VOCAL BREAKDOWN: Make an “OPERA” sound in 4 EASY STEPS!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- Vocal Production can get at times incredibly COMPLEX and COMPLICATED. Especially when first starting and especially in the classical music style!
I find that when I get frustrated or overwhelmed, breaking down the Phonation process to its bear bones and basic key points helps to simplify the ideas in my mind and achieve the BEST results!
Here I break down the “Operatic” Sound into 4 Key Points:
1. Take a deep breath and prepare the open throat onset that’s achievable through a yawn like motion. (Larynx lowered, Soft Palate raised) and MAINTAIN that position.
2. Engage the abdominal musculature (Belly tuck!) in a pliable manner to achieve subglottic pressure (Appoggio) with pure cord closure.
3. Allow the air to release through a narrow opening of the vocal cords in a pressurized, and energize manner supported by resisting the ascension of the diaphragm And elongating the exhalation process. Feel the abdominal working!!!
4. Achieve previous Key points 1-3 in the most released and comfortable way without any tension in the Jaw, Tongue, Neck, or Shoulders.
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And he starts the video with a perfect, world-class, sustained B flat. Sure thing! Lol!! ❤
Yet another great video! I prefer this active but "relaxed" approach so much more than more restrictive and forceful approaches out there. It feels great/ efficient and the sound is more beautiful and free. Thank you! :)
why on earth I didn't find your channel much earlier??? You are pure gold! Thanks for that.
Вы великолепный человек, спасибо что делитесь опытом
It's literally untrue that your tongue isn't needed to create vowels, since the position of the tongue is largely what determines vowel shape.
Yes it's actually the opposite. The harmonics for the EE are formed by the raised back of the tongue. In fact you can produce an EE and open your mouth as an AH and still keep the fundamental sound of EE(i )or an OO (u) the lips only accentuate the harmonics that the pharynx and tongue are shaping.
If this wasn't true ventriloquists wouldn't be able to make an AH with a closed mouth, it only makes sense the more you think about it.
@@sbxamedhi Yep, it's also how the French u vowel (close front rounded vowel, or IPA: y) is formed. You literally just make move your tongue as if you were making an ee but round your lips while doing it.
@@joshdaniels2363 oh man, thanks for bringing this up, this is so important, why people's OOs/U sound so dull sometimes is because they're not using the nice metallic overtone that the EE/i tongue position gives.
I've been doing the OO/u this way since before I started learning vocal technique, I had no idea the french shaped the vowel like this. It makes for beautiful OOs and a lot easier to sing onto the higher range. ( I speak Spanish btw, so I would use A E I O U but English speakers can get lost when reading it like this lol )
Exactement. Except that the exemple was with a A to open yout troat and find the good sound. It is only the beginning.
ok, I tried hitting his sustained note before the 4 step process and it sounded awful, thin and reedy. I tried the 4 step process and, holy s***! I didn’t know i could make an operatic sound like that! Note: I’ve had years of vocal training but not in opera, so I wasn’t going in completely blind but this technique is excellent. Thanks for these tips!
God! excelent no other words., thanks❤❤❤
Besides being crystal clear and pedagogically gifted, you're really pleasant and amusing to listen to. Thanks for these videos. :)
ОГРОМНАЯ БЛАГОДАРНОСТЬ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Perfect video, thanks!
Bravo tenore.
Another great video! I would love to hear your thoughts on how someone brand new to singing would start this process. Would it be start with one "AH" tone that could be sustained and then expand to lower and higher notes? Same with other vowels? A roadmap from zero to hero with progression milestones would be awesome. I guess I'm asking you for your singing course haha. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has interest and would be willing to compensate you for this great information.
God! thank you for not talking the " static globe" principles, big bang" and Leonardo Da Vinchi ( only over reacting other useless videos) ; anyway, I love your videos, usefull, didactic, not bla, bla, demonstrations, thanks, awesome❤❤
¿Puddes explicarlo tambien en castelllano?
El próximo vídeo estoy con un tenor argentino. 👍
Where does the unwavering flawless just seemingly natural vibrato come from? I try to make the vibrato sound but it’s forced and I can’t do it every note.
