Tag Archives: chest voice

Does the mixed voice resonate in the throat?

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Hi Jeff, Thanks for writing.

Yes, a mixed voice definitely resonates in the throat. If you put your finger on your larynx, you will feel it vibrate. However, the chest voice alone resonates in the throat as well….and this is not mixing….so beware.

The true test for mixing is having ability to ascend and descend through your entire range without a break and without strain. Learning to mix well means teaching the cords to thin and stretch as you sing higher. The only way the cords can do this well is if the larynx is in the proper position. The best way to get the larynx (and the cords) in the correct position is to practice sounds that cause it do that coordination.

Here are some sounds to practise. I suggest a range from middle C to G for the male voice….and increase the range as this gets easier. Your goal should be to keep it light and crisp at first. Pay attention to the “edges” of your sound. This is a tough area of the voice for a male to get the cords to really thin out. Careful you are not just in head voice (falcetto). If so, start slightly lower. Ideally, you will be in a mix if you “allow” both registers to exist. It may feel like you are “sitting on a fence”. To manage your control, find the volume that allows you to balance this sensation. It may seem “small”. That’s OK.

1. The puppy dog whimper
2. Meow
3. Nay, nay, nay (speech level singing)
4. Hung …….. hold out the ung in a hum
5. A buzzy hum

6. Miren (slide with siren and “m”

Again, thanks for writing. Let me know how it goes. Susie

Tongue out and hum exercise

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My last post was about the tongue and how it can get in the way when you are singing.

When you let your tongue hang out over your bottom lip, it cannot interfere with the back of your throat and stop you from mixing. This is a great way to exercise your voice, although you can look pretty silly doing it!

Try this: Choose a song where the highest pitches are above your passagio….(for women that is A, B flat, B or higher, and men that is E, F, F# or higher).

Let your tongue hang out and hum your song.  If you feel strain in your throat while humming the highest pitches, then lighten up. Try again with less volume.

If you feel the need to “flip” or “let go” in order to achieve the highest notes without strain, no worries! You are now in your head register but having trouble keeping the cords connected as you ascend in pitch.

With careful attention to the engagement of your body (from the top of your stomach and down…including your back and buttocks), and also attention to how loud you are humming your song, you should be able to hum your high pitches without disconnecting the cords (falcetto).

Once you have found this balance where you can hum your high pitches while keeping your vocal cords connected, it is time to allow some of the sound to come out of your mouth. Do not move on to the next exercise unless you can indeed hum your entire song with your tongue out….even if it appears to have no power or substance. If you do this exercise regularly with your songs, your cords will get stronger and allow you to hum with more pressure (volume).

There is more to tell about this delicate yet fascinating exercise. Stay tuned!

 

The tongue and “mixing”

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All too often, we as singers forget about the tongue. Yes, the tongue is an important link in our efforts as singers to resonate fully and “get in the mix”.

Tongues come in all shapes and sizes, but nonetheless it is BIG. Even small tongues are big.

You shouldn’t move your tongue out of the way. It is there to help you enunciate your words clearly and precisely.

The tongue should naturally rise at the back as you ascend in pitch. If you are having trouble in the middle of your voice (the mix…i.e. head voice and chest voice resonance), there is a good chance your tongue may be involved.

Here is an exercise to see if your tongue is stopping your from mixing.

1 Open your mouth to a natural hanging-jaw position….not too big, not too small…..just o’natural.

2. Let your tongue hang out over your bottom lip.

3. Stay relaxed in the back of the throat. (I use the Estille silent laugh to avoid constriction).

4. Starting on an easy pitch, sing the vowel (a) as in cat, and slowly go higher in pitch through your passagio.

5. If you feel your tongue wanting to pull back in, then you know there is trouble.

6. The tongue should actually rise at the back as you ascend in pitch. Your mouth may get bigger. Your tongue may extend out even further. Allow this happen. Experience it.

7. If it’s really troubling, hold on to your tongue and repeat.

Yes, this is your mix. This is you allowing your voice to resonate in all the efficient spaces for optimum singing.

How did it go? Any comments or questions? Why not let me know.

 

Can You Feel It?

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As a singer it is important to “feel” your voice. It is a true balance of listening while you feel the cords stretching and thinning that will lead you to the next level in strengthening your vocal cords.

I like the “ng” exercise for establishing cord closure above the first passagio. It’s easy to do below your passagio, but as you go higher you may notice a dulling between the first and second passagio.

You can find the “ng” by saying the word “hung” and letting the “ng” continue like a buzzy hum. You should notice no sound coming out the mouth…..only a hum in behind your nose and soft palate area. You may feel it at the back of your upper throat and even in the top of your head…..you should not feel this hum deep in your throat or on your bottom teeth. If you do, then lighten up your “ng”.

Now “siren” this sound through your first passagio without flipping. It’s good to siren both ways….starting on the bottom and going up, as well as starting on the top and sirening down. Men, I would start with A below middle C and siren up to at least A above middle C (without flipping). Ladies, I would siren from middle C to F above high C.

