Category Archives: Singing Instruction

Singing

Too perfect?

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I have a female client who has been training with me for the past year. She has lovely sound. A very pretty voice.

However, she is not happy with her sound. She wants to sound more like a radio singer (she names examples likeTaylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Rhianna).

This young lady had previous classical singing lessons. Her breath control is wonderful. Her head resonance is crisp and present, and her glottal onset is precise and clean……so beautiful, so lovely………and she hates it.

This young lady is so well trained that she is having trouble undoing her perfect classical sound.

What can she do to sound more contemporary?

1. Change the vocal cord set-up. She currently has a seamless onset where her breath and cord closure meet with smooth connection. There is not much edginess. We have been working on her “speech level” closure in her chest voice with wide vowels.

2. We have been working on changes at the vocal cord level in her speech level chest voice. She is doing exercises that keep her in stronger mix of chest voice versus head voice with lots or oral twang and mouth resonance.

3. I have suggested listening and copying other singers. One of the best ways to explore and grow your voice is by trying new co-ordinations. When you do this, you need to pay special attention to how your throat feels. It should never hurt, but the co-ordinations may definitely feel “different” from what you are familiar with.

Questions? Comments? Please leave a message below.

 

The problem? Are you practising enough?

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So, when are you practising? Where are you practising? How long are you practising?

I know it’s challenging. You live with other people….. you don’t want to annoy the neighbors…. it’s embarrassing and hard to “let go”……

I get it. But, that’s the way it is. Do you really want to be singer? No, I mean, DO YOU REALLY WANT TO BE A SINGER?

You must figure out a way to practise A LOT every day. How much is a lot? Well, what is stopping you from singing for hours everyday. I didn’t say one hour….I said hours.

Give it one week. Record yourself. Notice the difference. Hear the difference. Feel the difference.

Light and right / Strong and wrong

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If you haven’t already subscribed to the Singing Success channel, you can get to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Iwxsw_PoiD0#!

This is Brett Manning’s most recent video about extending chest voice.

This is such an important video for those of you trying to “belt”. The first and foremost thing you must be able to do before belting, is know that you are mixing!

If you feel a ceiling as you try to sing higher, or if you have to sing louder and push harder to reach higher notes, then you are not mixing well.

Brett talks about a wide open mouth at 1:30. This is essential for safe belting.  You must be able to allow the sound to reach the front of the mouth and teeth, as well as ring freely in your head register.

Brett talks a lot about results. There are many factors to extending chest voice in your mix. Here are a few details:

1. Optimum breath control. (Engage your upper abdomen and rib cage area).

2.  Keep a stable larynx. (Put a sob or moan in your coordination. This will help keep your larynx from rising).

3. Optimum cord closure. (Initiate your onset with a “cry”. This will help you with cord closure. This sensation is small and light as Brett talks about at 2:00. It is challenging to keep it “light and right”. But, that is your job! That is the exercise!)

3. Optimum thyroid tilt. (The more you “cry” at the onset of cord closure in your upper  register, the more your larynx will tilt. This is essential for safe belting).

4. Oral twang. (The ability to say your words in your upper register. This is like sounding like a cartoon character).

Questions? Comments? Please leave them here!

 

 

 

 

 

Carrie Manolakas sings Creep (Radiohead cover)

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I’m sure many of you have seen this heart-wretching rendition of Carrie Manolakas’ cover of Creep. She possesses such a compelling hold and control of this song. Have a listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ5ZclZTeTU

Jen DeRosa from Tom Burke’s Voice Studio talks about how Carrie is managing these sounds.  (A Quick Fix for Chicks that Mix)  Check that out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tc0bzLBygk     (And, if you are not subscribing to Tom Burke`s Studio yet for singing tips, then you better get there fast!)

I want to add a couple of things to Jen`s comments, that may seem obvious, but definitely crucial for anyone who is trying to make contemporary sounds in this range (belting).

1. Note Carrie`s body and breath control. Watch her stomach. Notice how effortless it appears she is working. This is NOT the case at all. Carrie is able to hold back huge amounts of air to create the pressure needed to make these sounds safely.

2. Note the `cry`in her voice that is very apparent starting around 2:26. This is good vocal cord closure. See how the top of her mouth is up (ensuring a raised soft palate), and her front top teeth are showing. Again, this is helping with the entire coordination of good cord closure and placement of tone and resonance.

3.  Note her chin starts to rise at the chorus. This is very effective for her belt sound, once she has good cord closure and optimum breath control. This only works when the throat is relaxed, open and you are `MIXING`. Note how the belt increases by the activation of the cricoid cartilage, and supreme oral resonance. (In other words, happy shouting!) (Note again, the soft palate is high, and the tongue is also slightly high in proportion to this coordination….and the throat is open and free). This is giving the illusion of pure chest voice.

