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  • TMV World Team
    John Scott and I began an email discussion about proper breathing and how to properly teach proper breathing. We thought you would all benefit from a more public discussion. Please join us!
    Diaphragmatic breathing is a natural function of the body. It works perfectly under perfect circumstances and can be trained to function perfectly under less-than-perfect circumstances.
    We begin life with a perfectly functioning voice. The human body, barring congenital defect or system-altering accident, is a perfect vocal instrument from the moment of birth. As all parents know, an infant can coo, cry, babble and scream all night long without vocal fatigue, hoarseness or strain. Watch a sleeping infant to see the ribcage open and contract, the belly rise and fall as the baby naturally breathes diaphragmatically.
    Infants and young children have perfect, erect posture that allows the voice to function naturally with no muscular tension. The absence of vocal strain testifies to a naturally functioning instrument. Are you with me so far?
    None of the bad postural habits and tensions have taken up residence in a young child's body. Perfect alignment leaves the child's instrument relaxed and open and therefore, free to produce sound with ease.
    So the first step in returning to proper diaphragmatic breathing is to align the spine. Then the instrument has at least a chance of returning to natural function. I use one specific exercise, the candle exercise, to train diaphragmatic breathing to become a habit.
    Take a look in the mirror. What does your posture look like? Is your instrument in good alignment?
    I'm always asked if breathing should be in and up or down and out. Meaning does the abdomen pull in and up or push down and out as you are making sound. My answer to that is, Yes. Because what you really want is the body to be responding to the need to move breath while creating sound.
    Keep in mind for this discussion that your diaphragm, located inside the ribcage, is responsible for the inhale. Diaphragm drops to create space for fresh air. The abdominal muscles are responsible for the exhale, supporting the diaphragm in the process.
    The body will respond to most anything you ask of it, within reason. When you need to blow out a candle, you take a simple inhale and blow air directly at the candle. Did you need to think about diaphragmatic breathing to get the candle to go out? Try it right now.
    Candle exercises exploit the natural action of blowing out a candle by repeating it at a steady rhythm to make diaphragmatic breathing a habit to convince mind and body that diaphragmatic breathing can be simple and efficient. With consistent practice of the Candle Exercise, diaphragmatic breathing becomes a reliable habit.
    Your thumb becomes the candle. Hold it mid-chest about 6 from your body. With head on top of shoulders, blow the candle out with 3 short blasts of air, releasing the jaw in between each blast. Watch in a mirror to ensure that the shoulders stay still and your body stays aligned. How does it work for you?
    Give the candle exercise a try and join in this discussion.

