This phenomena may also be referred to as an APARTMENT voice. We don't want to annoy our neighbors beyond the walls, so we stifle ourselves and try to sing small. As you know, this is terribly straining for the voice. Shy people have it worse, I'm sure.
Oh, yes, I'm WELL aware of that. Might as well be called DORM voice too, because it's exactly what I did when I used to live in dorms!!! I was SOOO afraid of people hearing me practice, that I just stifled my own voice and ended up constricting it. I've seen so many other college students in dorms do the same thing. If you're in such a situation, it's best not to sing at all to not rehearse bad habits. Just wait until you get to a place where you can sing feely without worry of others hearing you. If you DO have to practice in an apartment/dorm, what I would work on are things involving phrasing. Or things to train your musical ear. But DO NOT try to train technique in such an environment! That's asking for issues down the line.
I sing small in appartment without ever straining the voice, how do you explain that ? I sing in appartment, I sing at speech level volume and a bit lower at night I find singing small first is the best way to build control over whatever you want to achieve
I love the point that Marnell brought up about misconception of how we sound, because the way he sang the C4 with such an extremely nasally and splat 'aaaaa' vowel was exactly how I used to sing several years ago, thinking that I am 'brightening the sound' when all I am doing is adding even more unnecessary strain (granted, that was a bright sound, but it was a very unhealthy way to approach it IMO). Same goes for the volume thing - I actually had to relearn my singing configuration and build my sound from a very muscular place first before I eventually stripped it down to a smoother one. We tend to have misconceptions on what we should sound like instead of how we actually sound, and I feel that is what one should change slowly to progress. Just a learner's thoughts though - correct me if I am wrong XD
Your last paragraph really summarized this well. So many singers have a misconception about what they are supposed to sound like, and it obscures the whole process of learning to sing. It normally takes a very good teacher to help you hone in on your true sound. And a lot of times, that sound is NOT what we expect.
you could have just recorded yourself, listen back and compare with famous artist and what you want to achieve. its that simple and tells you exactly if you are doing it right or not
Thanks guys, really helpful. I spent years with other programs trying to build that light voice that Marnell talked about at the beginning and it never got any stronger.
You're welcome. I know too many singers who were in your situation (myself included), and sadly, I watched the for years as they tried in vain to get that to grow. And it didn't. So was hoping we could save a lot of singers years of wasted time.
not to be afraid of using my voice (kinda). I saw my vocal coach today and he told me that I'm doing every scale correctly but I have to stop falling back in my throat and lowering the volume as I go higher in the scale. I do that since I'm scared of straining and doing things wrong.. But I realised that when I do the scale without falling back in my throat and keeping a balanced, medium level volume as instructed it doesn't feel like Im straining at all anymore. It feels great! Im just not used to it yet. That is why this video was very motivating. :)
Learning to not be afraid of the sound and volume of your own voice is one of the biggest mental hurdles we have to overcome as singers. And sometimes, the physicality that's required in the body to make those sounds can be a stumbling block. I surely was scared of the volume and intensity of my own voice. It took a lot of practicing and yelling (correctly) in my car to really get comfortable with those volumes and that intensity. You'll get there, though. You have the support of your teacher, so that should help you a lot. :)
The funny thing is many times when we are afraid of straining, we end up just straining anyway!!! For me I found I had to learn just to "go for it" and then that gave me a starting point to work from. One thing at a time right? Glad to hear you've got a coach that can hear your issues and help you overcome them
Totally, I tell you what too...we can be our worst enemies, someone tells us to relax and we think "okay no pressure in the voice whatsoever" when that's not what it means, it's just WE interpret it to mean that way. How we interpret advice is what matters most, not what the advice is!!
The demonstration at 15:30 is exactly the issue i have with my voice and sadly, I've been speaking like this since i was 11 (when my voice changed), so i don't know how to even articulate anything without that throat closure. My teacher doesn't know how to correct it either. Is there a proven method to remove that tension?
It feels to me like once the technique is correct you can "push" it all you want (simply singing more intensely) and the throat will stay protected. You'll just approach the body's limit of energy but the voice will keep functioning healthily and efficiently. Is that correct? I definitely feel there's a productive push involved. When you told me about how the voice uses mostly eccentric contractions, that really clicked with me. It can often feel like everything is stretching away from the larynx when the singing is intense. And that stretching feeling can take a lot of effort
Yes, for the most part, if the technique is right, you can push the intensity quite a bit, particularly on the upper end. That said, you have to find the natural "bloom" points of your voice -- that is, the parts of your range where the volume just naturally wants to take off and increase in intensity. You have to respect that part of your voice, because if you try to sing with that same intensity LOWER than that range, then you will still run into issues. (Lower notes will only accept but so much air pressure. But once you get into YOUR high range, the pressure increases and you feel like you can just give and there will be no negative repercussions.) And yes, that elastic stretching of the body is where most of the energy goes to! It's a very odd feeling because there is nothing else to compare it to. But once you get it in your singing, it becomes your best friend. You can't live without it!
What Marnell said 100%, I'm hesitant about my response because I know how you think Owen ;-) I don't think you should be thinking about "pushing it all you want" because the voice doesn't respond the same way to volume from bottom to top or vowel to vowel. Also, going for volume isn't about just pushing harder, most of the time when I want to go louder, I approach it with more finesse and that keeps the voice more free and then it opens up better. I think a better way to say this would be, when your voice functions right there is no fear about singing in louder volumes or ranges, the voice holds together even on intense volumes. I think it will do you no good to intellectualize about trying to find your supposed "max intensity" just find the volume you need to sing that's it.
Very very nice discussion. I have issue on volume also, especially I usually blow my vocal fold apart when fighting with big band sound. The question I have is: What is head dominant mix or what does "reduce vocal weight" mean? I sing very demanding hard rock song e.g. Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden. I use lots of support from my whole body and it is very straining, though I feel it is not straining my vocal tract but literally straining my body, my stamina. I think I cant sing more than 30 mins with songs involve lots of high C and thats why I want to think of develop a "less intense" voice. But, it is where I got stuck. I do not know how to control the intensity of my voice. I do not know how to "mix more head voice in me" while maintaining an appropriate amount of intensity. Hope you two masters could really give me some advice.
Thanks for watching. When you talk about "head dominant mix" and "reducing vocal weight", you need to talk to the people who are using those terms, because everyone means something different by them. Sometimes they are referring to singing at a lighter intensity level. Sometimes it means singing with less constriction (what I talked about in this video). Sometimes they are referring to something totally different. You honestly can't say unless you ask the person who is using the term, and then ask them for several examples to compare and contrast. As for the rest of your comment, support along won't fix everything. Your support has to coordinate with everything else you're doing. It sounds like you probably have several issues going on simultaneously that are too tricky to pull apart in a message. Skype lessons would be the way to go to address these issues.
Marnell Sample You guys explained necessary pushing/pressure vs straining really clearly. A lot of TH-cam 'how to sing' videos miss this information and since I'm starting to learn how to sing more healthfully using TH-cam this video really confirmed what I suspected. I kept sking myself why it sounds better and feels like Im more in control of my voice when I push a little yet so many voice coaches on TH-cam say there should be no strain, you must relax and correct singing should feel effortless. This video was an "Ahah, I knew it!" for me.
is it healthy to hold back A LOT of pressure? it doesn't hurt but it does make my chords feel really worked. I can belt for hours a day, never lose my voice but it does get a little fryish after hours of belting. I'm not filling up on air but I'm using a ton of energy from my gut. I can vibrato on most notes but I'm getting some grit up after A5. is grit bad for the voice or does it come from a lot of volume at a certain point? been singing a lot of call and response to James Brown tunes lately. I'm ok with that kind of sound but I guess the question is should I practice at that intensity or save it for gigs only?
