From: takelessons Like more of such tips or looking for a online vocal coach? Check out my review of the online singing program that I'm using right now.
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As singers, our bodies are our instruments, so we need to make sure that all of our muscles, including the vocal chords, are ready to meet the demands of singing. Let’s get STARTED! 1. GET AND STAY HYDRATED Water lubricates the vocal folds and eliminates toxins that make you sick. Excessive alcohol. Caffeine, and nicotine — these substances dehydrate the body. Also, try to avoid any dairy foods and salty foods before singing, as they can cause excessive phlegm and 2. SIRENS A vocal siren is one of the quickest and easiest ways to wake up your voice. On a rounded "ooh" vowel. Begin at the lowest point in your voice and gradually slide up to the top. Then make your way back down. Imagine you are imitating the sound of an ambulance siren, or imagine you are taking your voice on a roller coaster ride. Be sure to open your mouth wider as you go higher. 3. LIP TRILLS Take a nice breath and release it so that your lips like a motor boat. The make a "bbbbb" sound — airflow needed to produce this sound is the same as the airflow needed for singing, so lip trills are an excellent, gentle warm-up. Try doing them as a siren, or on scales going up and back. 4. WARM UP YOUR VOWELS Find an easy note in the middle of your comfort zone. Sing that note on “A”, “E”, “O”, “I”. It should sound and feel as easy and natural as speaking — once it does, move up the scale chromatically by half-steps and repeat. 4. SCALES AND ARPEGGIOS Begin on an open neutral vowel, such as Ah. Ooh, Oh. Ee. You can get creative with the melodic pattern, as long as it increases by half steps to take you to the top or bottom of your range. A basic simple way to do this would be to sing a S note scale up and back, or a simple 3 step arpeggio (Do Mi sol Mi DO) 5. SING SOME SONGS! Sing some songs from your repertoire, starting with some easy ones and working towards your show-stoppers. Always remember that everyone's voice is different, and not every song will fit every singer. Find something that you are comfortable singing, that doesn't force you to push too hard vocally, and fits your personal style! 6. CHECK IN WITH YOURSELF You’re not really done with your warm-up until you feel 100% ready to sing. How does your body feel! How does your voice sound? How confident are you? If you need. Redo Steps I -7. If you feel good, go knock 'em dead! From: musicademy Like more of such tips or looking for a online vocal coach? Check out my review of the online singing program that I'm using right now. BREATHING TECHNIQUES START WITH: 1. Healthy lungs 2. Strong and healthy body proper posture for singing INHALATION
Sensation while breathing in: feel how back. Body, rib cage and slides expand out and sideways. Body parts opening on inhalation: + The back + Sides of the body + Abdomen (Belly) + Lower ribs The back (often a forgotten body part in vocal; training exercises) expands slightly. Abdomen moves out (focus on the upper abdomen from about your nave to the lower edge of the sternum). The lower ribs and the sides of your body (of your lower torso) move sideways on inhalation. EXHALATION Exhale slowly and feel the abdomen and ribs moving inward during exhalation. Allow the diaphragm to rise which causes your abdomen to move in. The movement of the diaphragm is passive in this phase. Your chest is raised and keeps this position throughout exhalation for as long as possible. At the end of the breath cycle, the lower ribs and abdomen return to their resting position. The exhalation phase during singing is much longer than at rest. We sing on exhalation. The key attributes for exhalation are slow and steady The posture is the same as for inhalation — the back is straight, the shoulders are down, the chest is open, the head and hips are aligned with the rest of the body. + First, develop awareness of what is going on during exhalation. + Then develop breath support for short sustained sounds and phrases. + Finally develop breath support tor long sustained sounds and long phrases. As well as endurance for gradually longer Singing practices with fewer breaks. + Practice breathing exercises together with vocal techniques as soon as possible (as soon as you become aware of the required movements in your body during inhalation and exhalation). SUSPENDING THE BREATH "Suspending the breath" refers to one of the ore advanced breathing techniques for singing. To suspend the breath means not allowing exhalation to happen right away. Instead a singer "suspends the breath" without holding the breath. The singer neither inhales nor exhales; he just postpones the beginning of exhalation. The body is suspended in motion. There is no tension anywhere in the body. This may be a difficult concept to grasp and may require practice. The goal of suspending the breath is to understand how the body wants to return to the resting position and how to resist this feeling when singing. From: how2improvesinging Like more of such tips or looking for a online vocal coach? Check out my review of the online singing program that I'm using right now. 1. Perform warm ups before training. Vocal similar to any workout. You have to give that target muscles warm ups so as not to strain them, doing warm also help you measure your voice range. 