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Singing Tips 4

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.

You say your voice is locked but can you still speak? If you can then it sounds like your singing problem is due to too much tension in your throat muscles. Let me explain while I reassure you that you haven't ruined your voice

When we lift a heavy object our vocal folds adduct or close together to stabilize our muscles and create pressure in the chest. When the vocal folds adduct this strongly, air cannot excape from the lungs so phonation isn't possible.

To vibrate the folds as in singing or speaking the vocal folds need to adduct together to a level so that air can still be passed through them. Sound production also requires that the respiratory muscles involved in expiration, contract to expel the air through the closed vocal folds..

I recommend trying some primal sounds to get your singing voice back. Try a big sigh or yawn on 'Ah', then try a surprised sound on 'Oh'. Gradually lengthen these sounds, keeping your throat relaxed and you should be singing again in no time.

 

I've had a few people say to me that singing lessons are expensive and I always respond, "Expensive in relation to what?"

When it comes to singing lessons you only get what you pay for. Because music education is an investment, the most important thing is to have lessons with the right teacher who wil help you achieve results. If you've had teachers who weren't working out in the past, you probably need a different strategy to find a suitable teacher who you click with and who uses accelerated learning methods to help you develop your talent to its greatest potential.

When you find this teacher you will see how easy it is to sing well, be able to hear the improvements in your voice and feel confident that you've advancing towards your goals.

 

Most males will have that extra 'grunt' in the lower notes, especially baritones and basses. However as you are finding the majority of your voice to be pure in tone, I get the feeling that the rough and gravelly low notes are due to excess air, not a lack of it. A pure tone cannot result when excess air is forced through the vocal folds..

For every octave up we sing ie from C3 to C4, the frequency of the sound actually doubles which means that the vocal folds double in their rate of vibration, therefore low notes require less air than high notes. Try practicing legato half scales starting at the top, going down half an octave eg G F E D C, then back up . Aim for the SAME volume and timbre on each note by keeping your larynx (adam's apple) in the same spot - relaxed and low - and adjusting your volume of air. Make sure your soft palate stays in the same position for each note and that each and every note is supported. If you practise this technique correctly you should hear a difference in your voice immediately.

The main difference between opera and pop singing is how the vocal resonators are used. Pop singing basically evolved along with the advent of the microphone when singers realised voice projection was no longer an issue. Now that our archives of recorded music span back one hundred years we can listen to how much singing has changed or evolved, even in the last twenty or thirty years.

'Pop' singing nowadays is similar to speaking. The clear and free sound you are referring to is probably due to using a soft voice along with very close mic techniques in the recording studio. There is often greater distinction between the vowels in pop than in opera singing but it has come at a price - vocal projection and in many instances vocal beauty. Many people shy away from opera singing or as they claim it is unnatural, but effective use of the vocal resonators occurs naturally in the animal kingdom. Think of how loud a rooster can crow or a dog can bark!

As to your question on belting, I feel that you are probably singing more operatically than you realise as you say you have great volume, feel no strain and you need to modify your vowels. You probably have discovered that in order to successfully sing high notes with clarity and volume you do have to lean towards operatic technique which involves a lowered larynx, greater pharyngeal resonance and less 'forward' sound in the mouth.

 

Yawning increases our oxygen intake and is thought to be the body's response to an excess of carbon dioxide in the blood. Most people get into the habit of shallow or clavicular breathing which is insufficient for singing. Singing involves greater expenditure of energy than speaking, through increased respiratory function and muscle resistance.

Many beginners find themselves yawning during lessons and practise, however, a yawn is a fantastic way of raising the soft palate, lowering the jaw and creating space in the oral cavity! Some more interesting information about yawning can be found at
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/yawning.html

 

A great way of warming up your voice is to hum with your mouth OPEN on the NG sound as in the end of the word 'SING'. The open mouth helps keep the larynx in a low relaxed position while the NG sound is gentle on the vocal folds and helps access nasal resonance.

Hum up and down slowly on a three or five note scale in the middle of your range, keeping the muscles under your chin very relaxed. Remember to practise this exercise in front of a mirror to make sure your mouth stays open and your face is relaxed.