Thanks for watching. I don't recall if I mentioned it in the video, but cord closure is another component. It's what I call blasting. So when you're at a decent medium loud volume but you're still airy, that's going to cause major issues and can lead to a sore throat, especially as you go higher with it. There are also other things like jutting the jaw forward, looking up, not opening the mouth correctly, getting your vowels out of line (especially as you go higher), not engaging the lower torso as you go higher, or any number of things. It's really hard to tell without hearing you. What range specifically do you feel is causing you the most issues?
Didn't realize you were a jazz guy. Awesome!!! Listened to a couple of your clips. If you're still singing the same way now, you lighten up your voice a bit too much as you go higher. That puts your cords in too thin of a state as you go higher, and actually puts you in a low level form of blasting. That's why you're probably getting some throat irritation. You need to focus on singing much more firmly through the area of D4-F#4. I know the way that you are singing is STYLISTICALLY correct, but from a technical perspective, it's not helping you. The voice should feel more firm to you in that area and not so light. You will end up being louder because of this. Just make sure you're not airy as you're louder, because that means you're doing it wrong. It's funny because you do the exact same thing I used to when I started training. I would lighten up excessively in the range of D4-E4, even though I was still in full voice. But the cords would be too thin. So I wouldn't be that loud, but I would get this airy texture which sounds nice for songs. Not so good for technique, though. You overall have good habits, which works in your favor. Nothing else is immediately jumping out to me. That's just your biggest issue for now.
Glad you enjoyed it! Well just using the right volume isn't the be-all-end-all of vocal technique, it's just a STARTING place that is necessary for EVERYTHING ELSE to work right. Take Marnell's advice, our ear is our specialty. Take care
You have a sore throat. Try relaxing your neck jaw and tongue and shoulder. Don't push out too much air. Maybe focus the sound towards the hard pallet NOT the soft. Something is not relaxed or open
Ha ha ha ha! I got the relaxation talk too so i used to think that you should be so relaxed and feel no pressure at all. The ability to differentiate correct pressure and strain is a key element in singing: basically you have to know the amount of compression the voice needs singing in each range.
I really like this video but it seems a bit hard to understand what you are talking about, when we don't have a clearly defined example, like a specific voice type (tenor, barritone ec...) and a clearly defined passage of a song we can all relate to. When we approach a certain song (it doesn't even really matter which one) we have many many options of how to sing it but only if we manage to keep most technical aspects of the original, our version will be considered well sung, unless we also change the whole structure of the music like pitch, tempo, groove, instrumentation and all that, then we have more freedom. If you're looking for technical ways to make things more comfortable for your voice, there is only little you can do without producing a less convincing version. So in a way we're even forced to make the same "mistakes" the original might contain. In the end it's all about making it sound right somehow and none of the listeners really care how we do that. If that means creating too much strain and losing consistency, we should "surrender" to the original and pick another song and there is not really a healthy way to find out. It's like no risk no fun. If you want to know how I sound check out my Candlelight Karaoke videos. Thank you guys!
I'm not quite sure what you're referring to. There should be examples towards the beginning of the clip where I'm showing several different ways of singing the same scale, and the pros and cons of each. (The recording device wasn't on when I was giving my intro, so part of that got cut off, but the rest should be there.) Voice type is irrelevant for this, because the principles are exactly the same for everyone. What you're talking about sounds more like artistic intent. A singer can only really focus on that once they have some technical control over their voice. This video is more about what to do to get that kind of control. In our other videos, episodes 2, 3, & 4, we talk more about the issues you are referring to. "In the end it's all about making it sound right somehow and none of the listeners really care how we do that. If that means creating too much strain and losing consistency, we should "surrender" to the original and pick another song and there is not really a healthy way to find out." -- I really disagree with this one as this type of attitude is what leads to singers constantly being in a panic when going out on stage. This is PRECISELY the issue we covered in episode 4 if you haven't seen it already.
