Breaking The Chains Ebook2 PDF

The Ultimate Guide for the Rock Vocalist
Kevin Richards
LEGAL DISCLAIMER
Instruction and opinions herein should not be substituted for the advice of a medical
professional. Kevin Richards will not be liable for any complications, injuries, loss, or other
medical problems arising from, or in connection with, the use of, or reliance upon any
information in this training system, "Breaking the Chains: The Ultimate Rock Singers Vocal
Course". Information provided is for informational purposes only. Although it is believed that
the information is correct and every effort has been made to constitute healthy and safe
vocal techniques and practices, no warranty is offered as to its accuracy or completeness.
USE GOOD JUDGEMENT
Vocal training is an athletic endeavor and you must always warm-up before you begin to
train and sing. Some modern styles can challenge the performance envelope for the modern
vocalist, therefore you must build physical strength and coordination to produce these
modern vocal sounds properly to prevent injury and remain healthy. Never, under any
circumstances, sing by "pushing" or forcing your body to do things it is resisting. Gripping,
tightness, constriction and all forms of tension are to be avoided at all times. If you are
experiencing any results that are anything other then complete freedom from tension and
gripping, then your not executing these techniques properly and you are not using your voice
in a healthy way and should stop immediately. Singing with distortion can be dangerous if
you are not trained properly on the techniques to do it in a healthier way, you can injure
yourself.
If you are susceptible to throat injury, have a history of throat illness, smoke, or have not
been approved by your doctor to train modern vocal techniques, you should consult a
medical professional prior to working out with vocal training. By participating in the Breaking
the Chains program, you agree that there are inherent risks in vocal training and singing
aggressively. Kevin Richards is not responsible for your occupational hazard and your
choice to sing. If you ever feel pain, tension or gripping at any time before, during, or after
singing, DO NOT CONTINUE TO SING UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. If pain persists,
see a medical professional.
2
For More Information Visit:
www.rockthestagenyc.com
www.youtube.com/rockthestagenyc
Dedication
Thanks to: Robert Lunte and Jaime Vendera for their knowledge, guidance, encouragement to
make this program a reality and their friendship. Every musician Ive ever played with (you know
who you are), I have learned from each of you - the good, the bad and the ugly.
Special Thanks to: Theresa Bouchard for her piano playing talents and Jake McMurray for
coming up with the title of this program. To my students who make me laugh everyday. To Mike
Ria for giving me his copy of Jim Gillettes Vocal Power (on cassette!) back in 1990 and
starting me on the road to vocal excellence.
My parents Allan & Janice, whom without their constant nagging of me in my youngers years to
get a real job would have never urged me to keep pursuing my dreams.
To my big Sis Meg for making me laugh harder than anyone else I have ever met.
To my wife Elaine for putting up with me & my crazy lifestyle and bedtime.
This program is humbly dedicated to Bernard T. McCormack
who had more faith in me than I had in myself.
2010 Rock the Stage NYC :: All Rights Reserved
Hand wash in cold water, hang dry, do not iron
3
Forward
First of all, thank you for buying the Breaking the Chains vocal program. You are on your way to
becoming the singer you hear in your head.
The purpose of creating Breaking the Chains was simply motivated by the lack of any in-depth
vocal instruction out there for Rock & Metal singers. What is out there is created by jazz, pop,
classical or musical theater singers and their idea of what is Rock is vastly different to yours and
mine. To them Rock is someone who sings Meatloaf or The Eagles. I think were all shooting for
something a bit heavier.
On top of all that, I wanted to address some areas of singing I find missing in so-called Rock
singing programs in any depth. I wanted to hit upon things like mixed voice, lowering the larynx
and eliminating vocal weight to keep you from pulling and grabbing for every note. Of course
there are programs out there that address these areas, but they arent directed toward the unique
demands of singing Heavy Rock & Metal. Thats where Breaking the Chains comes in.
I dont guarantee results because if you dont practice these techniques regularly nothing will
happen for you. But if you do, the results youll experience will be dramatic and eye opening. Work
hard and the results will come. Dont be afraid to experiment, make all sorts of weird noises and
take chances. Its all part of the growth process.
Expectations:
I have seen students experience dramatic results in one lesson, one month, 90 days and six
months. Everyone is different, so dont expect things to happen overnight. But if they do - thats
fantastic. Just like it took time to learn how to walk or ride a bicycle, it will take time to train the
voice. Expect to see noticeable changes in 30-90 days and big improvements in six month spurts.
As your voice strengthens over time, it will be more willing to accept being pushed to new limits.
Until then, take it easy and dont move on until youre ready. Trying to jump ahead is only going
to slow your progress and make things worse. Youre only lying to yourself when you do that. Have
some patience and most all - be honest with yourself.
This my mantra to my students - Crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run, run before
you can fly. If you try to fly before you can run, youre just going to crash and look really stupid.
Works like a charm every time.
For any of you out there that might have downloaded this illegally through a torrent, thanks for joining us...wanker.
Breaking the Chains
4
Chapters
1. The Exercises
2. Face & Mouth Positions
3. Style vs.Technique
4. The Anatomy of the Rock Singer
5. The Vocal Registers
6. The Singing Process
7. The Breathing Process
8. The Fundmentals
9. Other Things to Consider
5
6
7
Breaking the Chains - The Exercises
CD 1 - Chest & Mixed Voice
01 Introduction
02 Vocalizing Tips
03 What is resonance
04 Pharyngeal examples
05 Chest Voice Warmup
06 Buzzy Hum demo
07 Buzzy Hum exercise
08 Hum Resonance demo
09 Hum Resonance exercise
10 Fry the Frog demo
11 Fry the Frog exercise
12 12321_87654321 demo
13 12321_87654321 exercise
14 Gee Ya demo
15 Gee Ya exercise
16 The Hetfield demo
17 The Hetfield exercise
18 Whats Up with Mixed Voice
19 The Stutter demo
20 The Stutter exercise
21 Voice Edge demo
22 Voice Edge exercise
23 Minor Mine demo
24 Minor Mine exercise
25 Who Gives a Hoot demo
26 Who Gives a Hoot exercise
27 Minor Minor Mine demo
28 Minor Minor Mine exercise
29 The Frenchman demo
30 The Frenchman exercise
31 The Tilt demo
32 The Tilt exercise
33 Burning Bridges exercise
34 Warm Down
CD 2 - Head Voice
01 Introduction
02 Aeiouoaei demo
03 Aaeiouoaei exercise
04 Articulation demo
05 Articulation exercise
06 Muh Mah demo
07 Muh Mah exercise
08 Killer Solfege demo
09 Killer Solfege
10 Noh Yah demo
11 Noh Yah exercise
12 Yah Ah Ah Ah demo
13 Yah Ah Ah Ah exercise
14 May longscale demo
15 May longscale exercise
16 Yah Ee Yah demo
17 Yah Ee Yah exercise
18 The Siren demo
19 The Siren exercise
20 Yah Ah demo
21 Yah Ah exercise
22 Dynamic Builder demo
23 Dynamic Builder exercise
24 Warm Down
8
9
10
Facial and Mouth Positions
Throughout the CDs I reference certain facial and mouth positions for certain exercises. The
following pictures demonstrate the more important ones. Yes, some of these look goofy but dont
worry, these are just exaggerated versions used while practicing. We want to go a little overboard
with stuff like this to teach the body and brain. Once the sounds were using with these positions
becomes second nature, you can relax them for actual singing.
Retracted Jaw Bite the Apple
Wide and Bright Rounded Mouth Closed Ooo
Above the Finger
Visualize singing above &
through the top front teeth.
The jaw should be drawn
back to allow one finger
under the top teeth.
Drop the jaw and bare the
top teeth to activate the
upper resonators.
For vowels like Eee we
want to widen the mouth to
create a wider, brighter
sound.
For vowels like Ah, Eye
and Aye drop the jaw
straight down to create an
open, rounder sound.
Used for closed sounds like
Oo and You where we
close the mouth in a tiny,
rounded shape.
Breaking the Chains - Facial & Mouth Positions
11
12
13
Style vs Technique
So many singers have this idea that if they can imitate their favorite artist then they can make it in
the music business. This is VERY far from the truth. Music execs and as well as the buying public
like to hear fresh sounds when it comes to singers. Music would be very boring if every singer
sounded the same. Variety is the spice of life There can be only one Stevie Wonder, Steve
Perry, Rob Zombie etc. And without proper training it is almost impossible to imitate the really
great artists who have had extensive training and possess skill in their craft.
You cannot develop style until you have technique. Technique is very important in the beginning so
you can establish the skill needed to develop style with your own sound.
Technique is the development of the fundamentals by which you can produce a vocal that is on
pitch, fluid, flexible and contains control and power. Without a firm grasp of the fundamentals and
repetitive application, until they second nature, you can never develop your voice to compare to
those that are superstars in the entertainment business.
Even if you all you want to do is sing better for your own personal accomplishment or even to just
sing in a local band, you will need to get hold of your instrument if you really want the sense of
accomplishment that you desire. Just remember that technique is the fundamental rudiment that
you need in order to be able to develop the voice of your dreams and style is the application of
those fundamentals in action.
With the exercises and concepts contained in this program, you can easily and very quickly
develop technique and can more quickly move on to style. Realistically, no matter where you
begin with this program, it will take some time before you have the coordination down well enough
to perform as you would like. I mean it will not take you years but it will take a few months to really
get your voice accustomed to working the way it should and giving you the ability to perform well.
The exercises in the program will have you up and running with a whole new vocal arsenal in the
shortest amount of time possible.
Style is more closely related to genre than classification. Vocal classification deals with timbre
and range where style deals with different genres of music. Once you are able to implement the
tools in this program and produce the connected sound you want.
This vocal program will give you the edge youre looking for in your voice. With that edge you will
stand out among other artists and become more successful.
Breaking the Chains - Style vs. Technique
14
Style vs Technique
No matter what style of singing it is, if you want to build your voice and keep it in shape, vocal
exercises are paramount. Singing songs is not the same as exercising and will not build your
voice. Let me say that again many performers dont realize this. Singing songs is not the same as
exercising and will not build your voice. Singing songs with a group or along to another singers
voice is only good for developing personal style. Why is this? Well when you sing your own songs
you will be repeating any bad habits you currently have. And when you sing along to other singers
voices you emulate them and if they are improperly trained as most singers are, you begin to
reproduce their bad habits. And even if you have good technique, and all of the singers you try to
emulate have good technique this is still not how to go about building your voice. Why? Because
songs stay within certain given pitches and repeat those pitches over and over. While this is good
for developing muscle memory for a particular song if you intend to sing it with a group, it does
nothing to expand your range. So, what do you do? Scales. As boring as these may be
non-conformist Rockers like you and me, this is the only way to effectively warmup, loosen,
strengthen, and expand you singing voice. The repetition of scales and exercises not only builds
the correct muscle memory for your entire voice, it also builds stamina, flexibility, speed and
confidence. Theres something satisfying about finally geting through a really difficult scale
exercise without any difficulty. That sense of accomplishment builds confidence - and confidence
not only makes a better singer, it makes you a better person overall.
Singing on pitch
Some people worry themselves to death over this when they start off. And unfortunately, some
coaches have made the worry worse by constantly telling students they are off pitch. When you
first start off of course you will miss a lot of notes. Dont worry about it, in the beginning the effect
the exercises have on your voice are more important. My very first vocal lesson consisted of one
hour of the vocal coach telling me I was off pitch anytime I tried to go anywhere above chest voice.
Of course I was, at the time I had no idea how to adduct, or shorten my vocal cords and go up in
pitch comfortably! Pitch is something you should start to concern yourself with once you learn
more control over the different aspects of your voice. As you go through the scales everyday
singing on pitch or at least realizing that you are off pitch will come easily. Just pay attention to
when the scale goes up and down, and make mental notes when you are off. But dont agonize
over it. Within a given song almost no form of music hits as wide of a range of tones as scales do.
You have to listen to the tones before you can hit them, absorbing the sound. When you are
perfectly on pitch, it will sound to your ear as if the pitch coming from the scale and the pitch
produced by you are one and the same.
