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Showing posts with label Range. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Range. Show all posts

Some More Tips

I've met a flood of people recently who are keen in learning singing tips, tricks and techniques that will help improve their quality of singing. The truth is, most people don't want to 'learn' anything. They want a quick fix. They want instant gratification. Something that will instantaneously transform their vocal abilities into what they envision only in their dreams.

Now don't get me wrong ...dreams are a good thing. We all need something to strive for. After all, it's all about passion. But we have to start somewhere. We have to do a little bit of the 'right stuff' everyday to then eventually see our progress.

Singing is like a musical extension of your natural speaking voice. The only difference is, you gotta' learn some techniques which will allow you to a) not damage your vocal chords ...and b) to sing the best you possibly can.

This is regardless whether you're trying to be the next Whitney Houston ...or if you're simply tyring to get to the next level.



*Breath Control*

You shouldn't be taking in gulps of air when you're singing. This is the wrong approach. Take 'sips' instead. Take what is required - a sufficient amount of air. There is nothing worse then feeling giddy because you're taking unnecessary deep breaths.

Also, don't hold your breath when singing.... EVER. This only wastes energy - which you could use on things like performance and tone control.



Use Tone Control

Forcing out notes to make them sound louder is a common mistake amongst aspiring singers. What you should aim to do is use (what we call) 'vocal resonance'.

Stay with me here.

Don't get put off by the term 'resonance'. All this means is that we can use certain parts of our upper body to amplify (ie. make louder or richer) our singing tone.

So, for example we can use our chest to amplify a lower notes for a more robust sound. Or, we can use our head to reinforce the more higher or 'nasal' sound.

As you aim to sing higher, try to use your head to create a bigger sound. As you go for a more lower sound, try to use your chest to make that sound richer.



Forget About Increasing Your Vocal Range Initially - Strengthen it!

Ah, I think the most common misconception is that you can improve your vocal range by another octave (ie. 8 notes). This is rarely the case. The truth is generally most people who take singing lessons will not drastically increase their vocal range. They may get an extra two or three notes, but usually this won't change much.

BUT, this should NOT be your focus.

Your focus should be to actually strengthen the voice across it's 'whole range' ...from the lowest notes to the highest notes.

Quite often people will use the 'middle' of their vocal range completely neglecting the lower or the higher parts. They're blissfully unaware that there is another world of 'notes' to be discovered! And it's these notes that we can work on... thus strengthening your entire vocal range. Not just the middle part.

Maximum Range

Likewise, no song has ever become popular simply because it contained some birdcalls. Yet, we singers tend to fixate on range as if it’s the reason we’re not winning awards and selling piles of CD’s. True, there is an emotional lift when a melody soars upward, but the pitches should always be proportionate to the instrument. Sing at the height of your voice’s potential and your audience will assume your abilities are limitless. Sing beyond your boundaries and you merely call attention to your limitations. This does not mean you are stuck with the measly dozen or so pitches you sing well these days; rarely does a singer access his or her full genetic range without some training. It does mean, though, that before you worry about expanding, it helps to embrace what you have.
Vocal range is a lot like the range of motion of your limbs. Can you drop down into a split without warming up? Even after warming up? For most, the elasticity necessary for a move like that requires a long program of stretching. The same is true for your voice. The vocal folds are membranes (a little smaller then your eyelids) that close over the windpipe. When air streams through the tiny opening they create, their edges vibrate. The vibration is nothing more than a microscopic wiggle. Look closely at a guitar string after it’s played and you’ll see them same thing. The speed of the wiggle, or vibration, is called the frequency. We refer to frequencies, or pitches, by their beats per second. The pitch, for instance, that an orchestra uses when tuning is A – 440, meaning the frequency wiggles 440 times in one second (the larger the number, the higher the pitch). To sing high, your vocal folds have got to vibrate fast.

The action required to sing different notes is very much like tuning a guitar. Muscles surrounding the larynx pull or release the folds to create high and low pitches. The amount of movement required for your entire range is microscopic. I suggest you reread that previous line about a thousand times until it is embedded in your subconscious. The root of all vocal problems is that we perceive the activities involved with singing as big events. They are not. We ball our fists and load up enough air pressure to create an aneurysm just to get through the chorus of a song. The automatic reaction to such force is resistance; the body braces for the assault. Rigid muscles surrounding the larynx deny flexibility and lock up the vocal folds. No flexibility, no range – it’s that simple.

The key to singing high notes is volume. Reducing the volume of your voice removes the burden of excess air pressure so your folds can become more elastic. Just as it takes a little stretching every day to get your legs into a split, vocalizing daily at a low volume will allow you to visit higher notes without stress. It’s best to sing scales rather than songs at first; the memory of a song’s performance will lead you to pushing. Allow you higher notes to venture into falsetto or head voice. It’s okay if the transition cracks or skips out; this is just a symptom of your imbalanced ways. Don’t worry that the light voice you vocalize with is not up to performance standards. Only after you are completely comfortable with producing a note at a low volume should you attempt to raise the output. Increasing the volume in very small increments will allow you to monitor muscle independence. If facial or neck muscles join in to support a note, you’ve added too much air pressure. Your controllable range for the day lies waiting at the balance point between force and flexibility. And as always, tomorrow is another day.

How can you increase your vocal range?

You don't push, you don't force, and you don't concentrate on your vocal cords. Support, and control from your diaphragm Proper breath control. Practice doesn't help if you're practicing wrong. Find a vocal coach. We don't all charge $70/hr. Go to places that let people sing. Talk to the people, and listen to different voices. You'll start to hear whose hurting themselves when they sing, and what a good clean open voice sounds like. Sing into your own ears with headphones. Practice a clear open tone as soft as you can. Don't do just scales, practice 8 bar sections of the song you're working on over and over without the lyrics, exercises of different intervals (space between notes) Don't force! I feel head voices and chest voices are incomplete. Any note you can sing in those voices you should be able to sing in full voice. That should be the goal.