Marnell Sample Thanks for the reply and I have to admit I haven't watched the other parts yet. Your comment on artistic intend sounds very interesting and that might be the problem I tried to adress but maybe I was also trying to simplify things a bit too much. I'm going to watch the other videos and maybe then I'll get back to you. Thanks again and all the best!
A lot of singers are in the same boat I was in: we had the VISION of what we wanted to do and the fucking PASSION but our LACK OF TECHNIQUE WOULDNT LET US EXPRESS IT!!!!!!!!!!!! Technique is the ENABLER of style, it gives more FREEDOM to express without straining or having range or tone issues. "In the end it's all about making it sound right somehow and none of the listeners really care how we do that." it depends on what you sing. The stuff I always wanted to sing, it was IMPOSSIBLE to even FAKE IT, you just had to have the technique there to even get near the notes to begin with. Some songs yes you can "get the sound right somehow" but I really can't relate to advice like this because it's seriously frustrating getting on stage knowing my voice will be "hit or miss" which is precisely why I decided to delve into learning how to make my voice consistent - knowing what to expect out of my voice is what gives me the CONFIDENCE to LET LOOSE on stage. People who train with us are seeking THAT, that ability to not have to worry whether their voice will work or not work on that day, they want to get their voices on point instead of just leaving it up to fate. and yes you're right the audience doesn't care if you hurt your voice in the process, but they aren't the ones who have to live with the repercussions of that - so it's on US to do things right. Vocal technique doesn't sacrifice style it ENABLES style.
Phil Moufarrege Yes I agree on what you say here and maybe I have to clearify a little bit: First of all, I have just finished watching your part one and two videos and I especially liked when you actually demonstrated song examples and presented your own ways of singing. I actually plan on making videos just like that myself, picking one specific song, demonstrating my personal technical approach and explaining a bit on where I change registers, psychological stuff and so on... In your videos you were actually expressing many many things I experienced myself eg. thinking down when singing up or the other way around whenever you're leaving your comfort zone basically, just when singing down also thinking quieter can achieve a louder tone sometimes, you'll probably know what I mean. Extremely valuable info for beginners imo just like using soft onsets instead of explosive consonantes which are just rarely used for very specific stylistic purposes. I have to admit I interpreted Marnell's singing all these different scales as searching for just one best way this should always be done in and it seemed like a generalized way of explaining at first but like he mentioned in his reply, he meant it more like practicing a number of variations that can be adapted to certain situations and that makes sense. I think he only presented one or two bad examples that would never really be usefull and he is right imo. Sorry for the confusion, guys! Maybe I didn't catch on a couple of things because English is not my mother tongue. I do speak English a lot, like on my channel but I'm from Germany. I posted a video talking about singing, just in case you're interested. My approach is strictly song based though, sort of like how the Japanese teach children how to play the piano, trying to conquer these difficult pieces... well ok, in a much less serious way :D hahaha... The joy of singing is key to me and not getting stuck in too much "work", which doesn't mean not challenging, just taking a bit more time trying things out for myself and then sticking to what feels like it's really me, if you know what I mean... Thanks for the reply guys and keep the passion alive! All the best wishes from Germany!
This phenomena may also be referred to as an APARTMENT voice. We don't want to annoy our neighbors beyond the walls, so we stifle ourselves and try to sing small. As you know, this is terribly straining for the voice. Shy people have it worse, I'm sure.
Oh, yes, I'm WELL aware of that. Might as well be called DORM voice too, because it's exactly what I did when I used to live in dorms!!! I was SOOO afraid of people hearing me practice, that I just stifled my own voice and ended up constricting it. I've seen so many other college students in dorms do the same thing. If you're in such a situation, it's best not to sing at all to not rehearse bad habits. Just wait until you get to a place where you can sing feely without worry of others hearing you.
If you DO have to practice in an apartment/dorm, what I would work on are things involving phrasing. Or things to train your musical ear. But DO NOT try to train technique in such an environment! That's asking for issues down the line.
