Newbie Gudie to Imporving your Voice
sabbath
Posts: 35
This comprehensive guide was written by Wishiwasblanka and Mike R. Enjoy!
Outline.
1. Technique
1.1 Breath Support
1.2 Stance
1.3 Using diaphragm
1.4 What not to do.
2. Range
2.1 What is range?
2.2 How to improve your range safely.
3. Registers
3.1 What is a register?
3.2 Full voice
3.3 Falsetto
3.4 Head voice
3.5 Registers not defined by classical music standards
4. Control
4.1 How to control Pitches
4.2 How to move smoothly through your Registers
4.3 How to control Volume
5. Vocal Health
5.1 Preserving the voice.
5.2 Liquids, Liquids, Liquids!
5.3 Getting your voice back if you lose it.
5.4 Clear your throat right, boy!
1. Technique
1.1 Breath Support.
This is one of the hardest things for a vocal musician to learn. Basically, it allows more control of your breath. When breath support is mastered you can sing higher and lower, breath less, have better pitch, better tone, better everything! 'How do I achieve this!?' you ask. You've come to the right place! There are a few ways to practice gaining better breath support.
First off, we are all born with good breath support. If you have a child you know that babies can cry for hours and hours without going horse. This is because they are taking full breaths all of the time. As we grow older we get lazy and learn to take only life sustaining breaths. This is a habbit you must break.
1.2 Stance.
The biggest key to using good support is having the proper stance when you sing. I like to go with the 6 point stance which is as follows. A. One foot slightly infront of the other. B. Heels slightly off the ground. C. Ass slightly tucked in (or flexed). D. Standing straight up. E. Chest out. F. Head down slightly (but still strait). Practice standing like this until it is natural. Do not overdo any of these.
1.3 Using diaphragm.
One exercise you can do is put your hands on your "8 pack muscles" and push with some force. When you breathe make sure you are pushing those muscles out. This helps you use your diaphragm! Score!
A second exercise is to practice breathing through a straw. You can do this by making a small "o" with your mouth and breathing in. Focus on what muscle you are using to breathe the air in. Presto! Once you get that down you can open your whole mouth using the same muscle and you will be amazed at how much air you can get into your lungs!
The last exercise is a control exercise. Breathe in using support. Then slowly make a hiss for 15 seconds. Got it? Why not make it 20 now? Then 30? Then 45? When you can do it for 45 seconds try pulsing every 2 seconds instead of a constant hiss. This exercises your control over the diaphragm. When you are done with any of the hiss exercises feel free to let it all out (it feels really good).
1.4 The don'ts of breath support.
NEVER try to cheat the breath support exercises. If you cannot do it, keep practicing! If you use your throat or only use small breaths you will never acheive full breath support. Using your throat will sound more like a scream, horse, loud, and incorrect. Think Creed or Pearl Jam...now I know you don't want to sound like that.
2. Range
2.1 What is range?
Range is the notes you are able to hit with your voice. If you strain though to hit a note you will be looked down upon. There are names for every range and I will explain to you what those are.
Bass - Male lowest voice.
Baritone - Male middle voice. 90% of males are naturally born baritones but then they increase their range.
Tenors - Male high voice.
Alto - Female low voice. Higher than tenor.
Soprano - Female high voice.
There are other ranges but they are ungodly strange (ex. counter tenor which is like a male soprano...) and very rare to find.
2.2 Improving your range.
First you must test your range. You can use a piano and see which notes are easiest for you. Do not cheat and scream, use falsetto, or grumble. Find your natural range before you can improve it.
Now you can practice scales up and down starting with the bass note going up half steps. Never strain. Eventually you will be able to get much higher. To go lower, do just the opposite, keep making the bass note lower to start. You will go lower! I started out with a pretty good range naturally (1.5 octaves) and over the period of 5 years have gotten it to be much larger (3.5 octaves). Over more time you can get a range like Roy Kahn (Mike R is helping me write this by the way) or Jeff Buckley.
3. Registers
3.1 What is a register?
A register is a region of vocal quality categorized by a certain range of pitches and loudness.
3.2 Full (Chest) Voice
This is the lowest and fullest sounding register of the voice. When you speak, you are using chest voice. One way to know if you're using chest voice is you will feel sound resonating in your upper chest cavity. The tone of these pitches are rich and strong since it is the lowest register and low frequencies are louder than higher frequencies. This register is present in both men and women.
