. the sound should stop completely.

Now practise this through the break in your voice. Ladies from middle C to high C……..men from A below middle C to A above middle C.

If you can make this sound smooth and consistently through your entire range then the larynx is tilting well!

***Note, the upper range will feel and sound like a whine or whimper. This is necessary to keep the cords closed while ascending.

No classical singing lessons here…

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I’ve said before that I’m not a big fan of classical voice training for commercial singing. I’m happy that I never had voice lessons when I was a teen.

The reason being is that I learned what my voice can and can’t do on my own…long before I ever took a voice lesson. Classical training would have suggested my coordinations for resonating with a high tongue and slightly high larynx were incorrect. Teachers would have opened up the back of my throat, thus creating a “classical” sound. Years of this type of training would have squashed all my instincts that have taught me how to belt and sing freely in my high range with a commercial sound.

However, teens now have options. Classical training is not the only road to good technique.

The chest voice ceiling…….

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If you are stuck against the chest voice ceiling there are a few things that might help.

1. Decrease your volume.

2. Narrow your vowels.

3. Anchor your head, neck and abdomen.

Remember, the best thing for your voice is to get balance. Once you can sing through your bridges, then you can work on the power.

Should you bridge early or not??

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If your goal is to have a thick (chestier) sound in your upper range, then bridging early isn’t going to get you there.

Bridging early will help balance your voice, and achieve good cord closure through your entire register. Bridging later will give you the advantage of more mouth and throat resonance with a tilted cartilage and narrowing of the aryepiglottic sphincter.

For example, I can sing high C with two different co-ordinations. One sound is more legit with great head resonance and cord closure. This is when I bridge around G above middle C. The second co-ordination is a thicker and chestier sound with stiffer cords. Because my thyroid is tilted and the AES tube is narrowed, the resonance doesn’t split the same as it does when bridging earlier. This gives the listener the impression of a thicker, chestier sound.

 

Focusing on sounds……not singing

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Have you found your mix? Ladies who can siren or sing from middle C up to high C without strain or flipping….you are mixing. Men, if you can “mum, mum, mum”  (from the bottom up) from F# below middle C up to F# above middle C…you are mixing.

Now let’s work the mix!! Let’s get that thyroid cartilage tilting and your aryepiglottic sphincter narrowing! Let’s get control and variation in that mix.

The “nay, nay, nay” exercise (always from bottom up), will help you narrow the sphincter (tube). This is not intended to sound pretty.  It will be whiny, brassy, and annoying! The more annoying the better! Make sure you work this through the bridge….using the note range above. If the sound is breathy, then decrease your volume and work the “sound”.

The thyroid cartilage rotates when you do the puppy dog whimper. Try to think of a sob or crying (in your high voice) as you do this sound. This helps to get the cords to close.  This is a sweet sound. Think the vowel “oo” as in “cool” underneath the whimper.

Now….if you can join the “nasty” with the “sweet,” you have got a great thing going. Remember, you need to practise at the same volume on the bottom notes as the top notes.

BEWARE, if your larynx is “choking” you. These sounds should be made with a neutral larynx…..in other words, at the same height that you use when you speak.

When doing this coordination correctly, it may appear as though you are singing with thicker cords (chest voice). In fact, you are stretching and thinning the cords as you ascend in pitch. Current research suggests the cords may actually stay closed longer when vibrating, thereby giving the illusion of a “thicker” sound.

Comments? Questions?  Please leave them below.

 

 

Mix it

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I much prefer to hear a singing voice that is unique and interesting, to a voice that has been trained to sound the same as other “trained” voices.

If your plan is singing in a band, or karaoke, or even musical theatre, then beware what “kind” of voice training you get.

Radio-friendly voices today are “in the mix”.  Audiences love to hear a chest voice that meets the head voice in wild and crazy ways. There are so many textures and co-ordinations possible, it’s mind boggling. Find your best “coordination” and “mix it!”

Taylor Swift’s voice gets in the mix

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If you have been paying attention to Taylor Swift’s range and voice, you will notice some changes happening in her mix. Her first two albums were “strained” in the mix, as she “pulled” her chest voice to manage notes of A, B flat and B above middle C on songs like “Teardrops on My Guitar” and “Stay Beautiful”.

Brett Manning has done some fine work mastering her mix. She is now sailing smoothly through her middle voice with ease. If you listen to “Safe and Sound” you will see she is reaching E flat at her second bridge in the lines “just close your eyes,” and “come morning light” in a nice light mix.

If she continues to train the middle area of her voice (which is the where you find your most commercial sound), we are sure to be delighted with a stronger and more powerful mix on the next album. Can’t wait to check that out!

Moaning

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An easy way to find your mix is when you moan.  Yes, really exaggerate that whiny moan. Notice this makes you sing less loud……….that’s a good thing.

Can you get through your bridge now? Did it make those high notes feel easier? It should because you are tilting your thyroid cartilage.

If it’s not helping much, then take the volume even lower and engage the muscles in the upper part of your abdomen. Do not flip into falcetto. Control that feeling without tensing your throat……….voila, MIX!!