I sing small in appartment without ever straining the voice, how do you explain that ? I sing in appartment, I sing at speech level volume and a bit lower at night
I find singing small first is the best way to build control over whatever you want to achieve
A truly excellent dose of knowledge and wisdom.
Thanks, Bob! I really appreciate it. :)
Cheers for watching Bob!!
Thank you Leon Bridges and Hozier
Seriously, thanks. It helped me a lot
Lol. You're welcome.
Love you guys so much.. Thanks for this wonderful message 👍🏻
I love the point that Marnell brought up about misconception of how we sound, because the way he sang the C4 with such an extremely nasally and splat 'aaaaa' vowel was exactly how I used to sing several years ago, thinking that I am 'brightening the sound' when all I am doing is adding even more unnecessary strain (granted, that was a bright sound, but it was a very unhealthy way to approach it IMO). Same goes for the volume thing - I actually had to relearn my singing configuration and build my sound from a very muscular place first before I eventually stripped it down to a smoother one.
We tend to have misconceptions on what we should sound like instead of how we actually sound, and I feel that is what one should change slowly to progress. Just a learner's thoughts though - correct me if I am wrong XD
Your last paragraph really summarized this well. So many singers have a misconception about what they are supposed to sound like, and it obscures the whole process of learning to sing. It normally takes a very good teacher to help you hone in on your true sound. And a lot of times, that sound is NOT what we expect.
you could have just recorded yourself, listen back and compare with famous artist and what you want to achieve. its that simple and tells you exactly if you are doing it right or not
HalleluYah such a blessing thank you both for sharing your gifts freely. peace and love
You're welcome! Thank you for watching!
Thanks for checking in
Thanks guys, really helpful. I spent years with other programs trying to build that light voice that Marnell talked about at the beginning and it never got any stronger.
You're welcome. I know too many singers who were in your situation (myself included), and sadly, I watched the for years as they tried in vain to get that to grow. And it didn't. So was hoping we could save a lot of singers years of wasted time.
I got stuck with that approach too!
This video came on perfect timing!!! Just when I needed it!! Thank you!
You're welcome! What did you take away most from it?
not to be afraid of using my voice (kinda). I saw my vocal coach today and he told me that I'm doing every scale correctly but I have to stop falling back in my throat and lowering the volume as I go higher in the scale. I do that since I'm scared of straining and doing things wrong.. But I realised that when I do the scale without falling back in my throat and keeping a balanced, medium level volume as instructed it doesn't feel like Im straining at all anymore. It feels great! Im just not used to it yet. That is why this video was very motivating. :)
Learning to not be afraid of the sound and volume of your own voice is one of the biggest mental hurdles we have to overcome as singers. And sometimes, the physicality that's required in the body to make those sounds can be a stumbling block. I surely was scared of the volume and intensity of my own voice. It took a lot of practicing and yelling (correctly) in my car to really get comfortable with those volumes and that intensity.
You'll get there, though. You have the support of your teacher, so that should help you a lot. :)
The funny thing is many times when we are afraid of straining, we end up just straining anyway!!! For me I found I had to learn just to "go for it" and then that gave me a starting point to work from. One thing at a time right? Glad to hear you've got a coach that can hear your issues and help you overcome them
I think I did this more time than I can count with sls
OMG this is so useful, especially what Marnell said at 10:35. Thank you so much for sharing this. Singing is really mental.
You're welcome! Thanks for watching.
Marnell Sample You're an amazing teacher! I hope one day I'll be able to afford your lessons. Much love❤️
Totally, I tell you what too...we can be our worst enemies, someone tells us to relax and we think "okay no pressure in the voice whatsoever" when that's not what it means, it's just WE interpret it to mean that way. How we interpret advice is what matters most, not what the advice is!!
Phil Moufarrege Absolutely agree with you! Thank you so so much!👍🏻
The demonstration at 15:30 is exactly the issue i have with my voice and sadly, I've been speaking like this since i was 11 (when my voice changed), so i don't know how to even articulate anything without that throat closure.
My teacher doesn't know how to correct it either. Is there a proven method to remove that tension?
I like this
It feels to me like once the technique is correct you can "push" it all you want (simply singing more intensely) and the throat will stay protected. You'll just approach the body's limit of energy but the voice will keep functioning healthily and efficiently. Is that correct? I definitely feel there's a productive push involved. When you told me about how the voice uses mostly eccentric contractions, that really clicked with me. It can often feel like everything is stretching away from the larynx when the singing is intense. And that stretching feeling can take a lot of effort
Yes, for the most part, if the technique is right, you can push the intensity quite a bit, particularly on the upper end. That said, you have to find the natural "bloom" points of your voice -- that is, the parts of your range where the volume just naturally wants to take off and increase in intensity. You have to respect that part of your voice, because if you try to sing with that same intensity LOWER than that range, then you will still run into issues. (Lower notes will only accept but so much air pressure. But once you get into YOUR high range, the pressure increases and you feel like you can just give and there will be no negative repercussions.)
And yes, that elastic stretching of the body is where most of the energy goes to! It's a very odd feeling because there is nothing else to compare it to. But once you get it in your singing, it becomes your best friend. You can't live without it!
What Marnell said 100%, I'm hesitant about my response because I know how you think Owen ;-) I don't think you should be thinking about "pushing it all you want" because the voice doesn't respond the same way to volume from bottom to top or vowel to vowel. Also, going for volume isn't about just pushing harder, most of the time when I want to go louder, I approach it with more finesse and that keeps the voice more free and then it opens up better.
I think a better way to say this would be, when your voice functions right there is no fear about singing in louder volumes or ranges, the voice holds together even on intense volumes. I think it will do you no good to intellectualize about trying to find your supposed "max intensity" just find the volume you need to sing that's it.
Very very nice discussion. I have issue on volume also, especially I usually blow my vocal fold apart when fighting with big band sound.
The question I have is: What is head dominant mix or what does "reduce vocal weight" mean?
I sing very demanding hard rock song e.g. Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden. I use lots of support from my whole body and it is very straining, though I feel it is not straining my vocal tract but literally straining my body, my stamina. I think I cant sing more than 30 mins with songs involve lots of high C and thats why I want to think of develop a "less intense" voice. But, it is where I got stuck. I do not know how to control the intensity of my voice. I do not know how to "mix more head voice in me" while maintaining an appropriate amount of intensity. Hope you two masters could really give me some advice.
Thanks for watching.
When you talk about "head dominant mix" and "reducing vocal weight", you need to talk to the people who are using those terms, because everyone means something different by them. Sometimes they are referring to singing at a lighter intensity level. Sometimes it means singing with less constriction (what I talked about in this video). Sometimes they are referring to something totally different. You honestly can't say unless you ask the person who is using the term, and then ask them for several examples to compare and contrast.
As for the rest of your comment, support along won't fix everything. Your support has to coordinate with everything else you're doing. It sounds like you probably have several issues going on simultaneously that are too tricky to pull apart in a message. Skype lessons would be the way to go to address these issues.
this makes a lot of sense guys, thank you so much :)
You're welcome! What was the biggest misconception it cleared up for you?
Marnell Sample You guys explained necessary pushing/pressure vs straining really clearly. A lot of TH-cam 'how to sing' videos miss this information and since I'm starting to learn how to sing more healthfully using TH-cam this video really confirmed what I suspected. I kept sking myself why it sounds better and feels like Im more in control of my voice when I push a little yet so many voice coaches on TH-cam say there should be no strain, you must relax and correct singing should feel effortless. This video was an "Ahah, I knew it!" for me.
Thanks for that clarification! We love when singers have that "ah ha" moment. :-)
wow ur right
thank you for this, i was just finding myself slipping into old habits!
You're welcome!