Increasing Your Vocal Range


Here are ideas and recommendations from FAQ Farmers:
  • Basically, just practice all the time. Practice with songs that are in a higher pitch and some that are lower. Listening is a key factor when playing any type of instrument, including your voice. The more you listen, the more it helps your voice to become in tune with songs and singing in general. I, too sing so I've found this to help! Also, practice with a piano, (especially because its the easiest).. or any instrument for that matter (and make sure its in tune)... after a period of time, the notes will be almost "programmed" in your head. Good luck .
  • I think practicing scales is very important to ensure accuracy over the extremities of the voice's range. For many years I had a much bigger range than I would dare use; because I did not have confidence in the lower / higher notes I would never sing them live. Practicing scales, particularly ones that span the gap between the "chest" and "head" voice, has given me much more confidence, and that in turn has improved my singing in the higher / lower extremeties.
  • Sewjazz says "I'm a male of 33 now and I can hit low E, when I was 20 my lowest note was about a G so I think the bass end of the voice becomes lower with age perhaps, although I don't know if this is the case with women? I've always been able to squeek up to nearly two octaves above a middle C, but whilst at 25 I'd struggle to hit a G above middle C in my chest register, practice and particularly working on scales has enabled me to reach Bb, although sadly still not that elusive top tenor C! My transition to head voice is much smoother now though, and I can happily sing some Roy Orbison pieces, going acceptably into falsetto for the highest notes." When singing scales, make sure you repeat with a full range of different vowel sounds, and always have a tuned instrument to use as reference. And, most importantly of all, BREATHE OUT SLOWLY! The control of air flow is the most essential technique of all. One final word of warning - if you can't sing a note quietly, you shouldn't be singing it at all!
  • Gidday ive just started singing, hmm bloody puberty and all :( i used to be able to sing around 3.5 octaves, now im down to just over 2 it sucks but Now ive started just doing scales... you sound absolutely BATTY doing them but hey, after a year you'll notice a HUGE difference, to me it was well worth it
  • Learning to sing lower is almost, if not downright, impossible. This generally happens as you get older, but there's not much you can do to influence it yourself. However, you CAN learn to sing higher notes. I'm 16, and I reckon I've gained at least half an octave over the last few months. The key is this: Try singing songs that are just outside your range WITHOUT going into falsetto. Just try and force your normal voice up that high. You will find that over a few days, firstly it will get less difficult to hit the note, then you'll find that you can reach it without being ridiculously loud. Once this happens, go a little higher. You'll be amazed, in a few weeks, at what you can do. An example is the song "city of blinding lights" by U2. A month ago I wouldnt have even dreamed of trying to get the "oh you look so beautiful tonight" bit at the pitch he sings it, I'd just drop an octave for that part. I can now sing it with complete ease, and thats normal voice. I think there's probably a limit to exactly how high you can go, but remember that every note you gain in your normal range is also a note gained in falsetto, so it really is amazing just how high you'll find yourself going. Hears a tip though. Don't measure it day by day, just to what I did and pick a song that just about hurts to try and sing, and sing it. Another tip: ALWAYS stand when singing really high songs, I don't know the mechanics of it, but for some reason it's a lot easier to go higher when you're standing upright. Most importantly, in order to make it happen fast, ENJOY it. Don't make it a job, or a chore, just do it for the sake of doing it. You'll find that time flys if you do it like this.
  • Whoa whoa WHOA!! Now if there is one thing you should not do when aiming to sing higher songs, it is to force your voice, in fact, you should not "force" your voice to do anything! I've thought this for two years and realised i could sing a few songs, but it was causing me tension and strain. The professional singers who are singing with 4 or 5 octave ranges have been trained in order to do so, but the exercises involved in that training are actually very simple! Singers from James LaBrie of Dream Theater to Madonna and Michael Jackson have practiced using these, as they can set your voice free! your voice when you start out as a baby is perfect, did you know? I've never heard a baby go into falsetto! Only with years of speaking, muscle development around your larynx and not knowing the technique, you create a falsetto voice, it is actually a defence mechanism to stop you going too much higher and damaging yourself. Range is restricted by lack of knowledge rather than lack of talent. Basically there are 3 registers to your voice, they are: Chest voice: Named this because of the resonance occurring in your chest cavity, it is usually lower notes. If you sing a low "ahhh" and place your hand on your chest, you can feel it vibrate; Head voice: Higher notes, like if you were to impersonate Mickey Mouse or something, the note resonates mainly in the chest cavity. It is not quite as strong as chest voice, but as a singer develops their use of "resonators" in the head cavity, it gets louder and more powerful; and Whistle voice: usually present in women, but loads of men can use it too, the highest recorded whistle voice is by a guy called Adam Lopez. Say if you scream like a girl, that's using a kind of whistle voice, i don't advise you do any screaming though, in time and with patience and practice, it can be accessed. A trained voice will go higher in pitch not by pulling up chest voice and tightening the muscles (as i guarantee a lot of guys can't go past F above middle C without having some real difficulty) but instead, the intrinsic muscles in the vocal cords will help the cords "zip up" as it gets higher. In the end, a singer with the right knowledge and practice can sing notes up to and above high (tenor) C (or Soprano C if you are female) with the same ease as your speech! That is a technique known as "speech level singing" and to be honest, sounds a lot more comfortable than just belting out your songs, which is tiring and can take days to recover from, and also, does NOT feel easier over time, in fact, if you belt all the time you can cause some real damage to your cords! One other thing, the way that pro vocalists sound like they are making one consistent voice all the way up to the high registers, even though their voices are actually "changing gears" as they do so, is because they develop a "mixed" voice. When I say mixed I mean at the notes above middle C their chest voice blends with their head voice, almost like there are two voice techniques mixing in with each other, they get to retain the power of chest voice, but their head voice takes the strain off the note! Isn't that great!? Developing a Mixed voice DOES TAKE TIME AND CONSISTENT PRACTICE. About 45 minutes to an hour a day is good enough, and a singer should get plenty of sleep too, to prevent edema (a condition that causes swelling in the throat and is attributed to lack of sleep). If you are interested in using these training exercises, there are E-books and Audio Programs on sale that can help you develop your voice and master your technique, however, you must keep consistent practice and look after your voice. Things involving shouting like cheerleading and stuff are not options for a serious vocalist. Useful sites include: www.singingsuccess.com - Singing Success, a program by reknowned vocal coach Brett Manning (who has trained Grammy-Winning artists such as Keith Urban). Brett started out awful, but ended up with a 5 octave range! He has a friendly, understandable and enjoying approach to teaching voice, and is definitely a recommended coach. I have his program myself. www.thevoiceconnection.com - Rock vocalist and voice coach Jaime Vendera is known for being the first recorded man to shatter a crystal glass with his voice without amplification. He has a 6 octave range and is a powerful vocalist, not to mention a good coach. His e-book "raise your voice" is well recommended www.jeanniedeva.com - Another reknowned vocalist, Jeannie Deva has her own audio books such as the "contemporary vocalist" series also, http://p102.ezboard.com/bjessenemitz - A forum with a vocal technique section. Some good vocalists online there with plenty of useful info on singing technique and practice, not to be missed! Oh and one last thing, I'm no god of vocal technique myself, I'm actually a 17 year old student, but I've been using Brett Manning's technique and it's well worth it! For all you serious singers out there, never lose hope, look after yourselves and keep practicing!
    • Training the ear