Singing high notes easily is akin to learning to do the splits as stretching muscles on a regular basis allows them to lengthen over time. Singing high notes on a daily basis will help to stretch the muscles within your vocal folds.

 

What a fantastic gift for your girlfriend! And i'm sure she'd love your CD even more if you just tried to sound like yourself rather than copy someone else. Most singers especially in the early stages of training go through a phase where they desperately want to sound like someone else, however voices are like snowflakes - no two are alike.

Can you imagine what you would sound like if you developed your uniqueness so that anybody who heard you on the radio or on CD could tell instantly it was you? This is an interesting question to think about... and someday there might be hordes of aspiring singers wanting to sound just like YOU!

 

To sing without the backing vocals throwing you off key you it's probably best to get a copy of the karaoke version without backup vocals. Then when you are really confident with singing the main vocals, try singing the song with the backing vocals. Eventually you'll find it easy to ignore what other singers are doing when you are singing harmonies..

A great way of getting used to working with other singers is to join a choir.

 

The ideal pathway of air is out of your mouth and nose!

As we're not in a maths class, an explanation of the main resonators in the body and their resultant effect on vocal sound should give you a good idea of how we can modify our singing instrument to achieve the desired sound.

The chest functions effectively as a resonator adding warmth or 'bottom end' harmonics when the larynx is kept in a neutral position during singing. High larynx singing as practised by many pop artists produces a sound lacking in depth or lower harmonics. An extreme exclusion of chest resonance can be heard in virtually all Indian female singers (have a listen to the music next time you go to an Indian restaurant!) which gives their voices a very girlyish quality.

The mouth is an important resonator because of its size and adjustability. Singing with a mouth too closed will result in a muffled sound whilst the mouth too wide open will result in a very spread or shouty tone. Nasal resonance is always present, but without the correct amount of mouth resonance - as with too high a tongue - a nasal quality results. The pharynx is one of the most useful resonators due to its ability to adjust in size by varying the tension of its muscular walls.

Learning to effectively adjust the mix of resonators can be achieved by practising different vowels sounds on the one note. Whether you're singing pop, musical theatre or opera, try to aim for the same resonance on each different vowel. Use the imagery that you feel is best for you and correlate this with the bodily sensations you experience at the same time and the sound you achieve. Record your voice so you can receive feedback on whether you are getting the desired sound.

 

Learning to sing involves much more than just training the arytenoid muscles as your entire body is your singing instrument! Technical points aside, singing is an art and teaching voice from a purely scientific viewpoint would lead to an emotionless or sterile singing.

Many singing teachers make use of imagery to convey technique to the students. Thus the teaching of singing is as much art as science. My advice is to find a skilled teacher who can pass on the art of training your arytenoid muscles, amongst other things!

 

Vibrato is a fascinating topic. According to a top American ENT specialist James P. Thomas, MD, "In my experience vibrato comes from moving the whole larynx and/or the pharynx. The vocal cords themselves stay stable."
Some fascinating fiberoptic movies showing vibrato production can be found on the doctor's website at http://www.voicedoctor.net/media/video/female.html

From my experience I have found vibrato develops naturally during correct vocal training, whereby the breath support is well developed enough to cause sufficient relaxation in the throat muscles. How soon this develops depends on the individual and also on the type of voice - I have one six year old student with ample vibrato and several students in their twenties with very little vibrato.

Usually, but not always, dramatic or heavier voices will develop a wider and deeper vibrato than singers with very light or lyric voices. The important thing is to let the vibrato develop itself naturally. Trying to force vibrato will usually lead to an artificial sounding vibrato along with excess air being 'blown' through the vocal cords. Some excellent singers with little or no vibrato include Enya and Sade.

The grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence but that's because it's fake turf!

Just about every baritone/bass I have ever taught has always wanted to sing higher. So I tell them about my tenor students who bemoan the fact they can't sing low and deep.

It is possible to train a deep voice to sing high depending on the elasticity of the vocal folds and the degree to which the larynx can tilt forward to stretch the vocal folds and vocal ligament. You may be able to eventually get those higher notes with time, patience, care and a good singing teacher, but why not just make the best of what you have? Some great deep voices belong to Lou Rawls, Isaac Hayes and Peter Steele (Type O Negative). And if you are interested in an opera or musical theatre career you'll always get to play the bad guy!

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