Monthly Archives: April 2011

Singing students…..should you go to university?

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Did you take vocal lessons when you were younger? Are you happy with your voice now? Can you sing the songs in the style you want?

All too often children and teens taking singing lessons during their youth have high aspirations of being a “singer” in today’s music business. Their parents spend thousands of dollars getting them the training they think they should have. The students may even go on to university to polish their skills only to find out after graduating that their voice isn’t suitable to sing commercially accepted music. They find out their voice can’t perform the style for the bands they want to join, and they soon learn that their auditions for theatrical performances are being given to singers with a more commercially-accepted edge to their voice.

Let’s face it, musical theatre is changing. Newly written musicals are more often than not, wanting vocals with a strong chest voice in their mix.

Unfortunately, universities are not changing along with the times. Professors in vocal training at universities are teaching their students the same technique that they were taught….which can create a beautiful classical voice…exactly the type of voice they were taught to have. Unfortunately, these students soon find out that they are unable to enter the workforce in today’s music business, so they are left with the only other option and that is to teach others exactly what they were taught…..and so it goes….another generation of classically trained singers, who again go on to teach rather than perform in the music business.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree?

 

Do you have trouble singing by yourself “on key”?

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Do you love to sing with the radio or CD, or at church with the congregation? Do you find singing is easy as long as there is someone to follow? However, do you lack the confidence and ability to sing on your own, such as solo in the choir or on your own at a karaoke bar?

If this is you, you are not alone. In fact, you are part of a large majority of people. Singing can be easy as long as you don’t have to do it alone. There are steps that can be taken to strengthen your ability to sing on pitch by yourself, while at the same time coordinating your overall singing voice with flexibility and balance. This in turn builds your confidence to go on and tackle a song all on your own.

This needs to be done with a vocal coach. It’s difficult to correct your own pitch without someone helping.

Ear training and repetition are the foundation for pitch matching. You need to start close to the pitch of your speaking voice. This is called your “home base”. This will be your reference point at which you can return to as you learn to match higher and lower pitches. Once you can sing back your home base pitch easily and consistently, then it’s time to move to short scales. Depending on your ability, you may start with 3 note or 5 note scales, ascending and descending. Every singer is different. Again, this should be done with a vocal coach.

Lessons should be recorded so you can revisit your “home base” daily for practise. This is necessary so the brain can remember and the vocal cords will learn and memorize the coordination needed to match pitch.

A male voice will probably match easily at F or G below middle C. That’s a good place to start. Your coach should know that as you sing higher it becomes more challenging because your voice has to shift gears to handle the passagio around E flat. Therefore, all training in the beginning should stay below this bridge. For female singers this first passagio is around G or A flat above middle C.

Along with repetition of short scales starting in the home base area, your coach should be doing some ear training exercises where you need to listen and say whether a note is higher or lower than the one played.

With perservence you can learn to sing on your own with good pitch. I have helped many dedicated adults who always wanted to sing, but never felt good enough to sing on their own. These exercises build their confidence as each day they are able to find home base quicker and easier than the week before. They are able to memorize the melodic exercises of steps and jumps which soon turn into songs.

What should a child’s first instrument be?

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Well, that’s easy … the piano, correct? But, let’s think about it. Children are actually learning to use their first musical instrument when they start to coo and babble. They start using their voice as a baby when they mimic the sounds all around them. This is how they learn to talk, and this is how they learn to sing. Their vocal cords are their own personal instrument, with its own unique sound. This is the first instrument that they learn to use.

When babies and toddlers are encouraged to copy sounds frequently, they remember how to do it and soon it becomes “normal”. This all leads to singing on pitch.

Your children will get singing and musical education at school, but we all know that music curriculum in most schools has been decreasing over the years. The more musical engagement you can encourage at home, the better. Does it matter if you are on pitch? Well, in the beginning….NO. It matters that you are singing and that you are enjoying music with your child.

Let’s move ahead a bit to age 3 or 4. A good age to know if your child is able to match pitch. Can they imitate a fire siren? Can you? If so, this means you able to zip up your vocal cords to make high sounds. They most likely can, but in some cases where a child has a deep or raspy voice (from illness, hoarseness or cough) they may be reluctant or unable to. This is where it is important to keep the child exploring their voice….making sounds that are more than just talking.

Singing requires the vocal cords to “zip up” because we don’t sing in only the pitches that we talk. In order to match the higher pitches, our brain has to know how to zip up the vocal cords and keep them that way.

An important note to mention is that the music you and I sing to is much lower than music children should be singing to. It’s important for kids to listen to music in their range, so they can copy properly. This is one reason music is so very important in the school. It’s vital for children to experience singing with their peers in a musical key that suits their voice.

So, why not think of your child’s voice as their first musical instrument. Encourage them to match pitch when they sing. This will go a long way in their future musical journey. It really is a use it or lose it scenerio. Children who “can’t carry a tune” grow into adults who “can’t carry a tune”.

The Music for Young Children program including Music Pups is a great way to engage in singing and musical fun with your child. There are classes all over the world. You can find them here www.myc.com and www.themusicclass.com.

Do you have a comment? Please leave me your thoughts.

Singing 101 – Is this You?

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Knowledge is power. If you want to learn how to sing better … keep reading.

I believe the best way to learn about anything is to experience it for yourself, and to learn about other’s experiences. When I read stories online about singers who have taken lessons from various teachers, I nod my head and think, “yeah, that’s what it was like for me too”.  I’ve taken singing lessons from many different teachers over the years.  It wasn’t until I discovered Speech Level Singing over ten years ago, that things really started to make sense for me.  With Speech Level Singing I was singing through three bridges (passagio) in my first lesson.

I now teach Speech Level Singing to all my students, and they all go through at least one bridge (passagio) on their first lesson. What is a passagio or a bridge? This is a spot in your singing voice between the low sounds (chest voice) and the high sounds (head voice). Many men have never even experienced their head voice…..while many women have not experienced their true chest voice. For some men, their chest voice is their connection to power…or so they think. The opposite can be true for women (and lots of children both boys and girls) who have sang for years in choirs and were taught to blend their voice with all the other singers.  Choral music is usually written high in pitch which meant the singers would always be in their head voice.

A lot of female and male singers have the opposit and very common problem of not being able to reach high notes. This usually happens because the singer is too loud, too low, and too soon. Quite often the singer feels like they have reached a ceiling (usually at their passagio) and they just can’t sing any higher. The voice gets louder and louder as they try and sing higher notes. 

Do one of these scenerios match you? Everyone is unique so there is no one “fix” that meets everybody’s needs. This is the main problem with self-teaching CD’s like Brett Manning’s Singing Success and Seth Riggs Singing for the Stars.  They are both fabulous Speech Level Singing programs, but if you don’t know your singing problem, then these exercises might be too generic to really help you.

Learning to sing better takes time and dedication. It’s really no different than becoming a good athelete…atheletes must work out regularly with proper form and the right exercises. It’s the same for singing. Your vocal cords are your muscles and they need just the right exercise to learn the coordination needed to help you sing better.

So, first…..know your singing issue. Get a professional opinion that will give you direction and a goal. Start with this and you’ll be on your way to a better singing voice!