Vibrato comes naturally when the larynx is free to function without any unnatural muscular tension. Think about singing jawless, tongless and throatless (quote from Michael Trimble). Vibrato should not be ’made’ - like consciously altering the pitch or changing the breath pressure rapidly, both might result a sound that resembles vibrato but it’s not the correct and healthy way.
@@tomuinen God love Michael Trimble! 🙂
IS HE MENTALLY CHALLENGED???
This is looks like comedy. At least in the beginning.
Literally the topic of me and my voice teacher in our last lesson. Something I get too cerebral with the process regardless how much experience I have. He always remind me that I know what im doing so just do it. Focusing on attaco and breathing. The rest is assured to happen because of my experience.
Simplifying the process is always necessary after you make it complicated
A decades worth experience as a repetiteur at some pretty prestigious places, but this video is excellent and impressive as a lesson. Good work!
I would love to hear your thoughts on two topics:
1) How to find a good balance between head/chest voice. My voice tend to get rather thin and "head dominant" in and after the passagio. I can try to activate more chest, but don't know if I'm doing it right or adding to much force and sacrificing the freedom of the voice.
2) Vibrato: Does it vibrate automatically for you, or are you "controlling" or "activating" it manually? (especially in the top notes)
Thanks a lot Jose! :)
That explains a lot, I always struggled with cord closure whenever i stoped singing for a while and experimented ways to quickly recoverfrom that and I found out by doing a subglottal pressure exercise similar to this video is the most effective way. Great explanation!
Herrlich und sehr sympathisch, ich liebe ihn.
Super erklärt und total verständlich. Warum machen das die übrigen Gesangslehrer nicht?
I usually click these vocal "expert" links for a good laugh, but you actually know what you're talking about! The one thing you left out is just how many years it takes to achieve an operatic sound that one can actually make money with!
😏😏😏 💯💯💯
I discovered, when I find a good buzzy placement of the vocal tract with great resonance, BUT when you putting up your chin (by looking up) - the voice looses buzz and becomes weak and dull instantly. O don't change anything in larynx. Do you have the same effect?
Does is mean that exact vocal tract and chin position is the right one?
Thank you. Good explanation and good sound !
I get that this video is for already knowledgeable singers. The amount of frustrated singers out there because their teachers only tell them to focus on the breathing.
Note to begginers: Yes, breathing matters, of course, but the actual singing happens inside the throat. The muscles inside there need to be trained and taught how to work together and what to do to be a team. You don't become a great singer or develop/grow a voice by learning how to breath only.
This is the clear evidence that singing “Beautifully” and having a nice voice, necessarily means a good-non confusing advices….because I could not called this a Technique. You could not resume in four tips what Operatic voice technique is in order to produce a healthy sound! Is very irresponsable; many people watching this… with every step interpreted at its own way(because every step is provided with his own sensation on his own instrument…and every instrument is different! Is not based in explaining for an example what mechanism you need to do in order to open your throat, as one of the steps indicates, so… actually not teaching anything, just saying “I am felling this when I do this”…. So please…. Be careful when you see this kind of videos: operatic singing takes time and calm and responsable technique with your precious instrument!!!! Best of luck!!!!!
Yes I agree. all those videos to help us who didn't manage to find the mechanism this is so very generous of you... I truly wonder if according to the voice we have, at the beginning, could it be a bit like weight lifting.. When I try what you show it sound much louder but for me it is work it is a bit alike the sensation of weightlifting. When I do deadlifting with a belt I have a related sensation.. Hahaha this is so mysterious
Takes time to build the strength and coordination to achieve subglottic pressure and cord closure in a relaxed and comfortable way. Keep going! 💪💪💪 Practice & Repetition!