      Acquiring sensitivity to the subtleties of musical texture is essential to singing.

      The transition from good singer to fantastic singer is often to do with learning to hear everything that is actually happening in the music and one's voice. Many good singers, riding on large amounts of natural ability, cannot offer their audience the something extra which comes with understanding. For that matter, not all audience members appreciate higher quality either. But studying music formally is expensive, and requires time and effort, so not everyone gets the opportunity. But for those who do, there are a wide range of aural exercises to do with clapping rhythms, identifying intervals, analysing melodies, hearing chord progressions, which will bring out more of their sensitivity and comprehension of music. This will lead to interesting phrasing, variety in colour, ability to harmonise and staying in tune, even when the performer is tired.

      Singing Tips - A 2 Z

      A = Airflow. Never hold your breath while singing. The airflow carries your vocal tone, so keep it flowing. Learn the proper way to breathe for singing, called diaphragmatic breathing. Direct some of the air out through your nose. Singing Tips A

      B = Breathing properly for singing requires the shoulders to stay relaxed, not rise with the breath intake. A singer will gain power to their voice by strengthening the muscles in the rib cage, back and diaphragm. Singing Tips B

      C = Communicate the music's message. During performance you should communicate the message of the song. If you make a mistake don't "admit" it to your audience. They probably did not even notice. Singing Tips C

      D = Diaphragmatic Support. Develop the strength and coordination of the diaphragm and control the speed, the quantity and the consistency of the airflow. Singing Tips D

      E = Elasticity of the Vocal Folds. The vocal tone is created as airflow bursts through the cleft of the vocal cords causing them to vibrate/oscillate. The vocal folds can lose elasticity due to misuse, lack of use and/or increase of age. Be sure to train your voice with vocal exercises on a regular basis to keep your voice in shape. Singing Tips E

      F = Free your natural voice. Don't be a slave to any music style -- even your favourite one. Learn to sing with your full and natural voice by developing your vocal strength and coordination. Then add stylistic nuances to achieve any singing style you desire. Singing Tips F

      G = Guessing Games. Never guess the pitch you are about to sing. Hear the note in your head before you open your mouth. Singing Tips G

      H = Higher notes require an increase in airflow. Singing Tip H

      I = Increase your breathing capacity and control by doing breathing exercises daily. Singers must negotiate phrase lengths of all different sizes, so it is important to be versatile. Singing Tips I

      J = Jumping Jacks. If you are having trouble getting your body completely involved with singing, try doing some cardiovascular activities, like jumping jacks, for a few minutes before getting started again. Sometimes your instrument simply needs an airflow wake-up call. Singing Tips J

      K = Know your limits. Don't sing too high or too low. Don't sing to the point of vocal fatigue. Never strain or push your voice. Doing so will not result in a higher or lower singing range, or a stronger voice, only a voice that has suffered undue stress. Singing Tips K

      L = Lower notes require a decrease in airflow. Singing Tip L

      M = Mirror. Training in front of a mirror can help a singer discover many things about their instrument, as well as confirm that other actions are being done correctly. Be sure to rely on a mirror during vocal training, but be able to leave the mirror to face an audience. Singing Tips M

      N = Never sing if it hurts to swallow. Singing Tip N

      O = Open your mouth wider. Nine times out of ten this will help you achieve a stronger, more defined vocal tone. Singing Tips O

      P = Prepare your instrument before singing. Singers are very much like athletes. Take care of your body/instrument by stretching out the vocal muscles and relieving the body of unnecessary tension before singing. Singing Tips P

      Q = Quit smoking. As a bonus, you will probably live longer :-) Singing Tips Q

      R = Raise the Soft Palate. Creating a larger space inside your mouth by raising the soft palate, or fleshy part of the back of our throat, helps achieve a deeper more well rounded singing tone. Singing Tips R

      S = Sing through the vocal breaks. If you do not teach the muscles the necessary actions to sing through the trouble spots, success will never be achieved. Sing through it, sing through it again, and again.... Singing Tips S

      T = Tone Placement. Learning the facts about tone placement and resonance make a huge difference in the abilities of a singer. In simple terms, a singer has numerous body cavities (nasal cavity, chest cavity, etc.) and amplifiers (bones, ligaments, etc.) that act as resonators. Focusing the vocal tone through the proper resonating chamber with the proper support is important with regard to controlling and developing your personal sound. Singing Tips T

      U = Unique Voice Under Construction. Remember that your voice has its own unique fingerprint and is constantly changing with our actions, environment, health habits, etc. With this in mind, listen to your own voice often and use vocal training tools to keep your voice on the right track. Singing Tips U
      V = Vibrato. Vibrato is a natural or forced fluctuation of a pitch. Do not concentrate on learning how to sing with vibrato. Instead, concentrate on the basic foundations of singing, breathing and support. When the proper coordination is achieved, vibrato will occur naturally. Singing Tips V
      W = Water. Water. Water. Drink room temperature water as often as you can to keep your voice organ hydrated. If you only have cold or hot water available, swish it around in your mouth for a moment. This action will keep your voice organ from being startled or stressed by different temperatures. Singing Tips W