3.3 Head Voice
Head Voice, aka "Coordinated Falsetto," is used at higher frequencies than the full voice. When singing in head voice, sound appears to resonate from the head, thus is why it's called "head voice" (one who has studied voice will tell you that the sound isn't actually directly coming from the head). When you're in the upper register of your voice, you're in head voice. The tone of these pitches are usually lighter and at a softer volume than full voice, but are more tonally accurate than full voice. This is also present in both sexes.
3.4 Falsetto
Falsetto, aka "false voice," is higher than head voice and the highest register of the voice. The easiest way to describe this voice is the voice you do when you imitate a little girl's voice. Your vocal cords are very relaxed usually, but for power, you can use your throat and make them less relaxed. The tone of this register sounds completely different from head and full voices. It's usually airy and very soft and not loud at all. Some people count this when talking about range, some don't. I personally count it since not all pitches can be hit with falsetto, and my voice is able to hit them. Sometimes it is said that women don't have a falsetto, but this is not true. You will very seldomly hear a woman use falsetto, but they still have one. Men definately have them (see the Bee Gees for an example).
3.5 Other Registers
Whistle Register - This is the register of any pitches that're E6 and above. 99% of the time, it is women who have this register, but very very few men have them (such as Adam Lopez, who we're all familiar with). Mariah Carrey is one woman who has one.
Middle Voice - This is the range of pitches between chest and head voices. It is very hard to control this, but with training or exercises, you can control it (including the tone changes). Examples of rock singers who have great control of their middle voices are Jackie Wilson and Jeff Buckley.
4. Control: This is by far the hardest section to just explain so please be patient and understanding.
4.1 How to control Pitches
Everyone has heard a singer who just could not hold a note. Some of us even shy away from singing just because of this. This is fixable. It will take a lot of time and practice though. The biggest trick is being able to think of the note before you sing it. If you just sing you are more focused on the emotion than the note. Get the note first, then focus on the emotion. Try it, play a note on your instrument and think of it for 2 seconds before trying. Keep practicing it.
4.2 How to move smoothly through your Registers
This is one of the hardest things to do in singing, and if you master it, you will sound better because of it. The first thing to do is to not strain your voice. TRY NOT TO USE YOUR THROAT. If you use your throat while transitioning, you will probably not transition smoothly and you will most likely crack. If you're unsure if you're straining or not, go infront of a mirror and sing the pitch in question. If you're sticking your neck out while singing it and your veins are bulging out, then you're straining. To fix this, refer to the section on how to sing without throat. Now, the next thing I do is always concentrate on what I'm doing while transitioning. In singing you always think ahead, and not at the present (kind of like driving). Your brain is smart enough to "involuntarily sing" 2 consecutive pitches for you, while you think ahead to the next ones. Now the last thing I do (while some may not, less power to them) is to pulse out at the moment you transition from one register to another. All in all though, the biggest thing is practice. Nobody can naturally do this, not even Jeff Buckley could naturally do this (it took him some work). The more you practice it, the better off you will be.
4.3 How to control Volume
Volume can be controlled in many ways. Most of these ways are incorrect though.
To be louder: DO NOT USE THE THROAT OR SCREAM! You will ruin your voice. Push more from your diaphragm. If you do this incorrectly you might have to see section 5(.3).
To be softer: This is one of the most difficult things to learn how to do well. How often do you hear a soft note resonate with tone and correct pitch? Not often. The only way to do it is with practice and breath support. I believe in you!
5. Vocal Health
5.1 Preserving the voice.
You do not want to lose your voice if you are going to sing. So this section is about preserving your voice. The best thing for your voice is to let it rest. If you go to a football game or a dance or out to a bar, do not yell, try to keep quiet. Speak calmly. Not following these simple things will cause you to lose your voice. Also, singing without breath support (using your throat) will cause you to lose your voice as well as damage your vocal chords. Just take it easy and you should be fine.
Wishiwasblanka couldn't sing for 4 months and had to see a vocal doctor to learn all of these the hard way for a good year. Don't make the same mistake he did.
5.2 Liquids, Liquids, Liquids!
These are key parts of maintaining a healthy voice. People have all sorts of things that they use to keep their voice healthy. I will dispell some rumors and myths and give you some that are true in this section.
Water - this is the best thing for your voice. Make sure you drink enough water that your pee is clear. Also, you will want it at room tempurature or slightly above. Too cold will cause your vocal folds to become tight (making you crack on higher notes). If it is too hot you can damage your vocal chords that way as well.