2. Use your diaphragm liberally when breathing. It has been said again and again bur we believe it cannot be stressed enough when you are training your stinging you need to put weight on learning how to breathe from your not from your chest. 3. Improve your articulation. This a common problem among singers that is left unaddressed. The problem with articulation can break your performance. Whether you are singing low notes or hitting high notes. 4. Use a slow but steady pace when practicing your high notes. Start in mid-range and then practice singing higher and higher every time. It is also, ideal that you let your vocal chords hit the scale from bottom upwards and then back again. 5. Find your vowel. Singers have a particular vowel that works best for them. You have to find yours. This is called vowel modification. Experimental singing will help give you an idea what vowel works best with your singing voice. From iSingmag: Like more of such tips or looking for a online vocal coach? Check out my review of the online singing program that I'm using right now. 1) OPEN YOUR MOUTH! Many people neglect how big their mouths need to be to produce a clear and free sound. Having a open mouth means that you drop your jaw to ensure that there is sufficient space at the back of the mouth for vocal production. When singing, think of your body as an instrument such as a trumpet. Your mouth acts as the opening where sound is released. The bigger you open mouth, the clearer and louder you will be. To gauge how big your mouth should be, you should be able to fit two fingers stacked vertically. Opening your mouth beyond two fingers is counter productive as it creates tension in your throat and only leads to uncomfortable singing. When opening your mouth during breathing, it is also helpful to visualize as if you are yawning or drinking in the air you take in to open your throat. This visualization should open your mouth wide enough more naturally instead of worrying about how big or small it has to be. 2) ARTICULATE YOUR WORDS! Mumbling your lyrics will leave audience confused and uninterested in your voice. Try to sing the words as if you're saying them. A great way to practice articulation is by focusing on the consonants of the words. Here are a few vocal exercise I recommend:
Say: Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma
Ta Ta Ta Ta Ta Ta Ka Ka Ka Ka Ka Ka Say: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked Say: Denise sees the fleece Denise sees the fleas At least Denise could sneeze and feed and freeze the fleas 3) CHECK YOUR PITCHING! One problem many singers face is staying in tune. This is especially applicable to those who are tone-deaf(unable to differentiate between different notes they are singing). Fortunately, everyone can be trained howto identify the differences in pitch using our ears. The reason why some people appear tone deaf longer than others is simply because they take longer to differentiate between the different pitches. Start by singing a note that is comfortable in your range. Once you have identified that particular note on the piano, play the next note on the piano and try to match it. Track your progress each day by recording yourself and listening how accurately you have reached that note. 4) IDENTIFY YOUR VOCAL RANGE! Finding your vocal range is important so that you can choose songs where you can sing comfortably without straining. To find your vocal range, start by singing to "ah" at a note which you are comfortable at. Slowly work your way down as you match your voice to the the notes on your piano. You should still be able to sustain your lowest note comfortably. Similarly, work your way up the scale until you have found your highest note. Finally, choose songs which fit in between your lowest and highest note. For those without a piano, play this video should suffice. Approximate Vocal Range of different voice types from highest to lowest : Girls: Soprano - C4 to C6 Mezzo-Soprano - A3 to A5 Alto - G3 to F5 Guys: Countertenor - G3 to C6 Tenor - C3 to C5 Baritone - A2 to A4 Bass - E2 to E4 An average singer has a vocal range between 2 to 2.5 octaves, whereas some singers such as Mariah Carey have extended up to 4 octaves . Your vocal range may seem limited at first due to improper technique. However, you range will increase as your voice gets seasoned to reach more notes. Like more of such tips or looking for a online vocal coach? Check out my review of the online singing programme that I'm using right now.
