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Singing Tips 5

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.

The range of your voice is determined fundamentally by the size and thickness of your vocal folds. Male vocal folds also display a greater accumulation of collagenous and elastic tissue which contributes to a lower vocal pitch and greater power. The larger the vocal folds the slower they are able to vibrate - most women would be unable to sing as low as C3 131 Hz, conversely very few men could vibrate their folds to reach a high D6 1175 Hz.

Depth of vocal tone is also achieved by keeping the larynx low (in the yawning position) whilst singing. This accentuates lower vocal harmonics and will give your voice a richer tone. Lower notes can be developed gradually by extending vocalises lower in your daily practise. However don't force your voice to sing in a range where it's just not comfortable - you might be better off transposing the songs up a few keys.

Remember your voice is still in its infancy - it should continue to develop in tone, depth and character until you're well into your fifties if you look after it!

 

The main difference between singing pop and opera is vocal resonance, but apart from that your breathing and breath support should be pretty much the same.

When you sing - no matter what style - you should feel very little sensation in your throat or larynx. If your throat is hurting it's probably because you are:

1. Not breathing properly
2. Activating your swallowing muscles when you sing by raising your larynx
3. Yelling in band rehearsals

The songs your teacher is giving you will probably help increase your range and vocal control, however I feel she should also be coaching you with pop songs you like. Continue with your pop singing - just apply the techniques your teacher is showing you and you'll probably find your throat wont hurt anymore.

If you find yourself yelling in band rehearsals, turn up your foldback or rehearse acoustically.

Yes I love that style of singing too. The roughness actually comes from air turbulance passing through the vocal folds which creates 'noisy harmonics'.

Some singers are more suited to rock singing due to the physiology and thickness of their vocal folds, but even if you have a clean sounding voice you can develop a rock sound. Keep your larynx low in your throat while increasing the amount of air pressure passing through the vocal folds - ie your vocal folds will be slightly further apart than for pop or opera singing. You will begin to hear the sound get more breathy or gravelly over time.

If you feel any kind of soreness developing in your throat, resort back to a purer sound using less air. Best of luck!

If you are new to performing you might find it a bit nerve-racking at first but the more you perform the more you will probably begin to enjoy yourself and share with the audience why you became a musician or actor in the first place.

Some people, however, develop excessive performance anxiety which may result in symptoms such as sweating, blushing, dry mouth, shaking, heart palpitations, churning stomach, frequent urination, rapid breathing, a feeling of unreality or even a full blown panic attack.

It must be understood that bad stagefright is actually a learnt response. Anxiety of this degree can be successfully reduced or even eliminated with BodySense for Singers which is included in my Absolute Singing Mastery program.

 

Yes, there are people who have never had formal lessons but these people are few and far between. These people have been able to develop their talent due to an enhanced ability for self learning - mimicking the way other singers move and sound.

As singing is a learnt skill singing lessons will develop the voice to its greatest potential far more quickly and effectively than trying to learn on one's own by trial and error. Many students who enroll in my school initially believe they have excellent voices. After a term or so of lessons however, they admit how misguided their initial opinions were! Lessons raise their standard of what vocal 'excellence' really is.

Some of the world's best singers continue on with the services of their trusted vocal coach even after many years of training - Andrea Boccelli being a great example - to ensure the ongoing perfection of their vocal sound.

Recent studies of the laryngeal biomechanics of singers at the Center For Voice Disorders, Wake Forest Medical Center USA, have shown that excessive muscle tension patterns in the larynx are greatly reduced in singers with vocal training, as compared to singers who have never studied with a vocal coach. Excessive muscle tension in the larynx can lead to all sorts of damage to the vocal folds including singer's nodules, polyps and burst blood vessels.

 

It is essential that your teacher acknowledge your aspirations and work with you to achieve them. If your teacher insists that you sing in an operatic style when you want to be a pop singer it's time to find another teacher.

Sometimes, however, the exercises that a good teacher coaches their pupils with may sound operatic to the untrained ear, when in fact they are extremely usefull to the development of all singing styles. Such exercises often are based on developing resonance and strengthening the higher range of the voice.

 

What's more important to you - smoking or singing? Many singing teachers will refuse to teach smokers and the reason is simple - smoking deposits tar on your your vocal apparatus and reduces your lung capacity. These teachers also know a smoker's budget gives more priority to cigarettes than singing lessons!

You say that smoking doesn't affect your voice at all, however the demands that singing places on the body, especially in a professional situation, are similar to that experienced by top athletes.

When you give up smoking, you'll probably hear a positive difference in your singing and notice that you don't get so puffed out on stage. You'll also smell better! A number of my students have tried this program with very good results - Click here now to stop smoking in 1 hour

 

Would you believe that the opera singers are actually singing with the same amount of effort that most pop singers use, the difference being the opera singers don't need a microphone! If you try to sing in an operatic style by making trying to make your pop voice louder you may damage your vocal folds.

Developing pharyngeal resonance is the key to developing a loud voice that projects. Get a torch and shine it in your mouth while looking in the mirror. Now make a big gasp like you've just been surprised. You should see the soft palate rise at the back of your mouth. Try keeping your palate in this position and practising softly - it may help to think of a hot potato in your mouth! After a while you will learn to adjust the size of your pharynx (the cavity at the back of your throat) to create even more resonance and volume.

 

No matter how much you may admire one particular artist, limiting yourself to just singing their songs will not help in the development of your 'vocal signature'. Given that every single voice on the planet is unique, a good singing teacher should work with you to develop your own individual style. By giving you a variety of songs, your teacher is helping you in an exciting quest to explore the possibilities of your voice.

