However, in my years of teaching I have noticed that not all singers notice they are unbalanced or inconsistent in their sound making.

What is the very first goal in training the voice?

RELEASE: The larynx (which houses the vocal cords or folds as they are called) needs to remain stable. It is this posture that is necessary to achieve the balance of resonation.

RESONATION is also called resonance. Many kids think of it as the echo sound. It is the balance of the resonance that is necessary to maintain a consistent tone from the bottom (chest resonation) through the middle (mixed voice) and into the top (head voice or head resonation) with no breaks or “yodels” or flipping into falsetto. This allows a consistent voice up and down with easy release. If the singer tries to sound like some of their favorite singers they will, most likely, use excessive muscle activity during singing in order to achieve what they perceive is the sound of their favorite singer. Thus they lose sight of what we so naturally have in childhood, which is our own voice. Children don’t have to find their own voice or wonder what their own voice would sound like. The children who come in to see me already have their own voices. As we age and have more freedoms and listen to what we want to we generally develop this desire to sound as good as the others we hear or copy them.

CAUSE AND EFFECT EXERCISES are used in the Vocal Ease Training Method. I know as a teacher that if i want more of a balanced tone from chest to top, but the student has no chest or light chest voice, then there is an exercises i need to do with them (cause) to produce the exact effect (singing in chest voice). With practice it doesn’t take long for the singer to have the registers needed to sing; Chest, Middle (or Mix) and Head. As the singing student catches on then the exercises are modified and tailored to what the student is doing and also more Cause/Effect exercises are introduced. This is what helps the voice sing from chest to top and back to chest with release and resonation, thus Vocal Freedom.

The Key is this: The higher you sing the less air you should use. When you reduce the amount of air that you send up from the lungs to your cords you make it possible for the muscles outside of the vocal cords to NOT do anything for the singing; to stay relaxed and uninvolved. The condition that makes you engage the outer muscles is use of too much air. Therefore, only use the amount of air you need for your vocal cords to handle the vocal exercises and songs.

Now, how does this apply to rock singers who need to sing raspy, growly, or screamy? Raspy & growly are a style, but if you scream you Will engage the outer muscles. So if you are a consistent performer, over a period of time, who knows when, your voice will most likely be damaged. Because you are singing consistently with the outer muscles and you are lifting your larynx rather regularly.

Voice Lessons are a process, referred to as similar to an athletic endeavor. You take the time to go through the steps to learn about your voice and listen to your self, feeling the way it is different when singing correctly and what is different when singing incorrectly. Even with rock singers, Less is More, while practicing and building excellent technique so you can add the style and genre you want later in combination with your good technique.

Thanks again for reading my blog, and look for more info on good singing technique next time.

Jane