Not sure if it was a slip of the tongue, but the comment you make about resisting the diaphragm from ascending is really interesting as it’s actually being resisted from the top down in your “tssss” example (creating resistance in the mouth with the lips and tongue shape) engaging the abdominals actually makes the diaphragm rise further which results in the higher subglottic pressure; but the air release is then slowed down by the articulation of the “tssss”
Great video though! I’m just a bit of a pedant when it comes to specificity
I had the same reaction. To add to the pedantry 🤣 for those who care: Technically speaking, it is not the abdominals that slow the ascent of the diaphragm. The diaphragm descends when it is contracted and ascends when it is relaxed. The remaining air in the lungs prevents it from ascending further, not the abdominals. The air is contained by the vocal folds (when singing) or by the mouth (the "tssss" example) or by an instrument (🎺). The abdominals, or, more accurately, the inner intercostals, compress the thoracic cavity and thus push air out to maintain that subglottal pressure as the volume of air is reduced by exhalation. Appoggio ("support" or "lean") then is maintaining the correct amount of air support. Too much, and the vocal folds blow open or need to be overly thick, etc., to resist the air pressure. If the support is too thin, then the folds may not vibrate sufficiently. I've seen some singers advocate to keep the rib cage expanded (external intercostals) to prevent overblowing the folds and resist premature exhalation. For example, as a former trumpet player, I tend to struggle with too much air / too much pressure in my support rather than too little.
None of this detracts from Jose's great voice or videos. But one of the challenges of vocal pedagogy has always been some confusing anatomical/functional explanations.
This is also why some teachers and singers are fans of the semi-occluded vocal tract exercises, e.g., the "straw" technique you'll see advocated by Joyce DiDonato, Renee Fleming, and others: the back pressure from the straw means that not all of the subglottal pressure needs to be resisted solely by the vocal folds. Instead of just pressure below the folds (subglottal), there is also pressure above the above the folds (supraglottal).
@@josanbabu it’s been studied as well that the abdominals and intercostals are usually both working at all times to regulate subglottic pressure. I’ll try and find the study but it was reported that in each test subject, abdominals engaged (which would decrease space in the abdomen pushing the visceral organs up against the diaphragm to increase subglottic pressure) and simultaneously the external intercostals were engaging (which would have caused a lowering of subglottic pressure) this may be why the idea of “keep the rib cage open” is often useful. My experience and feelings as a singer definitely relate to the idea of both of these things happening; and when I give this instruction to my clients (I work as a voice teacher) it often seems to help them not push breath from the abdominals or allow the rib cage to drop too quickly. Intuitively, I imagine this results in a breath control system that can quickly adapt to the changing pressure needs that are dependent on what is happening at vocal fold level and above.
Another study also found that as much as abdominal engagement was noted in all singers there wasn’t one singular abdominal muscle technique that was uniform with each test subject (some had more use of transverse abdominus, some the obliques, some had higher engagement of quadratus lumborum) but the outcomes were still repeatable and efficient for each singer.
@@TheAshumms Thank you! That study would be a fascinating read, if you find it. I find the technical/mechanical explanations more instructive than a lot of the imagery and sensation-based instruction I've heard. I took a few lessons a few years ago as a way to enhance my appreciation of opera, so I'm still a novice singer and my technique is still in progress. I find that holding the ribs open is fatiguing and introduces tension, but it sounds like the exact engagement is very singer-dependent.
I love your videos ❤
My vical eange is D2 to G4
I start feeling strain around f#4 where should i start mixing with my head voice
And how can i get that head resonance
Sounds like you might be a tenor 😜, F#4 is where the laryngeal tilt (cover) begins for a lyric tenor. But I can’t say for sure of course unless I heard you live. Start applying that yawn position (open throat space) around C4 and upwards gradually going deeper into that position and creating more space in the back while gathering the mouth at the front like a trumpet. The head voice is that same sound when we yawn. Should feel light and spacious, “dome” like. All this of course with good breath support.
Bel Canto forever 🎉✌️
👀😳
Making it sound easy 🙌🤣
You're great!! hehe
How you don´t have a million subscribers is beyond me. This video is so insightful. Beautifully explained and performed. Thank you for sharing.
I’m a rock singer that was classically trained 40 some years ago. I’ve been singing most of the years in between but now I’m 60 and I’m having issues with strength, stamina and projection especially in falsetto. It’s really flutey and airy. I don’t feel like I’m getting sufficient cord closure. Any suggestion on exercises?
Just sing .. you are perfect😂😂😂🎉🎉🎉🎉❤
Everything so good and clear! I would really like to know your view on the role of the abdominal muscles in singing? Do you have any video about it?
The video shows a low level of vocal awareness. You shout one note, deep in the back of your head. What is beautiful and worth paying attention to in this??? There are also singers in the stage who shout like that. And opera singers must have a singing culture: a uniform, close, rounded cantilena sound throughout the entire range. When a singer acquires such a sound, he is no longer interested in "singing" one very high note - he gets high from the overtones of a close rounded sound and tries to impress the listener with a cantilena phrase (on the breath!) even in the middle register.