4.  What is going on in the larynx? Lots of things.

The thyroid cartilage is tilted and the aryepiglottic sphincter is narrowed. This is creating oral twang which is a essential component for safe belting.

We know the the thyroid is tilted because her “cry” is very apparent (in her mix). Try meowing or doing a puppy dog whimper in your high mix. (Ladies, high C area and men G above middle C). We also know her aryepiglottic sphincter (AES) is narrowed because of her supreme oral twang. This makes her voice louder. This allows her to lift her chin. (Try quacking like a duck, or saying “nay, nay, nay” like a schoolyard bully with a nasty little bite to your voice).

If Carrie’s thyroid cartilage was not well tilted and the AES was not narrowed, Carrie would not be able to left her chin to better activate her oral twang and resonance. This laryngeal coordination is key to belting in any style of music.

Questions? Comments? Please leave them here.

 

 

The “ng” exercise

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Do you ever ask yourself why you do all these exercises?

Each exercise is designed to bring an awareness about a correct coordination that is essential for good singing technique. When you exercise your voice by doing the same coordination over and over again, your larynx will begin to build “muscle memory” and it will become easier over time. It is crucial, however, that you are actually doing the exercise correctly. This is no different than going to the gym to tone the muscles of your body.

One coordination is sliding through your entire range using the “ng” sound, such as in “sing.” I especially like this exercise because it draws close attention to the back of the mouth and tongue area, and the front of the face where you feel the resonance.

Start by saying “sing”. Notice when you reach the end of the word “ng”, your tongue rises to the roof of your mouth in the soft palate (the soft fleshy part at the back). You are actually closing your nasal port and stopping the sound from leaving your mouth. This allows for just head resonance.

Now try to say “sing” in your head register, and hold out the “ng”. (Notice I said say the word “sing” and don’t sing the word “sing”). Take the time to feel this. Don’t push it, and don’t strain. Allow yourself to “just be” in your head register. This may feel like falcetto. You should do all these exercises slowly and quietly. Take note of the sensations. If it is too high, take the note lower.

Can you keep your tongue up and touching the soft palate? If you feel yourself straining in the throat, start over and again “allow” the note to be in your head voice. If you are having trouble staying “connected”, then start over and do it very quietly and very “small”. Does that make it easier?

This coordination is key to building resonance and developing strength in the vocal cords near the edges, as well as stretching the cords (thyroid cartilage tilt). It also brings awareness to the back of the tongue and whether this area is causing you strain.  If you can’t stay connected, then do everything in falcetto. If you do this everyday as much as you can, you will eventually gain enough strength to stay “connected” to your speech level.  (Note, this may make you sound like a cartoon character).

It is very important that you use your body energy and awareness to help with this coordination. In other words, all the “effort” happens below your throat! Do it slowly and quietly, and visualize the fine edges of your vocal cords trying to stay together. Visualize your voice box tilting and stretching to allow the resonance in your face.

Note, you may try and use the wrong muscles of the throat and tongue to “help” you with the sound you are trying to create. This is called constriction. This is why you must be aware. You must take the time and “allow” this sensation. Keep a “happy” or “smile” sensation in your throat to avoid constriction.  It may be something you have never fully felt before. When resonating correctly it should be free, light, forward, buzzy, maybe brassy, and SMALL. Yes, it should feel small!

Learn to love the smallness of your voice!

Questions? Comments? Please let me know.

 

One of the best country singer belters is Carrie Underwood

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No doubt, one of  the best female country belters is Carrie Underwood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhvaDJTUmrU

Take note of Carrie’s first line here at the chorus of How Great Thou Art…starting at 2:26. Notice the head tilt back in conjunction with the ascending notes…..“Then sings my soul”, and then the head comes back down when descending on the notes “my Savior”; back up for “God”, and back down “to Thee”.  Carrie is well-known for this head technique. When she is “in belt mode” she raises her chin which activates the cricoid cartilage in the larynx.

So what is going on? Is Carrie actually just shouting? Well, yes, she is actually shout-singing in a controlled manner (in this case a C above middle C).  She appears loud (and sounds like she is solely in her chest register). This is an illusion. Carrie sounds like she is pulling chest, but she is definitely mixing. You can bet that she could sing like this in your living room without a microphone and control the volume well enough to not bother your ears. It appears loud, but it really isn’t “too” loud.

According to Estill Voice Technique, cricoid tilt increases loudness with less breath.

Let’s talk about Carrie’s breathing.

Carrie is a great breather. This is a hidden technique that you can’t see, you can only feel, and/or experience.