  • TMV World Team
    To my knowledge, the majority of people love to sing. Even those who cannot sing and others who can and have a perfectly good full-time job and respected Singing. profession, would drop all of it without any hesitation in the nick of time to make their living doing what they love the most 
    So let's say, out of 90% of people who would do the above, only 1% or 2% realize their dream. We all know that it is extremely difficult to succeed in the music business and make a living out of it; however, it is not impossible. If the person has the true music talent, good voice, positive attitude and the vision of their future success, they could do it.
    However, they have to understand that with all of the prerequisites described above, if they don't possess the right vocal technique, they may ruin their precious voice right before succeeding in their vocal performance career.
    A lot of Ballet Dancers and Figure Skaters also initially possess their talent for their fields. Mikhail Baryshnikov, one of the best Russian dancers of all time, would not become the greatest well-known dancer if he did not attend the prestigious Vaganova Ballet Academy of St. Peterborough(a.k.a., Leningrad). He has learned the best techniques available to him and, combined with his enormous talent, he became a very famous and very well-known dancer.However,
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOAFsU2kWPw
    However, in the singing field, it is presumed that the talent for music and singing is enough to embark on a successful vocal performance career. And strangely enough, sometimes it is enough; but what happens later could turn into complete tragedy. In the midst of the, seem to be successful career, tours, performances, recordings and etc, the precious voice suddenly gives out and sometimes disappears altogether.
    So the contracts are signed, the record deal is executed, but the singer cannot produce what was expected from him/her. Look at the British singer – Adele, who ended up with bleeding polyps on her vocal cords. Obviously, the vocal cords were overused and over-abused and, in my opinion, it has happened due to the poor vocal technique. Great girl, beautiful personality, enormous musical and song writing talent, but the lack of the knowledge of proper voice application nearly killed her career and her health.
    I'm sure, my reader that you would agree with me that, after that polyp removal operation, Adele never sounded the same, and clearly to me, sounded very timid and very scared. 
    So these are my tips:
    Do not ever embark on any singing unless you know how to power your voice efficiently and with no pain or strain on your vocal anatomy. I don't think that somebody like Patrick Chan would embark on jumping a triple axle or quad without knowing, in details, and first in theory, how to execute it properly without breaking any parts of his anatomy.
    So whether you are a beginner or a professional singer, you still need to know what you are doing and learn all the secrets of your trade, if you want to avoid a great disappointment and even a loss of your singing career all together. In my next blog, (Part 2), I will talk more about the actual vocal technique which should be applied at all given times when the person opens up their mouth to sing and, of course, to speak, as the wrong application of a speaking voice could easily kill the singing voice.
    But I will talk about that in the next blog to come.

  • TMV World Team
    Upcoming SPOTLIGHT VIDEOS in the following weeks :
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I welcome the input of ALL of our members. If you feel that one of our members' videos qualify for a SPOTLIGHT VIDEO, feel free to contact me!
    Note: To qualify for a Spotlight Video the video MUST be live. Either onstage, in the studio, videos with backing tracks, or videos that contain "instructional material" (i.e. instructional videos by our coaches, Subject Matter Experts {SME's}, etc.).
    The easiest way to view all of our members videos is to scroll down to Featured Videos (on the Social Home Page, of course), then in the lower right-hand corner click on >> View All.
    You can also view video submissions via the TMV World Forum. The videos are typically in the Review and Critique My Singing section. Of course, you must sign up for the forum as well.
    To view PAST Spotlighted videos, click on my Article >> The Modern Vocalist Spotlight Videos, which can be found under Articles and Essay.
    Again, this is an invitation to encourage our membership to become more involved in TMV World, AND, to view the many astounding videos that have been submitted by our members !!!
    Of course, I encourage YOU, our valued member, to submit YOUR video(s)!
    (Updated 19 October 2014)
    Warmest Regards,
    Adolph
    Adolph C. Namlik
    Executive Director ~ The Modern Vocalist World
    chief188@hughes.net

     
  • TMV World Team
    TMV Team,
    If you have not done so yet, please register for our forum. The forum is in some ways, the heart of our web site and its where the most discussions about voice technique and vocal technology take place. We have invested a special effort to make sure that TMV doesnt just have "any old" forum, but offers the most robust, feature rich forum in the world, the "FluxBB" system is the best thats out there. It has been rated as the number one forum by independent industry professionals that measure message board technology. So click on "TMV Forum" and register. Post a few questions to help us get some activity working.
    Also, be sure to upload your Avatar (a picture of you), create your signature and go to "Profile" and look at "Email Digest"... The email digest is an important feature that will allow you to get a summary of all discussions every day or week sent to your inbox. Its the best way to stay involved in the TMV forum.
    The Best Forum Features in the World:
    - Intuitive User Interface. - Daily & Weekly digests send you summaries directly to your inbox if you choose. - Reputation rating of members and their posting. - Ranking for the forum's most active members. - Skins. - Avatars - Embed YouTube & Google video code right into the posting.
     