Warmups
Never, ever neglect the warmup portion of your singing workout or the warmup before a
performance. The last thing you want to do is warm up in front of a crowd for the first three
songs of a set. That just sucks - for you and the audience. Singing is to talking what running is to
walking. Just like an athlete you wouldnt start off your regime by going full on into the hardest part
and expect a peak performance. Blood needs to be sent to the vital areas of your voice and body
- areas that you will asking more of in a few minutes.
Warmups are especially important when first starting out. You need keep your voice limber, and
relaxed in order to make progress. Never force an exercise. If something hurts, stop altogether,
wait 15-30 minutes then begin your warmup again. If it keeps hurting stop for the day. It just may
be that you are sick or that your cords are swollen from lack of proper sleep. Never overdo it. Your
voice will tell you when its tired - listen to it. It knows better than you do.
15
Your Own Style by Imitation?
Style can not be taught, only nurtured and developed. All the best a vocal coach can do is help
you copy another singers style. Unless youre a member of a tribute band or group is not
something you want. From my own experience early on in my singing career, I was accused of
sounding just like this or that singer. As my vocal talent improved I went from sounding like
Dokken to Queensryche to Judas Priest. All of which are great for a rock and roll band sound. But
after hearing from people twenty times or so you sound exactly like, it gets old. What they really
were saying, no matter how nicely, was that I had no real style of my own. Basically what ever
project I was in probably wouldnt have had a chance to get a deal because there was already
someone else that sounded like that. Listen to the radio, sure, copy bands get on but what really
blows up is the band with the hot new original sound.
How did I overcome my problem? I came to the realization that I had the same problem a lot of
singers do. That in my mind unless I sounded like someone who was already accepted as a good
singer and a star, I just didnt sound good. I already had a range and knew how to make good
tone. I just needed to loosen up and do what came naturally when I wrote a song, and not worry
about sounding like another artist. But the time I spent impersonating other artists did not go to
waste. Through singing their songs I had absorbed elements of their style. Then I applied those
elements to my own songs without hitting the same tonal qualities. This is how style is developed.
Listening to other singers and paying attention to the style things they do. The vibrato, the way
they phrase, or pronounce their words, and the way they play into the beat. The best thing you
can do is take three of your favorite singers, with good technique hopefully, and not only listen to
them sing, but study what they do that makes people want to listen to them besides the tone of
their voice. Study some singers out of the genre your into. Many styles crossover well. For
instance Robert Plant was originally a folk singer. The great sense of melody he developed
coupled with Jimmy Pages guitars made a mark on rock and roll that is still felt to this day. The
number one thing to always remember about style is always convey emotion. If you put feeling
into your singing, style will come that much more naturally. You can have great tone and pitch
and still sound flat if there is no emotion involved. Is the song sad, angry? Or funny? Get into the
subject matter of the song and convey that. Often times when people hear a new song for the first
or even first few times they miss many of the words. If your audience can feel the emotion as you
sing, even though they dont know the words yet, you know youve done your job.
If what you really want to do is sound like another singer then you must be able to mimic.
Mimicry is an ability all of its own. Although, having a good voice will make it easier. Good
mimics with good voices can make a lot of money being in cover acts. Or as celebrity
impersonators. Be aware though, that mimicry can hurt your voice. If you want to sound like
someone else, build your own voice first so that you can approach their sound in a healthy way.
Ive heard great singers that couldnt mimic to save there lives. Mimicry takes a precise listening
ear. You have to study the artist very closely. Listen to not only studio recordings, but any live
performances you can get hold of. This will help you get a handle on how they shape their sound.
16
17
18
How the Vocal Cords Produce Sound
Voice production is a complex action, and involves practically all systems of the body. Voice
production begins with respiration (breathing). Air is inhaled as the diaphragm (the large,
horizontal muscle below the lungs) lowers. The volume of the lungs expands and air rushes in
to fill this space. We exhale as the muscles of the rib cage lower and the diaphragm raises,
essentially squeezing the air out.
In order to produce sound, adductor muscles (the "vocal cord closers") are activated, providing
resistance to exhaled air from the lungs. Air then bursts through the closed vocal cords. As the
air rushes through the vocal cords, the pressure between the cords drops, sucking them back
together. This is known as the "Bernoulli Effect." This vibration, or the action of the vocal cords
being blown apart and then "sucked" back together, is repeated hundreds or even thousands of
times per second, producing what we hear as voice. This sound, created at the level of the
vocal cords is simply a buzz, but is then shaped by muscular changes in the pharynx (throat) and
oral cavity (including the lips, tongue, palate, and jaw) to create speech.
The larynx is the structure at the top of the trachea and is made up of muscle and tissue. The
larynx is also referred to as the voice box. The voice box contains the vocal cords (two folds of
muscle tissue which are connected to the larynx from front to back).
The larynx has three important functions:
1.Control of the airflow during breathing
2. Protection of the airway
3. Production of sound for speech and singing
Breaking the Chains - The Anatomy of the Rock Singer
19
The Diaphgram - The engine of our singing voice.
The illustration to the right shows the diaphragm.
This unsusual looking body part is the engine that
drives our singing voice. The diaphragm moves up
and down your whole life without any thought from
you. This unconscious act keeps you alive 24/7/365.
For basic breathing and speaking it doesnt need us
messing with it. But for singing, we have to step in
and take control. When we speak, we breathe very
shallow into our upper lungs. We dont need a lot of air to
speak since we talk in small bursts of words. But since
singing is prolonged speech, we need prolonged breathing.
Controlling our inhales and exhales while singing is actually
quite easy but can be a little tricky.
We were born breathing the correct way for singing - deep
into the bottom of the lungs with no movement of the
shoulders or upper chest. Watch a baby sleep and youll only see their stomach move in and out -
thats exactly the type of breathing we are trying to get back to. Ever wonder why a baby can
scream at 120db for hours and not lose their voice? Yup, you guessed it, deep breathing - and no
restriction in the vocal cords. This is the ideal way to sing.
Somewhere along the way during our childhood we are
taught to breathe the wrong way. Whether its when the
doctor puts the stethoscope on your chest and says Now
take a deep breathe and we think we should breathe right to
where that really cold instrument is against our skin and we
take a big chesty inhale. Or perhaps when we were blowing
out birthday candles and we do that birthday cake blowing
out the candles pose for the camera with our shoulders up
really high and our chests puffed out. Somehow we went
astray from that perfect technique we had as a baby. In
essence we need to get back to our childhood. Yeah! Pass
the ice cream!
Re-learning to breathe the right way through abdominal or diaphragmatic breathing takes a little
time getting used to, but in a short amount of time youll get the hang of it. Lots of teachers sing
the praises (pun intended) of diaphragmatic breathing, but do you really know what that means? I
know I didnt when I started serious singing training.
So, whats the deal about keeping away from chest breathing or raising the shoulders? By totally
breathing high in the upper front of the chest and raising your shoulders, you prevent the lungs
from filling up completely and add strain to the voice and neck area. Chest breathing would be
similar to only filling about one-third of your cars tank with gasoline. When you breathe in by
engaging your diaphragm, youll fill at least two-thirds of your lungs with air (or 2/3 of the tank with
gas). Which type of breathing seems better for singing all night long - a car running out of gas or
one with a full tank? The answer is obvious.
Breaking the Chains - The Power of Breathing
20
The Larynx and Vocal Cords
The larynx, or voice box, is located in the neck and performs several important functions in the
body. The larynx is involved in swallowing, breathing, and voice production. Sound is produced
when the air which passes through the vocal cords causes them to vibrate and create sound
waves in the pharynx, nose and mouth. The pitch of sound is determined by the amount of tension
on the vocal folds.
Your voice comes from a set of muscle and membrane referred to as The Vocal Cords. These
simple little folds are only about the size of your thumbnails. Some are thicker or longer than
others, but still function in almost the same way in each of us. As simple as they may seem, the
sound that they can create, if properly used, is almost unlimited the key word being properly.
Your vocal cords or vocal folds are a set of membranes stretched across the windpipe and are
joined at the front of the larynx and extend to the rear of the throat. When they close, the cords
begin to come together or adduct and airflow is temporarily stopped. When pressure from air flow
rises above the pressure of the muscles that holds the cords together, they are separated. Sound
is produced when they come together again due to phonation. This repeats over and over as
sound is produced. As a singer sings the note A above middle C, the cords vibrate at 440 times
per second because that A4 pitch vibrates at a frequency of 440 khz. If the vocal cords begin to
separate then the tone becomes breathy, referred to as blasting and the muscles around the
outside of the larynx begin to constrict. This is what happens when an untrained singer tries to
force high notes in their chest range and this causes an unhealthy and destructive vocal
production this is also sometimes called yelling on pitch. This is NOT the same as belting
however. Belting is purely the application of more air pressure to create more volume. It can be
done on any note within a singers range though it is most commonly applied to the upper chest or
lower head voice.
21
Breaking the Chains - The Anatomy of Singing
22
The Pharynx
I dont want to get really technical here as I dont really dont think you need all that medical
terminology crammed into your brain. You have enough to worry about with singing than all that
stuff. Just like you dont need to know everything about the inner workings of an engine to drive a
car, you dont need to know every little medical term for the anatmy of the singer to train your
voice. BUT...theres always a but...you DO need to know some stuff so youll be aware of various
sensations and feelings as you vocalize. I reference certain parts of the voice and anatomy within
the CDs so this is as a guide to refer if you have an confusion about what the hell Im taking about.
The Laryngopharynx is mainly where the overtones of chest voice occur. The sympathetic
vibrations you feel in your upper chest when singing in low notes is caused by overtones created
from this area.
The Oropharynx is where where well start adding overtones for mixed voice. The sensation of
lower notes of mixed voice feel like they vibrate in this area of the back of the mouth/tongue.
The Nasopharynx is where the overtones or resonance of head voice are produced. The upper
parts of mixed voice use a little bit of oropharynx, nasopharynx and the nasal cavity. This is why
as we sing higher in pitch the sensation of where the sounds is vibrating starts to move up and
forward to behind our eyes or the tip of the nose. This is known as singing in the mask.
23
24
25
The Registers
If youve never sang before or even if you have but never knew the physical mechanics behind
singing it is fundamental that you know exactly what is happening. If your just starting out you
should be reading this first. When I took vocal lessons it always baffled me that, why on my first
lesson did my vocal coach not make it a point to make sure I understood what was happening in
my throat. This in itself would have saved me time and aggravation. After all you cant be asked
to try to accomplish something if you dont know what it is your trying to accomplish. If you
choose to take vocal lessons be very dubious of a coach who cannot tell you what makes the
voice work correctly. Just because someone can sing well doesnt mean they can teach you to do
the same. With that said, on to the mechanics of it.
In an ideal circumstance a voice has no registers. It is one smoothed out instrument from lowest
pitch to highest pitch. The singer moves without flipping or breaking, without noticeable shifts to
the listener. But, most people do not have a smoothed out voice without breaks. The terminology
of breaks and registers was brought about to describe singers whos voices had gaps in between
the different tonal parts of their voice. So as this is an accepted terminology Ill describe the
different registers for you from lowest to highest.
Vocal Fry:
There is some argument among instructors as to whether or not this is an actual
register. As it can be used to add a raspy sound to other registers. It is commonly accepted that it
is the lowest so well just start here. Vocal fry is more of a style thing. By putting less amount of
air on the cords than is needed for a clear tone of the pitch you are going for, the tone breaks up
and becomes a rasp. Used on lower pitches, which it usually is, you can end up sounding like the
cartoon character Elmer Fudd. Stylistically it is often used to slide into a phrase or trail off. To do
the vocal fry put very little air over your cords, just enough to make the slightest sound without
going into a whisper or becoming airy. It kind of sounds like the sound most people make when
they are sleeping and someone nudges them to get up and they dont want to. You put just barely
enough air over the cords to make them move. When you master this you can add it to your
regular range for a great raspy sound without hurting your voice. This is great for rock and roll.
But be warned once you start down this road, it may be hard to get a clear tone if you practice
like this all the time. Everything comes down to muscle memory. Vocal fry is the only way to
add a screaming sound to singing without hurting your voice and limiting your range. What
someone usually does when they want to scream in a song is clench their throat and force out the
broken up tone. This practice is very damaging to a singing voice. Vocal fry, used well, has a
smoother sound than this, but still lends itself well to a raspy or rock and roll sound.