      Y = You Can Sing with Impact! Exercise your voice daily with contemporary voice lesson products. Don't Just Sing when You Can Sing with Impact! Singing Tip Y

      Z = Zzzzzzzz. Be sure to get plenty of rest. If you are tired, your voice will show it. A tired body/instrument will not allow you to produce your best possible sound. Singing Tip Z

      How to prepare for a great performance 3

      7. Don't Smoke or Do Drugs
      Smoking is not only bad in general, it is especially bad for singers. I've never smoked a cigarette and anybody who wants to have a singing career with any longevity should not smoke. Not even one cigarette "every once in awhile." Common sense tells us that smoking is harmful in many ways and has long term effects but for singers, it can greatly damage your voice and your career. I even try to stay away from places where other people are smoking, as second hand smoke is just as bad, if not worse. Many incredible singers have lost their God given talents by smoking cigarettes or using drugs. Rumors have abounded that Whitney Houston, one of the greatest known singers of all time, was into drugs and in recent performances has failed to make an impression with her vocal grandeur. Some legends have even had their addictions lead to their ultimate deaths.

      8. Always Wear Earplugs
      If you are going to be at a concert where there is going to be loud music, wear earplugs. If you are going to be at a ball game where there will be a lot of shouting and loud noises, wear earplugs. If you are going to be at a dance club where loud music will be playing, wear earplugs. If you go anywhere where there is a chance you'll leave with ringing in your ears, wear earplugs! How does this relate to singing? It relates to singing because if you can't hear yourself, you cannot sing in tune! Keeping your voice and body healthy is important, and so is making sure you don't damage your hearing. There are special, affordable earplugs you can buy that minimize the sounds surrounding you but protect your eardrums at the same time. This way, you'll still be able to hear the music but you won't be walking out with a ringing sound.If you really want to be taken seriously as a singer and want to protect your instrument, follow these steps. Nobody in the entire world has the same beautiful voice as you, so protect it and take care of it! Now go grab a bottle of a water, hit the gym and then take a little nap.

      Source

      What You Are Capable Of

      Take Your Voice to Higher Levels
      Amazingly, your voice can soar to new heights with a little vocal training and a few exercises. With lots of practice, you might even increase your singing range from two to five octaves! You can sing high with the sopranos or low with the bass singers.

      This piece of the puzzle about vocal training will do one of two things: either it will bring back some of the things you already know about vocal training or it will train you in a new area. No matter how you view it, you will be a better informed singer.

      How Long to Increase Your Singing Range?
      Your voice cannot be forced into a new singing range; it must be trained. You'll need to find the flow in your voice and use your mind to overcome muscular limitations. While training your voice, you'll also decrease vibrating vocal cords, or mass, until your vocal cords dampen. This will decrease the vibrating sounds of the cords. With this type of voice training, you'll train your musculature to obey your mind.

      Once you've accomplished these steps, you'll notice a pleasant change in your singing voice. You'll be able to sing easier, higher, longer and with a beautiful singing tone that draws the ear.

      Source : http://www.largemart.com/singing/amazing-singing-voice.htm

      Tips for the amateur singer

      1. How To Sing: Posture and Breathing
      2. Advanced Breathing
      3. How To Sing: Tone Production
      4. Extending the Range - Higher
      5. Extending the Range - Lower
      6. How to have a productive rehearsal
      7. Blending the Choir - part 1
      8. Blending the Choir - part 2
      9. Make it Mean Something - singing the text
      10. Surviving the LONG Concert
      11. Keeping the Voice Healthy
      12. Glossary of Vocal Physiology



      1. Posture
      There is a good reason to start with posture. It is the foundation on which all other techniques stand.

      You have heard of "good" posture, but what does that mean to a singer? Certainly it is not the ram-rod straight posture one associates with a military inspection. Nor is it any stiff and formal pose. Good posture for a singer is instead:
      Spine straight and centered for balance but not stiff.
      Ribs raised as if at the peak of a normal breath.
      Shoulders squared but relaxed (not rounded).
      Head up as though looking in the distance. Note: the chin should be at a normal angle to the neck, neither stretched up nor tucked down, to allow the vocal chords maximum flexibility.
      Feet slightly apart.
      Knees slightly bent.

      2. Breathing
      Once your posture is correct you can learn to breathe properly. "What," I can hear some of you say, "is he talking about? Breathing is a natural thing.I know how to breathe."
      Let me explain: if you have ever observed a baby asleep, you may have noticed that the stomach goes in and out while the infant is breathing. Think about this for a moment. Take a deep breath. Did your shoulders rise? Your chest expand? If they did then you have a lot to un-learn in order to give your voice a properly supporting air column.
      Go back to the baby again. Now, assume good posture as discussed above - spine straight,ribs slightly lifted, shoulders squared but relaxed - and then expand only your stomach. Did that feel a bit awkward? Try to do it without moving your shoulders or ribs. You'll find a natural limit to the expansion you can get before things start to move. That is all the breath you need to sing.

      Now the next part is easy -maybe. Breathe out. Keep your ribs and shoulders in position (but not tight) and push in until there is no air left. Again moving only your abdomen breathe in. Push it all out again. If you can learn to do this repeatedly with little or no movement in the shoulders you are well begun. All good choral singing begins with these two steps.

      Next we will begin to discuss tone production. What makes a good singing tone? will discuss this issue, as well as taking a look at some techniques for reducing the risk of injury.

      2.More on breathing
      Today we will investigate a few of the things we can do to enhance the breathing techniques we need to practice as singers. We all understand the concept of breathing from the diaphragm to draw the breath into the lower part of the lungs, but there is more to good breathing technique than just getting the air.