     
  • TMV World Team
    Recently I was asked to be a guest on a podcast for singers and voice professionals. My role was to answer any questions about natural voice care from the callers. One of the most asked about issues, oddly enough, was allergies and how to deal with them naturally and safely without affecting the voice. As surprised as I was, the podcast prompted me to write this article about dealing with allergies and singing naturally.
    Firstly, we must clarify what we are really focusing on. "Allergies" come in many forms shapes and sizes. My experience has been that most people I work with have, first and foremost, FOOD ALLERGIES! After a number of tests for food allergies, almost everyone discovers that what they have been eating is the problem. While this is not the case for all, it seems to be for most.
    Eliminating white sugar, processed foods, artificial sweeteners, white flour, soda, gluten and alcohol from ones diet does wonders for overall health and vocal health. That being said, I am going to give you a number of herbs that can help when you may have allergies affecting your vocal mechanism. You may have some of these already in your cupboard so the cure may be closer than you think.
    Chamomile-Chamomile has been used for ages as a treatment for allergies, in particular the German variety due to a chief compound within the chamomile called azulene. This compound when tested on guinea pigs has been shown to prevent allergic seizures for up to an hour after it was administered. It is also very useful when used to relieve hay fever.
    Drinking 3-4 cups a day during allergy season can dramatically help your allergies not to mention the calming, digestive and healing effects i has on your whole body. You may also try inhaling chamomile as a steam for ten to fifteen minutes before going to sleep at night.
    Fenugreek-Fenugreek seed is particularly useful for hay fever attacks. Soak the seeds in some filtered water for four to five hours, then boil the soaked seed for 2-3 minutes and drink one cup a day during the allergy season. You may find you have very few allergic attacks as before.
    As an added bonus Fenugreek is a wonderful healing herb.When used as a tea it is an excellent gargle for a sore throat and will also help expel mucus from the bronchial passages.
    Honey-Honey has been found to have properties that help with allergies. One helpful procedure I found doesn't cure hay fever and allergies but claims to drastically reduce them during allergy season. The person who gave me this remedy said you must follow the directions exactly as it only seems to work this way.
    Start this procedure one month before allergy season starts. Begin by taking one teaspoonful of honey after each meal. Then every other day get a small, waxy piece of actual honeycomb and chew on it for a couple of hours in between meals. It sounds easy, effective and  inexpensive to me. You will also end up benefiting from all the other wonderful healing agents found in honey as well.
    The following are two combinations of herbs that when mixed equally and brewed as a tea are an excellent remedy for helping allergies.
    1. Black Cohosh, Blessed Thistle, Pleurisy Root, Skullcap
    2. Comfrey, Fenugreek
    I have known many colleagues, speakers, teachers and presenters who have used variations of all of the above mentioned remedies for allergies. They are effective and also very helpful in overall body healing. As always, consult a qualified herbal practitioner and your medical doctor if you are mixing herbs and medications. Use good judgement and moderation when trying new formulas or herbal remedies for your vocal health.
    I wish you the best on your quest for Superior Vocal Health.

  • Steven Fraser

    Phonation Fundamentals

    By Steven Fraser, in Articles,

    Preface
    This post is in fulfillment of a promise that I made to TMV-er Chris, aka Mr_Ada. We'd gotten into an e-mail exchange on this topic, so I offered to blog on it for him and (by extension) all of TMV.
    Introduction
    In its most general definition, phonation is the making of phones or vocal sounds. This general definition includes voiced sounds, which include quasi-periodic oscillations of the vocal bands, andunvoiced sounds, which do not. The focus of this post will be on the voiced sounds produced during exhalation, which is the subset of the general definition most often meant when singers talk about 'phonation'. From here forward, when the word is used, it will be used in that sense.
    Basic Motions of the vocal bands
    During breathing, the posterior ends of the vocal bands are moved apart, making a triangular-shaped opening for the passage of air. This motion is called abduction. Here is a labeled, magnified picture of the vocal bands, taken from above, with the vocal bands abducted. The inverted white V shape is formed by the vocal ligaments, which are also called the 'vocal cords'. They are on the inner edges of the vocal bands.
     