If you feel you are not “mixing” (in other words, it feels and sounds like there is no chest voice in your mix), then start on a lower note, and start from the bottom going up first to establish a good mix.

You may find you need to lower your volume in order to maintain good closure on your high notes, and to stop you from flipping. This is why you need to “feel” your hum.

One more thing…..the larynx will move when you do these sirens….it has to move!! It is going to move up and tilt forward!!

Put your finger on the larynx as you do the sirens. Allow a “whiney-sob” feeling. This will help the larynx tilt as you ascend in pitch.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions below!

 

 

Thick versus Thin….

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What I’ve always loved about “speech-level” singing is the impact it has on the singer’s chest voice, especially for the ladies. When we sing low notes, it’s relatively easy to use thick folds, and in general we “thin out” as we ascend higher in pitch.

The ability to control the thickness of the cords at higher pitches (especially above the first passagio) is a coordination of such great singers as Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood, Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Christine Aguilera, Whitney Houston, and many more. In fact, all these singers command attention with their shouty and assertive singing voice in their high register. It is the ever-changing degree of thickness and stretching that makes these singers great. If they were always using the same degree, the sound would be boring and lack interest.

Maintaining thick folds in the higher register demands great breath support. Without the support, the cords are unable to weave in and out of varying degrees of thickness and stretching. Exercises in volume changes are great for the vocal folds.

It is especially challenging to do these exercises properly without strain above your first passagio. Many amateurs “push” the sound beyond what the cords are capable of managing on the edges. This is where Brett Manning’s word of “light and right” stands true.

And, one more thing…..all these great singers who are singing with thick folds are actually “mixing!” Yes, their voice is resonating in their head and chest area. They are “allowing” the cords to stretch and thin out because the larynx is tilting. This allows for great mouth and head resonance!

Questions? I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a line.

Too perfect?

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I have a female client who has been training with me for the past year. She has lovely sound. A very pretty voice.

However, she is not happy with her sound. She wants to sound more like a radio singer (she names examples likeTaylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Rhianna).

This young lady had previous classical singing lessons. Her breath control is wonderful. Her head resonance is crisp and present, and her glottal onset is precise and clean……so beautiful, so lovely………and she hates it.

This young lady is so well trained that she is having trouble undoing her perfect classical sound.

What can she do to sound more contemporary?

1. Change the vocal cord set-up. She currently has a seamless onset where her breath and cord closure meet with smooth connection. There is not much edginess. We have been working on her “speech level” closure in her chest voice with wide vowels.

2. We have been working on changes at the vocal cord level in her speech level chest voice. She is doing exercises that keep her in stronger mix of chest voice versus head voice with lots or oral twang and mouth resonance.

3. I have suggested listening and copying other singers. One of the best ways to explore and grow your voice is by trying new co-ordinations. When you do this, you need to pay special attention to how your throat feels. It should never hurt, but the co-ordinations may definitely feel “different” from what you are familiar with.

Questions? Comments? Please leave a message below.

 

Can you be “too” trained?

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In my humble opinion, yes. I’ve had teenagers and adults (mostly ladies) who have had years of previous training, come into my studio with very pretty voices.

They have perfect diction with clean smooth onsets, optimum posture and breath control. The problem: minimal chest voice and pharyngeal twang.

This is not a balanced voice to my ears. This is a classically-trained voice with a top-voice down approach through the bridges. Unfortunately, this type of training doesn’t set students up very well to sing other genres of music including opera and contemporary musical theater.

Comments or questions? Are you having trouble making the sounds you want? Do you have previous classical training?

 

 

Tongue out exercises

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Love ’em, love ’em, love ’em! And you should do ’em, do ’em, do ’em!

This is no easy task but it’s a sure fire way to find out if the back of your tongue is getting in the way of mixing from chest to head voice.

So, let your tongue hang out…not forced out like you would stick out your tongue at someone, but loose and lazy with a big mouth. You will notice that your jaw will drop and your larynx will automatically stay reasonably low and stable. Ideally you want your face to resemble the start of a nasty scream or a happy yell. Your cheeks and nasal area should raise, and your upper lip will spread  wide.

Now it’s time for making noises. Don’t try to sing. Making sounds with “g” like “gug” and “goo” in your middle to high register will challenge you to work your tongue high in the back of the throat. The tongue needs to touch your soft palate to make the ‘g’ sound, and yet in order to make these sounds in a mixed voice, your soft palate has to be high enough to allow the sound to resonate into the nasal area.

You should notice yourself making interesting facial expressions as you try to figure out how to get cord closure (so your sound isn’t breathy) into you high voice.

This is twanging in a mixed voice. Twanging is a term used in Estill Voice Technique, and Robert Lunte’s Four Pillars TVS program. For those of you working on Brett Manning’s Singing Success and Mastering Mix programs these are pharyngeal sounds. And by the way, all four of these are great invaluable programs with loads of insight into great singing.

Try it and let me know what you think. Can you do it? How high can you get without your cords allowing too much air to get through?