Chest voice:
This is usually the voice most people talk in. When you sing in your chest voice, the
cords are all the way apart. Air flows over the whole length of them. As the name would imply
this is a deep full sound. Generally in church or choir singing men sing in chest voice. Most of the
resonance is felt below the cords in the upper chest and comes straight out of the mouth without
stopping at the back of the pallet or the mask. Once you reach a point in your chest voice that you
can no longer go any higher without forcing it, you should be shifting to middle voice. Although,
after you train your voice and learn to control resonance, you can produce a chest voice that has
resonant qualities similar to middle and head voice. That is, resonance sounding up through the
back pallet or mask.
Breaking the Chains - The Singing Process
26
The Singing Process...continued
Middle voice:
Also known as mixed voice. If cord adducting is done correctly once you reach
the limit of your chest voice you shift to middle voice. Some coaches dont believe in a middle
voice. These teachers generally teach choirs or church singing. Most of the ones Ive run into
taught that lower range notes should be sung in chest and higher ranges in head voice. While this
is just fine for church or choir, if you try to join a group or become a diva type of singer you will
be laughed at. Middle voice is the commercial voice that performers are going for whether they
know it or not. It has the best qualities of both chest and head voice. A very strong middle voice
will resonate not only below the cords in the upper chest but also above them into the back pallet
and the mask. It is very resonant and has a high output. When you watch a singer and they are
hitting high, full notes with apparently little strain, it is because they have smoothed out their
range, and when they go up they switch to middle voice.
Head voice:
Once mixed or middle voice has reached its limit, the cords are zipped up further and the voice
reaches head. As the name implies most of the resonance is felt in the head, with little felt in the
chest and hardly any in the back of the palate. Most of it comes up through the mouth up into the
middle of the palate and though the mask. (The mask being the feeling of pressure behind the
nose and eyes.)
Whistle voice:
Again this voice is more of a style thing. It sounds just like a shrill whistle. It is the voice Mariah
Carey uses when she hits the top of her range. To accomplish this, your vocal cords have to be
very flexible and you have to be great at zipping up your cords. The cords are zipped up almost all
the way yet still open just enough to let the whistle out. Again, less air is used as you
go up making this register even harder to coordinate. Not only do you have to adduct but also
have to find the right amount of air pressure to perform the whistle while not forcing apart your
cords with air. If you are determined to get this voice, do not force it. Just keep zipping up as far
as you can and use very little air. Eventually youll be able to keep your cords together and put
enough air over them to produce the sound.
Falsetto:
Also known as false voice. This is usually the voice you will break into while trying to smooth out
your bridges. It is the voice a lot of women sing in, in church choirs. It sounds light and a bit
hollow, like a flute. If youve ever been in a car singing or listened to someone sitting next to you
singing along to the radio, hitting the pitch but not with any power or resonance, they are usually
singing in falsetto or false voice. This is the voice most people break into when they dont know
how to go up in pitch with their voice and are just singing along. Falsetto is not really a register
but, again a style thing, it uses only the outer edges of the vocal cords producing a light tone.
Falsetto is often used in R&B at the end of phrases. It has very little resonance an often times is
whispery. A good or bad example, depending upon your taste, of the use of falsetto is the Bee
Gees. Falsetto is also often used by backup singers, as it does sound good behind a real voice.
27
OK here we go...Ill try to keep it brief
A vocal register in the human voice is a particular series of tones, produced in the same vibratory
pattern of the vocal folds, and possessing the same quality. Registers originate in laryngeal
function. They occur because the vocal folds are capable of producing several different vibratory
patterns. Each of these vibratory patterns appears within a particular range of pitches and
produces certain characteristic sounds.
In speech pathology, the vocal register has three components: a certain vibratory pattern of the
vocal folds, a certain series of pitches, and a certain type of sound. Although this view is also
adopted by many vocal pedagogists, others define vocal registration more loosely than in the
sciences, using the term to denote various theories of how the human voice changes, both
subjectively and objectively, as it moves through its pitch range. There are many divergent
theories on vocal registers within vocal pedagogy, making the term somewhat confusing and at
times controversial within the field of singing.
Confused enough now? Thats Ok, what you really need to know is below. I just put that in there
for the people that like to know all that stuff. The modern Rock singer is pretty much just worried at
the notes that in our ranges that gives us the most problems.
In the listings below male voices have the most problem navigating the 2nd bridge. This area
around A4 is where the male voice must lose all or most of chest resonantor and move into the
pure resonator of the head voice - the nasopharynx. Thats a tough one to smooth out and keep it
sounding full and powerful. For female voice the area around just below F5 goves women the
most prob;em as this is where theor can slip into a very hooty choral sounding tone. To keep it
powerful have to add more breath compression to thicken the cords and move into their head
resonator.
CD1 MIxed Voice deals with these troublesome areas to prepare you for the application of the
techniques on CD 2 Head Voice. Being able to navigate smoothly from one resonator to another
takes some finesse and patience. Its not a area of the voice we use a lot in speech so its usually
the most under developed area of our singing voice.
Women
1st Register
1st bridge ~ around Ab4 (above middle C)
2nd Register
2nd bridge ~ around Eb5 (above tenor high C)
3rd Register
3rd bridge ~ around Ab5 (above middle C)
4th Register
Flageolet or whistle tones
Men
1st Register
1st bridge ~ around Eb4 (above middle C)
2nd Register
2nd bridge ~ around A4 (above middle C)
3rd Register
3rd bridge ~ around Eb5 (above tenor high C)
4th Register
Flageolet or whistle tones
Breaking the Chains - The Vocal Registers
28
What is mixed voice?
Mixed voice is a blending of the chest register with the head registers at a point where they share
resonances of both registers. Blending chest resonance into head resonance is actually a very
simple technique but difficult to master. The spacing between middle C and tenor high c is called
the bottleneck octave. It is called the bottleneck octave, because all singers encounter problems
singing between these two notes. Why you may ask? Because all singers have to sing through
one or two of their register breaks between these two notes. For male singers the first register
break occurs at F#4 above middle C and again at A#4 below tenor High C. For females the first
register break appears at A# below tenor high C.
In the typical male voice, mixed voice occurs at F above middle C and carries through to the A
below tenor high C. In the typical female voice, mixed voice occurs at around the D above tenor
high C. In both places singers must employ the use of pharyngeal resonance to thin out the voice
and blend it into the head register.
For a modern singer to avoid a falsetto like quality as they sing into the head register, they must
apply more and more pharyngeal resonance to their sound. If pharyngeal resonance is not
applied to their tone the voice becomes too hollow and hooty sounding. Rock singers want to
avoid this hollow sound and go for a sound that has more of a metallic or edgy sound. By
contracting the pharynx, upper harmonics are added to the singer's voice, thus creating a
matching resonance to the chest register. The laryngopharynx is where chest resonance comes
from, the oropharynx and nasopharynx aid in creating the metallic, edgy head resonance all Rock
singer strives for.
In the middle of the octave between the two Cs, which is approximately F sharp, the resonators
should share the reinforcement of sound at about a 50-50 ratio coupling the laryngopharynx with
the oropharynx plus the nasopharynx in this ratio. Most singers are unaware of this. So they end
up tightening the larynx or the pharyngeal muscles in an effort to squeeze a large resonator in the
chest voice down to make the fast frequency of the high notes. When the proper resonator for the
fast frequency is opened correctly by lowering the soft palette and pulling away from the back wall
of the throat singer does not need to strain because he is using a resonating cavity ready to adjust
for the desired pitch. If a conscious effort is made to select the proper resonator, the necessary
muscular adjustments within the larynx appear take place all by themselves. I have found most
singers eliminate problems within their voice if they simply get out of its way. Far too often singers
try too hard to sing, bringing in more muscular movement and constriction than is needed for
singing. With some very minor adjustments to a singers technique, the voice is capable of many
incredible sounds without a lot of effort.
Most male singers force the resonators of the lower tones for too high. This is referred to as
pulling chest. Most female singers attempt to sing down as far as middle C with the resonators
of the upper voice. This is called pulling head. As soon as either singer finds their tones too
weak they attempt to get some help from the lower resonators, but by this point it's too late. The
position the voice is in at this point makes the correct coordination impossible and be singer loses
control of their voice. Cooperation of the upper and lower resonances and muscle pull must be
established correctly before of the trouble begins. Incorrect resonance adjustments make it
impossible for the muscles in the larynx to cooperate properly.
Breaking the Chains - The Vocal Registers
29
30
31
The Singing Process - Terminology
Its important that you understand the normal process of singing. I know its pretty dry stuff but Id
like to devote some space to explaining the singing process and identifying significant features of
that physical act. This will help you understand more about singing as we go along in this book. Ill
try to make it as painless as possible ok? Here we go.
Respiration
We sing on the air we exhale. When we exhale for singing, we breathe air out at a measured rate
that is slower than for breathing alone. We inhale rather rapidly and then begin to exhale slowly.
Experiment: Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly and breathe in. Feel the
movement as you breathe in and out. Now say the word ah as you breathe out; note the
difference between breathing and saying the word "ah". The movement of your belly while you
said Ah should have been much slower. Since singing is basically elongated speech, our
breathing has to become elongated as well. This is why proper breathing is important to singing.
Phonation
Our voice is created as the vocal folds come together and narrow the opening through which air
can flow between them. This restriction causes the vocal folds to vibrate and make a buzzing
noise that is the beginning of our voice.
Experiment: Place your hand on your chest again just below where your neck meets your body.
Now say the word Hey really slowly in your normal speaking voice. Feel the vibration in your
chest? Thats phonation with closed vocal cords. Keep your hand there and say Hey again with a
really breathy sound, like your whispering at your normal volume. No vibration right? Thats
phonation with the vocal cords open. Experiment: If youre not sitting please sit in a chair. Hold
onto the sides of their chair and pull up really hard while saying 'ah'. Did you notice the effort it
took to make that simple sound. Did you notice the excessive tension in your voice? This is why
singing with a relaxed body is so important in singing.
Articulation
This the process of making sounds by moving and contacting the lips, tongue, teeth and palate. As
I noted earlier, our vocal cords really just make a buzzy sound in our throats. What we perceive as
speech is created by the space inside our mouth, the position of the tongue and how we form our
lips (these are called the articulators). Do you ever have a hard time understanding some people
when they speak? This is usually because they are lazy in how they articulate. Radio & TV
personalities, actors, sales people etc. - anyone who relies on their voice for a living - learn how to
properly move their lips, tongue and manipulate the space inside their mouthes to make their
speech clean and clear. This is something all singers should learn - or youll end up souding like
Bob Dylan, Eddie Vedder or Kurt Cobain.
Experiment: Take a breath and start saying the word ah - now slowly purse your lips together like
a fish, roll your tongue around, stick it way out, hold it against the roof of your mouth - notice how
the sound changes. Now clench your jaw and do the same experiment. Notice how much more
difficult it is to do all that again. This is why we must sing with relaxed facial muscles. All that
tension just makes singing that much harder.
Summary:
Singing is the process of inhaling, bringing the vocal cords together while exhaling air to produce
sounds that are modified by a relaxed movement of the articulators. Simple right?
32
The Building Blocks of Voice :: Volume and Melody
Volume, tone, pitch, pace, and melody are the building blocks of the voice.
Volume A Little More Is Never a Bad Thing!
Volume is a key to sounding confident and authoritative. But most people have only a vague
concept of how loud is loud enough. Weve become a nation of whisperers and mumblers. We
speak too softly. Believe it or not, one of the reasons is the computer. We can do just about all of
our daily communications without ever speaking to anyone. You can e-mail people all day and
conduct everything from real business to monkey business. You can set up an entire company or
create a serious relationship with no sound. You can share your deepest thoughts and feelings
with someone on the other side of the planet and they might never get the pleasure of holding
your hand or hearing your voice. And though e-mail is definitely convenient, it unfortunately allows
us to hide behind our computers and have less direct verbal communication.
