Singing Tips

Free Tips On Vocal Exercise

Quality

Q  You have listed normal quality first. Do you consider quality the most important.

A  Yes. I consider normal quality as the single most important factor in singing. It is the end product of the processes of respiration, phonation, articulation, and resonation. It is the cornerstone or foundation of a good singing technique, which includes a resonance quality that people like to hear; a singing diction that people can understand; pharyngeal flexibility as the basis for dynamic control, agility and range extension, and artistic coloring of the voice, how to support your voice, and good vocal hygiene.

Q     What do you mean by “normal quality?”

A   By normal is meant the quality that one must sing to reach the goals or objectives. A psychological description may be stated as follows: a ringing resonant tone with a cover of beauty and a point or metal that projects. A physical description may be stated as follows: a singing tone that has a vibrato of 6 to 7 cycles per second; a low formant center­ing around 600 to 700 cycles per second for mellowness and beauty of tone; a high formant centering around 2800 cycles, a little higher for female voices, for metal or ring; and intensity.

Q     How can one tell when he is singing in the normal quality?

A   The singer is dependent on the “vocal ear” of his teacher. The singer is not in a position to judge his tone since he does not hear himself as others hear him. He hears himself not only through the air from the outside, but also through bone conduction to the inner ear. This has the effect of making the voice sound deeper. Tenors think they are baritones, baritones think they are basses, sopranos think they are mezzos.

Q   Does this normal quality apply to everybody? It was my impression that everybody’s quality was different?

A       It is my belief that everyone must sing basically the normal quality if he wishes to reach the goals or objectives as set up by the literature. Identity of voices differs as individuals differ but the singer’s identity must be established in normal quality. It would be impossible for the great artists to reach the artist status unless they were singing in their normal quality.

Q             Is it possible to list or describe different qualities?

A          At least five resonance qualities can be listed: metallic, nasal, denasal, muffled, and normal. There are at least four vibratory qualities: breathy, harsh, hoarse, and normal. In addition, approximately sixty adjectives describing quality can be listed.⁴⁰

Q             Can another more descriptive name be given to normal quality?

A          Normal quality has been described as “nasal” resonance by many teach­ers.   Actually it is not nasal except in the nasal sounds, m, n and ng.

Q             What do you mean, it is not a nasal quality?

A          It sounds as if it were nasal, and the singer has the feeling that his nose is open. However, x-ray pictures of the head showing the positions of the tongue and hard and soft palate indicate that in the production of good tone, the nasal port is closed, except on the nasals.⁴¹

Q             What test can be given to prove this point?

A       The so-called nose test: hold the nostrils of the nose closed and repeat a phrase with no nasals, such as “Tell her the day.” If there is no breath passing through the nose then there is an absence of nasality. Now repeat a phrase with nasals in the words: “My time is your time,” still holding the nostril closed. The nasals require a puff of breath through the nose, which may be continuous, thereby giving an objection­able quality to the whole phrase.

Q          Other than being objectionable in quality, what else can be said against nasality?

A       Nasality limits the flexibility of the voice, and in so doing limits the control of agility, loud and soft singing, and range.

Q          You have mentioned the use of the term “normal” and also “nasal” re­sonance as describing the quality that should be sung to get the best results. Can you suggest some other term that might be more descrip­tive and more easily understood?

A       I use the term “bell resonance.” The voice with this quality rings like a “bell”.

Q       What should a teacher know about the causes of good quality?

A       The teacher should know that the basis for normal quality is in the larynx. The vibrations of the vocal cords give off more than just puffs of sound. They give off a whole series of overtones, which are amplified or modi­fied by the resonators. In other words, the resonators - the pharynx, the mouth, and the nasal passages must be tuned to the vibrations of the vocal cords until the normal or “bell” quality is established.

