Learning how to sing better means knowing about your voice, and all the elements that can affect your sound. The tongue can be a major player in sound production. It can help you make beautiful sounding tones, or it can cause your voice lots of grief. The root of the tongue starts in the same … Read more
Why is it that “your” music stirs up such a strong “sense” within you, but not necessarily in the person beside you. Is it the lyrics? Is it the beat? Is it the volume and speed? Is it the singer? Why is it that what rocks one person’s music world doesn’t do the same for … Read more
So why do all your American Idol favorites sing with huge mouths? Answer: Because the big mouth is directly related to the freedom associated with making sounds found in contemporary styles such as rock, pop, gospel, jazz, musical theatre, country, and even opera! The ability to get great cord closure (to sing high notes with … Read more
So, you are mixing. You have control of your larynx (not too high, not too low), and you are accessing the edges of your cords everyday through exercise, and getting good closure throughout your range. What’s next? Build up of the voice to the next level is not effortless. In fact, the next level happens … Read more
Singing rock music is extreme. If you are going to do it, you had better do it well. This means you need to be fully aware of what is going on inside your throat and body. If your goal is to sound a certain way, or to sound like somebody else, then you may very … Read more
My last post told you of the set-up in the voice box that is ideal for singing rock music. So what differentiates a good rock singer from being just-OK? The answer is control! Most amateurs are squeezing out their sound in an attempt to sound “big”. When a singer is in control of all the … Read more
The following conditions are present for singing rock music. Rock singing is high intensity. Rock singing requires optimum effort to avoid laryngeal constriction. Optimum effort means singing feels as easy as speaking in the throat. Breathing is high effort – breath control exercises are recommended. Avoid constriction of the false vocal cords by thinking a … Read more
Healthy belting requires ultimate breath control to avoid damage to the cords. First, no pushing. Simply allow. It requires a lot of energy and effort to belt safely. This effort and energy is felt in your abdomen, pelvis, ribs and back. You should feel no tension in the throat. The throat is very open and … Read more
First, I want to thank Justin for letting me tape his recent singing lesson. It is not easy to “let go” in a singing lesson and allow your voice to make sounds and try things that are not always pleasing, nor do they always feel “normal”. That is the key to developing a better voice….finding … Read more
Learning to sing better isn’t rocket science. However, difficulty can arise when a singer wants to sound like someone else. You know what I mean. Singers may want to sound like Josh Groban, Charlotte Church, Christine Aguilera, Steven Perry, Barbra Streisand….the list goes on. We all have our favourite voices that we try to emulate. All … Read more