To make the perfect volume you need to control two key variables:
1. The amount of air exiting the mouth.
2. How thick the cords are vibrating.
Controlling the Amount of Air Exiting the Mouth Exercise
Holding your closed fingers between a quarter and half inch from your mouth, count out loud from
one to ten and get louder as you go. 12345678910.
Did you feel the airflow change as you got louder?
Did you notice how more air hit your fingers when you increased the volume?
Play with that a few times and get used to it.
Next, we need to make the cords vibrate in a thicker position. Say the word can and stretch out
the a sound caaaaaaan. Do you feel the extra vibration in the back part of your throat? That is
what it feels like when you make the cords thicker and allow them to vibrate more.
Great singing can only happen when the right amount of air meets the right amount of cord
vibration. So, volume is not only about increasing the air through the vocal tract, its also about
thickening the cords. When you find the right middle ground between the air velocity and cord
thickness you find the perfect amount of volume.
33
How we produce sound
Voice production is a complex action, and involves practically all
systems of the body. Voice production begins with respiration
(breathing). Air is inhaled as the diaphragm lowers. The volume of the
lungs expands and air rushes in to fill this space. We exhale as the
muscles of the rib cage lower and the diaphragm raises, essentially
squeezing the air out.
This air under pressure coming up from the lungs then arrives at the
larynx, where its either stopped or admitted by the glottis, the
open-and-close part of the larynx. The vocal folds (sometimes called
in this e-book vocal cords) are the lips that open and close, to
produce our sound. Actually, the primary physiological purpose of this
rather complex structure, the larynx, seems to be that of keeping
anything other than air from going down the windpipe. Without this
really effective gate, our lungs could fill up with bits of food, or one
could drown with a drink of water.
With enough air in the lungs, and the muscles doing their job to
provide pressure, the larynx may relax some, allowing air to pass
through in a relaxing sigh. But with a little extra tension, or a little more
pressure, these lips of the glottis pull in and start to flap together. This
is known as the "Bernoulli Effect."
In order to produce sound, adductor muscles (the "vocal cord closers")
are activated, providing resistance to the air exhaled from the lungs.
Air then bursts through the closed vocal folds. As the air rushes
through the vocal folds, the pressure between the folds drops, sucking
them back together.
This vibration, or the action of the vocal folds being blown apart and
then "sucked" back together, is repeated hundreds or even thousands
of times per second, producing what we hear as voice. This sound,
created at the level of the vocal cords is simply a buzz, but is then
shaped by muscular changes in the pharynx (throat) and oral cavity
(including the lips, tongue, palate, and jaw) to create speech.
34
Sound shaping with the vocal tract: vowel color and nasality
Between the larynx and the world at large is about 5 inches (15 cm for those of your outside the
US) of throat and mouth. This very short passageway acts as an acoustic resonator, enhancing
some frequencies and diminishing others. The properties of this acoustic resonator depend on the
position of the tongue and lips, and if the soft palate is lowered to open a side passage to the
nasal cavities. Different positions of the tongue and lips make the difference between one vowel
sound and another.

Experiment #1: Say the vowel sound eee slowly, now press the palm of your hand against your
lips. What happened to the eee sound? It turned into ooo didnt it? Why is that? By cutting off
some of the upper frequencies in the eee vowel sound, the sound was modified to ooo.
Experiment #2: If you have an American accent, say the word Not. Now bring the edges of your
lips in and shape your mouth in an O vowel position. Now say Not again. You should sound
British or like Sean Connery. If youre British, say Not with a wide smile and youll sound
American.
How we shape our mouths and place our tongues determine not only regional accents, but how
pure our vowels sound. The American Press in 1964 were very puzzled at how The Beatles did not
sound British when they sang. Thats because most offshoots of the English language dont sing
the way they speak. Since singing is essentially elongated speech, a lot of factors that make an
accent disappear. Singers widen their mouth and flatten the tongue - simply because its easier to
sing that way. Other languages which shape vowels and their tongue in a very different way like
those in Eastern Europe, Asia, the Arabian penisula, Africa have a harder time losing their accent
when they sing because their language is so far removed from what we deem western. Its near
impossible for them to shape their mouths in a completely different way.
35
36
37
Breath Compression
Resisting airflow creates a vibration. As you start to exhale the diaphragm starts to release back
to its original dome shape. This exerts a force against the lungs and cause the air inside become
pressurized and escape up the windpipe. At the top of the windpipe sits the larynx. The vocal
folds, extend from the inside walls of the larynx. Along the outer ridge of each fold is a thin strip of
cartilage called the vocal cord. When the two vocal folds close against the escaping air, they
vibrate and create a sound. Compressing air against the vocal folds causes them to vibrate in
pitch and with a solid tone. A vibration occurs when the vocal folds into up the airflow from the
lungs into tiny puffs of air. To the naked eye, it appears as if the folds stay closed. The number of
puffs per second determines the pitch. Concert pitch or A 440 means 440 puffs per second. How
you close your folds to start singing is called the attack. It simply means the beginning but is often
mistaken to mean push. To attack the notes the correct way, you bring the folds together at a
precise distance. This is called approximation, which means bringing the folds close together, but
not allowing them to touch. Aside from how the folds approximate themselves, the timing of that
approximation is very important.
The ideal scenario is for the flowing air and the closing vocal folds to meet at the same time. If the
vocal folds close to soon they blocked the air for a split second and then burst open. This is called
glottal shock. If the airflow's first everything you sing begins with an H or aspirate. When you
shock the folds they close to tightly preventing the proper vibration and your voice becomes stiff
and colorless. This force at the edge of the folds causes friction, which swells the membranes.
Your vocal folds become swollen and will not close tightly and will leak air like an old tire. Your
voice sounds broken in a raspy, because there is no resistance to air. The more you force the
folds together the worst of friction becomes. Getting the folds to close at the same time with the
air is a large part of what training your voice is all about.
38
This one is really cool...
To lock into diaphragmatic breathing try this on for size.
Stand still and close your eyes. Now imagine breathing in through
your knees. I know it sounds weird but try it.
Did you feel the air magically go right to your waistline? Wicked
huh? This very simple visualization by the brain triggers the
diaphragm to go into action. Try it a few more times to get that
expansion locked into your body. Over time your body will do this
all by itself like it did when you were a baby.
Have you ever ran a long distance, or even a short one quickly,
and had to catch your breath? I bet you bent over, put your hands
on your knees to do it. Wanna know why? The brain instinctively
knows that bending at the waist locks out the shoulders from
raising and forces you to breathe deeply with the diaphragm.
Try this: Sit in a chair and place your elbows on your thighs. Now
breathe in. The only thing youll feel moving is your stomach and
sides. This body position completely isolates your breathing into
using the diaphragm for deep breathing. Youll see basketball and
football players do this after coming off the court or field.
The Power of Breathing - Getting the air to the right place
Place your hand over your stomach
and breathe in. Your hand should
slowly push outward. Your shoulders
shouldnt rise at all. Now breathe out
and your hand should slowly come
back in.
Place your hands on your waist like in
the photo and breathe in. Did you feel
the sides and back muscles expand
outward?. No? Really? Ok, try it again
and make it happen! To get your air
deep into the lungs, your sides should
expand outward. This is important!
39
The Breathing Process
You dont really need to much more than the illustration below. Everyone knows how we breathe.
But in case you want a visual reference - here you go. Knock yourself out.
40
The Power of Breathing
Proper breathing is the fundamental basis for powerful Rock vocals. Theres no way around it. You
cant sing Rock & Metal with wimpy air support. Lots of teachers talk about breathing from the
diaphragm. This is actually a lie. You dont sing from the diaphgram, you sing with its help - but
its not the source of air support - your lungs are. Diaphragmatic breathing as its called, is a tried
and true method what exactly does that mean anyway?
Diaphragmatic breathing is the technique that you used as a baby, before being burdened with the
thought processes and emotions that caused you to unconsciously interfere with your natural
breathing process.
Try taking a couple of breaths and observe yourself in a mirror. Did your shoulders and chest rise
a lot? If your shoulders didnt riseand your stomach expanded when you inhaled, then you are on
the right track. If they did, read on my friend.
You going to have to learn to breathe in with your nose. There are filters in the nose that moisten
and warm the air as you breathe in. This moistened air is easier on the vocal cords and doesnt
dry them out as much. Take a big breath in with your mouth open. Do you feel how all that air
makes the back part of your throat dry? Its really important to start being aware of whether or not
you are a mouth breather and fix that problem.
Do you usually wake up with a very dry throat?
Yes ____ No ____
Does it take more than a few minutes to lose that frog in my throat morning sound?
Yes ____ No ____
If you responded yes to either of the above questions, try to get used to breathing through your
nose. With time and practice it will become second nature. A good place to start is by simply
making sure that your mouth is closed as you inhale. Many people feel they just cant get enough
air in through the nose. On average one or both nostrils of a persons sinuses is usually partially
closed or blocked. Even with partial blockage, breathing through the nose provides a sufficent
amount of air to make the whole system work.
A Breathing Observation:
Make a peace sign with your hand, face the palm toward you, and then bring it close to your lips.
Now blow air easily right through the center space in between your two fingers. That is basically
what happens when your vocal cords are completely open and the air is going right through. Now
close your fingers together and continue to try to blow air through. Youll see that your fingers now
block the air. Thats basically what the cords are doing in the closed position.
Great diaphragmatic breathing is like an accelerator pedal on a car. When you want the car to go
fast, you simply push the pedal down toward the floor. If you push the pedal down fast, the car
responds by immediately responding to your command. If you want the car to go slowly, all you
have to do is slowly press the accelerator pedal down a little bit at a time. So it goes with
diaphragmatic breathing. When you want the air to come out fast, you simply bring your stomach
in fast. When you want the air to come out slowly, you simply bring your stomach in slowly. If you
can control the speed at which air exits your body, you also have control of the words you sing.
41
Breathing and Phonation
Great singing is a combination of good breath management and proper phonation as the two
skills/issues are interconnected.
Things to master for good breath management and phonation:
1. Letting the breath out slowly - A good exercise is to see how long you can make an sss sound.
Simply Make sure that you are NOT pushing air, but letting it fall out slowly.
2. Altering the flow of breath - Ideally, you don't ever stop the outward flow of the air. Many
unfortunate singers spend years learning to start and stop the air, which is what most people do
when they speak. This is much less efficient and very detrimental to the maintenance of beautiful
legato singing. You should ideally have one initiation of phonation per inhalation. Many
unfortunate singers suffer the effort of constantly restarting the flow process. Have you ever been
in bumper to bumper traffic in a stick shift car? Not much fun huh? Singing with choppy breath is
about the same amount of fun.
3. Speeding and slowing the flow of breath - When you sing louder you will use more breath -
when you sing low or you will use more breath. These changes in airspeed are not usually
perceptible in the sound! When you are singing louder people will not hear that the air is flowing
faster, they will hear an increase in volume. Learning to control the airflow rate of the release of air
is essential to learning to control the voice. You'll need to learn to do this while maintaining that
even release sound. The flow of phonation should not pick up any traces of press phonation or
pushing of the air, which sounds like someone running out of air, because the airflow rate
decreases in the sound loses its buoyancy. The vocal cords might even crack as the sound loses
its evenness.
4. Coordinating the phonation of the vocal cords with the breath - This is relatively easy to do
badly. Anyone who can make a sound can phonate badly. Hopefully you have never heard Harvey
Feinstein sing! It is challenging and sometimes impossible to do well. Even the greatest opera
singers don't always sing with optimal coordination. The demands of language and of singing at
the extremes of range often prevent a completely even on color flow. Imperfections are to be
expected in singing. These imperfections often give singing its character. Perfect singing it
doesn't exist and if it did it without sound human. For me, sometimes I like to hear effort on a high
note.
Improving the coordination of the release of breath with the approximation of the vocal cords
(bringing the vocal cords together as they flap and make sound) depends on healthy vocal cords
and strong agile muscles in the larynx.
If your vocal cords or swollen or have rough edges from abuse or illness, they will not create a
complete glottal closure. This encourages whatever type of phonation the larynx can manage. This
compensatory phonation will move you farther from the goal of efficient vocal production. You
can't find healthy phonation if your vocal cords or swollen, such as when you have had a bad cold
that makes you hoarse or uneven.