      One of the more useful analogies I have heard is to consider breath support like inflating a tire (some of us who carry a 'spare tire' know where we'll be inflating it). Before the onset of sound the tire should be inflated to a comfortable pressure. Be sure not to over-inflate; your abdominal muscles don't have as much control if they are over extended.
      Once the tire is inflated, you should always try to keep it between 80 and 95 percent full. This allows you to catch quick breaths as you sing without the need to 'suck wind' after a long passage. Collapsing the lungs too far also creates a poorly supported tone, something to be avoided at all costs.
      Now that we understand how much air to put in the lungs, let's look at how we use that air.
      It doesn't take that much more air to sing loud than it does to sing soft. Singing very softly actually requires more control over the air, as the support for a good tone must be balanced with the reduced volume. For that reason, singers should have strong abdominal muscles. However, they should not work the abs to the point where they are no longer flexible enough to accomodate proper breathing.

      The dynamic range of the sustained tone will vary from singer to singer, but there should be a noticeable difference in the volume. If you are singing solos in a piece accompanied by a large orchestra you will need to learn how to project your sound, but not necessarily to sing louder - but I'll save that discussion for another time. The important thing is to use that top 10-15 percent of your lung capacity to support the tone at whatever volume you are singing, and to breathe when you need to in order to keep the tire inflated. Timing your breathing with the phrasing of the music is, of course, ideal, but in long passages you may need to take a breath somewhere in the middle. Plan where you're going to breathe in those instances, and avoid breathing at the same time as your neighbor (also known as staggered breathing).
      Sustaining the tone is important, but how do you start and stop it? The answer, of course, is by breathing.


      Many choir directors who have an instrumental background use terms like attack and cut off to indicate the onset and release of sound. Unfortunately those terms also carry mental pictures of violence to the voice. When you begin singing it should be with the breath. I don't mean put a 'H' before each entrance, but rather make sure your vocal cords are not clenched. In the same way, you should never 'cut off' the vocal sound by slamming shut the vocal cords. Instead, you should end each passage by inhaling. This not only helps preserve the vocal cords, but it prepares you for your next entrance that much more quickly.
      I realize these concepts are difficult to convey without a demonstration, so I will once again recommend that you work with a vocal teacher or coach to master the techniques. No matter what your age or experience level, there is always something new to learn, and working with a good teacher can help us catch and correct any bad habits we may develop.

      3.What makes a good tone?
      Generally, in Western culture a good vocal tone is considered to be one which is full, clear, and audible.


      A good vocal tone should not be stident, shrill, scratchy, or breathy. It should also not sound "forced" or "strained," but instead should sound as if it flows effortlessly from the singer.
      Within that definition is still a great deal of room for individual vocal timbre (pronounced TAM-bur), or characteristic sound, and for stylistic interpretation as called for by the music being performed. A singer trained to the Opera would use a different quality of voice than a member of a vocal Jazz group, yet both must produce a "good" tone or face the unemployment line. What is considered appropriate for early music in the style of Palestrina would be entirely inappropriate for a major work with a symphony orchestra, such as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
      How, then, is a singer to produce a good tone appropriate to the variety of musical styles typically encountered in a community choir? It all begins with the basics.

      3. Producing the Tone: Placement
      Beginning with good posture and breadth support, the singer must also relax the jaw, so the air passage is not restricted in any way. The tongue should be relaxed and behind the lower teeth, and the throat slightly open - as though on the verge of a yawn. Be careful not to force the tongue down or exaggerate the yawning sensation, as these produce tension on the larynx and can make the voice sound "swallowed" and artificial.


      Take a comfortable breath - not too large, but sufficient to support a sustained pitch. With the jaw relaxed and the throat open begin to sing with an "ahh" sound. Experiment with this sound, opening the throat more, then less, while singing at a comfortable volume. Notice the difference in your sound when you force the throat to open too far. Also hear how pinched it becomes if you don't open it far enough. Find the range of positions that are most comfortable for your throat. That is what you want to feel when you are singing.

      4. Putting It All Together:
      Now you can put all these elements together: posture, breathing, and placement. You are ready to begin singing. You now have the foundation of good tone, so it is time to practice what you have learned. Try putting these elements together with some simple songs, ones which are familiar to you so you don't have to concentrate on the words or notes, but can instead think about maintaining this comfortable feeling as you sing. Try singing them first in the middle of your vocal range. Then move up a few keys into a higher part of the voice. If it is too high, don't push. Instead, concentrate on your breath support, and you will find yourself able to sing higher with less strain.
      One word of caution here: Learn to recognize when your voice is becoming fatigued. Much damage is done to the vocal chords of amateur singers when they are tired, as they often try to compensate for the fatigue by resorting to poor vocal technique. Always go back to the basics of posture, breathing, and placement. This will do much to reduce the risk of vocal injury, allowing for years of singing enjoyment.


      5. Odds and Ends
      Some miscellaneous tips for the amateur singer:
      Listen carefully at all times.
      Learn to hear the other parts as you sing, and work on tuning with them.
      Listen to the vowel sounds. Try to match the vowel sounds of the rest of the choir. When everyone is singing exactly the same vowel the perceived volume of the choir will be amplified, as the sound will be in better focus.



      Take a foreign language. Concentrate on the sounds of the language. Your singing will be improved by your broader knowledge.
      Listen to other choirs. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area with several choirs, be sure to attend some concerts. Listen for what works and what doesn't. If you don't have access to other local choirs, look for a variety of choral music recordings at your local record store. If they don't have a good selection of classical music then join one of the record clubs and build your library.

      Try something new. Even if you don't like it, you will have learned something.
      Enjoy yourself. Relax and have fun. Remember, you sing because you like to sing. Sometimes the stress of rehearsing and performing can tend to make you forget that. Get back the enjoyment.



      4.Extending the range - higher

      One of the biggest challenges facing most singers is the high end of the voice: those notes which are at or slightly above the range where singing is confortable. OFten that part of the voice sounds strained, or if abused too often becomes permanently strident.
      This is not good.



