Feel Like High or Powerful Notes are a Stretch? Try This Vocal Support Technique.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
- ✨ If you'd like my support in 1:1 lessons, you can find all the info and book here: thatsweetroar....
There’s nothing that robs us of our confidence quicker than feeling vocal strain, constriction or throat tension. It sets off alarm bells in our mind because we know we really shouldn’t be feeling that when we sing.
There are a bunch of reasons that we might feel that niggle in our throat but often it’s because pieces of the puzzle like the tongue and the jaw think they’re the ones who should take the lion’s share of the vocal load.
When in reality, that isn’t their job.
So who’s job is it? Well there’s a collection of muscles we can use to add support to our voice.
Let me introduce you to one - the tensor veli palatini.
What his fancy name is isn’t nearly as important as what he can do for your voice.
So check out the video below to play around with how activating him can help you feel more stable, in control and minimise throat tension and that stretchy “out of your reach” sensation.
TELL ME: Did it make a difference when you did a before and after of your own?
Adding this piece of vocal support should mean that you can hit those high notes and powerful belt notes with much less throat tension.
PS: The video I did on the soft palate lives here: thatsweetroar....
Amazing
I'm so glad you found it useful Jason, thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. ❤️
Wow! This worked great, thanks!
Woohoo, so so excited to hear that it helped you Izzy!
Playing drums for 20 plus years, have been using this technique to, what sounds like, push blood into the ear drums... always thought it helped in the early days when ear protection had not been used, slightly alleviate the ringing... currently I do backing vocals while playing and will try this at the next rehearsal, thanks
Oh wow, I didn't know that about the pressure helping with ear protection, thanks for sharing Grant! Just to clarify, this technique isn't about creating the pressure inside the ears though, it's about the slight stretch or engagement of the muscle in the back of the mouth. I just find that doing the "ear pop" gets both to happen so people can feel the subtle stretch sensation.
This very useful i Definitely Feel it in the upper back of the Roof of my mouth
Oh I'm so glad it helped Timothy. I hope your high notes feel easier and more stable! :)
Kim I absolutely love you💖........ The things you teach and say are really amazing and is very much inspiring... Thanks a lot for taking your time for doing this .....
And one thing I didn't understand from this lesson is the thing about "popping the ear" . Is it like the sensation of having air blown out of your ears ?, I do it with my nose closed with my fingers........ Or what exactly is it..... I didn't really quite get that can you please tell me what that actually means ...
It's okay if that doesn't help get the slightly stretchy or engaged feeling of the tensor veli palatini. Some people prefer to think about smiling inside their mouths (not showing it on the outside) or imagining that they have a rubber band attached to their top back teeth and trying to slightly pull them away from each other. We're just trying to feel that broadening in whatever way we can make it happen for you. :)
Yeah, blocking the nose then increasing the air pressure is a traditional way to pop the ears and relieve ear pressure pain, but it's a bit awkward to do that when trying to sing. You can use internal muscles and pallette to achieve similar while not pinching your nostrils. Just play around practicing until you hit the right combination.
I want to take lessons from you
That's very kind Shivam, I'm sure it'd be a lot of fun!
@@thatsweetroar how to join ur class?
What would you suggest the components of a healthy short daily practice? Is it palate and mask and breathing, but very specific. I love your detail and want to apply it my scales etc. My issue, as probably most of us, is tension.
Hi Rachel, great question! I always suggest starting with stretching/self massage. Then getting yourself into alignment. Then breath control, vocal function exercises (the straw work is my usual go to). Then I work with different breath intensities, different forms of anchoring and vowel shapes (depending on the song I'm going to sing). I'll always use the song/s I'm working on and the notes/words I'm finding challenging as a base for creating exercises that will help.
I close my nose and blow into my head to even the pressure so I don't really understand what should I do :|
That's okay. You can try smiling internally (in the back of your mouth) or imagining that you have a rubber band connecting your two back top teeth and you're gently trying to pull them away from each other. Whatever imagery or thought helps get that slight horizontal stretch in the back of your mouth/engagement of the tensor veli palatini.
It feels like I am smiling on the inside it's a bit like widening the cheeks starting from the inside a little bit back and under the ears. It doesn't quite feel like trying to pop my ears on the airplane to me but I did get the idea and not give me a start. It did make me feel easier and I was trying the line from The Lion King it feels like I am smiling on the inside it's a bit like why I didn't in the cheeks starting from the inside a little bit back and under the years. he doesn't quite feel like turn up up my ears on the airplane to me but I did get the idea and not give me a start. It did make me feel easier and I was trying the line from the Lion King can you feel the Love Tonight which starts with the word can on the f note which is right in the vocal break. I would love to know more especially about how you get tired after seeing and perhaps a little hoarse and what you can do to notice the bad techniques that you perhaps didn't notice that time. Sometimes unless aware during performance because I got a bit tired or hoarse but can't remember what I did what caused it. I am however able to sing for 2 to 3 hours. But usually I finished because I get to that point of being hoarse. Perhaps also I don't know is there a difference between just being tired or actually having had bad technique.
Cyrus, I'm so glad you were able to activate the slight engagement of the tensor veli palatini by thinking of the inner smile idea. :)
Vocal fatigue can be due to a number of reasons so it's best to have some listen to you, but the top three would probably be
1) trying to add intensity without changing the way you use your breath which means the throat muscles and tongue get involved
2) not adding anchoring (the inner smile is one example of this) when going higher or adding power
3) regular harsh onsets