Tea - it won't do anything more than slightly warm water. But damn doesn't it taste good!? One tea that will help you is throat coat. The tea will coat your mucus glads in the throat allowing less crap in your throat. The only problem is it coats the mucus glands in your stomache too so you will get mad diarrhea.
Honey - honey numbs the vocal chords so you keep singing without feeling sore. This can be really bad since you can damage the chords without knowing you are doing it. Be careful with this powerful numbing liquid.
Milk - if you drink milk before singing...god help you. This causes the mucus glands to work overtime which means more crap in your throat. Even eating cheese causes people trouble sometimes. I'd recommend not using it.
5.3 Getting your voice back if you lose it.
So you've lost your voice. It happens to even the best. Getting a cold can do it as well as misusing. Either way, it's gone and you need to fix that. Here are two simple steps to follow to get it back quickly and safely. A. DO NOT USE IT. You better let it rest and heal (this is the key part). Rest, rest, rest. Get better. B. see liquids liquids liquids. Lots of water, lots of herbal tea like Throat Coat.
5.4 Clear your throat right, boy!
There are 2 ways to clear your throat. The right way and the wrong way. I will start with the wrong way. It is the most common way that you will hear people clearing their voice. Sort of a "eh hem". This is bad! Avoid this! Break your habbit of this! It bangs the vocal chords together forcing mucus down. BAD VOCALIST!
The right way is making an "o" with your mouth and forcing air up. Sort of a "heh" sound will be made from this. This keeps the vocal chords clear of any abuse. After a year of clearing my voice this way I find that I sing 1000% more clear and less throaty or breathy! YAY!
Outline.
1. Technique
1.1 Breath Support
1.2 Stance
1.3 Using diaphragm
1.4 What not to do.
2. Range
2.1 What is range?
2.2 How to improve your range safely.
3. Registers
3.1 What is a register?
3.2 Full voice
3.3 Falsetto
3.4 Head voice
3.5 Registers not defined by classical music standards
4. Control
4.1 How to control Pitches
4.2 How to move smoothly through your Registers
4.3 How to control Volume
5. Vocal Health
5.1 Preserving the voice.
5.2 Liquids, Liquids, Liquids!
5.3 Getting your voice back if you lose it.
5.4 Clear your throat right, boy!
1. Technique
1.1 Breath Support.
This is one of the hardest things for a vocal musician to learn. Basically, it allows more control of your breath. When breath support is mastered you can sing higher and lower, breath less, have better pitch, better tone, better everything! 'How do I achieve this!?' you ask. You've come to the right place! There are a few ways to practice gaining better breath support.
First off, we are all born with good breath support. If you have a child you know that babies can cry for hours and hours without going horse. This is because they are taking full breaths all of the time. As we grow older we get lazy and learn to take only life sustaining breaths. This is a habbit you must break.
1.2 Stance.
The biggest key to using good support is having the proper stance when you sing. I like to go with the 6 point stance which is as follows. A. One foot slightly infront of the other. B. Heels slightly off the ground. C. Ass slightly tucked in (or flexed). D. Standing straight up. E. Chest out. F. Head down slightly (but still strait). Practice standing like this until it is natural. Do not overdo any of these.
1.3 Using diaphragm.
One exercise you can do is put your hands on your "8 pack muscles" and push with some force. When you breathe make sure you are pushing those muscles out. This helps you use your diaphragm! Score!
A second exercise is to practice breathing through a straw. You can do this by making a small "o" with your mouth and breathing in. Focus on what muscle you are using to breathe the air in. Presto! Once you get that down you can open your whole mouth using the same muscle and you will be amazed at how much air you can get into your lungs!
The last exercise is a control exercise. Breathe in using support. Then slowly make a hiss for 15 seconds. Got it? Why not make it 20 now? Then 30? Then 45? When you can do it for 45 seconds try pulsing every 2 seconds instead of a constant hiss. This exercises your control over the diaphragm. When you are done with any of the hiss exercises feel free to let it all out (it feels really good).
1.4 The don'ts of breath support.
NEVER try to cheat the breath support exercises. If you cannot do it, keep practicing! If you use your throat or only use small breaths you will never acheive full breath support. Using your throat will sound more like a scream, horse, loud, and incorrect. Think Creed or Pearl Jam...now I know you don't want to sound like that.
2. Range
2.1 What is range?
Range is the notes you are able to hit with your voice. If you strain though to hit a note you will be looked down upon. There are names for every range and I will explain to you what those are.
Bass - Male lowest voice.
Baritone - Male middle voice. 90% of males are naturally born baritones but then they increase their range.
Tenors - Male high voice.
Alto - Female low voice. Higher than tenor.
Soprano - Female high voice.
There are other ranges but they are ungodly strange (ex. counter tenor which is like a male soprano...) and very rare to find.
2.2 Improving your range.
First you must test your range. You can use a piano and see which notes are easiest for you. Do not cheat and scream, use falsetto, or grumble. Find your natural range before you can improve it.
Now you can practice scales up and down starting with the bass note going up half steps. Never strain. Eventually you will be able to get much higher. To go lower, do just the opposite, keep making the bass note lower to start. You will go lower! I started out with a pretty good range naturally (1.5 octaves) and over the period of 5 years have gotten it to be much larger (3.5 octaves). Over more time you can get a range like Roy Kahn (Mike R is helping me write this by the way) or Jeff Buckley.
3. Registers
3.1 What is a register?
A register is a region of vocal quality categorized by a certain range of pitches and loudness.
3.2 Full (Chest) Voice
This is the lowest and fullest sounding register of the voice. When you speak, you are using chest voice. One way to know if you're using chest voice is you will feel sound resonating in your upper chest cavity. The tone of these pitches are rich and strong since it is the lowest register and low frequencies are louder than higher frequencies. This register is present in both men and women.
3.3 Head Voice
Head Voice, aka "Coordinated Falsetto," is used at higher frequencies than the full voice. When singing in head voice, sound appears to resonate from the head, thus is why it's called "head voice" (one who has studied voice will tell you that the sound isn't actually directly coming from the head). When you're in the upper register of your voice, you're in head voice. The tone of these pitches are usually lighter and at a softer volume than full voice, but are more tonally accurate than full voice. This is also present in both sexes.
3.4 Falsetto
Falsetto, aka "false voice," is higher than head voice and the highest register of the voice. The easiest way to describe this voice is the voice you do when you imitate a little girl's voice. Your vocal cords are very relaxed usually, but for power, you can use your throat and make them less relaxed. The tone of this register sounds completely different from head and full voices. It's usually airy and very soft and not loud at all. Some people count this when talking about range, some don't. I personally count it since not all pitches can be hit with falsetto, and my voice is able to hit them. Sometimes it is said that women don't have a falsetto, but this is not true. You will very seldomly hear a woman use falsetto, but they still have one. Men definately have them (see the Bee Gees for an example).
3.5 Other Registers
Whistle Register - This is the register of any pitches that're E6 and above. 99% of the time, it is women who have this register, but very very few men have them (such as Adam Lopez, who we're all familiar with). Mariah Carrey is one woman who has one.
Middle Voice - This is the range of pitches between chest and head voices. It is very hard to control this, but with training or exercises, you can control it (including the tone changes). Examples of rock singers who have great control of their middle voices are Jackie Wilson and Jeff Buckley.
4. Control: This is by far the hardest section to just explain so please be patient and understanding.
4.1 How to control Pitches
Everyone has heard a singer who just could not hold a note. Some of us even shy away from singing just because of this. This is fixable. It will take a lot of time and practice though. The biggest trick is being able to think of the note before you sing it. If you just sing you are more focused on the emotion than the note. Get the note first, then focus on the emotion. Try it, play a note on your instrument and think of it for 2 seconds before trying. Keep practicing it.
4.2 How to move smoothly through your Registers
This is one of the hardest things to do in singing, and if you master it, you will sound better because of it. The first thing to do is to not strain your voice. TRY NOT TO USE YOUR THROAT. If you use your throat while transitioning, you will probably not transition smoothly and you will most likely crack. If you're unsure if you're straining or not, go infront of a mirror and sing the pitch in question. If you're sticking your neck out while singing it and your veins are bulging out, then you're straining. To fix this, refer to the section on how to sing without throat. Now, the next thing I do is always concentrate on what I'm doing while transitioning. In singing you always think ahead, and not at the present (kind of like driving). Your brain is smart enough to "involuntarily sing" 2 consecutive pitches for you, while you think ahead to the next ones. Now the last thing I do (while some may not, less power to them) is to pulse out at the moment you transition from one register to another. All in all though, the biggest thing is practice. Nobody can naturally do this, not even Jeff Buckley could naturally do this (it took him some work). The more you practice it, the better off you will be.