      As a young bass, my voice coaches often despaired of my ever being able to sing above the staff - anything above a B-flat for me was a real struggle. Looking back on it now, I can see what I was doing wrong (and where they missed some chances to help).
      I'll stick with my side of things. For too long I tried to muscle my voice up to the high notes. What I really needed to do was back off the pressure and tension I was putting on my throat and free up the vocal mechanism. More importantly, I had to learn to place the voice up into the big resonating chamber of the head. (Note: placing the voice in the head is a conceptual process, not a physical one. More on the mechanics shortly.)



      If you are having trouble with the top of your range, try using a more gentle approach to singing. Relax the neck and shoulders. Lift the ribs and take a comfortable breath. Open your mouth tall, not wide, and imagine your voice floating above your head. Then gently sing a note that you know is higher than you are normally comfortable with. Don't worry about the exact pitch, the idea here is to see how effortless it can be, and notes can get in the way at this point.
      If you can grasp this idea, listen to the quality of the note you just sang. It may sound nothing like your regular singing voice at this point. That's OK. There will be time to develop that sound later. It is important not to rush this process, as you can hurt yourself trying to do too much too soon.

      When you achieve this free-floating high, light sound (not falsetto) you should feel a "buzz" up in your nose, behind the eyes, and along the brow ridge. That is because your sinuses carry most of the resonance in that range. With the relaxed neck and open mouth you are actually lifting the soft palate and giving your voice more room.
      Once you have discovered the buzz you should work on bringing it down into the middle part of your voice as well.A real benefit of discovering and exercising this part of your voice range is the fact that it adds depth to the rest of your voice by opening up the overtones of your voice and giving it a vibrant resonance. With consistent practice you should find yourself singing notes you had previously given up on with relative ease.


      5.Extending the Range - lower

      I am often asked how I sing so low. (I am a bass.) The short answer is that I just open my mouth and sing the notes.
      Of course, there is a bit more to it than that. A naturally low voice helps, but my normal range is not that much lower than most good basses. I sing a comfortable D below the bass cleff most days, but there are a few choral pieces which demand lower notes. Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil (Vespers) has B-flats and Cs in most of the movements, for example, and a handful of the basses in our choir were able to work down to that range for performances a couple of years ago.
      So, how did we do it?


      The first thing we had to do was get over the idea that those notes are going to sound pretty. Much of the "pretty" sound of a sung note is its resonance, and unless you have an unusually shaped head (and a large one) the chances are you won't have the resonance needed to make those notes sound as nice as something in the middle of your range.
      With that in mind, we can approach the extremely low notes with a new freedom. Now, just because they aren't pretty doesn't mean you don't have to sing the notes in tune, but we'll see how that's done, too.

      A common term for the very low notes in the male voice is fry-tones. That's because they sound like bacon frying on a hot skillet - a controlled series of pops from the vocal cords. To achieve that sound you need to place the voice very far forward - go for a bright AH sound - and completely relax the jaw, tongue, and throat.
      A good exercise for placing the voice is to do some downward glissandos. Start on a comfortable note, say a D in the middle of the cleff, and slide down a fifth to the G on the bottom line. You want to start the top note on a brite EEE sound and end it on the AH sound, still bright and forward. Then go back and do it again, this time starting on the C-sharp and ending on F-sharp. Repeat this pattern until you can't go any lower, then do one more.
      The more you practice this exercise, the stronger your lower notes will become. And, as you practice this, listen carefully to the sound you are making. Work on tuning it with the piano so you learn to hear the intonation in that range. One word of caution, though. Don't push it. Don't expect your range to increase dramatically in just one or two sessions. This takes some time, usually a period of several weeks to achieve noticeable changes in your range.
      Now here's one of the great things about this. If you can sing the note in tune with the rest of the choir they will supply the resonance and make it sound like a beautiful low pipe on an organ.


      This technique can be applied to all the voices, though the effectiveness is not as great with the other voice parts as it is for the low basses. Still, next time your choir director asks you to sing something really low you can just open your mouth and sing it.

      6.How to have a productive rehearsal
      If you have been singing very long at all you have experienced at least one rehearsal which frustrated you because of its lack of accomplishment. Today we're going to take a look at what it takes to have a productive rehearsal - a necessity for producing an excellent concert.
      Be on time. One of the things that will cut into the productivity of a scheduled rehearsal is late arrivals. If your rehearsal starts at 7:00, be in your seat at 7, not out parking the car, or talking to your friends. Arrive early enough to handle all the socializing before the rehearsal.
      Warm up ahead of time. You can start your warm-ups early by humming or singing gently in the car on the way to rehearsal. If everyone in the choir arrived with warm voices the group warm-ups can focus more on the ensemble sound and intonation drills rather than shaking the road dust out of eveyone's throats.


      Respect the other sections. If the director has to take a few minutes to work with one of the sections, it is not an excuse for you to start talking to your neighbor. That disrupts the rehearsal and makes it hard for the section that's getting the extra work to accomplish what needs to be done. Even more important: don't hum your part while another section is being rehearsed. If the other section wasn't having trouble with the part your director wouldn't be wasting rehearsal time on it. Don't make it even harder.

      Be prepared. No, I'm not talking Boy Scouts here. I'm talking about practicing between rehearsals. The night you get your music it's OK to struggle a bit with notes and text, especially if you've never seen the piece before, but the next rehearsal you have the work should be learned, at least as far as the notes and words. Let the director concentrate on musical interpretation as early in the rehearsal schedule as possible. Your concert will sound better for it. Invest the time outside rehearsal and reap the dividends in performance.
      Be clean. OK, can we get personal here for a minute? If you work a physical job that leaves you sweaty at the end of the day, go home and take a shower before you go to choir. And leave off the perfume, after-shave, cologne, or other scents. There are people with allergies to such things, and chemical allergies are one thing you can't really get good treatment for. If you smoke, your clothes stink. You can't smell it because your nose is half dead, but the people around you certainly can. Shower before rehearsal, put on clean clothes, and don't light up again until after you are headed home. Better still, quit.


      Keep these tips in mind, and you'll be amazed at how much more productove your choral experience becomes. Who knows? You may even find yourself starting to do more challenging music as a result.

