Monthly Archives: December 2011

The yodel

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What is a yodel? It’s simply a defined change in register from your low “voice” to your high “voice”.

Can you make your voice yodel? I actually have trouble doing it. My mixed “middle” voice is so well connected that imitating a yodel takes a certain coordination for me.

If you are a trained singer and you have a defined yodel, then your middle voice is not well established. Unfortunately, this is an all-too-familiar issue with some my students who have had classical training. The “yodel” may not be an exactly defined pitch in the voice, it may simply be the section where you have trouble controlling the quality of your sound–in other words losing that connection from your low notes to your high notes….you sense a “flip” or “disconnection” as you sing higher.

The “yodel” can be a preferred quality of sound in some voices…..Sarah McLachlin and LeAnn Rimes come to mind. There are many voices like this in pop/country music.

If you like your yodel then that’s great. But most singers have no control over this “flip”. The control happens in exercising the middle area of your voice (two registers in balance).

If you are training to sing and your teacher always exercises your high register and your low register as two separate voices, then you have a problem. If your teacher is always training your high voice and working downward, then you have a problem.  They are setting you up for this problem, and it will become very apparent when you need to sing songs requiring your chest register to “belt” out songs in theatre.

Is this blog hitting home with you? Let me know your experience. Please leave a comment.

The benefits of vocal fry when singing

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What is vocal fry?

When speaking, vocal fry is simply the vocal cords coming together with very little air passing through, usually at a lower-than-your-normal speech pitch. It sounds like a gritty, broken up, growl….usually at the end of your sentence, and happens frequently in the morning when you first wake up. I hear it frequently, mostly in women. Now that it has made top-headline news recently, I’m sure everyone will start noticing the people around them who speak with some vocal fry.

But now I want to talk about vocal fry from a singing point of view. This is much, much different!

The ability to create vocal fry as you ascend in pitch is one of Brett Mannings’ top three vocal exercises. Why? Because the ability to keep the vocal cords connected with vocal fry as you ascend, is a challenging balance between thinning out the cords and controlling the amount of air passing through. With the correct balance, the cords will touch and vibrate on the edges creating a vocal fry sound. Too much air will either blow the cords apart, or not allow the fry sound to happen. This is the challenge to be able to decrease your air flow just enough to maintain the fry connection in the higher register.

I challenge my students with vocal fry exercises regularly. It really enforces the “less is more” mentality. You should try it. It’s not as easy as you might think. But, let’s be clear we are talking about vocal fry in your “higher” register….not lower.

Please let me know your thoughts!  Check out Brett Manning from Singing Success here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtp8qqo3qm8

I’m not a big fan of commercial radio…..

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You are not going to hear the best singers in the world on commercial radio. Oh, don’t get me wrong…there are loads of great singers making a living on commercial radio….but there are loads of mediocre singers making a fortune. It really is sad how the industry has progressed.

My concern is for the young and ill-informed singers of the future. Where are they going to hear great singing to learn and copy from?

There are great singers all over the world who work hard everyday at their craft. These singers will never sing on commercial radio. They may never make a living with their beautiful instrument.

I encourage all singers to explore and expand their thoughts about what makes a great singer. Go to coffee house, theatre productions, local concerts of all genres and styles of music. If you only listen to the radio, you are missing a world full of great singing.

And more importantly, learn from the variety of voices available. Recognize that your voice is as unique as theirs is. Explore many styles.

In the end, be yourself….be your own voice….be your authentic self. That’s great singing.

The show must go on!

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I woke up yesterday with a cold and hoarseness in my voice. I had three hours of performance to do later in the day, so I knew it was going to be a tough one with a lot of careful attention and energy to complete the job!

First, I had a hot shower and my usual … pot of coffee. I didn’t utter a word until 2:00 pm. I did a few exercises of lip trills and light sirens. I took a moment to gauge where I thought I was with my voice, compared to my “healthy voice”. I was somewhere around a 6 or 7. My goal was to be 8 or 9 before leaving for my gig. I had two hours.

I continued to warm up my head voice lightly. I paid acute attention to my body and energy to make sure I wasn’t putting any undue stress on my vocal cords. I did some sit ups and took a walk around the block. I continued to sip water all day.

This has happened many times before and I have learned over the years how to pace the day and night. It’s a delicate balance. I don’t talk. I only sing ….. when it’s absolutely necessary. In this case, it was necessary or else I would be letting down many many people who simply wanted to enjoy their Christmas party!

I made sure I could hear my voice well in the monitor. I would be singing at about half volume, so this was doubly important for this gig. I chose my repertoire very carefully…no “big” songs during this show. Instead, I focused on my “presentation” with by body and with my facial expressions.

When the night was finally over I was totally spent. I had maxed out my vocal cords for this gig, and I was mentally and physically exhausted from the energy it took to maintain a careful journey to get me through to the end of the night…..but it worked! As I headed out the door with my car jammed pack with my gear, my employer waved goodbye and said “see you next year!”

Play Piano by Ear … There’s Never Been A Better Time to Learn

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The 21st century…..aaawwwweeee….there has never been a better time to learn about something you always wanted to do! The free content available on the internet can teach you to do almost…anything!

So, why not take advantage of it?

Recently, I started to post videos teaching you how to play piano by ear. If you have never played the piano, then trying this method may be easier than you think. If you can only play piano with music in front of you, then follow me through my videos and I’ll set you up nicely to be able to throw away that sheet music for good!

I have only just begun, but there is a lot to get started on. I show you how to make chords that provide the harmony (backdrop) for all music! Once you learn how to make a chord, invert the chord, colour the chord, and understand the chord, then the next step is turning that chord into some amazing rhythmic patterns! These patterns will make you sound like you have been playing piano for years!

Once we get the chords working with rhythm, I will start to show you how to break down a song into easy, manageable parts, including how to find the melody, and how to add it to the chords you are learning.

You can find me at beemusicstudios on you tube.

Feel free to ask me any questions, and …. don’t forget to have fun!

What age should your child start taking singing lessons?

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Singing lessons for young children are controversial. Here at Bee Music Studios we start studying the voice as young as 5 and 6 years old in a small group setting.

The class is meant to be fun, yet educational. We sing about cats and dogs, mom and dad, colors and animals. We twirl, skip, jump and even crawl sometimes!

We do lots of actions in our songs. This helps children stay engaged, and in the moment. We move fairly quickly from one song to the next. Children also learn how to write, read and sing back patterns such as do, re, mi, fah, so.

All the while, the children are learning about their voice. We experiment with our chest register by making certain sounds. We learn about our head register with sirens and “meows” like a kitty for instance. We experiment with differences in volume and intensity.

All these activities can tell me quickly where each student is in the development of their voice. My goal is simply to help them engage in exploring their voice and lead them away from any bad habit that I see pending.

This is why singing classes for young children are a very good thing. Encouragement to make sounds that they would otherwise not make helps them match pitch and discover their voice.