Category: Vocal Mechanics

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Mix Voice Exercises – The Texture of Chest and Head

One of the things I’m asked a lot is how mix voice works, and what mix voice exercises people can do to improve their voice. It’s hard to describe, it’s far easier to demonstrate… but while demonstration makes people go ‘ahh, that’s how it sounds’, it doesn’t go quite far enough to explaining what they are trying to achieve in their own voice on a level other than ‘well, it’s a blend of the two’.

In today’s blog post, I wanted to talk a bit more about the nature of the blend and the balance of that mix, and talk about some mix voice exercises that can help with this.

And I’m going to do that by referring to what I’ve been discussing as quality or ‘texture’ of the two respective registers of the voice.

Head Voice

This is regularly step 1 in introducing people to mix, generally because many don’t quite grasp what their head voice is or sounds like. In isolation, it’s a light, bright, vibrant sound, but not necessarily much to write home about (specifically in isolation). Particularly for chestier singers, this is a key introduction to ‘meet your head voice, this is how it sounds’.

We then progress them from working almost exclusively in chest voice to introducing a little bit more of that ‘texture’ of head voice into their voice. This extends range and adds a wonderful sheen (at the very least) to the top of chest voice as that light bright sound when mixed in with the quality of chest voice gives that wonderful balance.

Chest Voice

An under-discussed topic is the quality or texture of chest voice. Sure, for light-chested singers, we spend time establishing chest voice, but rarely are we actively LISTENING to the quality that chest voice brings. To my ears, chest voice in isolation is very raw, almost reminiscent (to my ears and brain) of velcro coming apart, at least when done to an extreme.

But one of the issues I’ve seen with many mix-voice specific techniques is the over-emphasis of moving towards head voice, and an absence of discussion on the fact that chest voice must also be present. This chest voice texture ALSO needs to be blended into head voice. So often we talk about bringing that head voice quality to the range we refer to as chest voice, but rarely do we talk about bringing the quality of chest voice up into the range we refer to as head voice.

And this is CRITICAL for creating a convincing and effortless mix.

The Blend of The Two

Once you start identifying those two textures of chest voice and head voice, and thinking about whether the two are present in appropriate amounts, it allows the following to occur in singers who are already mixing, but could be strengthening and balancing their mix better:

Singers who sing with an overly weighty mix suddenly start to recognise they are not ushering in sufficient head voice quality into their voice, and adjust this accordingly with mix voice exercises.

Singers who sing with an overly light mix suddenly start to recognise they are not maintaining sufficient quality of chest voice in their voice, and can begin to adjust this accordingly.

It should be stated that this is not a quick-fix. It’s not a *trick* or a silver-bullet mix voice exercise that can suddenly fix someone’s voice, it’s more of a mental concept that can allow singers to recognise the importance of allowing the texture of BOTH registers of their voice to be present in all areas of their range. I’ve found it tremendously effective in my own voice, as well as in my students’ voices. Remember, your mix needs BOTH chest voice and head voice present in appropriate amounts to constitute a strong sound.

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Why Does My Singing Voice Sound Bad?

While I am never explicitly asked ‘why does my singing voice sound bad?‘, as a coach and a singer, I KNOW that this is the often unspoken question that many people ask.

Usually, what I get is students telling me what they’d like to improve about their voice (a far more constructive way to go!). From there, the logical question that gets asked either verbally or internally once they start to experience those desired changes is no longer ‘why does my singing voice sound bad?‘, but ‘how long will this take?‘.

And there is no hard and fast and answer to this. The reality is that every singer and every voice is different. What will work and what is appropriate for one singer, may not be the most effective or helpful for another… and vice versa! And it’s this that I wanted to talk about today.

Instruments Vary

I was chatting with another high level voice coach about this in a lesson I had recently, and we were talking about how certain physiological attributes (not necessarily observable from outside the body) seem to result in certain advantages and disadvantages for certain singers. As an example, this coach pointed out that there is a certain volume of space within the voice as an instrument that is referred to as the epilarynx (as I understood it, between the glottis and epiglottis) that is quite important…

NOTE: even if you’re not scientifically minded, go with me on this, trust me – the story will make sense!

When it comes to singing, the epilarynx is a fairly big factor in how voices behave and function well. It is believed that the narrower/tighter this volume becomes in a singer, the better the vocal cords tend to behave in the process of creating a powerful and connected vocal sound. As a further example, at a vocal science meet where a number of vocal coaches had their own voices scoped (i.e. a camera put down their throat to observe vocal behaviour), one of the coaches was found to have an almost UNBELIEVABLY narrow epilarynx… it was said to be so tight in it’s dimensions that they struggled to actually see the vocal cords beyond… and this coach has an incredibly powerful and well connected voice.

What the point of this story is, is to point out that whilst EVERYONE can learn to sing, some are – from at least a physics and biology perspective – gifted with an instrument that is better than others for achieving power and connection throughout their voice, right from birth. Their own biology means that they are predisposed towards having a voice what WANTS to connect itself up, that WANTS to be powerful. The physics accorded by their own biology makes it so. Now while there are many other factors at play, and training can play a role in a singer’s voice and development, we can’t ignore this as a starting point.