Vocal warm ups-Masterclass in Tbilisi Concervatory p3

Franco Tenelli warms up a young tenor who is going to sing Nemorino’s aria later in part 4 of these series of Masterclasses in Georgian capital Tbilisi

Duration : 0:9:52

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Vocal Exercises to Improve your Singing Ability : Vocal Cord Hydration

Learn techniques on keeping the vocal cords hydrated in this free video clip on vocal exercises.

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Beginning Singing Tips : High & Low Vocal Warm Ups

Warming up your entire vocal range is important to prevent injury. Learn some vocal warm up exercise tips that focus on the lower and middle part of the voice from this vocal expert in this free video clip.

Duration : 0:1:12

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Vocal Strength Exercises

How to increase the range of the singing voice brings up the problem of registration, which is a part of phonation. The range of the singing voice divides itself naturally into a low, a middle, and a high register, which are the result of changes in vocal cord adjustment, in turn indicated by changes in resonance quality. The problem is to teach the student how to make the changes from one register to another, without the changes in quality being too obvious. Since the action of the vocal cords is below the level of con­sciousness, an acoustical approach must be made. An imitation of yodeling, the changing from the middle to the high voice, is an indirect approach. In changed male voices the use of falsetto, sung softly, reflecting undampened vocal cords, then changing to pharynx falsetto, reflecting dampened vocal cords, is another indirect approach. Humming n or ng with the mouth open in the high voice, and then changing to a vowel sound, preferably ay, oh, or ah, is another indirect approach to a change to the high voice mechanism.

The solution of the problem of how to teach a student to sing in his normal quality is dependent first on building up in the student’s mind a conception of what normal quality sounds like. The hearing of models of good singing, including records of voices similar to that of the student; the singing of three contrasting qualities such as “the singer’s in his nose” (nasality); “the singer’s in the well” (muffled) and “the singer’s in the bell” (normal) - these are indirect techniques. Calling “hey” in a loud voice to bring about a balanced co-ordination of the dynamic processes of respiration, phonation, articula­tion, and resonation, is another indirect approach to establishing normal quality.

The psycho-physiological approach to the development of the singing voice is a matter of training the vocal mechanism to respond to the dictates of the mind.

Vocal Exercises to Improve your Singing Ability : Vocal Dynamics : Voice Exercises

Learn techniques on improving vocal dynamics in this free how-to video on vocal exercises.

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What are some good exercises for bringing the head voice into the chest voice and vice versa?

Can anyone give me a set of vocal exercises for attaining a more seamless flow from chest voice to head voice?

Get a vocal teacher who can help you through this. Trying to do it wrong or pushing the voice to do things its not comfortable can be very potentially dangerous. Also, everyone is different and without knowing your training, age, or experience it is hard to give advice. There are the textbook exercises but the best advice is to get a singing teacher to help you do this seamlessly and safely.

singing: proper breathing (diaphragm, breath control, breath support),breathing&vocal exercises,warm-ups,tips?

I’ve always wanted a nice voice after quitting singing when I had my awful voice change. I used to sing okay when I was a child (pre-voice change) but I don’t really know the proper way of breathing, etc…

I’m willing to learn everything. (I’m a girl btw)

1. I know this has been asked a lot but, how do I properly breath when singing? How do I properly breath using the diaphragm? Anything about proper breathing in singing would help a lot.

2. Can you suggest some breathing and vocal exercises I can do? (I have a keyboard so I can use it on some exercises if ever it requires)

3. How do you warm-up?

4. Tips for “beginner”’s like me please! Some things that would be helpful!

Thank you!
oh, and some people say that you should inhale from your nose AND your mouth? what do they mean by that?

I’m by no means a master, but I did a huge, year-long project on this! Hope it helps!!!

Proper breathing should always be supported breathing. This means you shouldn’t put any stress on your throat! If your throat hurts when you sing, you’re probably straining to hit the note, using proper breath support. The easiest way to train yourself to breathe properly is to practice in a fairly large mirror. When you breathe, you want to use your diaphragm! When you do this properly, your shoulders shouldn’t move like when you do “chest breathing.” That’s where the mirror comes in handy.