Oh, and the best place to do these exercises is in your car on your way to and from work:) The other drivers will love it!

Great ladies of voice

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Why do we love Adele’s voice so much? Or Whitney Houston, Celine Dion or Christine Aguilera? Sure, it’s because they exude so much drama and passion when they sing, but how do they do that?

The ability to portray what you are feeling in a technically correct way is really what we are talking about here.  Once your voice is mixing and you are accessing your head voice with ease every time you open your mouth, then is the time to challenge yourself vocally with dynamics and different vocal textures.

These singers all display a wide variety of vocal textures and color, and a lot is due to their ability to change from thick cords to thin cords throughout their entire register. (Well, let’s just hope Adele is training to do more of this, so she doesn’t cause damage again to her cords on her next tour).

These singers can easily “back up” their voice to the “fry” level,  as well as, safely belt hard and strong. Their vocal cords are resilient and can withstand a huge amount of breath pressure.

IMHO, it’s only Christine who at times belts purposely without mixing. This is that dull yelling/groaning sound she makes in the back of her throat when she’s not allowing the resonance to go into the “mask” (in other words her head voice). But get this, Christine is no amateur. This lady chooses to do this coordination (pull chest). She knows her voice well. Christine can do cartwheels through her first passagio when she wants. In one phrase she’ll sing with thick cords and pull her sound as high as she can in the back of her throat. Then, in the next phrase, she’ll thin out her cords and soar easily through her first bridge and even up through her second!  Christine has her vocal ability mastered. Just listen to her speech. I detect no rasp or fry damage….just clean, crisp cords that haven’t thickened too much over the years from extreme use. She knows her voice is big business, and she takes care of it well.

Adele has very thick cords (a naturally big and loud voice) and I don’t think she had ever really learned the importance of thinning them out regularly to allow for flexibility and endurance while singing so hard on the road. Everyone knows about the vocal problems she has had.  Hopefully she will still be able to amaze her audiences with her huge voice, and stay away from vocal damage on her next tour.

Whitney’s voice was superb in her day. The problem was, of course, her lifestyle choices and simple lack of attention to details to maintain a  healthy voice over the years. Her ability to thin out the cords deteriorated. What was once an easy soar through her entire range, became a huge challenge because the cords were no longer able to master this co-ordination. This is not unlike maintaining good physical technique and stamina to achieve a long list of physical abilities. For example, playing the piano, ballet dancing, perfecting your golf swing. The list goes on.

I admire Celine Dion. This woman is in total control of her vocal destiny. She is known for not talking before shows, mastering warm-ups, cancelling shows when she knows she is not healthy. Here is a singer who pays close attention to her technique and abilities on any given day.

I hope this post has inspired you to continue your journey to sing better every day. Keep learning and keep addressing your vocal issues, so you become the best singer you can be!

 

Pharyngeal sounds

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For those of you familiar with speech level singing exercises, the nasty “nay” sound is probably all-too-familiar. This is a sound that many singers do wrong. The goal here is to feel the resonance behind the cheek bone and nasal area, not in the mouth or at the back of the throat.

In Estill Voice Technique this sound is the schoolyard sing-song taunt. Again, it can be done incorrectly if you are using the wrong coordination.

The challenge is making this sound above the first passagio.

I suggest starting with a puppy dog whimper in your head voice. This will get your cords thinned out. Close your mouth and work this whimper in a hum. Raise your cheeks and think a “cry-like” sound.  If you are having trouble, take your volume down to a level where you can manage a simple light coordination of a whimper sound in your head voice. Keep your mouth closed……now you have thin cords.  Your larynx may want to rise, and certainly the ideal condition is for it to remain neutral. Take note of this. To counter the raising of the larynx, consider what is going on inside your mouth at the back of your throat. Lift your soft palate as best you can.

I suggest making this your home base. Men, this will be around F or F# above middle C, and ladies, this will be around high C or C#.

Once you can master the puppy dog whimper in your head voice, then you need to work the whimper through the first passagio. For men, you need to master the whimper from F# below middle C to F# above middle C.  Ladies, middle C# to high C#. If you feel a “catch” in your voice, then you simply need to do it over and over and over every day until that “catch” evens out. (If you practise everyday, it will eventually even out).

Consider taking the volume down to the point where you can master this.  Do the whimper both ascending and descending. You can turn this into a continuous whimper siren if you like. Notice your head voice is clearly present. Try to coordinate a balance that works for you. In other words, the lowest notes are predominantly chest voice and your head voice needs to allow this transition. The high whimper is mostly head voice, so again you need to allow this transition. If you find this challenging, then consider your volume again. There will definitely be a level where you can coordinate this transition. You might not be happy with the sound…..but that doesn’t matter. It’s not about the sound! It’s about the coordination. This is your starting point. Do not increase your volume until you can master this transition of puppy dog whimper through your first passagio.

So, now that you have good cord closure and you are mixing well through your first passagio, you can actually begin to work on your pharyngeal sounds like the nasty “nay” or “meow” sounds.