How many of us have already dreamt of being a rockstar or popstar? Well I know I did. Here's a guide that emcompasses the different techniques and styles rock singers use to achieve their signature rock voices. Rock singing is characterized by intense yelling, screaming which is fuelled by emotions of a anger and sadness. However, screaming will wear down your throat very quickly. Here's not what many people know - rock singing will definitely wear out your vocal chords. This is because your vocal chords are subjected a lot of pressure during vocal distortions and compression. However, this guide will teach you the techniques of how to minimize this wear and tear on your voice. WARM UP: Rock singing is probably the most demanding genre to sing. Warming up our voice before singing opens up your voice and allows for you to sing with more freedom. A good warm up focuses on dropping your jaw and reducing any tension in the body. Here's a warm up routine I use from time to time. 1. Start with light humming sliding between two notes a fifth apart - e.g from C to G. We want our voices to get comfortable to producing sound first. 2. Lip-rolls, exhale while your lips are together to until your lips start to vibrate. Hold it for 15 seconds. This trains breath control as you need to supply a steady stream of air for the lip-roll to continue smoothly. 3. Sing to "oo" as you sing arpeggios. E.g C - E - G - C and back down. You should feel that you will be able to access more vocal range after doing these exercises. LOUD HIGH NOTES: Before we start screaming out our high notes, we first need to develop the muscles and vocal placement needed to sing them. Try singing your song softly in your mixed voice instead of using your full voice. You should feel no tension in your throat. This conditions your vocal chords and throat muscles to singing high notes comfortably. Sing louder once you feel that you are able to do so without straining your voice. BELTING: What is belting? Belting is that loud powerful sound that you hear rock singers sing. In rock singing especially, belting adds an edge to the singers voice. To belt successfully, you need to train your mixed voice so that you can master those high notes first. After doing so, do some vocal exercises that focuses on placing your voice forward. If you feel your throat hurting when belting, that means that you're incorrectly using your throat muscles to push the sound out. Belting should feel as though you're singing any other note, just louder and with more power. VOCAL COMPRESSION: This is what gives your voice distortion and a raspy feature. To do compression, first start singing with a clean, undistorted voice. Slowly adjust the voice as if you're doing a vocal fry. A vocal fry is that low creaking "urk" sound when you try to say something using very little air. If you're feeling any pain in your throat, you are tensing your throat. Drink some water and try again. Like more of such tips or looking for a online vocal coach? Check out my review of the online singing programme that I'm using right now. I'm sure many of us dream of being popstars such as Taylor Swift, Beyonce or Justin Bieber - not just for their looks but also for their extremely popular pop singing styles. I've written this guide here to teach you guys some techniques (or gimmicks!) that these pop artists use in their music. To learn how to sing rock, click HERE. 1) VOCAL FRY: Artists such as Britney Spears and Katy Perry are famous for their vocal fry BOTH during singing and speaking. A vocal fry is that little throat bubbling or croaking that you here before and after a line is sung. To get a clearer picture, listen to this recording by Britney Spears. See how she does the vocal fry before she starts her lines? Pop artists do the vocal fry to create a sexy and expressive voice. It always reduces tension in the throat before singing. HOW TO DO IT: Say "ah" as if you were reaching your lowest note. This should be without any pitch. Practice holding this for five seconds. Once you are able to identify your vocal fry, try slowly connecting it with a note and subsequently to a string of notes. 2) A BREATHY VOICE: Breathiness in the singing voice is that sexy, soothing voice quality that you hear from pop artists such as John Mayer. More air is expelled than usual, so much so that even the the audience hears it. This creates a weaker and less directed sound, and can be used to express sadness in songs. HOW TO DO IT: This should be easy. Try speaking in a breathy, sexy voice and applying it into your singing. It should feel as if you're breathing out when you're singing. WARNING: you wouldn't want to keep singing with a breathy voice as it compromises on support and singing technique. 3) RUNS AND RIFFS: I'm sure everyone's familiar with the runs and riffs of Ariana Grande and Mariah Carey. They are impressive due to the fact that they're so hard to do. One has to practice all the different variations within an octave in order to incorporate them into their singing. HOW TO DO IT: Firstly, you need to break up a specific run variation into single notes and sing them individually slowly. Once you have gotten the notes right, slowly increase the speed and connect the notes together. Remember: the faster the run/riff, the more impressive it will be. Like more of such tips or looking for a online vocal coach? Check out my review of the online singing programme that I'm using right now. |
AuthorHello fellow singers! My name is Damien. I am a singer - not a professional one who loves to write and perform whenever I can. I created this site with the intent to helping those who share my passion of singing. Archives
September 2016
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