Tag Archives: Singing

The show must go on!

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I woke up yesterday with a cold and hoarseness in my voice. I had three hours of performance to do later in the day, so I knew it was going to be a tough one with a lot of careful attention and energy to complete the job!

First, I had a hot shower and my usual … pot of coffee. I didn’t utter a word until 2:00 pm. I did a few exercises of lip trills and light sirens. I took a moment to gauge where I thought I was with my voice, compared to my “healthy voice”. I was somewhere around a 6 or 7. My goal was to be 8 or 9 before leaving for my gig. I had two hours.

I continued to warm up my head voice lightly. I paid acute attention to my body and energy to make sure I wasn’t putting any undue stress on my vocal cords. I did some sit ups and took a walk around the block. I continued to sip water all day.

This has happened many times before and I have learned over the years how to pace the day and night. It’s a delicate balance. I don’t talk. I only sing ….. when it’s absolutely necessary. In this case, it was necessary or else I would be letting down many many people who simply wanted to enjoy their Christmas party!

I made sure I could hear my voice well in the monitor. I would be singing at about half volume, so this was doubly important for this gig. I chose my repertoire very carefully…no “big” songs during this show. Instead, I focused on my “presentation” with by body and with my facial expressions.

When the night was finally over I was totally spent. I had maxed out my vocal cords for this gig, and I was mentally and physically exhausted from the energy it took to maintain a careful journey to get me through to the end of the night…..but it worked! As I headed out the door with my car jammed pack with my gear, my employer waved goodbye and said “see you next year!”

Justin Bieber? Taylor Swift? Who really has the voice?

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Hi everyone,

I was speaking with the mother of a student yesterday, and the subject of Justin Bieber’s voice came up. She was going on about how he couldn’t sing well, and how annoying it was to listen to.

I didn’t interrupt her but let her finish and go on with her day. However, here is what I was thinking at the time.

Let’s face it, everyone’s interpretation of who is a good singer is going to be different. For example, most singing coaches in the classical world might not consider anyone singing on contemporary radio to be a good singer. Technique can be a crucial indicator to singing coaches, but not even a consideration to the general public.

I want to share with you what I classify as a good singer.

A good singer is someone who can sing in their mix, or in their head voice, or in their chest voice as they choose. And a good singer is someone who can make me, the listener, believe them when they’re singing.

If someone isn’t able to sing in their mix (which is the middle voice of chest and head voice combined), then straight away I don’t believe them. In general, my ears cannot enjoy a voice that is strictly in chest voice, or only head voice. I prefer the sound of using the entire registration.

Justin Bieber does that just fine. No, I don’t want to buy his CD’s, but my daughter certainly does!  I can relate to what this mother might be feeling as she listens to the same songs over and over and over. However, from a technical point of view, Justin Bieber is a very talented singer and will only get better and stronger as he goes through puberty.

On the other hand, I can think of many voices on the radio who can’t sing well in their mix. Let’s take Taylor Swift for instance. She has definitely made her mark in the world of song writing, but she is bad news for all those young girl singers out there trying to copy her. It’s these young girls who buy her CD’s! They love her stories about heartbreak and boys.  But, the bad news for these singers is that her songs are easy to imitate. By that I mean, these young girls don’t have to sing in their mix. They can sing any of her songs in their chest voice alone. This is extremely detrimental for young singing voices.

I imagine you will start to notice Taylor Swift’s range increase in the next album or two as she learns how to mix her voice better with the help of Brett Manning. He is, as I understand it, one of her vocal coaches. As her middle voice strengths she will be able to sing higher notes, but most likely this will present in her songs as a chest belt. This is typical of many singers in contemporary radio music. That happens to be the type of voice that music producers love to record, because they sell lots of CD’s!

I can think of some great singers who can belt well in their mix. Celine Dion is, of course, the master. And, let’s not forget Kelly Clarkson, and Adam Lambert. Oh my, how we love to listen to the mixed belt!

Style of music is a definite indicator as to the type of voice you may be listening to. Let’s take the beautifully-controlled and balanced voice of Barbra Streisand. Wow, is all I can say. This is “mixing heaven” to me, lol.

And, what about the voice and style of Leanne Rimes. Why do we love her so much? Well, she has a unique voice that is not only well balanced in the mix, but she can also do this fabulous flip (yodel) between her chest and head voice. This yodel is sooooooo smooth that it has really become her signature, and it really sets her apart from most other singers.

Well, that’s it for today. I want to thank the mom I spoke with yesterday for inspiring me to blog on this topic today. I welcome your comments. Bye for now. Susan

You can give some of your technique away to style….

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Once good technique is memorized by your vocal cords, then and only then, should a singer really “lose their technique” in a  song.  A good singer is one who has control of their voice.

A good singer knows their voice. They understand their chest, mix and head voice, and they know how to get through their entire range with ease and balance.

Test yourself….are you a good singer? Try a siren….start in your high voice and take it down to the lowest note you can sing while keeping the tone, the feeling and the vowel the same.

Where to study voice? Go to university? Study privately?

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I’ve posted about this before, but it is so important that singers understand what they are doing with their voice. Your voice is your instrument of choice, and you need to learn and understand how to use it the way you want to use it. That may not make sense…read on.

You are told you have a beautiful voice…you must go on and study, study, study, go to university, you have such a bright future…..You love to sing……sounds like the best thing to do in the world. You are going to work your entire like doing what you love…..singing.

Careful now….let’s be really clear about what is going on here. 

You go to university and the professors tell you you have a lovely voice, but you must do this, and do that. They tell you if you can sing classically you can sing anything. They change your voice. You love singing classical music so you enjoy 4 years of singing, learning arias and practising diligently. Four years later you graduate with a beautiful classically trained voice and now you need to work.

You search for music theatre work and find out your voice is only suitable for certain plays. Most productions do not want your style of singing. You try to change your voice to suit what is needed for the shows but you sound phoney, different, and not yourself.

This is very common. Work is limited and hard to find.  Graduates, in turn, start teaching to young, naive students the very same classical technique that they were taught for years.

Classical vocal training is the most common teaching available because it is embedded in our history!   But…..here’s the big but, wait for it…….it’s out of date!!  There is very little work for classically trained singers. Times have changed. Musical theatre has changed. In order to stay current, singers must realize this shift is happening. The beautiful soprano head-voice is no longer the voice of choice. Instead, listeners are enjoying the beautiful, strong and powerful sound of chest voice high in the mix.

For the most part, this cannot be accomplished with classical training. Some singers can sing anything, but most singers need to learn and understand what they want their voice to sound like.

For more information visit this website and find a Speech-Level Singing teacher near you. You will not be disappointed. www.speechlevelsinging.com.

I welcome all comments and questions. Speech-Level Singing is an up-to-date method based on the classical Bel Canto technique. It has been created by Seth Riggs to allow singers to stay current with information, and to help build a strong, beautiful voice that can sing ANYTHING!! Yes, any style of music!  This is the year 2010….Singers, get with the times!!  Universities are out of date!

Who has the most to gain?

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When I see a young teenager serious about their voice, I get very excited.  This is the time in a person’s life to make the serious choice that their vocal instrument is going to be developed to be the best that it can be. Just look at Adam Lambert. Here is a voice that has been practised and developed at this very important stage in life.

It takes discipline and focus to get a voice up to great standards…no different than playing any other instrument.   It takes a great deal of commitment…just like anything else in life that is done well.

Singers Beware!

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Oh, isn’t it great! You’ve formed a band and you have a regular paying gig now at the local club every week! Life is good, but you’ve noticed that after three nights in a row of singing there is absolutely nothing left. You start out fine with lots of belt and volume, but by the end of Saturday night you are ready for a long vocal break……

If this is happening to you, then you need to read on. Vocal exhaustion and abuse is not unusual when you sing in a loud room, but it’s deadly. It can kill your career as a singer. No band will want a singer who can’t perform for days or weeks in a row. Consider this…

First, are you warming up? Do you have all resonators buzzing with anticipation? Hope so. Secondly, how’s your vocal monitor? Can you hear youself over the drums and guitar when you talk. That’s a good test……can you “speak” and hear your words while the drums and guitars are blaring. If you don’t have a good monitor then that’s the first sign you’re in trouble.

Second, just because everything is loud around you doesn’t mean you should be loud. You have amplication to do that. You may need to make it appear that you are singing loud to our audience (body language, facial expressions), but the bottom line is, if you are over-blowing your vocal cords then you are causing abuse which may lead to hoarseness and loss of the voice. You should be singing a “moderate” volume with good articulation and presence.

Thirdly, are you in the mix? Are you asking what is the mix? Well, the mix is when your chest voice and your head voice work very well together creating a balance that makes it very easy to sing any style of music you want.

Got questions? Drop me a line….

Think carefully before chosing a voice teacher…

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Here are two scenerios to consider:

1. A student starts taking singing lessons at age 8 from a voice teacher who has had his/her training from a university. (This teacher also started his/her singing journey with a teacher who got his/her training from a university). The student accomplishes many singing exams, then goes on to university to complete his/her training in singing and graduates with a beautiful classically trained voice. This student, who is now a teacher, goes on to teach many other young voices.

Scenerio two:  A student starts singing lessons with a voice teacher who has had his/her training from a master teacher in Speech Level Singing. This teacher may have gone to university, but realized the limited potential for “work” with a classically-trained voice. This student doesn’t take vocal exams, but rather learns to sing with a microphone and performs regularly in front of small and large audiences. This student is also writing songs. This student goes to university but not for music. He/she is performing their original music with their band and making money to pay for their education. Later this student gets a record deal ….

How old should my child be to take singing or piano lessons?

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First, let’s start with singing.

Children should be encouraged to match pitch as soon as they start to talk. For instance, matching low sounds like a frog, or high sounds like a fire siren…..these are important first steps in ear training and learning to match pitch.  It helps them recognize their high voice (the fire siren) and their low voice (the frog).

Singing “on key” can start to become a problem when the child only learns to “hear himself”  instead of listening to both himself and the accompanying music and singer. This is where the adult can be very helpful by encouraging proper pitch matching in a fun and loving way. Music classes once a week such as Music Pups and Music for Young Children are a wonderful way for the family to sing and enjoy music together.

The recommended age to actually start singing lessons is much debated. In my studio we start at the age of 6. As long as the student is able to pay attention for 20 minutes of vocal warm-ups and exercises, followed by 10 minutes of singing songs, then this is a good age to start lessons.

Lessons help the child learn how to sing through their entire vocal register…..both the head voice and the chest voice.  Lessons draw attention to matching pitch in the correct register. This helps eliminate any bad habits such as reaching for high notes in their chest voice. Students also develop a comfort with performance because they are singing with other students, and performing regularly in front of their parents. All these steps add up to huge benefits for their self-esteem and, of course, their singing voice!!

When should a child start piano lessons?

Do you remember when you started piano lessons? I do…I was 5. I think the novelty lasted about a year and a half. The only reason I continued was because my family was very musical and my grandmother taught me how to chord.

Today, we have a great program called Music for Young Children that helps make having a music/piano lesson fun for the entire family. Students get together in a small group setting with their parent and meet for up to an hour to study the keyboard and music education. Children start as young as 3! The hour is filled with songs and games about the critters that live on the keyboard, and the rhythm critters who tell us how to play our keyboard. The children love this.

Currently in my studio I have students as young as 9 achieving their Grade 1 Royal Conservatory piano exam and Preliminary Rudiments theory exam. All students do very well. The reason…….because we have fun and because the family is involved.

Homework and keyboard/piano practise is assigned weekly. It is the parent’s responsbility to see that this is accomplished. There is some flexibility in the program, so when things get tough the student has options so they can reach the same degree of achievement. The program is phenomenal and must be seen to be really appreciated.

Parents are encouraged to visit the myc.com website for a teacher near you. This program is celebrating its’ 30th year, and the founder is a Canadian named Francis Belodis whom I am very fond of!

That’s all for now! Questions and remarks are welcome!

Musically,

Susie

Oh no! I’ve lost my voice again!

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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?

That’s my head voice?

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Have you ever had an “ah ha” moment? Well, that’s what happened with my adult student today and it was her first lesson.

She had developed the habit of only using her chest voice to sing. She ignored her head voice. I guess she didn’t like the sound. It’s actually quite a common habit among singers.

The problem is if we ignore our head voice, then we can’t reach the high notes “appropriately”. That is, with a “mixed voice”. Oh, you may be able to reach that high note, but what does it sound like? Is it wide and splatty, and overall just plain not nice to listen too? Probably.

You see, you can’t get a nice sound on a “high” note without using some of your head voice. That’s why you need to learn how to mix the chest with the head so you get a balance of each.

Are you not sure what is your head voice? Well, try to sing the vowel “oo” (like the hooting of an owl), and make high sounds……like the siren of a fire truck or ambulance. Is it breathy? Then you are likely using falcetto…..that is not your head voice. Try again, but don’t let the high note be breathy. Lean into it a bit. There you go, that’s your head voice!