You can't make an unhealthy voice healthy with all the throat sprays and prayers in the world. An
unhealthy voice cannot sing efficiently - its too weak. Don't be fooled into thinking otherwise;
much of singing happens at a subconscious level, just as your breathing and the function of your
Breaking the Chains -Breathing and Phonation
42
your other organs is subconscious. You don't really exert conscious control over the
delicate muscles of the larynx. You think you do but the larynx has a mind of its own that
responds to your conscious commands. The healthier the voice is, the more it will function
outside of your conscious control - doing the correct movements to give you the desired
sound. You must release the control, and then control the release. Many unfortunate
singers don't ever use the idea of release in their technique.
Strangely enough, one of the best ways to learn the coordination of the breath and
phonation is through sighing. By sighing you can learn to phonate without too much glottal
resistance. Sigh from high pitches down to low pitches and notice how you can make
sound without the effort you usually feel while singing. Not just imagine if you were to
practice sighing 30 minutes every day for three months, slowly adding more definite pitch
as you sighed from high pitches down to low pitches. You would unlearn the straining you
have because your voice would completely re-coordinate and learn to tune in this new,
more natural way. The muscles that hold the vocal cord, while they are phonate during
this new flow phonation would eventually strengthen until you had a very solid and
pleasing sound. You may not believe it, but even you're sigh can become powerful. You'll
find that your singing works (as if by magic) much better than it did before. You would try
something that didnt work before and it would just work. This magic process is much
like when you go to the gym and lift weights. One day you discover that you can lift the
same weight with less effort. Its also somewhat like learning a new skill such as typing.
One day you realize you don't need to look at your fingers anymore.
Sighing very slowly from high pitches to low pitches accomplishes two things: it
strengthens and heals the vocal cords - improving the strength and flexibility of the cord
tissue. It also strengthens and encourages the use of the release muscles, which are the
muscles that hold the voice when you are letting it flow freely. Yes folks, you use different
muscles when you release the voice rather than press it. Sighing will slowly
re-coordinate the musculature of the larynx so that youll start to unconsciously use the
right muscle movements. You would be phonating rather than that uncomfortable, forceful
and controlled movement you've been using so badly.
The amazing thing about all of this is that once the strength and coordination of the vocal
cords and musculature the larynx are improved, your breath is more efficient. When the
vocal cords are healthy and coordinated they use less air. When this improved
coordination is found, you will experience vastly less glottal resistance (that straining
feeling). The vocal cords will make a rich powerful sound, but you won't feel as if the cords
are pressed together. You'll be amazed to find that some of your breath management
difficulties disappear, because the air will flow as freely during the singing as it does when
you sigh.
Remember these issues are interconnected. When the vocal cords are not flaping
properly, proper breathing is impossible.
Theres a negative chain reaction when the vocal cords aren't phonating efficiently that
leads to many breathing problems.
Some of the breathing problems related to poorly coordinated phonation:
43
The Power of Breathing
Do you hold tension at the top of your stomach? Yes____ No ____
Aside from raising your chest when you breathe, the number one problem that blocks the perfect
diaphragmatic breathing is tension at the top part of your stomach. As a matter of fact, this kind of
tension can completely make it impossible to access all of the higher notes in your vocal range.
That locking type of pressure in the stomach is actually the root of a whole host of evil things. For
one, as soon as you tighten the top part of your stomach, you are basically holding your breath.
Why anyone would want to speak out and hold his or her breath at the same time is baffling.
Some people think that if you hold your breath when you speak, you can actually make the
sentences longer and get more words out. This type of air conservation is silly. Youre going to
take a million breathes anyway. The idea that you should try to hold the air back just to avoid
excess breathing is pointless. The goal is to breathe in and then let the air ride out completely
unobstructed and free of stomach tension.
Do you tend to hold your stomach muscles tight? If so, you are obstructing your breathe from fully
entering your diaphragm.
Breathing Observation #2
Think of someone playing an accordion ( I know its not ROCK but bear with me OK?). To play it,
you first need to separate your hands. This takes air into the instrument. Then to make music you
have to bring the sides back in together. When you stop the inward motion, the sound dies. This is
exactly what happens in breathing. As soon as you remain still and stop the stomach area from
coming back in, the sound dies out. From now on, simply imagine that you have that accordion in
your stomach. When you breathe in the accordion gets bigger. Then let your stomach come in as
sing out, youll be on your way to singing with real vocal power.
Some Breathing Exercises
Your goals throughout these exercises are to:
A. Breathe in through your nose.
B. Pretend you have a balloon in your stomach that fills freely and easily every time you inhale.
C. Make sure that plenty of air is flowing out of your mouth as you exhale.
1. The Sustained Esssss
Take a breath in through your nose and imagine you are expanding that accordian in your
stomach. Place your hand on your stomach, and monitor the movement in and out. Then make the
sound ssss, letting a small bit of air out while your stomach comes slowly, with no pressure.
Think of leaky tire or someone letting the air out of balloon really slowly. Try to sustain that hiss for
as long as you can. Each time you do it, try to make it last longer. Even if its by one second. Over
a period of weeks keep trying this exercises until you can do it for 60 seconds.
2. The Birthday Candle
Take a breath in through your nose and imagine you are filling a balloon in your stomach. Place
your hands on your stomach so that you can feel the air gradually flowing out. Then act as if you
are blowing out candles on a birthday cake. Again, focus on letting a small bit of air out while your
stomach comes in with little pressure (not creating tension in your stomach).
The next page will help you zone in on getting your breath to the right spot.
44
1. The cords are phonating in such a way that too much air is released, which can
lead to weak soft singing and tightening of the body in an effort to hold onto that
quickly diminishing air pressure.
2. The cords are phonating in such a way that too little air is released, which can
lead to pressed un-resonant singing. This leads to tightening of the body in an
effort to push air through the locked-up vocal cords.
When these problems appear the answer is to return to basics by letting the sound out
unimpeded and phonating gently such as with sighing or soft moaning. When these have
been practiced for at least a month and the negative vocal coordination is avoided, more
effortless singing will start to happen.
Remember that maintaining this release is more difficult once consonants are added, but
they can be added with some diligence and careful listening.
You must learn to coordinate the slight obstruction of the airflow that consonants require
with the muscles that regulate the speed of the air. Sometimes you have to accelerate the
airflow such as when you make a K sound. Sometimes you have to slow the air, such as
when you make an F or an S sound. Depending on the language and accent you are
using, the consonants will change, but every one of them must become part of the flow
during phonation. Don't start and stop the air on account of consonants, incorporate them
into the release of air. You will slow and speed up the air, but never stop it or hold it with
the muscles of the larynx - only with the lips and tongue. This must be done to create the
illusion of speech, while maintaining a free and effortless sound.
What you are aiming for is the sound to float completely uninterrupted without the
consonants and vowels stopping or coloring the sound.
Many times, language habits make this more difficult. Certain languages or dialects tend to
be more breathy and therefore easier to maintain airflow while singing. Others tend to be
tight and pressed or encourage either too low or too high a voice for the given pitch. You
must be sensitive enough to language and possess an ear to truly let go of the negative
habits you have acquired along with your native tongue. You must also be willing to alter
your speech to incorporate the pronunciation most ideal for the type of singing you wish to
do. You must be able to discern not just pitch, but also tonal color in order to be able to
tune-up airflow and coordinate it with changing letter sounds.
If you have always spoken with too much nasal or head sound, it will be startling to
discover that a more balanced voice can come from optimal laryngeal coordination.
Nasality is often a complex problem of talking or singing with the vocal cords pressed and
singing in too high a register. When the vocal cords are more relaxed and more efficient
phonation is discovered, nasality diminishes.
45
Breathing Exercises using The Gauge
+50 -50 0
Total Air Capacity Total Air Depletion
Counter productive to sing
beyond this point
Exercise 1
Run your finger along gauge from right to left with the Ssss breathing sound.
Try to be completely out of air by the time you reach the -50 mark.
Exercise 2
Same as above but use a buzzing Zzz sound.
Exercise 3
Same as the above but now sing an Ah vowel. Your goal is to be totally out of breath
by the time you reach -50. Let the lungs fill back up by themselves, Do not forcibly
inhale - let it happen naturally.
Do each exercise 5 times. Each time you start over, run your finger a little bit slower.
The goal is to have your finger at a crawl as you exhale. This teaches your brain to slow
your exhale a little at a time. Experiment with how you can conserve your air to make it
all the way to the end very slowly.
46
47
48
The Fundamentals
Breathing exercises
Diaphragmatic breathing is perhaps one of the most misunderstood thing about singing. Both by
vocal coaches and students. I actually had one coach whos idea of diaphragmatic breathing was
to tell me to take all the air in I could possibly take into my belly so that it was pushed out as far
as possible, then to force the air out with every muscle I could in my abdomen, as forcefully as I
could. If someone tells you to do something like this, find someone else to teach you breathing, or
maybe even another vocal coach. All this method will do is cause your throat and larynx to
clench, impeding free air flow. How it should work is this. Stand up straight. Shoulders slightly
back and head straight. Open your mouth and breath in like a yawn, so that your larynx drops
slightly. Do not let you chest rise abnormally. Let the air that comes in gently expand your
abdomen. Do not force extra air in. Then stop without holding or chocking the air off. Then
slowly exhale, letting the air that flows out control the shrinking of your abdomen. Do not force
the air out with abdominal muscles. Before you go for you next breath make sure you have
exhaled completely, especially while singing a song or exercise. Not exhaling all the way is the
main reason a singer would run out of air. A singer might take a short breath for one phrase and a
long one for another. Without exhaling all the way after the first phrase, and then going for the
second there is still a good amount of carbon monoxide left in the lungs which will leave the
singer out of breath at the end of the long phrase.
To practice breathing, take in a breath and let the inhale and exhale each take ten to twenty
seconds. Youll not take this long when singing, its only to train you to feel the proper way. Make
sure to use proper breathing when doing all of the exercises. This will train you to do it without
thinking about it. If your having a problem with proper breathing you can do it on scale one.
With a light ahh sound, follow the scale as best you can. As you are doing this exercise for
breathing, dont worry about pitch. If its off, or if your bridges are still flipping, take in a breath
and ahh, ahh, ahh, at the end of the scale if you still have air left exhale all the way, then inhale
again for the next scale. Do not use popcorn breathing to hit pitches on a scale, pitch should be
controlled by the cords, air is only to support the pitch, not create it. Most people dont have a big
problem with breathing. It can be mastered in one session. Ive had coaches who concentrated
almost entirely on breathing, and who swore up and down that if you mastered diaphragmatic
breathing, you would have a great voice. Yes its very important to have proper breathing, but its
not everything. Breathing is only for support. If you cant adduct your cords, control the position of
your larynx and your resonance, breathing will not help you sound much better.
Cord adducting exercises
The biggest problem most beginning singers have, (that is people that have never sang before),
with communicating with their coaches is when the coach tells them to go higher in pitch.
Because unless the singer naturally sings correctly when told to do this, the first time the response
will be to take their chest voice as far as it will go, force out more air and push it further.
Umm...Nope thats not it. Unfortunately many coaches have no idea how to teach someone how to
adduct, zip up, shorten or (as it is otherwise known) compress their vocal cords. The coaches
hope is that with enough scale work the student will do it naturally without thinking about it and
without knowing what it is they have done. And of course have to come back for more vocal
lessons to keep it going. If you are stuck in your chest voice and or cannot sing higher notes
without strain, this is most likely the reason. You have simply not learned to adduct your vocal
cords.
Let me give a simple to understand explanation of what happens as your cords are adducting.
Breaking the Chains - The Fundmentals
49
The Fundamentals...continued
Your vocal cords lay horizontal in your larynx. As air passes up through them the vocal cords
resist against the air and vibrate. When you are at a low pitch for your range the cords are almost
all the way apart from one another. As you rise in pitch what should happen is that they begin to
zip up and close off. As you go higher less vocal cord is actually used. Think of your cords as a
string instrument in this sense. Pluck a string without fretting and you get a lower sound than you
would if you hit the same string while fretting in the middle of the neck. Shorten the length of the
string and the pitch goes up, the same applies for vocal cords. Shorten the vocal cords and the
pitch goes up, all without straining. Also keep in mind that as you go up in pitch, adducting, less
air is needed to maintain pitch, as there is less cord to resist against the air.