      7.Blending the choir - part 1
      Many people who listen to our choir comment on how each section sounds like one voice. This is not by accident, or good luck, but is a tribute to the work our director puts in on fine-tuning the choir.


      It takes a well-trained ear to match voices so they reinforce the sound he is after, and it is not something I could possibly hope to teach in a text article online. I can, however, offer some tips that will make your director's job easier.
      First and foremost is intonation. If you can't sing in tune you will never achieve the blend that's necessary for a top-notch choral sound. There are some excellent ear-training resources available. Check out your local college bookstore for the kinds of material being used by the school to train music students. But the most important part of intonation is active listening.
      Active listening involves learning to hear your own voice when you sing, and recognizing the difference between what you hear in your head and what others hear. A tape-recorder is an excellent tool for discovering what your voice sounds like to others.
      Once you can pick your own voice out, listen to the sound of your section. Are you producing notes that match exactly the pitch of your section? You should not hear any 'beats' or waves of sound. Those indicate a difference in the pitch.

      Another, often neglected, component of singing in tune and blending the sound is vowel alignment. By that I mean singing exactly the same vowel sound that everyone else in the choir is singing when you sing the same text. It is easy to hear the effect of different vowel sounds if you sing vastly different vowels, for example some people singing an EEEE sound while others sing an OOOO on the same pitch. That's because the shape of the vowel alters the overtones of the pitch, and affect the intonation. What is not so obvious is that the SAME problem with intonation exists when you have two different versions of AH going on at the same time.
      This is just the beginning of the problems a choir faces with blending. Next article I'll discuss some of the common solutions, and which ones are better than others


      8.Blending the choir - part 2

      Achieving a good choral sound can be a challenge, particularly in an amateur choir. Many of the voices are underdeveloped, or the singers have had little formal training since leaving school, and it can be somewhat like herding cats to get the choir to sound like an ensemble.
      Many choir directors try to accomplish this by asking the singers to use a more breathy tone. This foggy sound seems like it would blend more easily, partly because nobody can actually hear what the sound is. Of course, that approach is wrong for a number of reasons, including pssible damage to the voices of the singers.


      A better approach, though perhaps more difficult, is to concentrate on producing a mature vocal sound. A sound that is focussed and and full of resonance. This requires more effort on the part of the singers, but the rewards are well worth it.
      Once the singers start using their whole voices you begin to hear the rich overtones that comprise a good choral sound. When you combine the mature sound with the proper vowel alignment as discussed in the previous article you can accomplish wonderful things with a choir, and the sound will cut through even a large orchestra such as you would find with a work like Carmina Burana or Verdi's Requiem.

      The remarkable thing to many people is that the mature choral sound can be quite successful doing contemplative a capella works like those of Palestrina, too. Of course, some works call for a less turbulant sound (less vibrato), but that does not mean less intensity. A choir should sound the same at pianissimo as it does at fortissimo, only softer. Think of it like this: when you hear a work coming from the next room, then walk into the room and realize it is much louder than you thought. Same group, same music, different volume level.
      This is important. It is more difficult to sing quietly because you have to work harder to maintain the support, yet without the support the pitch will not hold.


      Here is another idea. Some voices should not be placed together. Either because they reinforce each other too much, or because they cancel each other out. A good choir director can hear this, and will often take steps to separate such voices. By the same token there are some voices that should be placed together. These voices compliment each other and form a more complete sound together than separately. Remember, if your choir director moves you around and pairs you up with someone else this is usually the reason (unless of course you are a talker and disrupt the rehearsals - but a good director would just encourage you to drop out in that case...).

      9.Make it Mean Something
      Have you ever gone to a choir concert that seemed uninspired and lifeless? Chances are you have, even if the sound was well blended and perfectly on pitch. Today we're going to take a look at another part of the whole puzzle - the text.
      As a singer the music you perform is more than just notes, tempos and dynamics. You have the added dimension of text to deal with. This adds a whole new set of concerns for phrasing the music, because you have to deal with more than just the melodic line. Text has meaning, and unless that meaning comes through you might as well sing the whole thing on LA.
      Putting the meaning in the music is naturally easier if the music is in your language. For most of us reading this article that language is English. We are able to give the words their proper emphasis, and shape the phrases, because we understand what we are singing. If you sing in a small church choir that may be all you need to remember from week to week. You sing mostly hymn arrangements or other songs that speak to the text of the sermon, and you usually sing it with an understanding of what is being said. But what about foreign languages?


      If you sing in a symphonic choir, or a non-church community chorus, you have probably sung songs in Latin and German. Possibly French or Spanish, and if you have an adventurous director, maybe even Russian. Carmina Burana is a very popular piece which uses Latin and an obscure language known as Frankish in some of its movements. So how do you convey the same level of meaning to your listeners that you do when you're singing in your native tongue?
      It would be great if we could all learn to speak five or six languages. That isn't likely to happen, though, so we have to look for some clues in the music itself.

      Much of the music you will do in other languages was written to be sung in those languages, and the composers did a lot of the work for you. The pulse of the music is a good clue about where most of the syllabic stress belongs (though not always). You should also look for hints in the way the text is broken up in your music. Most music publishers put dashes between the syllables of a word that is broken up by several notes, and they leave space between words. The punctuation can give you a sense of the phrasing - periods at the end of sentences, etc.
      Some publishers now even help by marking the stressed syllables in the text, either by underlining the stressed syllables, by MAKing the stressed SYLLable all caps, or by other obvious markings.


      Careful attention to such details can make a huge difference in the music. Choirs who successfully master this aspect of choral singing tend to stand out from the crowd, and their audiences will keep coming back for more.

      10.Surviving the Long Concert
      Most choir directors know better, but every once in a while they go a little crazy and put together a program that has the choir members singing at the extremes of their vocal capacity, both in terms of range and dynamics.
      As a singer, how do you cope with the fatigue? What can you do to have enough voice to finish the concert? Today I hope to answer these questions, at least enough so you stand a fighting chance.


