Frequently Asked Questions from My Singing Lesson Students

I Have several breaks in my voice, what can I do to fix them and what are they?

The breaks, register changes, or lifts as they are sometimes called, are obvious in the voice when the voice is held rigid, with tension and as a result is not allowed to move. If you think of the changes in the voice as gears, if you go higher then you are supposed to in one gear you will be revving in the red, as soon as you change gear the revs come right down again and you can go faster, in the same you way must change gear in order to go higher.

The sensation of going to high in the lower register is that of feeling like you have just hit a roof and that something must change, this is where going a bit quieter and allowing the sound to get lighter will help you move up. The opposite is try when coming sliding down or going down a scale, it feels like you have hit floor and can’t go any lower, here you must go a little louder then the higher notes and feel like the notes are getting weighty. This is a good rule for going down until you get below b2 to A2 where there is another register change, and going into vocal fry will help you to relies tension here, later on the muscles will get stronger and you will be able to turn these into full notes, another way to work the low end is airy and light, but never breathy or pushed! If you use the above techniques on something as simple as a slide then it will very quickly start to blend over the breaks in your voice and give the illusion that you have one seamless voice, but you are actually still moving through all the registers. This is a healthy way to connect the voice, never push or muscle your way through with tension, your throat in the long run will just not last!

Try this exercise for a start slide from comfortably high to comfortably low – there should be no tension in the voice, now work on sliding down from a shoo (as in shoe) to AH as you go lower, allow your voice to move into vocal fry – which is the natural lower extension of the chest voice. For more exercise e-mail me for my singing with confidence vocal program.

Is there anything that I should be doing before a gig to warm up?

The monitor Mix

I would just like to go over the second point on the don't list, if you shout because you can't hear yourself, the chances are that everybody else can hear you just fine so when you start to shout people will wonder what is going on, but worst of all you will start to go out of tune, the dynamics of the song will be lost and people will think that you are a bad singer. Make sure the monitor mix is at a good level for you, sound engineers expect you to tell them if the volume is wrong for you, so don't be shy.

Will singing lessons change the sound of my voice?

I hear this one a lot, the answer is no, singing lessons will not change your voice (tone), but they will give you a more versatile voice, with more tones that you can just switch on and off at will. Normally when people ask this question its because they think that you are going to turn them into a classical singer, well that is not the case, unless that’s what you want, the uniqueness of your voice will be kept and made better with singing lessons.

The classical sound comes from singing with a low larynx and this is not the case for pop, where the best place for the larynx is in the middle. This is normally where you speak.

How Long will it be before I can sing well?

The answer to this is the same answer as to ″how long is a piece of string″, who knows. It depends what level you are when you start, what you want to be able to do, and your commitment to working on it.

What key do I sing in?

Strictly speaking it's not a matter of key but where the tessitura of the song lies. This is what you are told when some one is quoting it, but in the real world we all have area's in our voice that we find it easier to sing in,

for example I have a 4 octave range, but I find it most comfortable to sing between C4 down to C3, I feel like I could sing there all day, this is my tessitura area, so any song I sing with the bulk of the melody notes in that area would be, for me, very easy, even though I can sing in any key.

If you have a more limited range the key is important, if you can't sing the high note in one key you will need to drop the key until you can sing those high note.

Stage Fright

We all suffer from nerves a bit, it's good for you, keep's you on your toes, gets the adrenalin pumping which helps you to give that bit more on the night, but when you get it so bad that you are sick that's not a good thing. I have found the following to be very helpful in calming me down; you can use this whenever you are feeling anxious, not just before singing:

When you do this right you will feel really relaxed, I mean REALLY RELAXED, but try to stay awake! This exercise is a great why for you to get in touch with your body, after doing this for a while you will be very aware of any tension in your body, and you will know how to get rid of it.

I think that my voice is too breathy, is there anything I can do to sort it out?

Yes,
First lets try to get you feeling the difference between good vocal fold effort (a focused sound) and an unfocused sound (a breathy tone).Do a nice relaxed yawn, do it until it feels really easy and totally relaxed, you should notice how easy it feels and how open your throat feels, if not keep doing it until you feel it.

Now try aa aa aa! (as in cat) as if you where telling someone off, do this a little louder than your speaking voice, do it until you feel a pinching or closing feeling in your throat, now do the yawn then switch over quickly to aa aa aa! Notice the difference? Now hold that aa and change it to AY, you should notice that its louder than how you normally sing, this is because it's more focused a sound, you must keep the same feeling that you had on aa aa aa! or you will not notice a difference.

Another way is to say mmmmmeeeee really slowly and stop before you get to ee so that your lips are closed and you are humming with your lips vibrating (this will tickle!!) then slowly change this to an EEE (as in me) focusing (aiming the sound in exactly the same place as the vibration) when you do this correctly you will feel that the sound is louder again, also you will not run out of breath so quickly!!!

I have strained my voice from singing to loudly, when will I know when it's safe to sing again?

Firstly have a singing teacher check out your technique, as you are doing something wrong! Then rest totally for a day (24 hours), and by that I mean no talking at all, no grunting and certainly no whispering (as this will do more damage than talking!). Then start talking again, if it still hurts, go and see your Doctor. Once you have been checked out, and as long as everything is fine, do the following.

You need to get in touch with your singing instrument; you will know when you are ready as it will feel fine, a little dull throbbing no probs, any sharp feeling then back off! (You will know what I mean if you feel it!) just take it easy, try vocalizing on NG as in sung, this is a nasal constant, try sliding it gently down your range to start with then up and down, gently going a little higher every time, until you reach the end of your range.

Another good one is to sing in falsetto to start with as this is great for healing the vocal folds as it encourages them to work on the thin edges, again slide it up and down your range in the vowel OO as in you, make sure it's not to breathy. When you do this correctly for a couple of minute your throat should feel great and when you speak it should sound nice and clear without any croakiness. You could add this into your warm up and warm down exercises, if you liked.

How will I know when I am Good at Singing?

When your singing feels effortless and sounds totally natural. It should feel - unless you are doing a rock tone - that the sound is coming from you, but it doesn’t feel like you are making it. You should be able to sing for hours with no hoarseness, or discomfort, and when you have finished your voice feels good for it, in this way singing songs will strengthen your voice, and the range of your voice will increase naturally - if it is getting smaller in range then your technique is wrong. You should also be able to sing in any style with a flexible and strong vocal. This is good vocal technique.

I have heard that singing can really help you to relax, is this true?

Oh yes, I have seen some very stressed individuals walk through my door, and have had the pleasure of seeing how singing week after week, really chills them out. When they first start singing, you can see and hear the tension in there voices. The throat is what connects the body to your head, so any tension in the body always goes straight to the throat - remember that in singing the body is the instrument. When the singing voice sounds pleasant, then the body, mind will be calm and happy.