     
    The opening between the bands is called the glottis.
    When the person is about to phonate, the posterior ends of the vocal bands are moved together, narrowing the glottis, often to the point of closing it. This motion is called adduction. Here is a magnified picture of the vocal bands of a different person, from above, with the vocal bands adducted so that the glottis is closed.
     
     
    The start of phonation
    Phonation starts when the vocal bands are adducted enough that they cause air pressure to build up below the glottis, and that air pressure is sufficiently high (when compared with ambient air pressure) to cause the glottis to open and narrow (or shut) repeatedly. This repeated motion produces pulses of air pressure to be released into the spaces just above the vocal bands, called the glottal pulse waves, or taken together, the phonated tone. (For the time being, we will not include vocal tract resonance in the discussion.)
    How Adduction affects phonation
    The phonated tone is directly affected by the amount of glottal closure which occurs in each cycle of motion. If the glottis does not completely close, (because the adduction is incomplete) then
    - the voiced phonation sound will be mixed with the sound of air turbulence passing through the larynx
    - the glottal pulses will not be very intense, and
    - the listener will hear 'breathiness' to more or less extent, inversely related to the amount of glottal closure.
    If the glottis closes completely in each cycle, then
    - there will be very little sound of air turbulence
    - the glottal pulses will be more intense, and
    - the listener will not hear breathiness.
    The percentage of the total glottal cycle time during which the glottis is closed is called the closed quotient.
    Vocal Pitch Control
    The pitch of the phonated tone is influenced by multiple factors, but is mostly the result of the actions of two muscle groups, 1) muscles in each vocal band which (when they flex) shorten and thicken the vocal bands, tending to produce lower frequency glottal cycles, and 2) muscles on the outside of the larynx which (when they flex) lengthen and thin the vocal bands, tending to produce higher frequency glottal cycles. The two sets coordinate to produce the full range of frequencies which can be sung. The activites of these muscles is often called registration.
    Inter-relationship of Adduction and Registration
    The amount of adduction which occurs is affected by the thickness of the vocal bands. When they are stretched long and are thin, the muscles which adduct the bands must move them farther toward the middle in order to get the same amount of glottal closure as is achieved with less motion when they are short/thick. If this additional adduction does not occur as the pitch ascends, the closed quotient becomes less as the vocal bands thin, and eventually the glottis does not close at all during the cycle. This progression is heard by the listener as a weakening of the vocal tone.
    Conversely, as the singer goes lower in the range, the vocal bands shorten and thicken, and progressively less adduction motion is needed to bring the glottis to closure. If this lesser adduction does not occur as the pitch descends, the closed quotient rises as the bands thicken, and eventually the glottis does not open and shut with a contant frequency. This latter situation is called vocal fry.
    The influence of breath energy on phonation
    The air pressure below the glottis during the phonation cycle is called subglottic pressure. At the beginning of a phonated tone, the energy of exhalation is resisted by the vocal folds during the closed phase, and causes a specific level of subglottic pressure to occur which (as we have seen) varies based on the adduction and the registration used for a note. If adduction and registration remain consistent, but breath energy (force of exhalation) increases, the closed quotient will progressively lessen. If adduction and registration remain consistent, but breath energy decreases, the closed qotient will progressively rise. In the former case, the voice eventually becomes breathy, and in the latter, the periodic oscillations cease, and a vocal fry results.
    Conclusion
    By training the voice to correctly balance and coordinate the laryngeal muscle actions and breath energy, the singer can achieve consistency of vocal tone and power throughout the entire range of the voice. With this balance, the singer is free to vary dynamics to suit the music being sung, and is also free to produce subtle tone changes by varying the closed quotient at will, in ways suited to the artistic expression desired.
     