I cant stress this enough. If you want to have a great voice that functions without strain, is very
resonant and has smoothed out the breaks or bridges in your voice, you need to learn how to
properly adduct your cords. Here a few exercises that have worked time and again on my students
to teach them just that.
The Grunt:
Yes thats right a grunt. Grunt a few times like your pushing something heavy. Uhh, Uhh, Uhh. .
Now if youve sang before but dont know how to adduct, use this exercise. Take in a breath,
grunt, and break into a note, and keep some of the effect of the grunt. Uhh, Uhhh, Ahhhhhhhhhh.
Youll notice the effect better if you try for something in your higher range. You should notice right
away that this makes it very easy to hit a high note. The grunt compresses your cords. As you do
it, it zips them up. Dont over do it. You can quickly wear out your voice this way. The trick is to
use the grunt to get used to adducting then back it off, but keep the compression of the cords that
resulted from it. The grunt is great to develop a mental to physical tool, that gives you control over
shortening your cords. If you never sang before and someone told you to shorten your cords you
would probably be very confused. That is the main stumbling block in learning to sing. You cant
see what you are doing, like someone learning to play guitar. You have to go solely on how it feels
and sounds. A lot of progress with vocal technique is through how it feels, NOT how it sounds.
Note, for this to work well you need to keep yourself from breaking into falsetto. If you find that you
cannot keep yourself from breaking into falsetto, then back off your air pressure just a little bit - but
dont go whispery, just make the tonal quality less loud. When first learning to adduct, the cords
arent coordinated enough yet to resist against the air in the new position. Just keep at it lightly
and work your way up to normal pressure. If it happens one day not to work try it tomorrow. Your
voice is a finicky instrument that requires precise tuning.
Slide with grunt added:
Once you get the hang of the grunt, you can add a slide to it. Do the same as above but use the
words Nay and No . This helps smooth out your breaks as well. Be careful, sliding can fatigue
your voice very quickly. And make sure to use the same air pressure going up as you do going
down. As you rise in pitch do not use more air, this will be sure to fatigue your voice. Singing
higher actually takes less air.
Smoothing Out the Bridges:
Smoothing out your bridges or breaks is a lot less harrowing and painful than some coaches and
students make it. It seems this is the single thing that singers have the worst problem with. Why?
Well a lot of singers are used to only using their chest (mostly men) or head (mostly women) and
when they first come across a concept like bridges and registers they may understand it mentally
50
The Fundamentals...continued
but the voice that theyve used for years refuses to agree. I like to think of it like shifting gears on
a car or truck, you can either do it very smoothly so that passengers dont even notice youve
shifted, or you can do it badly and clunk the car into the next gear. The same applies to singing.
As you go up in your range you can either blend a register seamlessly in a relaxed fashion, or you
can force your chest voice higher, or worse yet break into falsetto.
Like I said before if you cant adduct your cords there is simply no way you are going to eliminate
the breaks in your voice. In doing the mixed voice exercises in this system if you can vibrato do
not use it at the top of the scales to help get the pitch as this will throw off your ability to adduct
your cords and smooth out the bridges. As pitch slightly changes so does your cord position. A
key element here is not to force more air as you go up in pitch. Remember the amount of air you
are using doesnt control pitch your vocal cords do. As you go up in pitch, if the resonance goes in
the correct areas of your head cavity, the sound will actually begin to sound louder even though
your not using more air. This is a pleasant effect of resonance and resonance is our friend.
Even at the lowest end of the scale, adduct the cords. This will help you when you reach your
breaks. Later on, when youve mastered this, if you wish to sing in a full chest or head voice, you
can abandon the adducting until you get to your first bridge. As you go up in the scale adduct to
go higher. When your voice flips into falsetto, or gets substantially weaker, youve found a break.
The feeling is that you simply cannot hold your cords together at this point. You will probably
break into falsetto, or produce a weak sounding middle that you may mistake for head. The
latter is what we want to happen more often on your break points. Past that point, your voice
would probably come back together. Then later on even higher, it will break again as you near
where your head voice happens. Most people have two breaks - sometimes three.
Breaks in your voice can occur in different places based on how pressure you are putting on the
cords. Simply put, if youre singing at a normal volume your break may occur at F4 (F above
middle C), if you vocalize with more intensity that break may move up to G4 (G above middle C),
and if you vocalize softly that register break may happen at D4 (D above middle C). This is
something to keep in mind as you vocalize. As you gain strength and flexibility in your voice what
was your break before may move a few notes higher. So be ready for that. It can throw you.
The best way to keep your breaks in a somewhat consistent areas so you can work to smooth
them out, just use just a little more air than is needed to talk. In this way you wont hurt your voice
and slow down your progress. And you wont get into the bad habit that more air is need to sing
higher notes. Even at my highest most powerful ranges, Im using less air than some people use
to speak. If you adopt a similar approach youll be able to sing for hours without losing your voice.
When trying to smooth out your breaks you should do it over a microphone so that you can hear
yourself either properly shortening your cords or breaking. Without some sort of monitor it will
be tricky at first for you to hear when you are breaking into falsetto, and when you are in mixed
voice . If you dont have a sound system, you can at least buy a ninety dollar guitar amp and a
microphone cord adaptor. Its importantfor you to hear yourself as you sing. What is heard after it
leaves your mouth is very tonally different from what you hear in your head. You should also
record yourself as you attempt to smooth out your bridges so you can hear your mistakes or
accomplishments. You should be aware that singing with a smoothed out range will sound tonally
different than forcing chest or singing in falsetto. It may take you a while to accept the new sound
you make. But believe me it sounds one thousand percent better than either of those approaches.
51
What is Vocal Weight?
Well, I'll tell you. Vocal weight is defined as "too much thicker vocal fold mass used too high in
pitch often involving taking one register higher than it is designed to function in pitch" Very
technical sounding isn't it? But what the heck does all that mean?
In order to achieve "balance" in your registers you're going to have to get rid of that weight as you
go higher in pitch. My goal in this chapter is to define the problems associated with too much vocal
weight and offer healthy and corrective solutions, so that you don't struggle in the higher ranges.
Sounds like fun right?
The results of excessive vocal weight are many and can include:
* a loss of access to higher notes
* a choking feeling when sustaining higher notes
* tuning problems
* imbalance in registration
* a general lack of vocal freedom
All of these issues are common complaints of many singers I encounter while teaching and the
solutions can be many requiring the use of several problem-solving skills. Pulling vocal weight
upward is usually due to a lack or improper employment of head voice as the singer moves up in
pitch. It's like dragging an anchor into your upper range.
Healthy negotiation of the registers is a result of employing the finer or thinner edges of the folds
in combination with an open pharyngeal or "acoustic" space. Whew that was a mouthful. It gets
less technical as I go on I promise!
How do you know if you are dragging that anchor? You'll know when the registers are out of
balance because your voice feels tense, either from overly light (disconnected) technique or the
overly heavy approach (yelling on pitch).
Using too much vocal weight can result in the following vocal problems:
* flattening of pitch
* difficulty going into upper ranges without pushing too much breath pressure.
* vowel distortion, caused by tongue tension
* inability to sing high and softly
* spread or throaty tones at specific pitches
* breath management issues (lack of correct vocal fold approximation)
* vibrato problems (often a overly fast vibrato or wobbly sound)
* general tongue tension or retraction of the tongue
* inability to sing a smooth (legato) line due to abrupt changes in breath flow
* over darkening of the voice or over lightening of the voice
* forward thrust of the jaw
* general over singing due to lack of resonance
Breaking the Chains - The Fundamentals
52
Ok (tap tap), what to do, what to do?
Fear not, there are some exercises you can do to lighten the load as you go up into those higher
registers.
The GRUNT!
What the heck is "the grunt" you may ask? Visualize a caveman who has no spoken language. He
grunts to communicate. The pitch isn't important, what is important is that when you grunt you
engage the lower back muscles abruptly. Place your hands on your waist and grunt. When you
feel a sudden outward movement of your waistline around the back you're doing it right.
Before attempting the yodels described below perform the grunt repeatedly in any range that has
felt thick/heavy or overly thin and colorless and try to employ it as a regular function of breathing.
Exercise #1 - Yodeling within one register: Work slowly at first on this approach, using the "OH"
vowel. First use a simple interval (whole step, major 3rd) and deliberately yodel from the lower
note to the upper note without changing registers. Use this exercise anywhere that the voice has
felt thick/heavy or overly thin/colorless.
Exercise # 2 Yodeling between registers: Yodel a full octave between low chest voice and
middle register, using an "AH" sound on the lower pitch and an "OOO" sound on the upper pitch.
Yodel between registers quickly, keeping the pharynx or open acoustical space stable. When
forming the "OOO" sound, make sure that only the lips adjust (the throat space stay primarily the
same and the root of the tongue stays wide and does not bunch). Next go into the head voice and
sing a descending rounded "E" vowel with a rounded mouth opening. Stop just before you hit
chest voice.
CD 2 Track #2 - The Use of a Vowel Sequence to Drop Vocal Weight: The following arpeggio is
designed to drop vocal weight through specific vowel sequencing. Think "light and wide" in the
back of your throat. NO STRAINING!
1.3.5..8.10.8.5.3.1
AE..I.O..U.O.A.E.I
Exercise #4 - AH-E-AY: sweep through these sounds on a triplet making the "E" sound extremely
short. The "E" should also be produced with a quick "flip" or movement of the tongue.
Exercise #5 - LAY-LA: alternate between these sounds on 5 tone scales. Again, the tongue should
flip freely and quickly. Perform in all registers. Try alternating between YA sounds and LAY-LA's
and matching the physicality.
Exercise #6 VOLEY (pronounced "VO-LAY"): perform this word alternating syllables on a basic 5
tone scale ("VO-LAY-VO-LAY-VO-LAY-VO-LAY-VO") Pronounce the changing phonetic clearly
and distinctly with free and rapid movement of the tongue.
Wow, now that was informative but sounds awfully confusing right? Nah! Do them SLOWLY until
you get the gist of the exercise. If you're one of those that just read all that and thought "sounds
simple enough", now, now, my quick thinking friend, they may seem like simple exercises in
theory, but they can be tricky to perform correctly. The simple mental picture you want to have is
light and free. Nothing should feel heavy, strained or choked. If it does, YOU'VE GOT AN
ANCHOR. SO DROP IT.
Breaking the Chains - The Fundamentals
53
54
55
Vocal Terminology - What does that mean?
Breaks:
Also known as a "cracks", (I call them clunks) are interruptions in the vocal production process.
This happens when too much or not enough airflow is exerted in relation to vocal-cord tension.
The vocal cords lose their closure and pop open. Your voice becomes disconnected.
Bridges:
Areas where there is a bridge or passage from one area of vocal resonance to another. With
proper technique, you can begin to connect and smooth out your bridges giving you balance,
control and consistent sound in your singing.
Breath Compression:
Most commonly referred to as breath support. Compression is the amount of air you push
against the vocal cords to make them vibrate correctly. Too much compression and your voice
sounds forced or heavy, too little and the sound falls apart or you sing flat in pitch.
Chest Voice:
That area of the voice that produces the most vibrations in the chest cavity. It is the area of the
voice we use the most for speech. Often referred to as modal voice.
Mixed Voice:
A vocal tone that carries the qualities of both chest resonance and head resonance. Mixed voice
normally occurs in a singers second register break area. By mixing both resonances the voice
takes on a seamless quality when singing from chest voice to head voice.
Head Voice:
Through the process of adduction, or closing of the vocal cords from back to front, head voice
allows the singer to expand their range into the head register with a much fuller and resonant
sound. When the chords are properly adducted, and phonated correctly, air flow is minimized and
the head resonance blends with the chest resonance to create a seamless voice.
Falsetto:
A type of vocal tone, that lets you experience the singing in the higher part of your range but
without power or control. Unlike head voice, falsetto cannot blend or connect with your chest voice
because the cords are adducted properly and a disconnected, breathy sound is produced.