Always happens to me too ha ha. Singing is like climbing up a slippery hill, if you don't constantly move forward you'll begin to fall back
is it healthy to hold back A LOT of pressure? it doesn't hurt but it does make my chords feel really worked. I can belt for hours a day, never lose my voice but it does get a little fryish after hours of belting. I'm not filling up on air but I'm using a ton of energy from my gut. I can vibrato on most notes but I'm getting some grit up after A5. is grit bad for the voice or does it come from a lot of volume at a certain point? been singing a lot of call and response to James Brown tunes lately. I'm ok with that kind of sound but I guess the question is should I practice at that intensity or save it for gigs only?
It depends how you're doing it, where's your recording?
you guys are the real deal! keep doing the good work! 🙂 but what if using the 'right volume' i still have light sore throat?
Thanks for watching.
I don't recall if I mentioned it in the video, but cord closure is another component. It's what I call blasting. So when you're at a decent medium loud volume but you're still airy, that's going to cause major issues and can lead to a sore throat, especially as you go higher with it.
There are also other things like jutting the jaw forward, looking up, not opening the mouth correctly, getting your vowels out of line (especially as you go higher), not engaging the lower torso as you go higher, or any number of things. It's really hard to tell without hearing you.
What range specifically do you feel is causing you the most issues?
Didn't realize you were a jazz guy. Awesome!!! Listened to a couple of your clips. If you're still singing the same way now, you lighten up your voice a bit too much as you go higher. That puts your cords in too thin of a state as you go higher, and actually puts you in a low level form of blasting. That's why you're probably getting some throat irritation. You need to focus on singing much more firmly through the area of D4-F#4. I know the way that you are singing is STYLISTICALLY correct, but from a technical perspective, it's not helping you. The voice should feel more firm to you in that area and not so light. You will end up being louder because of this. Just make sure you're not airy as you're louder, because that means you're doing it wrong.
It's funny because you do the exact same thing I used to when I started training. I would lighten up excessively in the range of D4-E4, even though I was still in full voice. But the cords would be too thin. So I wouldn't be that loud, but I would get this airy texture which sounds nice for songs. Not so good for technique, though.
You overall have good habits, which works in your favor. Nothing else is immediately jumping out to me. That's just your biggest issue for now.
Glad you enjoyed it! Well just using the right volume isn't the be-all-end-all of vocal technique, it's just a STARTING place that is necessary for EVERYTHING ELSE to work right. Take Marnell's advice, our ear is our specialty. Take care
You have a sore throat. Try relaxing your neck jaw and tongue and shoulder. Don't push out too much air. Maybe focus the sound towards the hard pallet NOT the soft. Something is not relaxed or open
do you remember when I used to whisper? Lol! I was barely making sounds.
Oh, I remember it all too clearly! Lol. Wasn't that long ago!
Ha ha ha ha! I got the relaxation talk too so i used to think that you should be so relaxed and feel no pressure at all. The ability to differentiate correct pressure and strain is a key element in singing: basically you have to know the amount of compression the voice needs singing in each range.
I really like this video but it seems a bit hard to understand what you are talking about, when we don't have a clearly defined example, like a specific voice type (tenor, barritone ec...) and a clearly defined passage of a song we can all relate to. When we approach a certain song (it doesn't even really matter which one) we have many many options of how to sing it but only if we manage to keep most technical aspects of the original, our version will be considered well sung, unless we also change the whole structure of the music like pitch, tempo, groove, instrumentation and all that, then we have more freedom. If you're looking for technical ways to make things more comfortable for your voice, there is only little you can do without producing a less convincing version. So in a way we're even forced to make the same "mistakes" the original might contain. In the end it's all about making it sound right somehow and none of the listeners really care how we do that. If that means creating too much strain and losing consistency, we should "surrender" to the original and pick another song and there is not really a healthy way to find out. It's like no risk no fun. If you want to know how I sound check out my Candlelight Karaoke videos. Thank you guys!