  • TMV World Team
    Vocal distortion always gets a good clap at my Master Class. I don't know exactly why it gets such an excited response from participants, but I think it has to do do with the primitive desire of the audience "see blood" in the show. Not literally of course, but figurative. It sounds dangerous and is thrilling. Of course we cannot give the audience real blood, but we can train techniques that create the illusion that we are in regards to the ever popular vocal effect, distortion.
     

    Healthy distortion is produced by creating noise in the vocal tract, not by grinding tissue and that is the key to successful, vocal distortion techniques. The work flow and techniques for producing the three kinds of distortion below are provided in my new vocal technique training system,"The Four Pillars of Singing" 2.0  with full video demonstrations and book guidelines.
    Below is a video moment from the recent TVS Masterclass in Munich, Germany. The event was sponsored by RODE Microphones, TC-Helicon and our TVS Master Certified Instructor in Germany, Anke Lopez and her German team. This is a demonstration of three kinds of vocal distortion we teach at The Vocalist Studio. "Overlay" Distortion. "Overlay" Distortion with Husk "ESDI" (Extreme Scream Distortion Inhale).
     
     
  • Adolph Namlik
    If you are a vocal instructor (coach), a producer or engineer, a company who provides products or services to singers, an ENT, or other "specialist(s)" with regards to voice, you are a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on voice and we would like to recognize you as an SME on The Modern Vocalist.com, to include being featured on our Social Homepage and our Members page. It is our desire to feature ALL of our SME's in order to feature and promote you. However, you MUST upload a profile picture to your profile page and remove the default profile photo.
    When you finished uploading your profile picture, kindly contact me via TMV's internal email OR email me at chief188@hughes.net and I'd be honored to feature you !
    Sincere Regards,
    Adolph C. Namlik
    Executive Director
    The Modern Vocalist World
    Edited by Adolph Namlik ~ 06 August 2014