Resonance:
Resonance is the vocal cords ability to oscillate or pulsate at maximum amplitude within specific
frequencies, known as vocal resonance frequencies (or resonant frequencies).
Tone:
Distinguishes musical tones from noise. Tone is a sustained and even pitch, caused by regular
and constant vibrations of air pressure and is set in motion by similar vibrations in the body
producing the tone.
Vibrato:
A natural pulsing of the vocal cords. When you hear a good vibrato, its soothing and easy to listen
to. Its not forced or wobbly and when executed properly, makes the voice sound even more
beautiful and in control.
Breaking the Chains - Vocal Terminology
56
Chill Out Dude! Relaxtion in your mind, body and voice.
Rock singing by its very nature is out of balance so we have to TRY, as much as we can, to stay
as relaxed as possible to maintain a free and open singing voice. Any tension in the body will
result in tension in the voice. If you find yourself feeling tense or not as relaxed as you want to be
before singing or during your daily (yes I said DAILY) vocal practice, try these exercises to help
you chill out and remain focused on the job at hand. NEVER bring your bad day into your singing!
Tension is a voice killer. When a person brings tension into any part of their body while singing,
the brain reacts and starts to bring in other muscles to compensate. You start to get what I call
tension creep - a chain reaction that starts in one part of the body, your face or neck and
creeps into surrounding muscles. Sooner or later everything becomes tense and singing
becomes harder. A major No No.
The Drunk Test
This is a nice and simple way to keep tension out of your body when practicing. Cross your
legs at the ankles and raise one arm up and the other down like your imitating an airplane
making a turn. Keep your legs crossed while tipping your hands up and down like a see-saw.
Now vocalize your scales or sing a song. Its VERY hard to stay tense while doing this while
singing. Dont fall over!
Breaking the Chains - Relaxtion
57
How often to Train
I have seen the best results when singers practice about forty minutes to one hour a day. Dont
practice one day for three hours then skip three days, this simply doesnt work. What your trying to
develop everyday by practicing is muscle memory. Whats muscle memory? Its something that
every good athlete or singer has. It is the very reason for ritual practice. The idea is that you do
something so many times that you can do it with very little conscious thought because the muscles
involved in the process already know what to do. Hence the term muscle memory. On top of
muscle memory you need to build stamina in your voice. Also remember the better the technique
you have, the longer you will be able to sing. To build stamina you need to sing enough to give
your voice a workout without going to the point of fatigue. You will know when youve hit your
fatigue point when it starts to feel as if your cords are swollen or your throat is sore. Do not keep
singing if you feel this. Even if all youve sang for is fifteen minutes. Some peoples vocal cords
tire easily. Dont worry stamina builds quickly with daily practice. Just add five minutes to your
practice schedule everyday until you hit your goal.
You also need recovery time. Just like in weight lifting recovery time is often more important than
the workout. How many hours you need will depend upon the thickness of your cords. Some
peoples cords are denser than others. If you have thick cords, in order for them to recover you
will need more recovery time. More mass equals more to recover. The up side of having thick
cords is that they can take a lot of abuse and bounce back. The downside is that they take longer
to train. Thats the main reason there are many more female singers with exceptional ranges than
men. Its not just the fact that womens cords are shorter. For most singers, though, a good nights
sleep before the next training session is good enough.
The key thought you have to have in your head when doing a lesson is that you are training
yourself to sing better. Do not be discouraged just because you dont sound the way youd like
just yet. Many singers give up just because after a few lessons they cant sing great. Thats
ridiculous. If you keep at it everyday your voice will become a little better with each lesson.
Hardly ever is anything worth having easy. Singing your best will take time, patience, and
dedication. You need to realize no matter how good you get there will be days where your voice
just wont sound up to par, though youve done nothing wrong. So dont be hyper critical of
yourself. No one got anywhere by giving up. You should also keep a singing log book. It should
list how you feel that day, what you ate, what you drank, if you practiced any abusive habits that
day, what exercises you performed and how well you performed on the exercises. In this way you
can keep an accurate record of what works well for you, and gear you routine towards it.
All of the exercises should be performed in a standing position with a good posture. Your feet
should be shoulder length apart, knees slightly bent, and head up straight facing forward.
The main idea is that you body is relaxed as possible to let your voice flow freely.
I give a few more tips on practicing on CD1.
Breaking the Chains - Other Things to Consider
58
Misconceptions about the Power of the Voice
When a person wants to strengthen a muscle, they push or pull something until the muscle is tired
and sore. Over time, the muscle gets bigger, and thereby stronger.
The amateur singer often applies the same logic to strengthening the voice, but without an
understanding of which muscles to strengthen. They tense muscles that in fact need to be relaxed,
which usually results in a poorer, weaker vocal apparatus, not a stronger, better one. What's
worse, if a person continues with these misconceptions, vocal damage will occur.
Common Misconceptions
1. Misconception: A powerful singer tenses his neck and shoulder muscles to achieve a big sound.
Powerful singers have relaxed neck and shoulder muscles. Tensing the neck will force the voice
box(larynx) into unnatural positions for singing, will misalign the body, and will reduce resonance.
2. Misconception: A powerful singer uses the physical strength of his vocal cords. He forces air
through them with powerful exhaling muscles. Powerful singers have well-disciplined vocal cord
control muscles. The exhaling muscles don't force air through the vocal folds; rather, the air is
gently passed through in a steady, controlled stream. The optimum vocal sound comes from a
balance between a steady, controlled stream of air through relaxed, gently activated vocal folds.
3. Misconception: The diaphragm is contracting (tensing) during exhalation, providing the air
stream for the voice. The diaphragm, along with the muscles on the outside of the ribcage, tenses
or contracts during inhalation. The abdominal muscles, along with the muscles on the inside of the
ribcage, tense or contract during exhalation. The diaphragm actually gradually relaxes during
exhalation, thereby helping to regulate the air pressure through the vocal folds.
4. Misconception: A singer can reach the high notes by craning the neck forward with the chin out.
Actually, the opposite is true. When reaching for a high note, the powerful singer lowers her chin in
order to improve resonance and reduce tension on the voicebox.
5. Misconception: A powerful singer opens her mouth as wide as possible in order to improve
resonance. A powerful singer allows her jaw to drop open in order to improve reasonance, but not
so wide as to 1) put pressure on the voicebox or 2) cause tension in the jaw or neck.
The Truth about Vocal Power
Vocal power comes with the coordination of three elements: The air supply, the oscillator
(voicebox), and the resonators.
The Air Supply
Most people use less than half of their lung capacity, even when singing. By filling the lungs to
capacity, an amateur singer will sing louder and with better phrasing.
Have you ever tried to sing louder, only to get a harsher, more constricted sound? This is because
people equate volume with tightened muscles. Instead of trying for loudness, sing it again, this
time starting with a bigger breath. You should find your volume will increase.
59
The Oscillator
The voice makes sound when air is passed through the vocal folds. The vocal folds brush together
thousands of times per second to generate a gentle buzz. Tiny muscles in the voicebox adjust how
tightly the vocal folds are drawn together, which in turn controls the quality of the buzz. (Another
group of tiny muscles adjust the tautness of the vocal folds themselves, which controls the pitch.)
For each pitch there is an optimal balance between airflow and vocal fold tightness: When the
vocal folds are too loose, too much air passes through, resulting in an airy sound. On the other
hand, when the vocal folds are too tight the body has to force air through the folds. The resulting
sound is harsh and edgy; The singer tires quickly and suffers a reduction in vocal range. When the
balance between airflow and vocal fold tension is correct, the buzzing sound is just loud enough,
the neck isn't tense, and the sound isnt airy.
The Resonators
A resonator is an empty space with many hard surfaces. If you have ever spoken in an empty
gymnasium or a tiled bathroom, your voice sounded big and resonant. The room was acting as a
resonator to amplify your voice. Inside of your head are several resonators: The mouth, neck,
throat, nasal cavities, and sinuses. Depending on mouth, neck, and throat position, the vibrations
of the vocal folds are amplified either powerfully or hardly at all.
An amateur singer often becomes overly self-conscious about resonators, responding with a tense
neck and tight jaw. Since both of these responses reduce resonance, the director needs to be
careful how he encourages good resonance. The following suggestions work:
1. Sit or stand using a comfortable, upright posture. The chin should be somewhat tucked in; the
neck shouldn't be tensed or stretched out at all. The shoulders should be back, not rolled forward.
This alignment allows the neck, throat, and sinus resonators to do their job.
2. The soft palate is the soft part of the roof of the mouth (the part with that dangly punching bag
thing hanging down). When you yawn, the soft palate is stretched upwards. A good singer learns
to keep the soft palate in that position without thinking about it.
Some ways of learning this are: 1) sing with an english accent 2) begin with a yawn, then sing a
5-note descending scale.
3. Consciously try to sing with an unhinged, comfortably open jaw. Over-opening the jaw causes
neck tension and interferes with the muscles that control the vocal folds. By opening the mouth,
the singer increases mouth resonance and encourages the soft palate to raise.
Summary
Vocal power results from a good air supply, supple, well-balanced vocal folds, and proper
resonation. Tension in the neck and jaw often gets in the way of good singing. Rock singing is an
intense process and I know this sounds odd, but being relaxed is essential to free and open
singing Rock & Metal. Punk guys go out of their way to look angry and tense when singing but if
you wnat to have a voice the next day, be as relaxed as possible.
60
Vocal Problems
If youre suffering from vocal problems, using these lists in conjunction with a diary may help you
pin point your difficulty. Keep an accurate account of what you eat, do, and what environmental
conditions you are in. Soon you may discover a pattern.
1. Rest. Singers need plenty of rest. Dont allow yourself to become sleep deprived; thats just
asking for poor singing.
2. Diet. Eat a balanced diet, low in sugars, caffeine, and alcohol. Dont drink alcohol on a day you
must sing, because it dries out the throat extensively. Some singers even find that drinking alcohol
the day before singing can cause problems. Caffeine does the same thing, although more slowly.
Many people also find that artifiicial sweeteners like Nutra Sweet causes vocal problems.
3. Hydration. Its vital to drink lots of water. Have fresh water on hand whenever youre practicing
and performing. Its better to not have it iced, room temperature is best since cold contracts
muscles. If you drink plenty of water, your voice wont tire as quickly, and singing will feel more
comfortable.
4. Smoke. Breathing smoke from fireplaces, cigarettes, cloves, cigars, pipes, and illegal drugs
dries out your throat and causes inflammation. If you are the one smokingno matter what it is
youre smokingnot only will you suffer from breathing problems, but your vocal cords will
become inflamed. This makes you far more prone to nodes and causes a boatload of other vocal
problems.
5. Artificial Climates. Air conditioning and heating systems can cause many vocal problems. Air
conditioning tends to make singers with dust allergies miserable; it also alters the humidity level of
the room, which may wreck havoc on your voice. Heating systems suck moisture out of the air.
(On the other hand, singers with certain allergies sometimes find relief in an air conditioned room.)
If you must have an artificially cooled or heated room, be sure to drink even more water.
6. Weight Lifting. Extensive weight lifting can put some strain on your vocal cords, and should be
avoided. This is why you dont see any singers who look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Light
exercises like running or swimming are great for singers.
7. Colds & Flus. Wash your hands frequently to avoid colds. If you feel fatigued, especially vocally,
take some zinc. (I recommend the vitamin style tablet, but if your throat is already scratchy, try
Cold Ease, which is a zinc lozenge.)
8. Allergies. They are the #1 enemy of singers. With the help of an eye, ear, and throat doctor
(ENT), or an allergy specialist, you may be able to find treatment that helps you. At the very least,
you may be able find out what youre allergic to so you can avoid it in the future. Many singers just
have to learn to sing through their allergies. If you suffer from allergylike symptoms all year
round, a doctor may tell you that the symptoms are due to the structure of your sinuses, and that
little or nothing can be done to prevent the problem. (Surgery is never an option for singers, since
altering the sinus area can alter the voice dramatically.) Again, you may have to learn to sing
through the symptoms. A few tips: Peppermints, like Altoids, may help open up the sinus
passages temporarily. Gargling with salt water may temporarily rid a singer of post nasal drip. A
tablespoon of natural honey can temporarily comfort a scratchy throat.