If you watch and listen to Carrie breathe throughout the entire song you will notice there are NO big gasps of breath intake. Notice they are very quick sips of air through the mouth. Almost like she is simply just “topping up” at the beginning of each phrase. Yes, it’s a little noisy (which can be considered poor technique).  Also, notice you never see Carrie’s shoulders or upper chest rise.  Carrie has great breath control and everything down yonder is working with maximum efficiency. Check out her ending to this song starting at 4:36. This is superb breath control.

At 4:36 and 4:49 the word “great” is on a high E flat. This is approximately the 2nd passagio of the female voice and a very challenging area for pop, rock and country singers. The voice ideally should be allowed to transition to pure head register here, but that would definitely not be in keeping with the style of the rest of this song.

Carrie is a little tight on this E flat, but this is a live performance!  I think she handled it remarkably well. The long “a” vowel in the word “great” is a challenging vowel (diphthong) at the best of times. Carrie could have tried to narrow the long “a” vowel a little bit to make this easier for her (such as a short “e” as in “bed”).  The audience wouldn’t notice that she is deliberately changing the long “a” vowel. Their ears would still hear the word as they already know it.  This narrowing would have allowed the word to resonate easier in the head voice and likely have caused less strain in the sound.

The other great quality Carrie has to her natural voice is “oral twang”. This bright, brassy, piercing sound allows her to sing loud and resonant without using a lot of breath, and without a great deal of effort.  You can hear the “twang” in her speaking voice. She doesn’t need to work at it. It is part of her inherent sound quality. Note that twang can be a missing element to achieving volume (resonance) in your head voice. Singers who don’t have a lot of oral twang can sometimes try to alter or “push” the sound to try and make their voice louder. This usually activates muscles that “squeeze” the sound instead of allowing the tone to freely make it’s way from the back of the throat and beyond.

Note that when Carrie is belting, she is not “thinning” her vocal cords as she ascends past her first passagio.  She does thin her cords sometimes above her bridge, and you hear this anytime she is singing high pitches that are not shouty. Some of you might refer to this as a falcetto sound. And, that’s OK. It definitely is breathier. (This is part the challenge of belt singers……to be able to use thick or thin folds while singing in the head register without being breathy).

In conclusion, the ability to maintain speech-level thickness to the cords, and allow the larynx to tilt and stretch are essential elements to safe belting. This allows the sound to get out of the back of the throat and resonant throughout the entire register…..hence mixing!!

Questions? Comments? I look forward to hearing from you.

Check out Brett Manning’s mouth

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Brett and his associates don’t talk much about your mouth or your soft palate, but take a look at him here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx-BpQFbLrg

Do you see his teeth and the wide smile? I love this! This is exactly the placement for singing high notes, regardless of the style (unless you are singing opera or classical). This wide smile and lifted upper mouth allows the vowels to resonate cleanly and nicely in the head voice.

Also, note the sob (moan), and “cry” to his voice. This is essential for good vocal cord closure.

Try it! Don’t sing too loud. Just allow those high notes to blend with the low ones, and VOILA!

The belt zone

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Ladies, your belt zone is around B flat, B, high C, and high D. This is the area where we usually start pushing and tensing to make the sound more “powerful”.

One of the best things you can do as a singer is pay attention to consistency and tone of your voice. All the notes (below and above your passagio around A above middle C), should “feel” the same. They should resonate the same. You should not feel any undue strain in your throat.

What I mean by this is simply allow the sound to remain the same. Do not try and make the high notes more powerful or “more” than they need to be. They may appear breathy at first. That’s OK.

They simply need to stay connected.

Once connected, your power will come from focus that happens far below the vocal cords….deep within the body……the energy exhibited when holding back breath and creating a balanced pressure above and below the vocal cords.

Check out this head voice exercise to gain strength and power for belting.

oooo dynamic breath control exercise

Raise Your Voice by Jaime Vendera

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If you are still trying to figure out how to belt correctly, then you need to read Jaime Vendera’s book, Raise Your Voice.

This book has it all. Every little byproduct of good singing technique is in this book. His tell-all approach is inspiring and contagious. He doesn’t miss a thing.

What I really appreciate from this book is the reminder that first and foremost, a singer needs to be healthy, and remain healthy for optimum vocal performance. He goes into great detail about how to take care of your body, your voice, and your mind.

It’s an easy read and very motivating.

The author is the same guy who can shatter crystal goblets with his high-pitched screams. He appears truly humble in this book, and proudly shares the stage with many other famous and not-so-famous vocal coaches on different ideas, tips and coordinations.

I recommend every singer learning to belt or sing in any extreme manner, read this book. It is not for the amateur, and in fact, that may be the only downside of this book. It may lead the reader to believe it’s as simple and direct as he seems to indicate it is. When, in fact, belting is truly a condition where nothing is as simple as it seems……..