  • TMV World Team
    I would like to share with the singing public my own struggle with changing styles and sound from opera to pop.
    I teach from my own experience. I may be an expert today, but I am never far from my client's struggles and frustrations. It doesn't matter who the singer is, everyone at some point in their career has struggled with their voice in some way. Early on, even someone as gifted as Celine Dion had her own fair share of struggle with a tongue that wouldn't quit pulling back when singing, trapping her higher tones. (The culprit: her native language).
    Then there are those famed artists who claim to never have taken a lesson. Yet they have been seen by the public taking lessons with the some of the best teachers around. For me the issue isn't about who I teach. The issue is whether I can teach you how to sing, sing well, and without injuring yourself. Can I educate you well enough to become your own teacher? Yes.
    I was one of those who came out of the womb with an extremely gifted classical voice. At 12, I was seen in a Beverly Hills Elementary school production of The Magic Flute. After that appearance, many teachers wanted to teach me but I was still very young, and not that interested. I knew I already had a gift. My thinking was, Why do I need lessons? Yet at 16, I noticed I couldn't sing the songs I wanted to sing. My voice was too operatic for Pop, Pop/Rock, or Country. Now it was time for lessons.
    It got very depressing. Whenever I tried singing other styles, I felt horribly embarrassed. I could never figure out how the Mariah Carey's, Whitney Houston's, or Celine Dion's could belt like they did without choking! I sounded like a wannabe.
    Back then, teachers mostly taught classically. Very few were teaching how to sing contemporary music. All of my teachers (3) were those who sang with the Met and the Los Angeles Opera and couldn't teach me how to change styles. They told me it was best to stick with the classical training especially since my voice was a right fit, said I shouldn't mess around with the beauty of my sound or I might lose it. They scared me.
    Still hoping my voice would magically transform through lessons, I continued with the classical. Since technical perfection is a must when singing opera, there were times when if I didn't sing it right, I'd walk away from lessons feeling not good enough, stupid, or that something was wrong with me. It certainly wasn't helping me with the songs I so desired to be able to sing. It wasn't fun anymore. My voice became a liability, a limitation, rather than a gift. So humiliating to sing anything but opera, I stopped singing songs for anyone. I didn't want you to hear me attempt any other style while I still sounded like an opera singer for fear of what you'd think and say.
    When I finally made the decision to become a teacher, I also made the decision to become the very best teacher I could possibly become. This meant I was going to have to learn how to change my sound and style. I wanted to be able to teach anyone, no matter the style.
    Early on as a teacher I found out I had an extraordinarily gifted ear. It has become my greatest tool as an instructor and coach. They call it clairaudience. With my ears I am able to visualize exactly what's happening inside the singer that keeps them from having their voice the way they desire to sing and be heard.
    I went for lessons with two or three teachers as contemporary techniques became more popular. But after a couple of lessons and listening back to my tapes, I could hear things that the teachers weren't. Because of this, I lost faith in their ears. I trusted mine more. Additionally, I still wasn't getting what they were physically asking me to do to change my sound. This is when I came to a decision that wasn't easy to make; a very scary and what felt like unsafe proposition: to train myself. If I was so good at training you, why not train me?
    Out came the tapes and tape recorder. The recorder my student, and me, the teacher/guide. I treated those tapes as if I were listening to one of my students and began making the proper corrections. I probably read about 75 books and hordes of articles, internet and print, on vocal technique. I tried everything suggested and was obsessed with finding out what worked for me, what didn't, and why. I soon realized that singing in different styles wasn't so much about changing the sound of my voice as it was about changing the way I shaped the vowels, which also changes the placement. The process of changing sense-memorized habits was nothing short of grueling, but I was determined to never give up - no matter what. I wanted to be able to cover a spectrum of different styles.
    Habits are usually subconscious. They are so ingrained that it's not easy to ask someone to, for example, quit biting their nails or cracking their knuckles in an instant. Nope, not going to happen. To break a habit takes concentrated effort. Through this work I learned the true meaning of that word. Letting go of my own second-nature habits made me feel like my voice was at zero, as if I never had a gifted voice. I felt like many of my students do about their own voices when they come to me.
    The first thing I had to do was learn to stop listening to myself. Okay, yeah, that's like asking someone to leave his or her ego at the door - nearly impossible. But I transfered my awareness to listening from the outside, as if I were another person, and if it was wrong, I re-recorded until it was right. The tape never lies.
    I used vocalises to change vowel shaping, placement, and ways of support to create new sense-memorized habits. All of these were different from those used for classical singing. Vocalises became my weapon, my voice the competition, and I was going to win.
    Yes, I had my bed flailing days, days when I wanted to throw the tape and the recorder out the window. But nothing could ever stop me from continuing to try, continuing to practice, and continuing until I got it. After one of these breakdowns, I would be up in the morning practicing and right back at it again. I was relentless and determined. I don't really think I knew how competitive I was until I went on this expansive journey.
    Vocalises have now become my warm-ups. On any given day, just one vocalise can reveal where my voice is weak and needs work. Since the voice lives inside the body, you can never predict from day to day until you start exercising. Quickly discerning which area might need the most work, I can take an exercise and work that area until my voice opens up. Then I re-check by choosing a vocalise to sing through my entire range. What I've discovered is that by working in only one area, it often helps open all my registers. This is because I am practicing my new habits, and not my "sound" per se. A habit successfully changed in one area automatically changes it in another. Amazingly it is with this change of habits that a voice develops on its own. It's an automatic end result.
    Today, I don't have to think about my voice when I sing. I do, however, still have to vocalize with exercises. Old habits have a way of sneaking back in when you least expect them. So I, for one, have to keep after them. As long as I am reminding myself with this form of repetition, I can sing the songs I love quite well and it makes me very, very happy. I can't tell you how cool it is, when there were times I thought it would never happen.
    For additional style, I learned to listen for specific pronunciation rather than to the perceived sound of someone else's voice and trying to imitate it. I found pronunciation to be key to any given style. Imitating sound only kept me kept me pushing and forcing my voice. Again, very embarrassing.
    To get what I have today, the new way had to become the only way second nature to me, like opera. I am still a technical singer because I love to play with tones, and to be on pitch. I don't like the way I sound when I deviate into something that really isn't me. In my mind there are two types of singers: the technical and the stylistically artistic, and both are good. Technical singers make great session artists and are in demand because of it. Stardom, in my opinion, comes to those who seem to have the gift of MAGIC on stage or recording, artistically, stylistically, and as a performer.
    Some will still criticize me for sounding technical, not realizing that I prefer this for my own sound and style. It's how I love to sing because I can - and not everyone can. I don't need auto-tune. When I record a song, I can usually do it in an hour, and an a capella only takes 5 minutes. I'm proud that I can get it in one take.
    I did become the teacher I always wanted to become. I have a lot of fun singing today, and even more fun teaching my methods to clients, from the gifted to those who have to work for every iimprovement. Yes, it was a difficult journey and one I've noticed seems to be harder than going the other direction: from pop to opera. There were many ups and downs along the way. But everyone I teach is so happy to be on the road and keep forging onward. Those who have stuck it out have great voices and careers today.
    Dena Murray
    SME The Modern Vocalist, Voice Teacher/Coach, and Published Author
    www.denamurray.com
    www.facebook.com/dena murray