61
9. Certain Foods. Dairy products, in particular, can cause lots of phlegm that interferes with
singing. Try to stay away from milk and cheese products on your singing days.
10. Medications. Unfortunately, some of the medications we take on a daily basis, or to relieve us
of the symptoms of seasonal allergies, can have adverse affects on singing, mostly by drying out
the throat. For a comprehensive list of drugs and their side effects on singers, go to the National
Center For Voice & Speech website. In addition, birth control pills may cause problems for
wfemale singers. Some doctors say that progesterone dominant pills cause a virilization of the
larynx and a decrease of range in the upper register. If you must take this sort of pill because of
endometriosis or some other medical problem, be sure your doctor is sensitive to the fact that
youre a singer. (Some medical literature suggests that many of the treatments for endometriosis
cause permanent vocal changes.)
11. Menstruation. The cramping sometimes caused by menstruation can make it more difficult for
female singers to support their voices correctly. If you have bad cramps, try to avoid singing. If you
must sing, try treating your cramps with warm baths and a heating pad.
12. Anesthetic. Dont have surgery before you must sing. Tell your doctor that youre a singer and
ask only for an experienced anesthesiologist. Local anesthetics may cause problems for singing
students because they make it difficult to feel discomforta sensation that signals singers they
are abusing their voice.
62
Land of the Lost: After The Gig
Lots of articles and books discuss warming up before gigs or rehearsals and caring for your voice
during the performance. That, however, is not all there is to the process. Now comes the hard part
-warming down after the gig is over.
It is common knowledge that singers warm up their voices. Even if you don't know exactly what to
do, you know that singers usually do something. Warming down, however, is not often mentioned.
Strangely enough, warming down is one of the key factors at maintaining your vocal health. In
most instances I have found it to be the key agent to returning a damaged voice back to a state of
health and strength. Most of the time if not always all the good work that you have done before
and during the gig suffers if you don't warm down your voice. It is quite often a large contributory
factor towards the state of your speaking voice the morning after the night before. Without
warming down, you are at the mercy of chance the next day.
The first two questions we have to answer are: Why does it have so much influence over the state
of your voice and what can you do about it?
When you sing for any length of time your muscles become stretched and filled with blood and
oxygen. Singing is a very complex activity for the muscles of phonation that they are normally not
called upon to perform. Professional singing puts demands on those muscles that are equally as
demanding as the complex muscular functions a professional athlete must perform. If you
consider that muscles react to vigorous activity the same way regardless of the name of the sport,
then it stands to reason that they need the same kind of care when the activity is over. Runners
stretch before they run. If they don't stretch after, their muscles cramp the next day.
When singers warm up they are stretching their vocal chords their larynx bringing blood to the
area and preparing those muscles by heating them through activity. Since you cannot see what is
going on inside, you are likely to assume that it's not such a big deal. The simple phonation of one
or two vocals is quite complex and intricate. Vocally warming up sends an even greater
concentration of blood to the area and changes the natural state of the larynx. On top of that, a full
performance extends that natural state through an extreme amount of activity. But here's the catch
when the gig is over and you are done singing, those muscles in there are in a highly charged
state. Unless you do something to bring everything back to normal -or as close to normal as
possible- when you fall asleep the muscles will lock in that position.
Picture if you will, muscles aligned and in order. Now picture everything scrambled. Unless you do
something to realign your voice, your muscles will stay in that cramped stage until they are worked
out. Usually your voice is husky, thick and hoarse in the morning. After you have eaten, had
something to drink and talked a little bit, your voice starts to come around again later in the day
it begins to feel normal. When you woke up you really couldn't talk and you may have had a lot
more mucous than usual -but somehow it seems to clear up in time for the next gig.
With this kind of routine you might pull it off in the short term, especially if you aren't performing
that much, but if you actually had demands put on your voice during the day, you might not do so
well. If you're successful and had to give interviews all day or if your work demands that you talk
frequently during the day, your voice might not recover in time for your performance. I think you're
beginning to see the picture!
63
By warming down the voice you can alleviate all this stress. Your muscles get handled when they
need to be handled and the stressful cycle is broken. By working on your voice to restore it before
you go to sleep, you are minimizing the problems you normally face the next day. Work to restore
your muscles to their natural state and try to get your speaking voice back to normal. If the
swelling is down and the muscles are relaxed before sleep, then when you wake up you'll already
be ahead of yourself. At first you may find that the husky sound and hoarseness, while lessened,
is still not completely gone. Give it a chance. Do this for a while and you will soon find your voice
improving, even when you're not singing.
You can do for your warm down anything you may have done as a warm up. Begin at
approximately the same volume that you left off at and gradually work it back down to a more
relaxed, normal level. You should also remember to warm down your body. Your lungs have taken
an unusual amount of breath which has stretched your rib cage, so your muscles are likely to be
sore. Yoga or Tai Chi is wonderful to do before you got to sleep because it is not too strenuous
and, since it will probably be early in the morning, you won't wake anyone up. A hot shower or
even a hot bath is a big help as it will calm your body and help to center you.
As you do in between sets, always check your tongue. It usually gets stuck and needs to be
stretched, too. Get a gauze pad or some other clean material with which to grip your tongue,
gently stretch it and say "gee", "gee hee hee", "ee yah gee", "gee gee gee", etc. Anything with a
hard 'G' or 'K' sound and the 'ee' vowel sound will be beneficial for the larynx. This exercise will
help the larynx get thinner and assist it to close again in the center more efficiently.
If you begin this process as you are getting off the stage by gently saying 'gee' etc., you can
increase your warm down period. Do some chewing and swallowing and make a humming sound
as you chew with your mouth closed. This can be done while you are packing up or in the car on
the way home. If you prefer you can warm up in bits and pieces and save most of the work for
when you get home. Just make sure you do this before you go to sleep - that is what is crucial.
Once you are asleep it is too late. Of course if you miss one night, don't worry. Tomorrow is
another day. You've survived this long, so one more day isn't going to kill you. But, the sooner you
start the better. I know Rock singers don't expect to be able to talk the next morning, but I also
know that it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, your voice and your career will last much longer
once you have made this a part of your regular vocal routine.
64
Rock Repertoire and Vocal Health
As a professional Rock singer myself and in my extensive work as a vocal coach, the issue of how
to care for the Rock voice has become vital knowledge for maintaining a performers longevity.
The sheer performance of Rock, fun as it is, can be quite challenging at times and has the
potential to take its toll on the health of the voice. So what are some of the main danger areas?
Allow me to elaborate on what I affectionately call the The Vocal War Zone.
If a committee of experts were to design one of the most hazardous environments for the voice to
function efficiently in it would have the following features:
Extremely high volumes: not only damaging to hearing but makes singing over very loud
instruments a feat of vocal endurance and stamina.
Air conditioning: to dry out the vocal cords every time you breathe in.
Smoke: even more effective than A/C in quickly drying out the vocal cords.
Easy access to alcohol: its all too tempting Its a heavy factor in the dehydration process.
Late at night: many people are not at their best at this time.
You may recognise by now that this vocal war zone is where most Rock singers make their living
as live performers on any given night of the week. So what can you do to survive?
Develop a strong vocal technique. It should be robust enough to withstand the demands
placed upon it when performing. Taking regular private lessons and/or undertaking a
reputable singing course can greatly help to develop this area. (cough cough, like with me)
Get physically fit. Rock singers need stamina and endurance both physically and vocally
to give out the amount of energy required for a performance.
Always warm-up before singing to prepare the voice for a workout. So you get out of your
speaking voice and into your singing voice.
Its advisable to also warm-down at the end of a long practice session or performance to
get the voice to settle back down into normal condition again.
Protect your ears. The ears are just as vital to a singers performance as the voice is. So
when rehearsing or performing in a particularly loud environment, wearing ear plugs is
highly recommended.
Check the monitors. The ability to hear your own voice clearly through the monitoring
system is crucial. When you cant there is a strong tendency to try to compensate by
driving the voice too hard which can easily lead to vocal strain.
Stay adequately hydrated. To counteract the dehydrating effects of air-conditioning and
smoke in the performing environment, drink the recommended amount of water (about 64
oz) that day. Make sure its not too cold though - room temperature water is best.
Drink at least 16 oz no later than 30min before a show. It takes 20min for water to hydrate
so give yourself a buffer of 10min. Dont wait until youre on stage - by then its too late.
Avoid dehydrating drinks. Drinking alcohol dehydrates the body as do other drinks like
coffee, tea, sugary soft drinks etc. They are best avoided while performing. My favorite
onstage drink is warm water with a little honey dissolved in it. Makes a great lubricant.
Dont smoke. The passive smoking environment that Rock singers often have to perform
in is bad enough but it seems foolish to make the negative impact on the voice even worse
by smoking yourself.
Get enough sleep. The voice doesnt tend to function well when one is tired so try to get
enough rest before a performance.
These pieces of advice have proved invaluable in my own performing life and in those of my
students. Learn them, love then, live them and youll be Rocking the House for years to come.
65
Taking Care of Your Voice in Cold Weather
When cold weather is upon us, many of you will be turning up the thermostat to keep your home
warm and comfortable. If your heat is turned up too high, you will be drying the air in your
environment. Dry air will dry your throat and vocal folds.
To remedy this problem, I am suggesting that you use a hot steam bacteria killing vaporizer unit.
You will definitely feel the comfortable and soothing heat that is moist. You will especially feel this
wonderful moist heat at night when you sleep. I suggest that you close the door of your bedroom
to keep the nice moist heat confined in the room.
You will be pleasantly surprised how warm the room gets with the awesome moist heat! In this day
and age of high fuel costs, you can easily save money on heat if you turn down your thermostat to
66 to 68 degrees with the vaporizer. For those of you cranking up those thermostats at night, it will
be a pleasant change and save you money on your gas or oil bills. More importantly you will save
your voice.
Since vocal fold hydration is our prime concern during the winter because we go from dry cold air
outside to dry warm air inside, the vaporizer use combined with a good amount of water. This
really applies to singers and speakers who speak and sing many hours every day. Drink your
water! But dont over hydrate. The current water craze with everyone carrying around bottled
water is just that a craze a fad. A few years ago an article came out that said everyone should
be drinking 64oz of water a day. Where did this writer live The Sahara Desert? Unless youre
running the marathon in 90 degree heat, nobody needs to be THAT hydrated. Somehow the
human race got along just fine without drinking 64oz a day before the article. BUT drinking
FLUIDS is important. While water is the absolute best hydrate for the body, dont skimp on your
fruit juices either. But watch the apple juice its gaseous and Orange juice can be very acidic.
Distilled fruit juices or power water like are also very good.
When you venture outside be sure to keep your neck warm by wrapping it in a scarf or turtleneck.
Also remember to breathe in through your nose at ALL times. Breathing through the nose warms
and moistens the air before it passes into your lungs- a really good thing. Mouth breathing can -
and will - lead to respiratory infections, dryness and inflammation of the vocal folds.
If youre taking any decongestants or antihistamines that can dry your voice or throat, you should
take Robitussin DM or Mucinex to increase the secretions on your folds as a medicine
supplement. This applies to everyone who takes antihistamines or decongestants for colds or
allergies. I strongly recommend that you use these drying agents only when necessary. Consult
with you doctor on their usage.
I suggest you consult your allergist or ENT doctor to go over your own personal issues regarding
voice disorders and voice issues. We recommend a dust free and pollen free environment. You
should keep your bedroom clean by sweeping or vacuuming as often as possible! We hope that
you find these tips to be useful as always.
Finally, if you do get a little phlegmy or get a build up of mucous in your throat, there is a great
product called Alkalol which is like paint thinner for the vocal folds. Even though the bottle says
to distill it, Ive found it best to gargle with it at full strength. It can be found online at most online
drugstores like Walgreens.com or drugstore.com. Its a singing trade secret.
Stay warm and keep practicing.
66
67
The Ultimate Guide for the Rock Vocalist
Kevin Richards
copyright 2010

Breaking The Chains Ebook2 PDF

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Breaking The Chains Ebook2 PDF

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

The Ultimate Guide for the Rock Vocalist

Вам также может понравиться