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Singing Tips 3

Hi, I'm Melissiah, international singing teacher, and founder of the Absolute Singing Mastery method of instruction and BodySense for Singers. Welcome to my FREE online singing tips and FAQs.

You can now contact me LIVE if you need an immediate answer to your question about singing, auditions or need help for your stagefright.

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. Click on the DVD image to find out more.

 

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!

 

The lowest or 'fundamental' note you can sing is factored by the length and thickness of your vocal folds which ultimately determines their lowest rate of vibration.Whilst you may have a natural bass-baritone or even bass voice, forcing your voice to sing lower than is naturally comfortable by forcing down your larynx can lead to voice disorders.

Look in the mirror whilst you sing a downward scale on 'AH' and shine a torch in your mouth. As you sing lower your tongue should stay in exactly the same position - the ideal position being higher in the back of the mouth than at the tip of the tongue. If your tongue starts lowering as you descend on the scale it means you are depressing your larynx. This places undue pressure or stress on the vocal folds and will result in a 'stuffy' sort of sound - just like the sound you make when the doctor holds down your tongue with a depressor and tells you to say 'Ah'. It would be far wiser to develop beauty of the notes you can comfortably reach.

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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 he sings entirely using the false vocal folds.

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.)

Whilst you may have a natural bass-baritone or even bass voice, forcing your voice to sing lower than is naturally comfortable by forcing down your larynx can lead to voice disorders.

Look in the mirror whilst you sing a downward scale on 'AH' and shine a torch in your mouth. As you sing lower your tongue should stay in exactly the same position - the ideal position being higher in the back of the mouth than at the tip of the tongue. If your tongue starts lowering as you descend on the scale it means you are depressing your larynx. This places undue pressure or stress on the vocal folds and will result in a 'stuffy' sort of sound - just like the sound you make when the doctor holds down your tongue with a depressor and tells you to say 'Ah'. It would be far wiser to develop beauty of the notes you can comfortably reach.

Voice type is a controversial subject. Vocal fach (voice type) is not the same as vocal range although the two are often confused. A baritone voice has a more 'smokey' or dark quality than a tenor voice, due to the presence of lower harmonics in the sound. Some well known baritones are Barry White and Bing Crosby.

The range of a baritone is generally from about F# an octave and a half below middle C to about an A above middle C. There are tenors who can sing down to F# but this doesn't make them baritones, just as there are baritones who can sing as high as tenors, but that doesn't make them tenors. (If you have a tenor and a baritone sing the same note then the baritone will actually sound like he's singing a lower note.) Within the baritone catergory their are further sub catergories such as dramatic and lyric.

 

Without hearing your voice it's quite difficult to make a diagnosis, but I do suggest you see a doctor before you even consider a vocal coach. You possibly have tinnitis - ringing in the ears which is worsened by loud noises, and you may have problems with low blood pressure causing the headaches when you sing high pitches. It is also interesting to note that you say your voice has deepened considerably from soprano to alto. Smoking deposits toxic substances on the vocal folds, making them vibrate more slowly and often giving the voice a rougher and more gravelly sound.

The Voice Center reports that Reinke's edema is quite typical in heavy smokers, and can produce a low pitched voice. Women have also reported their voices deepening with an underactive thyroid gland or Hashimoto's disease, sometimes to the extent of being mistaken on the phone for a man.

I was actually diagnosed a number of years ago with an underactive thyroid. Before diagnosis my voice did get deeper and I also suffered from lots of headaches which got worse when I sang anything due to low blood pressure. (Thyroid problems can also result in bad nerves and extreme tiredness as well as a host of other unpleasant symptoms.)

Once you have determined whether your problems are of a medical nature or not, it's worth considering one of the many good singing programs available on the internet until you can afford to go to lessons. Please visit Absolute Singing Mastery where you can try out a free lesson or check out other reviews of the singing programs here.

If you wish to get started I suggest you change your poverty mindset. How do you expect to earn hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars a night as a professional opera singer if you don't want to invest in vocal lessons to perfect your talent? This advice may seem harsh but I'm speaking from experience. I made sacrifices for a number of years in order to attend voice lessons and it was all worth it when the international contracts began rolling in.

If you've been singing in weddings for such a long time, perhaps you could make a career out of it or at least begin to earn some good money occasionally for your talent, and I'm sure that the people you've sung for in the past won't mind giving you a reference.

To get started as an opera singer please visit our links page for information regarding auditions.

 

To me the phrase 'making it' is a measure of how happy you are with your achievements as a musician. To some people it could mean multi platinum album sales, while to others it could just mean a monthly spot at the local club.

A good idea is to start singing at friends parties. Karaoke parties - where everyone gets to sing - are a lot of fun and help build confidence. Further down the track you could then try karaoke and singing contests, jamming with other musicians, trying your hand at songwriting and perhaps even audition for bands that require a singer or backing singer. If you'd rather be a soloist then you'll need to build up your repertoire of songs and contact an agent if you want to perform covers, or contact local clubs that book indie acts if you want to perform originals.

Wherever you want to perform you'll need a demo CD, a professionally written biography, some promo photos, a songlist and posters. You'll also need these promotional items if you're a songwriter after a record deal. But just remember you're only 14! The most important thing at this stage is to enjoy life and all the things you're learning while your voice is still developing.

As you seem very keen to achieve your dream as a singer I highly recommend this wonderful ebook that's full of handy hints and tips - Click here to download How To Make Money Singing

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.

Your daughter will probably benefit from 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!

Smiling increases the higher harmonics of the voice but can also make your voice sound thin and tinny by reducing the lower harmonics. A useful technique is to think about smiling inwardly by lifting your soft palate. Aim for all your vowels to have a consistent tone or timbre.

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 during a happy moment is expected, but smiling when singing a sad song is sending a mixed message to the audience.

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 . . .

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.

Some singers do go through bizarre rituals before they perform, but drinking oil does not lubricate the vocal folds. During swallowing, the epiglottis closes over the larynx to prevent food or liquid entering the airway. The vocal folds are actually covered by mucous membrane therefore you need to drink plenty of water to keep them hydrated.

Hmmm, the large size of some opera singers... I'd have to say it remains one of the mysteries of the world!

 

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