4.3 How to control Volume
Volume can be controlled in many ways. Most of these ways are incorrect though.
To be louder: DO NOT USE THE THROAT OR SCREAM! You will ruin your voice. Push more from your diaphragm. If you do this incorrectly you might have to see section 5(.3).
To be softer: This is one of the most difficult things to learn how to do well. How often do you hear a soft note resonate with tone and correct pitch? Not often. The only way to do it is with practice and breath support. I believe in you!
5. Vocal Health
5.1 Preserving the voice.
You do not want to lose your voice if you are going to sing. So this section is about preserving your voice. The best thing for your voice is to let it rest. If you go to a football game or a dance or out to a bar, do not yell, try to keep quiet. Speak calmly. Not following these simple things will cause you to lose your voice. Also, singing without breath support (using your throat) will cause you to lose your voice as well as damage your vocal chords. Just take it easy and you should be fine.
Wishiwasblanka couldn't sing for 4 months and had to see a vocal doctor to learn all of these the hard way for a good year. Don't make the same mistake he did.
5.2 Liquids, Liquids, Liquids!
These are key parts of maintaining a healthy voice. People have all sorts of things that they use to keep their voice healthy. I will dispell some rumors and myths and give you some that are true in this section.
Water - this is the best thing for your voice. Make sure you drink enough water that your pee is clear. Also, you will want it at room tempurature or slightly above. Too cold will cause your vocal folds to become tight (making you crack on higher notes). If it is too hot you can damage your vocal chords that way as well.
Tea - it won't do anything more than slightly warm water. But damn doesn't it taste good!? One tea that will help you is throat coat. The tea will coat your mucus glads in the throat allowing less crap in your throat. The only problem is it coats the mucus glands in your stomache too so you will get mad diarrhea.
Honey - honey numbs the vocal chords so you keep singing without feeling sore. This can be really bad since you can damage the chords without knowing you are doing it. Be careful with this powerful numbing liquid.
Milk - if you drink milk before singing...god help you. This causes the mucus glands to work overtime which means more crap in your throat. Even eating cheese causes people trouble sometimes. I'd recommend not using it.
5.3 Getting your voice back if you lose it.
So you've lost your voice. It happens to even the best. Getting a cold can do it as well as misusing. Either way, it's gone and you need to fix that. Here are two simple steps to follow to get it back quickly and safely. A. DO NOT USE IT. You better let it rest and heal (this is the key part). Rest, rest, rest. Get better. B. see liquids liquids liquids. Lots of water, lots of herbal tea like Throat Coat.
5.4 Clear your throat right, boy!
There are 2 ways to clear your throat. The right way and the wrong way. I will start with the wrong way. It is the most common way that you will hear people clearing their voice. Sort of a "eh hem". This is bad! Avoid this! Break your habbit of this! It bangs the vocal chords together forcing mucus down. BAD VOCALIST!
The right way is making an "o" with your mouth and forcing air up. Sort of a "heh" sound will be made from this. This keeps the vocal chords clear of any abuse. After a year of clearing my voice this way I find that I sing 1000% more clear and less throaty or breathy! YAY!
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Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
I do not wish to "attack" your methods, simply to point out that they are not fully informed, and in some instances, rather bizzare. Kudo's to you for caring enough about your fellow man to want to help
Here...check this
http://www.singers.com/instructional/markbaxter.html
http://www.voicelesson.com/home.htm
http://www.ultimatevoicecoach.com/ron-anderson.html
old music: http://www.myspace.com/slowloader
"Using your throat will sound more like a scream, horse, loud, and incorrect. Think Creed or Pearl Jam...now I know you don't want to sound like that."
Probably not the best forum to post a comment like this. If you think Eddie sings soley from his throat then you are severely misinformed
listen to some early pearl jam bootlegs. there are a number of shows where eddie sounds like absolute shit on mellower songs like black or wash
frank costanza has the best screen name....
simply put, IMO, singing is a natural talent, you can either do it or you can't.
My wife couldn't carry a note in a suitcase, and no amout of breathing or the way she stands is going to change that.
Every singer is diffrent, some like to warm up, some don't like to because they think their "wasting notes".
find out what works for you and go for it,
I somewhat agree with you tboneo, except that I think it is not only a natural talent...and alot of people can learn to sing...and definately better than they currently do.