  • TMV World Team
    In previous articles I have discussed the various aspects of success for a singer. In this tip we'll focus on the third of the three most important components of successful vocal performance. To recap, the three major elements that contribute to your success are:
    1. Positive Mental Attitude
    2. A Dependable Voice
    3. Performance Skill
    Performance Skill
    The purpose of vocal technique is to expand your vocabulary of sound, build stamina, achieve ease of singing while not compromising your unique qualities and style and to maintain your vocal health. Developing your performance skill is the gateway through which your voice and passion shine out to your audience.
    A performance is a multifaceted, multi-sensory creation. Many singers learn the songs but approach the actual performance (the show) haphazardly and just hope that it works.At the fully professional level, there is much pre-planning and development of each element of the show prior to arriving in front of an audience. Then when in the midst of your show, inspiration and creativity can flow with confidence.
    Bridging from Rehearsal to Stage
    Practicing the performance of each of your songs after you master them vocally, is often overlooked, but is something that you need to do as part of developing your craft. Practice how you will perform a song and the actual expression of the song as if your audience is in front of you right now. This will help you develop all of the song's nuances.
    Do this in front of a mirror or video your rehearsals to see what you look like from the audience's perspective. When you practice your songs, don't just sing them through perform them. They will come alive and when you walk onto the stage it will be with greater confidence.
    Your Success
    Singing is most definitely an expression of emotion, intention and concepts. The physical foundation for this is how well you have developed your vocal instrument and how well you work with it. Many have mistaken this to mean that certain styles of music are vocally harmful or that you are born to sing only one style or “sound.” This is false and the influence of fear and ignorance.
    From my research and experience as a vocal specialist, I have found something different. I find that most people singers in particular  have far more potential than assumed. This includes more range, more power, more expression, more tonal possibilities - well, just more of everything.
    Achieving this more begins by understanding the simple facts of your instrument - how the voice really works. These facts applied become an effective approach for vocal development of increased range, stamina and freedom of expression in any style of your choice - not restriction. This translates into trust in yourself as a person and a singer and voil  - self-confidence.
    You'll see that these three elements contribute to and strengthen each other. The end result? - a successful singer and performer.
    I'm here to help and cheering you on.
    Jeannie Deva
    Creator of The Deva Method® - Complete Technique for Stage and Studio
    Author of "The Contemporary Vocalist" Book and CD Series
    "The Deva Method Vocal Warm-Ups and Cool-Downs" CD
    www.JeannieDeva.com