I'm not quite sure what you're referring to. There should be examples towards the beginning of the clip where I'm showing several different ways of singing the same scale, and the pros and cons of each. (The recording device wasn't on when I was giving my intro, so part of that got cut off, but the rest should be there.) Voice type is irrelevant for this, because the principles are exactly the same for everyone.
What you're talking about sounds more like artistic intent. A singer can only really focus on that once they have some technical control over their voice. This video is more about what to do to get that kind of control. In our other videos, episodes 2, 3, & 4, we talk more about the issues you are referring to.
"In the end it's all about making it sound right somehow and none of the listeners really care how we do that. If that means creating too much strain and losing consistency, we should "surrender" to the original and pick another song and there is not really a healthy way to find out." -- I really disagree with this one as this type of attitude is what leads to singers constantly being in a panic when going out on stage. This is PRECISELY the issue we covered in episode 4 if you haven't seen it already.
Marnell Sample Thanks for the reply and I have to admit I haven't watched the other parts yet. Your comment on artistic intend sounds very interesting and that might be the problem I tried to adress but maybe I was also trying to simplify things a bit too much. I'm going to watch the other videos and maybe then I'll get back to you. Thanks again and all the best!
A lot of singers are in the same boat I was in: we had the VISION of what we wanted to do and the fucking PASSION but our LACK OF TECHNIQUE WOULDNT LET US EXPRESS IT!!!!!!!!!!!! Technique is the ENABLER of style, it gives more FREEDOM to express without straining or having range or tone issues.
"In the end it's all about making it sound right somehow and none of the listeners really care how we do that." it depends on what you sing. The stuff I always wanted to sing, it was IMPOSSIBLE to even FAKE IT, you just had to have the technique there to even get near the notes to begin with. Some songs yes you can "get the sound right somehow" but I really can't relate to advice like this because it's seriously frustrating getting on stage knowing my voice will be "hit or miss" which is precisely why I decided to delve into learning how to make my voice consistent - knowing what to expect out of my voice is what gives me the CONFIDENCE to LET LOOSE on stage.
People who train with us are seeking THAT, that ability to not have to worry whether their voice will work or not work on that day, they want to get their voices on point instead of just leaving it up to fate. and yes you're right the audience doesn't care if you hurt your voice in the process, but they aren't the ones who have to live with the repercussions of that - so it's on US to do things right. Vocal technique doesn't sacrifice style it ENABLES style.
Phil Moufarrege Yes I agree on what you say here and maybe I have to clearify a little bit: First of all, I have just finished watching your part one and two videos and I especially liked when you actually demonstrated song examples and presented your own ways of singing. I actually plan on making videos just like that myself, picking one specific song, demonstrating my personal technical approach and explaining a bit on where I change registers, psychological stuff and so on... In your videos you were actually expressing many many things I experienced myself eg. thinking down when singing up or the other way around whenever you're leaving your comfort zone basically, just when singing down also thinking quieter can achieve a louder tone sometimes, you'll probably know what I mean. Extremely valuable info for beginners imo just like using soft onsets instead of explosive consonantes which are just rarely used for very specific stylistic purposes. I have to admit I interpreted Marnell's singing all these different scales as searching for just one best way this should always be done in and it seemed like a generalized way of explaining at first but like he mentioned in his reply, he meant it more like practicing a number of variations that can be adapted to certain situations and that makes sense. I think he only presented one or two bad examples that would never really be usefull and he is right imo. Sorry for the confusion, guys! Maybe I didn't catch on a couple of things because English is not my mother tongue. I do speak English a lot, like on my channel but I'm from Germany. I posted a video talking about singing, just in case you're interested. My approach is strictly song based though, sort of like how the Japanese teach children how to play the piano, trying to conquer these difficult pieces... well ok, in a much less serious way :D hahaha... The joy of singing is key to me and not getting stuck in too much "work", which doesn't mean not challenging, just taking a bit more time trying things out for myself and then sticking to what feels like it's really me, if you know what I mean... Thanks for the reply guys and keep the passion alive! All the best wishes from Germany!