      First things first: You know how long this concert is going to be because you have been rehearsing the music for several weeks. Sometime early in the process you found yourself going home with a tired voice, and you realized this was going to be one of those concerts. Time to start getting in shape to handle the load.
      The sooner you start preparing, the more likely it is you'll survive the experience, so once you've had that revelation don't wait to start gearing up to handle it. Begin by spending more time practicing the music on your own, paying attention to dynamics and phrasing. Remeber, dynamics are relative, so if you can sing the soft passages very softly you won't have to sing the loud ones quite as loudly to compensate. Of course, if the performance involves something like Verdi's Requiem or Orff's Carmina Burana you have a rather large orchestra to contend with, but the principal still applies.

      Proper support for your tone is vital in this situation, so whatever you need to do to get those neglected abdominal muscles in to better shape is strongly advised. If the abs are soft you'll use your neck and throat muscles to compensate, and you'll run out of juice around intermission.
      Pay attention to posture, too. If your back gets tired from holding your rib cage high you need to work on it. Build up the stamina so you can make it to the end. If you use music on stage and hold it in a folder, then start practicing with the music in the folders at least four weeks before the performance. You'll want your shoulder muscles to get used to the weight.
      Beyond the physical conditioning you need, don't forget to exercise your voice so it's in the best shape possible. Practice the music using the dynamic markings as soon as possible, so the whole package is in your muscle memory, not just the notes. Practice the passages with sudden or frequent dynamic changes on your own so they don't come as a surprize at show time. Few things are more embarrassing than being the only one still singing fortissimo when everyone else has observerd a subito piano.


      Make sure you start getting plenty of water at least two weeks before performance time. The vocal mechanism needs to stay moist, and if you're underhydrated you'll end up fighting a dry, scratchy throat. Proper rest is important, too. We all have a life to live, but the social part of it won't suffer too badly if you spend a couple of weeks going to bed early.

      Finally, on the day of the performance pace yourself. Don't let the excitement of the moment steal away your preparation and cause you to over sing. Save some of it for the end of the concert. You want the finale to be grand, don't you?

      11.Keep your voice healthy
      All too often singers develop problems with their voices which could have been prevented by a little knowledge applied at the right time.
      Today I'm going to try to provide a few simple guidelines that I hope will help spare some of you the frustration of having your voice go out on you at a bad time.
      One of the most important things you can do for your voice is to stay healthy. I know, not all illnesses can be avoided, but if you are serious about keeping your voice in shape you should make an extra effort to stay healthy. Ear muffs in colder climates can help prevent numerous ear and throat infections by keeping the inner ear passages warm. Washing your hands before touching your face or after contact with people who have the sniffles can help you avoid many forms of the common cold. Getting plenty of rest can help your body's immune system resist the 'bug' that's going around. A healthy diet will also help.
      Beyond such obvious steps to maintaining your health, there are a few things you can do specifically to keep your voice at its best.


      Drink plenty of water. It not only is good for you, it helps keep the vocal mechanism lubricated.
      Moderate your alcohol intake, especially for a few days prior to any planned performances. Alcohol dries out your throat and can cause unnecessary strain on the vocal cords.
      If you smoke, quit. The husky lounge singer sound belongs in a smoke-filled bar, not in the choir. You know all the health reasons to stop, so I'll just add that it's possibly the worst thing you can do to your voice.



      Reduce your use of dairy products. They increase mucous production and aare generally not good for your voice. If you don't believe they affect your voice, take this challenge: cut out ALL dairy products for a month, preferably the month before a scheduled performance. After the performance, resume your normal dairy intake and see what it does to your voice (and the rest of you).

      Get plenty of exercise, too. However, avoid doing much exercise that involves heavy lifting. Many voice coaches teach that this type of activity can put excessive strain on the neck and throat, affecting the vocal mechanism.
      Another thing: be aware of how tired your voice is. If you are tired, your voice is probably tired, and you shouldn't strain it by trying to sing too loud. Once you have had a chance to rest, and to rest your voice, then you can use it with strength.
      Here's to healthy singing!


      11.Glossary of vocal physiology

      The following is a brief glossary of the parts of the body involved in vocal production. It is not a comprehensive list, but does explain somewhat how the parts fit together to produce a good vocal sound.
      Abdomen
      area below the ribs containing the digestive organs.
      Cartilages
      The framework of the layrnx. The largest cartilage is the Thyroid Cartilage, whose bulge creates the Adam's Apple. The Circoid Cartilage is a structural part of the larynx, and is attached to the trachea. The Arytenoid Cartilages are responsible for adjusting tension and the amount of separation of the vocal cords. The vocal cords are attached to the Arytenoid Cartilages at the back and to the Thyroid Cartilage at the front.
      Clavicle
      collarbone.
      Clavicular Breathing
      breathing from the top of the chest.
      Costal
      pertaining to the ribs.
      Costal Breathing
      breathing with the ribs, above the diaphragm.
      Diaphragm
      flexible partition of miscles and tendons separating the chest and abdominal cavities.
      Diaphragmatic Breathing
      breathing by relaxing the abdomen, forcing the diaphragm to drop and the lungs to expand.
      Epiglottis
      cartilage at the root of the tongue which covers the vocal cords during swallowing, protecting them.
      Glottis
      space between the vocal cords.
      Hyoid Bone
      the bone at the base of the tongue. Both the tongue and the larynx are attached to the Hyoid Bone.
      Larynx
      voice box. The cavity holding the vocal cords.
      Palate
      roof of the mouth. The front is called the hard palate. The back is called the soft palate.
      Pharynx
      throat. The cavity connecting the nose, mouth, and larynx.
      Sinuses
      small cavities in the skull behind the eyes and nose. this is where most vocal resonance occurs.
      Sternum
      breastbone. The front of the upper ribs are attached to the sternum.
      Thorax
      upper part of the body between the neck and the abdomen. Separated from the abdomen by the diaphragm.
      Trachea
      windpipe. The air passage leading into the larynx from below.
      Uvula
      fleshy hanging projection at the back of the soft palate.


      source : http://choirsinger.com/