  • TMV World Team
    TMV Privacy Administration, Community Professionalism and Communication Etiquette.
    Hello and Welcome to The Modern Vocalist.com, The #1 Community for Singers on the Web!!
    As we continue to grow our membership base around the world it is important that we maintain a level of Privacy, Professionalism, Courtesy and Etiquette when it comes to communicating with each other within TMV.
    1) PRIVACY ADMINISTRATION:
    A great feature within your TMV Profile Page is the ability to regulate the PRIVACY and Administrative controls of certain aspects of your profile within your Settings.
    We have received a number of inquiries asking if these types of features are available, so we thought we would communicate this benefit more widely.
    For example, you can monitor and approve the comments being posted to your profile page:
    Do you want to approve comments before they appear on your comment wall?
    Yes Let me approve comments first No Publish comments immediately This feature allows individuals to review comments prior to them being posted to your page. So you can approve the comments you like, but also gives you the ability to delete those comments that you don’t want posted to your personal profile page.
    Please take a look under Settings within your profile page and set your "Privacy" Settings accordingly.
    2) COMMUNITY PROFESSIONALISM:
    It is extremely important to the Executive staff of TMV to keep the content within the community professional, that is not to say that we don't encourage debate within the forum, potentially controversial, yet thought provoking vocal related Blogs, and the publishing of opinions, that may not necessarily, represent the perspective of the majority. However, it is our first and foremost intention to keep the content within TMV vocally relevant and artistically inspirational.
    With this said, The Modern Vocalist reserves the right to Freeze, Ban, or delete any content posted by any members that we feel is inappropriate in meeting with the standards of our community.
    3) COMMUNICATION ETIQUETTE:
    It is the intention of TMV to provide a social community platform that facilitates the opportunity for individuals to NETWORK, SHARE, ENGAGE & CONTRIBUTE. The power of the internet has given us a unique opportunity to pull together some of the best vocal enthusiast professionals from around the world.
    TMV prides itself on making the general public aware that we have assembled this credible community of International Vocal Subject Matter Experts and its Members into a professional vocal community.
    We in turn expect that our Subject Matter Experts will engage with members, and vice versa, in a professional and personal manner. Because we represent all vocal genres without bias, the many different techniques, instructors, content and publications available will appeal differently amongst our international community. Distributing mass or bulk emails, generic comments and/or postings that encourage the purchase of products or services, HTML based images linked to external production sites is discouraged. However, posting greetings and encouraging members to view your profile page is acceptible.
    It is suggested that both Subject Matter Experts and Members looking to engage one another-peer to peer, should use the internal mail system provided to you by TMV. These communications, should include relevant information, supporting the reason for the correspondence. Subject Matter Experts have every right to start a group, begin a forum discussion to provide a place to discuss your specifics.
    Lastly, TMV is here for many reasons; networking, bringing the world together, fun, research & science and soon we will be inviting the pro audio industry to our community. TMV is also here as a benefit to our Subject Matter Experts who put time and energy into posting educational and informative blogs. Lets be clear on this point, its OK to bring attention to your studio, product or service, but we ask that you do so in a tactful and respectful way. This means, always try to offer some educational content or information that benefits everyone FIRST, before drawing attention to your service. If you do decide to draw attention to your service, do so in a tactful, classy way. Its really quite simple.
    This should not be construed as a deterrent for posting comments on personal profile pages, blogs or participating in the forum discussions, it is simply the suggested method for soliciting professional peer to peer communication where there is an offer to provide service, a notification of content for sale, or a sincere interest in providing additional networking opportunities.
    We are so appreciative of the contributions being made and the relationships we are all forming. We are working very hard here at TMV to provide the highest quality of service to our members.
    Please feel free to submit feedback at any time, we are always listening!!
    Sincerely,
    The Executive Staff of The Modern Vocalist.com
    info@themodernvocalist.com



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