Yes, everyone can sing!

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Susan McAllister-Bee

I have a wonderful motivating story for you!

Mister W. has been seeing me for singing lessons for about 3 months. He is 33 years old and his favourite band is Stone Sour ……… He has never sang in school or a choir, or in front of anyone for that matter. He was what you would call a “closet-singer”. He only made sounds when he knew no one was listening.

Mr. W. had a lot of trouble matching pitch during first few lessons. For one thing, he was nervous, which is totally normal when you first meet someone and you have to try and sing in front of them. But, he was determined. He had always wanted to be able to sing and I told him it was definitely possible if he is willing to do the work.

Three months later, he is proving to himself, that indeed, he can sing. He has been doing his exercises regularly, and he is now vocalizing at the level of what I call …. A Singer!! Yes, he is matching pitch ascending and descending through his 1st and 2nd passagio.

His family thinks this is incredible, however, the truth is …. he has worked hard and it is paying off. I paved the path and he has followed diligently. He did exactly what he was asked to do …. twice a day ….. everyday!

Does learning to play piano help you sing easier?

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Susan McAllister-Bee

It is easiest to sing when you have mastered the art of listening. Listening and mimicing sounds go hand-in-hand. In fact, that’s how we learned to talk…we copied what we heard. It is easiest if the singer has developed this art at a young age.

That’s why I always encourage my piano students to sing the rhythm or words as they learn a song. The goal, of course, is to match pitch. Later on, to match articulation and dynamics.

I don’t think we can under-estimate the value of learning a musical instrument and its’ correlation to learning to sing.

How to know if your voice lessons are working….

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Susan McAllister-Bee

So you’ve been taking lessons for quite some time, and you are not sure if it’s worth it. It costs a lot of money, and you cannot tell if it’s worth your while.

Here are a few suggestions to help you determine progress. Make sure lessons are recorded and dated so you can go back and compare.

1. Listen for the breath in your sound production. You should be less breathy in your exercises now, compared to the first few months.
2. Listen and compare the tonal quality of your low notes up to your high notes, and back down. Is your sound more “focused?”
3. Consider whether you are running out of breath when vocalizing? Is it different now from the beginning? You should be finding it easier.
3. Are you “mixing” in the middle? In other words, are you able to go from the bottom of your range to the top of your range without a “battle” or sensation of flipping in the middle? Compare this to the first six months of lessons.
4. Do the following test. Sing a comfortable note in your low range. Can you increase the volume without involvement of throat, neck, jaw or tongue, and just have the sensation created by the breath pressure you are creating? Do the same thing for a high note? Can you get a sense of the acoustic space you are creating while doing this?
5. Did you know it takes much longer to strengthen the high part of your voice compared to your low part. Specifically listen to the differences in your high notes when listening back to old lessons. Are you clearer and stronger sounding?

These are just a few ways to know if your voice lessons are working.

Why I’m glad I didn’t take traditional singing lessons…

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Susan McAllister-Bee

I grew up singing. I sang at nursery school, I sang at church. I sang at public school in the choir and when I was 13 started a “band” with my sister. I played bass guitar and she played drums. We also had two friends in the band who sang and played guitar. We would perform at church events, community events, and frankly, anywhere we could. My parents were very supportive and it was a huge part of why I am still singing and performing today.

I didn’t take singing lessons as a child, but I did take piano lessons. I can remember the hurdles I had with my voice early on. I can remember the limits I had. Even though I had a “nice voice” it was mostly chest voice. The highest note I could sing comfortably was a C above middle C, and that was pushing it. I struggled with this limitation for years as I went on to play and sing in different dance bands for over 20 years. I got good at belting but I had trouble lasting a gig that was more than three nights in a row. If I had a virus I was doomed. I knew I couldn’t make it through even one night without being hoarse.

I studied classical voice when I was in my 30’s and pregnant with my first child. It was something that I always wanted to do. I practised hard and took the Grade 9 Western Conservatory practical exam after two years of training. After that, I quit. I had learned a lot, and it was some of the most vigorous singing I had ever done. However, I didn’t want to sing classical music. I wanted to sing contemporary music.