On the other hand, if you really want to be known as an imitator, rather than an innovator, then I suggest getting some opera CDs and singing along. This is how Mariah developed her profound vocal range and skill as a pop singer - by practising along with her mother who was an opera singer with the Metropolitan opera!

 

Your singing teacher is making excuses for his/her lack of vocal knowledge. A vocal register refers to a particular pattern of vocal fold vibration. The modal register - as defined by speech pathologists - is the main vocal register used when singing and is normally of the range of around 2 octaves in the average singer.

On the D above middle C you are not changing vocal registers - you vocal resonance is changing. That is the reason for the terms 'chest voice' - the vibrations are felt in your chest, and 'head voice' - the vibrations are felt in your head.

By keeping the height of the larynx stable whilst you sing, it is much easier to maintain a consistent vocal timbre (quality) throughout your whole range, resulting in 'smooth gear changes' through the passaggio where the main changes in vocal resonance occur. If you feel your larynx moving upward when you sing higher it means you need to increase the amount of breath using your abdominal muscles.

The Whirlpool exercise on my Absolute Singing Mastery CD is especially useful to help you achieve a smooth passagio. It's important that you tape or record your voice while you do this exercise. You will probably notice the sensations in your body when you change registers but upon listening to your recording you'll hear a seamless voice with no register breaks. If your upper register still sounds a little different ie weak or breathy, allow further time for the corresponding muscles to strengthen.

 

Sometimes it may be difficult to understand singers on stage if the vocals are not turned up loud enough in the mix, or if the microphone is of a poor quality. Your friend may also need to learn about microphone technique.

On the other hand the instruction your friend is receiving may be substandard. If you want to go to lessons at this school it's worth finding out if other students of this teacher have the same problem with diction.

Good diction springs from the correct shape of the mouth and tongue during speech or singing, and the balance between vowels and consonants. Some singing teachers will have you singing exercises on vowels for years, which does very little to develop good diction.

Singing in public requires the communication of emotion to the listener. If your listeners can't understand the words or lyrics the emotion and meaning of the song will be lost.

I think you would benefit from a different teacher if you're getting a sore throat in lessons. If you want to be a rock singer, then begin singing as softly as possible, aiming for a pure tone with no breathiness.

Within the larynx are two arytenoid cartilages which connect to the back end of the vocal folds (cords) and are responsible for bringing the vocal folds together. If the cords do not close together properly, and too much air is forced through them, as what happens when your teacher forces you sing loudly, your voice will sound breathy, be difficult to control and require a great deal of effort. ENT studies have also shown that the excess air friction caused by breathy singing can inflame the vocal folds.

Have you ever blown a balloon up and then let it deflate slowly while holding the end in your fingers? If you've ever tried this trick then you'll notice that the smaller the amount of air you let out, the louder the balloon will whine! In a similar fashion, volume in the voice is developed by approximation of the two vocal cords, along with effective use of vocal tract resonators. As your vocal folds increase their ability to adduct during singing, your voice will build in power and stamina, resulting in an increase of your dynamic range and volume.

 

I'd suggest that you stay with this teacher. Most adults have actually forgotten how to breathe properly, relying on inefficient and unhealthy clavicular breathing. As air is required to vibrate the vocal folds in the production of sound therefore it is essential to develop efficient respiration to sing well. By learning to inhale more deeply than usual using the diaphragm, then releasing a small but steady stream of air through contracting the abdominal muscles you can develop evenness of tone, good phrasing and vocal stamina.

The key to good breathing is learning to access the primary breathing muscles during both inhalation and exhalation, whilst inhibiting the secondary breathing muscles - lifting of the shoulders during inhalation and collapsing the chest on exhalation. Sounds easy but it can actually take quite a few months to grasp the technique properly!

 

You can never be too old to learn the fascinating, enlightening, enriching and often challenging art of singing! Other benefits of voice training can also include improved health and well being, a better speaking voice and greater confidence.

Once you get over the initial hurdle of actually phoning a voice teacher and making it to the first lesson, you will discover the joys of freeing your voice. A good teacher should spend sufficient time on body coordination and breathing teachnique at the first lesson which helps greatly with nerves and relaxation.

Before you give me a call to begin lessons, you'll also be relieved to know that I've taught people in their seventies!

Once a child has expressed the desire to learn singing, shows sufficient concentration to absorb ideas presented in the lesson, and understands the concept of practise, then he or she is ready. For some children this may be as young as six whilst others may not be ready until the age of ten.

It's easy to sing along to the CD as you have a 'guide' vocal deceptively keeping you in tune. Remember the training wheels on your first bike - you were a bit wobbly when they first came off but you soon learnt the skills required to keep the wheels moving and your body off the ground!

There's nothing wrong with singing along to your favorite CDs but if you really want to improve your voice it would be wise to either practise the songs with an accompanist (a piano or guitar player) or get some backing track or karaoke tracks.

Yes - if you consider yourself a bad singer you can learn how to sing properly.

Learning to sing properly requires persistence, determination and the right teacher. Singing is a learnt skill, just like speaking, walking and all the other activities you perform.

Bad singing caused by apparent tone deafness which is the inability to distinguish between two different tones can also be eradicated. Just as a child learns hand/eye coordination, it is possible to train both children and adults ear/larynx coordination.

When you sign up to my free online singing course - on the right hand side of the page - your very first lesson will explain how you have been designed as a singing instrument.

 

 

 

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