HI i am a new tenor in a church choir, but my concern is i was born with a big tonsils is that a problem? Thanks
What about vostesing with a small open mouth but wide so it can be used to talk project the voice loud?
Can be used the same technical you explain but for project your voice?
Can you pliz talk about how to shape our mouths for the vowels
Can you teach tenor choral voice, please, sir.
that was really helpful, thank you 🙏🏼
Thanks! Great brief instruction!
So beautifull, I wish I could do this.
you have very clear skin or is it a filter?
it's seems so easy ,but is not at all😊
Thanks a lot ❤
Hola! Vi tu video hace unas horas y de casualidad he visto éste otro:
th-cam.com/video/CIfeLjjYGYo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VN4FqNu5eeekNOR1
Tiene la nuez muy marcada y no se mueve un ápice! Lo que precisamente comentas 🤘
this singer darkens his voice, through lack of lustre. What an opera singer has to find is the balance between light and dark, ( called chiaroscuro ) which you could have by using these 4 steps
👍👏
Another brilliant lesson. The integration of pressure science, anatomy, and the breathing mechanism is spot on. Thank you.
Great video with clear instructions!
But i have one question: for vowel articulation the tongue has to move in different positions, right? Of course the source of the sound is in the larynx , but without the tongue there would
no possible vowel sounds. Are you just imagining that you tongue is not moving to keep it soft and relaxed?
I’m seeing so many tenors with very high tongue positions or sometimes pressed down ones or curved like an u.
Yes tongue does play a role in articulating vowels, mainly the back of the tongue. If you open your mouth and say an “i” vowel the back of the tongue has to rise in order to articulate the vowel. This keeps it forward and away from falling back when creating that open throat space through the yawn position. This is why a lot of singers relax into this position of the tongue when singing. Back of the tongue is raised and away from the throat to not block the open space that you’ve created when doing the yawn. We don’t want to fall into the trap of creating the yawn space and having the tongue fall back along with darkening our vowels which create an “ingolato” “fake dark” sound. Keep the back of the tongue lifted and away from the space and the front of the tongue then is relaxed and free lying flat close to your front teeth. But this must be natural and relaxed if you think too much in it then the tongue will be tense and we want it relaxed “numb” like.
😅 Eres increíble, honesto, generoso, claro y directo. Un tesoro para estudiantes y profesionales de la lírica. Además de estos fantásticos vídeos sobre técnica vocal, siempre tienes la respuesta justa a cualquier pregunta. Los comentarios y tus respuestas son la guinda a tus vídeos. ¡Enhorabuena y mil gracias !
This is very useful!!❤
Step one is very hard for me. My larynx goes down fine when I inhale, but pops up as soon as I start to sing. I'm guessing there's some kind of coordination with the support that helps keep the larynx low? I am working on maintaining the inhalation position and feeling while I sing in the hope that this will allow my larynx to stay low without pushing it down.
Try to talk like a bear for a couple days or even weeks. It worked out perfectly for me. You won’t sing like that but the bear voice will always push the larynx lower and eventually you’ll adapt to sing with lowered stable larynx. Hope that helped
Start by speaking in the yawn position. I demonstrate this in my videos. It’s gonna sound funny and funky but it’s a great way to build coordination. Take a deep yawn feel the larynx lowering and soft palate rising, and speak in that yawn position. It’s gonna feel light, like falsetto, very hollow sound, and very “dome” like because of the palate rising and the space you’ve created. Do that consistently until you can apply to the low notes of your range, then gradually work on building the strength and coordination to apply it to the middle range and finally the top. 👍
I would add that your tongue position is also something to look out for. Tongue should not be tensed, but you must allow it to retract a bit (just as shown in the video). If you keep your tongue too forward it will keep your larynx up, especially if you have a short one. Another thing is to avoid to contract your swallowing muscles (the soft skin under your chin, put your thumb there, it should always be the most relaxed possible). Working that way, you must make your larynx descend without contracting the swallowing muscles and find the right muscles to keep it low, even as you speak.
Fantastic! Thankyou!
You're so cute.. I can't focus on your teaching. I'll just rewatch it. Lol.