The reason I am writing this post is to tell you how glad I am that I never had traditional singing lessons as a child or teenager even though I wanted them. To put it simply is that classical singing lessons would have changed my vocal sound, and I would never have been able to sing popular genres the way I do now. The reason I know this is because I experienced myself what singers with trained voices are experiencing as they try to sing other styles of music. Unfortunately, traditional classical training gets in the way. Popular and contemporary music focuses a lot on music written under the first bridge, through the first bridge and usually climaxing near the second bridge (not over the second bridge). Singers usually approach the second bridge with more chest in the “mix” than head voice. This is the problem. Classically trained singers have trouble disengaging so much head voice in their mix. They are not familiar with their speech level chest voice which is very common in popular music.

The best thing that happened to me is when I stumbled upon Speech Level Singing (SLS). I had been reading and researching it for years, and finally decided to enroll as a student/teacher. (Yes, I still take voice lessons!). SLS was the technique that saved my voice. I can now sing hour after hour, night after night, with consistency, great tone, power and strength. It has been the only technique that made sense to me. I am now able to strengthen my mix daily and stay healthy and ready for regular singing day after day.

My comment to you is this. If you take traditional vocal lessons, you need to realize you may be altering your voice in a way that you don’t really want to. Traditional training approaches the voice from the high end first. You end up with this beautiful head voice tone. However, the chest voice can suffer and leave you wondering why you can’t sing certain songs the way other singers do.

Times are changing and there is no better time to tell singers about these differences than now…..so spread the word!

So you want to be a singer…

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Susan McAllister-Bee

Learning to sing is no different than learning to play the guitar or the piano. It requires a great deal of discipline and practise to get your vocal cords working to the best of their ability. Copying other singers can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing. If you are not approaching the pitches correctly, or not using the appropriate mix of head and chest voice for the song, then it can be problem. This can create some very bad habits, and lead to hoarseness and possible damage.

Bottom line is, if it hurts or if you are straining for notes, then you are doing it wrong. Singing should feel easy and free. If you are grimacing and singing loudly during high notes then you are not singing freely.

Everyone’s vocal cords are different. That’s the fascinating thing about the vocal instrument. No two sound alike. Some voices are automatically pleasing, and some not so pleasing. Of course, this is all subjective. What’s pleasing to my ear may not be pleasing to your ear.

If you’re not sure how to make your singing better, then it’s a good idea to see a vocal coach with a reputable background to learn exercises that will help you build strength, endurance and better tone.

Oh no! I’ve lost my voice again!

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Susan McAllister-Bee

The dreaded laryngitis. It’s not uncommon among singers, especially during the winter season. You’ve just got over that cold virus, and you sang too “hard” and talked “too loud” at the party last night, and now you are paying for it. The problem is you need to sing again tonight!

Unfortunately, there is no easy or fast fix. If you don’t learn how to treat your vocal cords properly and with care, then you will end up with swollen cords that can take weeks to return to normal.

Instead you need to learn how to sing with dynamics and emotion without blowing so much “force” through your cords. Here is a test. Try to sing your favourite songs with intensity, emotion, and dynamics in your house while someone is trying to sleep! You can’t sing loud or you will wake them, but you can’t be boring while you’re singing. Can you do it? Do you have passion and intensity in your voice while trying to sing quietly?

There are exercises that can help you do this better. Learning how to “lean” into the notes or “press” into the notes creates intensity and warmth in your voice and you won’t need much air to get louder sounds. Singing high notes is especially difficult to do quietly…….but a good singer can do this! Working on the “cry” in your voice in the high register will help start the “attack” of the note, and then you lean into the note to sustain the warm tone. All of this is done with very little breath coming through your vocal cords! Instead, the breath is held back by the vocal cords and is “under pressure” behind your vocal cords.

Let me know what you think? Did the exercise work for you?