By extension, there must also be singers for whom their own biology makes it harder to sing with ease, connection and power from the outset, as every degree to which they vary from the functional ideal will affect their own initial ability.

But here’s the good news!

The Functional Ideal is LEARNABLE

And it’s this that we seek to address in lessons. In every students’ first lesson, we identify the tendencies of the singers (i.e. in what way do they deviate from the functional ideal, and to what degree), and then we apply appropriately designed vocalises (i.e. voice exercises prescribed based on their tendency and the degree of that tendency) in order to PHYSICALLY change the behaviour of their instrument from the ‘base’ state.

Like anyone going to the gym, despite the different body shapes we all have, we can all improve our bodies and physiologies through correctly applied exercises and training. Sometimes it takes longer depending on the starting point and the propensity for that person to take on new muscle memory, but it’s about trusting the process. However many degrees someone’s voice varies from the ideal, and however co-operative their body is about taking on this new muscle memory, these are all factors that affect the speed and degree of progress in developing a voice.

As such, regardless of someone’s vocal starting point, proper technique and appropriately applied vocalises can yield HUGE gains in their voice… it’s very much about trusting the diagnosis of the vocal tendency, and the learning process that stems therefrom.

And here is the biggest catch of all…

We don’t measure someone’s singing ability with numbers.

We don’t measure it by a standardised metric of ‘power’ vs ‘connectedness’. Sure, those things are helpful, important, and worth pursuing, but they do not define whether someone’s voice is “listenable”. All the former things are quantitative, but when it comes to music, we are into QUALITATIVE metrics, i.e. did we enjoy that piece of music? do we like what they do with their voice?

The point is this: as singers, we are into singing in order to sing songs we like better. We’re not in it for vocal olympics, vocal weightlifting, or vocal shred-competitions (though obviously that can be an enjoyable ability to show sometimes, and certainly a proud moment to enjoy as we progress)… but really, as singers we are in it in order to move people with what we do with our voices… and that’s not a game based on numbers or quantitative metrics.

Don’t be put off by what you don’t yet have… instead, be motivated by what you can achieve with work, and above all trust the learning process.

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How to practice singing: Part 1 – The Mind-instrument connection

How to practice singing?

It’s been a while since I did a series, so here is a 3 parter to help you understand how to better work on your voice.

Every student I teach asks me how to practice singing, and which songs they should work on… and it seems quite straightforward a question, and sensible to ask such a thing. The difficulty is, the answer isn’t always helpful unless you understand how effective voice training works.

The difference between the voice and every other instrument.

There IS a big difference between the voice and every other instrument that most singers and musicians alike don’t fully appreciate.

How to practice singing - the voice is different from guitar...

When someone wants to take up guitar, they go and buy a guitar. When they buy that guitar, the guitar itself has already been built – it’s finished, end of. There are some adjustable elements, but the instrument itself is ready to go from day 1 to make the right sounds.

The work that a student of guitar (or piano, trumpet, any other instrument you care to name) is almost exclusively directed at establishing a mind-instrument connection, whereby their musical thoughts are translated into notes played by the instrument. They need to learn the right movements to make the instrument play the right notes in the way they desire. The instrument is not a part of our body, so we need to learn how to approach it and respect what it can do. We don’t have any similar movements in our day to day lives to map over to the way we need to approach guitar or other instruments. We are learning these from scratch to develop that mind-instrument connection.

But no work is expended by the student in order to ‘finish’ the instrument – it’s already done! If there is a problem with the instrument, the student buys a new one or finds a professional to fix the instrument. The instrument itself is already complete and (barring any modifications) the sound of the instrument is the sound of the instrument.

The voice is the opposite.

The voice, on the other hand, is NOT a finished instrument. It requires work to develop. Sure, some people have voices/instruments that sound pretty good almost from the moment they open their mouth, but EVERYONE needs to work on their voice to make it better than it already is.

With the voice – unlike guitar or other instruments – we already possess that mind-instrument connection – we use it every day and it is part of our bodies. There are no mechanical hand movements or the like that are alien to normal every day use that we must incorporate into muscle memory, but we operate the voice every day regardless of whether we are singers or not. This gives us unparalleled connection and control over our voices when compared with other instruments, even when we are unskilled singers.

But the voice as an instrument itself is not actually fully built when we start, or even as we progress as singers – it is a never ending process. The voice is an instrument formed of muscles, cartilage, and various other bodily components. The challenge lies in co-ordinating the voice efficiently for use in singing. As such, we are actually building the instrument at the same time as learning to play the instrument. We must learn to co-ordinate our vocal cords in a predictable and repeatable fashion, across a range of pitches, volumes, styles, and to be able to produce a great tone every time.

Like a master luthier making a guitar, it takes time to learn how this works, and it takes dedication to ingrain co-ordination and tone into your voice as an instrument.

So how does that affect the way we should practice?