The way I learned to breathe with my diaphragm was first watching someone while they sleep (creepy, I know!) When we sleep, we automatically use the diaphragm. When you breathe in, the area between your stomach and your ribs should extend outwards, and when you breathe out, it should move inwards.

Here are a few exercises to try and really hone in on the breathing technique!

1. Pretend that you’re sipping air through a straw. You’ll really be able to feel the diaphragm moving!

2. Use the first exercise while holding an innertube around yourself. You’ll be able to feel your diaphragm and ribs extending out against the sides. If you don’t have an innertube, you can lay down on your front on top of an exercise ball! (Hint: When you breathe well with your diaphragm, you should feel extension in your back as well!)

3. When singing and/or warming up, wrap your hands below your ribs on each side to monitor your breath-support.

Scales are the best way to warm-up. You always want to make sure that your vocal chords are hydrated and clear of phlegm! To get rid of phlegm healthily (clearing your throat isn’t necessarily healthy) try humming! It’s a safe way to do it! Arpeggios are my favorite way to warm-up. It’s simply going up and down the keys of the piano in different patterns, and simply using the sounds La-le-lee-lo-loo to sing with. Of course lip-trills are also fantastic for warm-ups! To find more exercises, you can check out a couple books on the Bel Canto technique (the Italian technique) for singing. It’s the more predominantly used, and more smiled upon technique for singing. It’s less guttural and less stressful on the voice than the German or English techniques.

Some simple heath tips. Smoking is a no-no. Belting all the time isn’t great for your voice. It can lead to vocal nodes and polyps, which have a long and sometimes indefinite recovery time (AKA no singing at all)! Some people argue that drinking caffeine and other citrus drinks are bad for your chords, but that’s generally right before singing.

Hope that answered most of your question. This is my favorite subject to gab about!

Vocal Exercises to Improve your Singing Ability : Lip Rolling Technique in Vocal Exercises

Learn techniques on lip rolling for vocal exercises in this free how-to video on exercising the vocal chords.

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Help! I'm stuttering during play rehearsals! Any vocal exercises I could try?

In 3 and a half weeks I am playing the lead in my second-ever play, and it's a much bigger and more popular production than my first. The director felt I had a real knack for acting, had good vocal quality on stage, and that I would be dedicated enough to play the lead in a Shakespeare play.

As far as dedication goes, I practice for hours every day, I even write my lines on notecards and practice them at work. According to a friend of mine, I was saying my lines in my sleep last week.
I still don't know them all. I know about 2/3 or more of them, and a lot of the stuff is just not sticking; especially long scenes where I need to memorize a lot of cues (respond to several different characters).
Furthermore, during rehearsals - and even just readings - I find myself stuttering quite often, during many lines - flubbing the words and tripping over pronunciations, and this is something I was good at to start. Are there any exercises I could try to loosen myself up so I stutter less?

Here are some memorization tips. Once you have your lines completely and totally memorized you will no longer stutter. You will be able to focus on the acting rather than worrying about forgetting.

Carry your script or speech with you at all times and read the full text when you get a chance to get a strong emotional "feel" for it.

Get to know your character. Understand why you say and do what you do.

Act out your lines as you say them, even if this is an unemotional speech. You can exaggerate your words with dramatic gestures. Of course, you don't want to do this during your actual speech, but you will be thinking about it.

Learn to think like your character (get a feel for him or her). This can save you if you forget your lines on stage. Simply think like the character and say what he would say as close to the real lines as possible.

Visualize other actors' faces saying your cues.

Draw a series of pictures that represent your speech or your lines. Remember picture stories from preschool? Be very creative and think of a picture story to go along with your lines. After you've created your picture story, go back and say your lines as you look at the pictures.

Say your lines in front of a mirror and move your face or your arms a special way to emphasize specific words or passages.