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Do you have a question about singing?
Are you interested in learning more about your voice?
(page4)

Welcome to Dreamquest's FREE online singing tips and FAQs with Melissiah, international singing teacher, and founder of the Absolute Singing Mastery method of instruction and BodySense for Singers.

If you have any further questions about singing after reading these pages feel free to send me an email. Please remember that due to the extensive emails received monthly not all questions may be answered.

First of all I advise you to strengthen the muscles of your singing instrument through learning a healthy vocal technique. I invite you to download my Absolute Singing Mastery program and let me know how you go - there's a 60 day money back guarantee if you don't improve by at least 100% in this time. I'm always thrilled to hear success stories from the metal singers who improve their voice with my program - you can read some of them here Absolute Singing Mastery testimonials. Once you have mastered clean singing and can sing for extended periods without tiring, you can begin experimenting with your vocal tone to achieve the desired sound. Remember to take heed that pain in the throat when singing is your body's way of telling you that something is wrong.

After you've improved your voice with my program you can easily and naturally learn all aspects of rock and metal singing with Metal Method - Vocal Power by Jim Gillette . Because you sound genuine about being a metal singer and you want to see yourself going beyond your current limitations, when you purchase Metal Method, make a before and after recording of your voice which will help you realize how much you've expanded your talent. PS. Just so you're aware, Jim Gillette is famous for his extremely high voice, which he has used to shatter crystal goblets as part of his act!

Most six year olds have a short concentration span therefore the best tunes at this stage are nursery rhymes. Children also prefer to sing songs that incorporate movement eg Ipsy Wipsy Spider.

Singing in tune is a learnt skill just like walking or talking. Children learn by imitation - the best way to teach her to sing in tune is to sing along with her! Playing music to her on CD will also help develop her musical ear. Mozart is especially good as recent studies have indicated his music can help develop intelligence. When your daughter's a bit older she'll probably enjoy group music classes designed especially for children. Try enquiring at your local schools or perhaps looking in your local paper.

Smiling changes the timbre - or tone - of the voice. That's why you can hear if a person on the other end of the phone is smiling when they are talking to you! With regard to singing, facial expression is important to convey the emotional message of the song. Your body language needs to be congruent with the message of the song - smiling when singing a sad song is sending a mixed message to the audience.

Smiling increases the higher harmonics of the voice but can also make your voice sound thin and tinny by reducing the lower harmonics. When singing think about smiling inwardly by lifting your soft palate, without spreading your lips into a smile. This should allow all your vowels to have a consistent tone or timbre.

Honey does not lubricate the throat as all food and liquid that you consume goes down the oesophagus, not into the larynx.

Your vocal folds are encased and protected by a moist mucus membrane. Your throat is drying out during performance due to the amount of air that is being forced through your larynx. When the mucus membranes of the vocal folds lose moisture this affects the ability of the vocal folds to vibrate to produce sound.

For every road travelled on there's a price to pay - it's up to you to decide if the pleasure of growling and screaming is worth the risk of vocal damage.

To answer this month's question Dreamquest would like to introduce Sasha Novak - international performer, teacher and recording artist.

There are two parts to this question.

Part One Premises:
(i) You feel like the sound escapes from your lungs, which to me means that there is a somewhat effortless feel to your singing.
(ii) You can do this successfully for hours.
(iii) There is no pain involved.
(iv) You can alter the "texture" of the scream, which I interpret as meaning that you have some level of dynamic control - i.e. colour.
Conclusion: You seem to be using at least some of the correct support muscles to produce your screaming - which is good.

Part Two Premises:
(i) There is a substantial body of evidence to suggests that forced tone production, particularly yelling and screaming, does harm the vocal cords, which may manifest itself as things such as nodules, edema and so on.
(Ii) You are doing this for very extended periods of time.
Conclusion: This practice is likely to cause long-term damage to your vocal cords, even though it may not actually register as "pain" as such.

Overall, the use of screaming is much more a personal decision than anything else, especially given the genre of music you are involved in. However, I can't see how any respectable singing teacher could endorse such a practice. It's a little bit like asking a world class pianist, whose livelihood is dependent on his fingers, to take up karate and break bricks for five hours per day.

If you find it easy to sing as high as Charlotte Church, then you are probably a soprano. Your voice could probably reach a top C or maybe even an F above if you are exceptionally gifted, but below middle C is approaching the bottom end of your range.

'Head voice' and 'chest voice' are somewhat confusing terms. These terms are not used in speech pathology as they DO NOT relate to vocal registers. 'Head voice' may seem like a different register from your 'chest voice' but in fact it is just a different area of vocal resonance in the body. It is not acoustically possible to sing the majority of the notes in your vocal range without accessing resonance of the pharynx (back of your throat).

It sounds as if your teacher is trying to prevent you from accessing pharyngeal resonance for your higher notes. This method of singing elevates the larynx and can result in vocal strain, vocal breaks, loss of higher notes and an uneven vocal tone. Lifting the larynx during singing activates the swallowing mechanism and lowers the epiglottis - humans are not capable of singing and swallowing at the same time. Rather than lifting the larynx in your throat, your vocal folds need to lengthen if you wish to reach the higher notes with the same power and vocal beauty as your lower notes.

My advice is to find a real coach that understands your gift and the style of singing you wish to master. In the meantime choir is a great place to sing, perform and have fun. As for the keyboard player, how about asking him to sing a song . . .

A scream is a response to danger or pain. Some singers have a very resistent vocal apparatus that defies damage but extended use of screaming may result in extreme friction on the vocal folds causing burst blood vessels, polyps, nodes or a myriad of other disorders. For some singers the vocal folds may never recover even after surgery, lengthy periods of silence and rehabilitation.

Some singers are able to use the ventricular or false vocal folds to get a rougher or raspier sound such as Brian Johnson from AC/DC and Louis Armstrong. Australian rocker Jimmy Barnes claims his ENT specialist discovered he sings entirely using the false vocal folds - he doesn't sing using the vocal folds at all.

If you want to get a bit more 'gravel' into your voice, experiment with adding more air to your sound. The downside of this is that excess air causes more friction and drying out of the vocal folds. I've personally reviewed a number of metal singing programs and in my opinion the the best program for teaching safe and healthy rock and metal singing technique is Metal Method - Vocal Power by Jim Gillette - click on the banner below to download. (Doug Marks also sells his acclaimed Metal Method DVD guitar lessons on this site.)

Many years ago, ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctors would spray the vocal folds of patients with oil. It was believed that the larynx functioned like a machine and needed to be kept greased. As for drinking oil, there's no way it can touch your vocal folds. When you swallow, the epiglottis closes over the larynx to prevent food or liquid entering the airway. The vocal folds are covered by mucous membrane therefore you need to drink plenty of water to keep them hydrated.

As to the large size of some opera singers - the reason remains one of the mysteries of the world!

FREE online singing advice and faqs page 5