The real question should be (in my opinion) ‘how do I effectively train my voice’, and the answer, like anything to do with muscles in your body, is with prescribed exercises. If you go to the gym and consult a personal trainer, you will be given a prescribed set of exercises based on the condition of your body when measured against your goals. You can do exercises without a personal trainer, but serious athletes and gym-rats know that only amateurs do it themselves without ever consulting a skilled personal trainer. Personal trainers know their way around different people’s bodies and how such body types will respond to particular exercises. They can help you achieve your goals often many times quicker than when a gym attendee would go by themselves.

The same truth is applicable to training your voice. You need exercises that are geared up for your voice, and you need to practice those exercises regularly. These are not just random scales to improve musicality (though these can be helpful), but are prescribed by skilled voice trainers based on the state of your voice and your desired goals. These tools act as spanners, screwdrivers and wrenches to get inside and tweak the very muscles of your instrument… to co-ordinate them better, to enable you to sing with more ease, less strain, and better tone across your range.

So when you practice, it’s important that WHAT you are practicing is leading you to a state where the condition of voice further enables you to deliver the vocal performance you are after.

If you have any questions about this, just leave a comment below and contribute! Stay tuned for part 2!

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How to get high notes? Is your volume knocking you off balance? Demonstration courtesy of Circa Survive

How to get high notes?

This is possibly THE most common question I get asked ‘Mark, how do I get to those high notes? can you make it easy for me?’

The answer is ‘I’ll show you’ and ‘yes’, but I want to talk a little about a common culprit and little known issue that often prevents students getting there.

The Issue is often ‘Volume’

So, I often get students come in who sing waaaaay too loud… I often get get students who sing too quietly, but far and away the most common issue is singing too loudly.

Now, it is not that singing loud in itself is a bad thing, but often when singers sing verrry loudly they are knocking themselves off balance. Let me explain…

The voice is a very complicated instrument, but at it’s heart it’s a wind instrument. The sound is generated by your vocal cords, which is stirred into motion by you blowing air through them.

If you play a wind instrument or know someone who plays a wind instrument, then you or they will know that all wind instruments require a certain amount of air to ‘get going’. It’s not about having LOTS of air, nor very little air, but a decent moderate amount of air makes it the easiest way to start learning to play an instrument.

Wind instruments players will also tell you how you CAN increase the amount of air/air pressure, but it requires an increase in skill as well to control the instrument, otherwise you can lose control of pitch or the tone.

The same is true of the voice. Once you leave that comfortable ‘moderate’ amount of air flow, at a comfortable volume level, it requires skill to keep the vocal cords behaving themselves with that increased pressure. At this point, other muscles surrounding the larynx go into ‘panic’ preservation mode, and tense up to protect the larynx and the delicate muscles within the larynx… unless the skill of the singer permits the vocal cords to maintain appropriate behaviour even under that extra pressure.

Here’s an example by a band called Circa Survive. Their lead singer Anthony Green sings pretty darn high, but sometimes sounds like he’s tearing his throat apart in this electric amped environment:

ELECTRIC SONG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GAkOd6vOEQ

But in this acoustic enviroment, while he still strains, it is FAR less noticeable. By simply knocking his volume down 10-20%, he has verrry quickly entered that ‘optimal’ amount of air flow and suddenly the tension he is experiencing (and that we’re hearing) is far more manageable.

ACOUSTIC SONG

THIS is a prime example of where adding volume before the skill is there results in strain and tension. Now these guys are a great band, and I’m not trying to knock them, but the strain he is experiencing is visually and sonically evident throughout the first video.

So, if you’re finding it tough to maintain control, try knocking your volume down just 5-10%, maybe even 20% on those notes that are causing a problem, and see how that tension alleviates itself. It may not sound as strong to you, but that muscular co-ordination of your vocal cords is far more balanced… we can then build strength into that co-ordination so that it FEELS that easy, but SOUNDs absolutely massive.

It’s absolutely possible, just drop us a line to get booked in and we’ll show you how.

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Natalie Weiss – Breaking Down the Riffs

Someone posted this in a Facebook group of which I’m a member, and I just had to share it.

Natalie Weiss is a singer that is presently touring with 25th Anniversary tour of Les Mis. She also absolutely kills it when it comes to riffing. She’s good, really good. Not only that, but she can break down these riffs for anyone to learn. And not only that, but she does it in an immensely logical and fun manner. It’s not necessarily easy to riff without some practice or knowing where to start, let alone teach it, but this is without a doubt the best and most accessible break down of riffs I’ve come across.

In just a few minutes you can hear how these riffs break down, and how you put them back together to get to the riff. Speed takes time, but you will get pretty close to full speed pretty quick thanks to Natalie.

Do check out Natalie’s vids, and her own stuff, on her Youtube channel!

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Vocal folds video

Vocal folds video of the voice in action

I was introduced to this vocal folds video by another singing teacher as it shows what happens to the voice as a student sings higher and higher. Note how the vocal cords get stretched longer and longer gradually as the pitch ascends. Though you can’t see it, the vocal cords are also getting thinner in depth to allow for the change in pitch to be continue.

I found this video to be an eye-opening experience to how icky the inside of the human voice looks, but how it generates such a beautiful sound. Check it out! If you have any questions about this, leave a comment and I’m happy to chip in if I can help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajbcJiYhFKY