TMV World Team

In past articles, I've stressed how groove is expressed differently in singers than for instrumentalists. For example, drummers express the rhythm outside their bodies (although they can feel it inside). Great singing necessitates internalizing the groove into your body. Yes, counting is a good way to start. A singer must "know" where the beat is -- this is the only way to truly be in control of your performance. You can direct musicians, sing a cappella, lead other singers and vary the phrasing -- all through groove. If you sing from your head (i.e. thoughts) rather than get it into your body, you still can count the beats in the measure, land on the downbeat, come into the song on the right beat, etc.. but you lose feel. Feel is what moves people; makes you sound passionate; and allows you to interpret the lyrics differently (phrasing-wise). Some Tips for Getting the Groove into Your Body and into Your Sound: *Learn the correct rhythm and feel of the song. This means, what is the timing - is it 4/4, 2/4, 6/8? Is it an upbeat feel, a swing feel, etc...? *Work out the timing. Practice each phrase line by line if you need to - so that you learn how the lines fit with the rhythm. *Learn the phrasing by heart groove-wise. Guessing where the groove is or where you come in does not work - ever! *Lean into the groove. Leaning into the groove is definitely a learned singing technique. It is used in gospel and R&B, but rockers like Bono use it, too. Leaning means that you lean your body slightly forward (from your back, not your head). as you sing through the vowel. This allows the sound to bend a bit (not the pitch). *Lyrics & melodies need fit into a phrase rhythmically. If you have too many words in a phrase or you are rushing to get everything in or the timing is off, it may be that you are fighting the groove. I once had a student who couldn't figure out the beats in a traditional song or how to fit the words, even though he knew the song well. Once he used his body to lean into the downbeat and pull up on the upbeat, the lines fell into place. *Tapping the beat - A DJ I worked with on my dance hit taught me to beat my palm (or hand) on my chest so I could get the beat in my body. He would line up turntables this way and it totally works! You can tap your foot or thigh, but I like the idea of getting it into the center of your body. *Slow down to speed up -You can't express the song fully unless the groove is integrated into your body. See this as the important aspect of the song that it is. If you're having trouble, you can slow down a song at first. Once you get the groove mastered, then take the song up to speed. *Listen to artists who are skilled with groove - like Adam in Maroon 5 or Brian McKnight. Practice their songs to "cop" their type of rhythmic styling... and add it to your own "groove" toolbox.. More questions: Please feel free to email vocalcoach@teridanz.com or call 310-281-1856. ***This is an excerpt from Teri Danz's upcoming book Nail It Every Time: The Pro Singer's Guide to Everything Vocal with singing tips and more. Reprinted only with permission. All rights are reserved. www.teridanz.com. More vocal tips are published on http://www.a2z-singing-tips.com.

August 4, 2009 Radio Free America By NANCY SINATRA Los Angeles WHEN I hear great American standards on the radio, I think of all the songwriters, artists and musicians whom my father, brother and I have worked with over the years. It reminds me that every recording has two parts, the composition and the performance. It also reminds me how many wonderful artists and musicians have not been paid fairly for their work. Songwriters and publishers are paid when their tunes are played on the radio, but none of the artists or musicians who bring the music to life receive even a penny. The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing today on legislation that will right this wrong, which dates back to the early days of sound recordings. My father, Frank Sinatra, and singers like Tony Bennett, Bing Crosby and Perry Como fought for years for performance royalties from radio stations, arguing it was unfair that performers are not paid and citing cases like Helen Forrest that show the harsh side of this injustice. Helen was one of the most gifted singers of the 1940s. Known as the Voice of the Name Bands, she had hits like Cried for You and I Had the Craziest Dream. Sadly, Helen spent her last years practically destitute because she received nothing when her songs were played on the radio. This fight isn't just about featured artists. There are thousands of background singers and session musicians who deserve to be paid for their work, too. Radio station owners argue that artists receive free promotion from airplay of their records. This is simply untrue. Most of the music played on AM and FM radio is at least two years old. And the practice of backselling mentioning the name and performer of the song that was just played has fallen into such disuse that a decade ago the nation's largest radio station operator, Clear Channel, asked for $24,000 per title to mention the song's artists on the air. It's no surprise that companies unwilling to even recognize artists on the air would also be averse to paying performance royalties. Terrestrial radio is the only radio platform that still doesn't have to pay these royalties. Internet radio and satellite radio pay artists when they play their records, so do cable television music channels. In fact, AM and FM radio stations that stream their signal online pay performance royalties. The United States is one of a small number of countries where artists and musicians are not compensated when their music is played on over-the-air radio. Because the United States doesn't have performance royalties, radio stations in countries that do collect them do not have to pay American artists. In many of these countries, American artists make up as much as 50 percent of radio airplay, and this prevents millions of dollars industry estimates are $100 million a year from flowing into our economy. I believe in a performance royalty because recording artists and musicians from every generation deserve to be compensated for their art. My father became an icon by putting his inimitable stamp on songs from My Funny Valentine to My Way and Come Fly With Me. When he sings, Weatherwise it's such a lovely day in Come Fly With Me, he lingers on the word lovely, and you can actually imagine yourself floating in a blue sky on a lovely day. He brought music to life with his own style just as every artist does when he takes notes and words on a page and sings or plays them in his own way. Singers and musicians, as much as songwriters, create something when they perform and we should make sure all artists are paid when their creations are heard on the radio. Nancy Sinatra is a singer. Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

Singing is a lovely divertissement that can make you feel outstanding. Who does not want to learn how to sing better? Various people do and even the artists do things to make their voices glisten just a little bit more. It is time to attain what will help you with just free singing tips. Before all else, you will need to furnish your voice with the passable care. This will help it work at superlative productivity. Ordinarily sipping heated water through out the course of the day can help capably. Water has the crucial vitamins and minerals that will sustain your vocal cords sparkle. You should stay removed from milk , carbonated beverages, and sugary drinks. These can make it incomparably severe to sing. Second, repeatedly warm up. This would fold up under tips for warming up when singing. An athlete would by no means go into a game barring warming up their anatomy. They could majorly deface themselves if they did. A singer shall absolutely not sing without doing at least a bit warming up. This can be as unfussy as going through the scales. Or teeming for a some minutes and eventually taking some inmost breaths beforehand to transacting. These are free tips on singing. Consequently, posture is extensively influential. When you vocalize you should be in the genuine slant. This would mean with shoulders snug and chin out. When you gasp you should discern your tummy drift in and out with your breaths. Amass legs squarely placed on the land. Customarily sit up or stand uncurled so you get the maximal effect.

Whether speaking or singing, many of us want to change our voice to sound richer, sweeter, more authoritative or more sensual. However, practices intended to alter vocal qualities from an external desire rather than from an internal transition are limited in their impact and sustainability. It would be like wearing cosmetics and expecting them to cover a frown. Our voice sounds our soul into the world. At any moment in time there is a gift or grace that each of us may speak or sing. Our voices land in one another's bodies and energetic fields and we hear not only with our ears and minds but also more deeply with every cell and atom. The quality of the voice tells us more than the actual meaning of the words being articulated. For example, a voice that is weak in the middle and that sounds very different in the low and high ranges might indicate low self-esteem. When emotional pain squelches the life force, the voice may break or sound like it is on the verge of crying. A high, thin, disembodied voice might betray a tendency to live in the world of imagination or to disown a body that houses memories of experiences one is still not ready to process. A flat quality to the voice might convey a belief that only the measurable, material world exists. When it is functioning optimally, the voice is designed to energize all of our chakras and the corresponding physical, emotional, mental and spiritual anatomies. Just as there is a place on the feet that corresponds to each area of the physical and metaphysical anatomy, so there is a corresponding place on the vocal cords. As we sing and speak, we may stimulate these areas with the vibrations of the voice. Crystallized energy that causes blockage is disintegrated and released, bridges between the various chakras and energy bodies are strengthened and we become more congruent. After making healing sounds, voices that were once broken with grief begin to sing with joy. Voices once tired or demanding begin to nurture and inspire. The more pure and sonorous the voice, the more the aura brightens and the more powerfully the immune system is supported. Furthermore, as we heal ourselves with our voices, we simultaneously heal others. The voice achieves all of this automatically because of the miracle of our physical design.Just as the alignment of the earth within the galaxy is perfect to support life, the structure of the voice is perfect to communicate every aspect of our being. Because everyone has a different life experience, genetic inheritance and spiritual direction, the process of developing the voice is unique for each of us. However, there are certain elements of vocal function that are common to everyone: structural support, breath management, phonation, resonance and articulation. Because the voice is most easily and fully developed when we sing, adding the elements of singing into our lives can restore the system to balance. Each sound we make with our voice can have what we call overtones or secondary elements sounding at a higher pitch simultaneously. (You can listen to examples of overtones in Tibetan chanting and in harmonic choirs.) The more overtones in the voice, the more it affects our body and our energy anatomies. Humming naturally increases these overtones as it helps us to access the resonators in the face and head. By humming 10 to 20 minutes every morning we can energize our physical and metaphysical systems, and awaken the voice to more fully express our soul throughout the day. Each vowel also has a unique overtone structure and it can be very beneficial to highlight them in an overtone chant. Pretend you are going to yawn with your mouth closed. Keeping the lips rounded as though you are blowing through a straw, start with the sound oh and move through the sounds oh, ah, y and e using the tongue and soft palette to shift the inside of the mouth while changing the lips and jaw as little as possible. Increasing nasality may help you to hear the high whistling sounds above the vowel tone you are making. These whistling overtones will create a little melody of their own as you move from vowel to vowel. As we allow our voice its full expression we become as a flute through which the sacred may blow its grace into all of life. As we notice when our voice is vibrant and full of presence or when it is hollow or broken, we also begin to hear different qualities in others voices. As we listen for all that is being communicated from the souls of others, the voice becomes a spiritual ally, guiding us into deeper wisdom and compassion than mere words could ever convey. Jocelyn sings, composes and teaches in Manhattan. She delivers keynotes and seminars to conferences and organizations. For more information about her and her work, or to pose questions about your voice, go to www.morethansinging.com and www.morethanspeaking.com.

Singers Key Notes Creativity and Courage Ken Davenport, the young man the NY Times has dubbed the P.T. Barnum of Off-Broadway, was my guest on Singers Key Notes this week. As a result, I am confident that Broadway will not only survive but thrive because we have this brilliant young man leading the way. Ken is an innovator. He has unbridled creativity. He lives and works in the moment and uses technology to build his shows, the audience and the buzz necessary for a long-running show. Not only is he the only producer with three shows running off-Broadway at the same time The Awesome 80s Prom, Altar Boyz and My First Time but they have all recouped their investment, grossing a total of $30 million worldwide. Combined, his productions have grossed more than $ 100 million worldwide and are being produced internationally in 25 countries including Germany, Mexico, France, and Korea. Financial success Off-Broadway is a feat in itself. Financial success in a major worldwide recession is monumental. How does he do it? First of all, he's been in the theater all his life from childhood actor to NYU to general manager on several Broadway shows. Ken spent 10 yrs working backstage to prepare himself for the role of producer. None of this success was due to luck. It's a lot of hard work and years of learning the ropes and a willing and relentless spirit. Also, and this is the piece of the puzzle for our discussion today. Ken Davenport, has the creativity and the courage to use it, wrote and directed My First Time, the first-ever Theatre 2.0 Ken set up a website, www.MyFirstTime.com and asked its users to tell about their first time stories. All the words in My First Time as from real people who shared their stories on the website. Ken then crafted their words into the show we now see. Ken is creator, crafter, actor, director, PR guy, producer, you name it, he does it! I questioned him about playing all these rolls in his business and how he gained experience in all these areas. His answer was wise beyond his 38 years. To paraphrase, Ken said that you'll never be ready to take on a task until you actually do it. Will you always be successful? Maybe not. But if you don't ever try, then you have no chance of succeeding. This does not mean that you should produce a Broadway play your first time out, but produce a high school musical, get involved, stretch your wings and learn. Nike is right: Just do it!

Every artist must also be a businessperson. You are the CEO your own business the business of your career. The internet has not only made this easier and more accessible, but necessary. Here's an example of a brilliant use of the internet to build business. Ken Davenport, a recent guest on Singers Key Notes, shared with us the first-ever use of Theater 2.0. Ken set up a purchased an already existing website, www.MyFirstTime.com that asked its users to tell about their first time stories. All the words in My First Time as from real people who shared their stories on the website. Ken then crafted their words into the show we now see. The show, My First Time brings to life some hysterical and heartbreaking stories, real stories from real people. Now here's the marketing genius at work. The Virgins Get in Free promotion Ken created for the opening received international attention from major media networks worldwide. Brilliant! Singers, there is a lot for us to learn here. Ken does not seem to have any filter on his creativity. He is passionate about all aspects of theater and gives 150% of his energy to it. If he is bothered by negative voices inside his head, it certainly doesn't stop him. He doesn't go off in several directions at once to create a project, he goes deep into every aspect and develops a solid business plan, a plan of action and then follows through on those actions. Ken Davenport is unique because he dares to be. He is wildly successful because he has put in his time learning all aspects of the biz and treats his career, however creative, as a business career. Singers. Do you have a business plan? What are your outrageous marketing ideas? Do you have the courage to follow through on those plans? Do you at least have the courage to share your crazy ideas with a fellow singer? Challenge yourself to stretch out and brainstorm with others and see what interesting ideas pop out. Then decide which are doable even if they are outrageous and follow through. You never know what can happen!

A few weeks ago I talked about the power of 'The Moment' that crucial crossroads in our lives when we're given the reins of opportunity to turn right or left, to rise or fall those choices that looking back, meant everything. Most of us have had these moments in our professional and personal lives. But I believe that they're also there waiting in a place you might never expect in the formation of talent. Of course, there's no conclusive proof of what makes a musical genius the debate goes back and forth between some combination of genetics, environment, brain chemistry and practice (10,000 hours of it, according to Malcolm Gladwell). In fact, the only thing experts do agree on is what they're uncertain of. I certainly don't claim to have any definitive answers, either. But I would like to share what I've observed in my own practice over the past 13 years commonalities that have led me to an exciting conclusion about 'the moment' that- perhaps- talent is born. In my experience, brilliant musicians today singers and instrumentalists that 'speak' the musical language fluently, intuitively, effortlessly and naturally all had initial language-less, non-technical, and generally teacher-less experiences. In other words, they approached music's door, and- finding it open- walked in silently and usually alone, sat down, and make themselves comfortable. In that space, immersed inside of music's house, they observed and played without inhibition, rules or criticism from self or others, and developed their ability as an extension of their soul's own language. Certainly, many of these musicians went on to study technique and to read music, but it wasn't part of their initial experience or engagement. Conversely, I've observed that those who began the study of an instrument or the voice with technical instruction- or as an individual, intellectual pursuit- seemed to master only two rather than three dimensions of proficiency. Yes, they can read music. Yes, they can play songs. But they're fluent. It doesn't come as naturally to them. They always have to think about it, the way someone who studied French or Spanish in school has to think about and translate from one language into the other before being able to connect.not For those scoffing at the idea that how we learn music might be as important as inherent talent, take a look at countries and cultures- Ireland, African-American churches, the Native American tradition- that teach and celebrate music as an uninhibited practice. It is astounding and inspiring to observe that most- if not all- bravely, comfortably and fluently speak the language of music with powerful, beautiful voices. This is not a function of a greater amount of inherent talent per capita, but rather, a difference in approach toward music and creative pursuits: the initial engagement- if it wants to demonstrate as inherent rather than practiced, a natural ability rather than a learned one- must bypass the technical, language-oriented, left-brain, and engage directly and immediately with the creative, right brain, emotional centers. The aforementioned cultures go right to these emotional centers. Our current teaching model turns sharply to the left. None of us can go back and change the way we experienced our initial musical, artistic engagements. But what we can do is to use this wisdom to our advantage as we walk into the world and approach learning, particularly things of a creative nature. Abandon language, judgment, and a sense of time. Ignore the temptation to name and perfect things. When the moment comes, sit in the house of your creative pursuit, make yourself at home, listen, and play. To read more of Jennifer's blog, please visit http://jenniferhamady.blogspot.com/

"..if you had one shot, one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted, one moment. Would you capture it or just let it slip?" Was the first line in the big hit Lose Yourself by different, he stood out from the rest. Who would you rather be? Those who come and and are quickly forgotten as soon as they get off the stage or those who still echoes in the memory of the audience after they go home and until the next day? Great singers are those who not only have an amazing voice but those who captures the audience with their mind, body, and soul.Eminem. Only a few of us may ever get a chance to perform on a big stage in front of hundreds or thousands. There are many performers but only some will be remembered. Or maybe only "one" will be remembered. Maybe that one was Great performers have the ability, the power to amaze their audience, no matter how large or small the crowd is, from the beginning to the end of the song. Singing is not always about "just" singing. It's about how you understand the song and the characteristic role. You're not connecting with the audience, you're connecting with the song. Forget the audience and listen carefully to the meaning of the song. Who are you when you're singing? What is the mood like? Use facial expressions and body language to interpret the songs along with your vocal. Even a person with a lower quality singing voice can get away with it by displaying a "great" performance. Britney Spears is one of those famous artists that makes me wonder why she even has a record label. But then I observed her carefully and I thought, she can dance, she can entertain. She "feels" the music. But imagine if you had both. Why would you want to sing the song the same way your idol sings it when the audience could just listen to the original on the radio? Sing it like you mean it. If you're sad, sing it like you're sad. If you're happy, sing it like you're happy. Let the music take over you. Performing is much like acting so you must practice how to deliver the songs with both a great vocal and strong performance. Each time you're on stage you only get "one"shot. Blow the audience away and knock them off their feet. Everyone wants a standing ovation but you have to earn it and work hard. I hate to say this but it's almost a waste of time being up there if you were going to be like everyone else. No one will remember you, so you must take every opportunity you get and shine with all your light. You want to be beyond the best of what you got. "..lose yourself in the music," -Eminem

Recently, I was working on an application for my band, The Jazz Generation, to The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad program. One of the requirements was a recording of representative music. While I have a recording studio, it is for recording, then mixing tracks. In this case, I needed a live recording that would accurately represent the way we would sound on tour. Access Sacramento, with a modest fee to cover crew costs, was able to meet our need and did a fantastic job. The recorded performance is being broadcast on 6 days, beginning Saturday, August 15, 2009. Exact times and dates ae listed in my events. I highly recommend this option. We had a very short timeline with little time to prepare. Cable access channels are of great service and absolutely professional. I hope some of our viewing audience will let us know they were there. To understand the kinds of services possible, check out Access Sacramento's website. It helps if you have already donated volunteer time to the station or helped in some other way. Reciprocity makes all things better..

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It may be of interest to students, parents of young children, and anyone interested in improving their intellectual capabilities, that making music is known to improve mental acuity. It is well documented that music lessons which develop motor, visual and auditory skills have a positive impact on reading skills. Basically, our brains work by forging a network of links or pathways from one part of the brain to another, and just like pathways, they widen and strengthen as they are used neuroplasticity, and one of the best ways to increase the brain's neuroplasticity is to learn to play an instrument, or participate in singing. This is because learning an instrument forces your brain to think in a different way, and thus it forms new pathways. (This is much the same principal as that upon which the Brain Training software is built).more, until they become more like roads, and then motorways! Our ability to form these pathways is called Learning an instrument literally improves your ability to think. There is a substantial body of evidence to suggest that participating in music making, as well as listening to music, stimulates creativity and conditions the brain to think more efficiently in general. For example, children exposed to musical training are proven to be far better at problem-solving than their non-musical peers, and have been shown to have an astonishing 80% greater spatial intelligence, according to some studies. One study also showed that pre-school children taught with song and games have an IQ of 10 - 20 points higher than children taught without song, and show far better reading and maths scores by the age of 15. What more encouragement do you need to send your children off to music lessons, or to campaign for more music in schools? Better yet, these findings do not only apply to children adults show similar improvements, after a period of time, when learning to sing or play an instrument. These activities not only keep the brain active, but also encourage new brain function. Singing lessons have also been shown to be highly effective in helping adults with brain damage, helping the individuals to re-form their damaged or broken neural pathways. Add to this the feelgood factor that is inherent in making music, and it becomes a matter of some wonder that music lessons are not prescribed by law! There is a considerable body of research (Lozanov and Gatava) suggesting that accelerated learning can be optimised via the use of music rich in stringed instruments, played at 64bpm. Their experiments showed that students were able to take in huge quantities of information in a very short period of time, when these musical criteria were fulfilled. The inference is that we would all do well to have string-rich, slow-paced classical music playing when we are working, or trying to focus on a project or learn a new piece of information quickly. What have you got to lose? It's certainly worth a try, and strongly backed up in the scientific data. At VIDLA, we train singers to become effective singing teachers. How nice it must be for those teachers-in-training to know that they will be doing so much more for their students than 'just' teaching them good vocal habits. They'll be re-wiring thir brains too :-) The over-riding message? Music: it's all good.

CHAPTER FIVE Well, it took us more than a year to raise our baby into the handsome young product it is today, but even as a baby HearFones raised eyebrows. Professor Robert Russell, director of the Choral Arts Society, held them in his hands and quipped O Sole Mio, then popped them over his ears and sang again -- Wow! he said, you've really got something here. Soprano Karen Notare offered to try them in her rehearsal as Tosca -- together with Sunil, our photogenic young model -- but she decided her beautiful operatic voice was a bit strong to use them much. On a more serious note, though, a young girl in New Hampshire with language development difficulties found her HearFones really helpful, walking around the house making different sounds and really listening. Her mom sent us a lovely Thank You card. Then, Rhode Island teacher Jolie Shushansky sent us self-portraits from her 24 second-graders, annotated by each artist with their individual impressions of using HearFones, and a note: "I'm using my HearFones as a singer, teacher and chorus director to help discipline the children, who habitually call out without raising their hand, to help them hear what they sound like. The results have been fantastic." We began to understand that HearFones were more than just a learning tool, and their encouragement -- among many others -- helped us press forward. Our first sales were to the Music Stand catalog in March 1998, and we haven't looked back since. But, we still wondered, What . . . is going on here? First, we know that HearFones were designed around the ellipse -- a special shape of curve known for its two focal points. The ellipse was chosen because any sound that starts out at the first focal point spreads out into the curve and then reflects back to arrive exactly together at the second focal point. (If you're the curious type, there's a simple picture of this on the Web at: (For the more technically minded, you can study our patent at the U.S. Patent Office site: Our patent number is 6,229,901.) The idea is to take every sound coming from your mouth and re-create it at your ear, rather than letting it escape and never return. It works great! So well that some folks are using it to study and control their own breathing! And drive around in their car singing to themselves! But what are HearFones users hearing, and what are they doing with what they hear? And more than that, what are they learning? At first glance, it seems obvious that “hearing yourself better” should be helpful with hitting the right pitch correctly. If you can't hear yourself at all, then how would you know? You could have a meter of some sort, or an oscillscope, that measures and presents your pitch on an indicator. Then you could play around and see what works to make it go higher and lower. Or you could have a friend or a coach to tell you what to do. Luckily, most of us can hear ourselves at least in some ordinary way, so we don't really need HearFones or a coach to start singing. But not all of us have perfect hearing (whatever that is), and so we might not be able to match a pitch we're creating with the pitch we're trying to hit. This is usually what folks mean when they speak of tone deafness. Others have high-frequency hearing deficits, caused by aging or by exposure to loud noises at work or play -- or guns or jet engines -- or DNA. So, the extra information HearFones provide can be helpful anyway. But more than that, the ability to sing on pitch means that we need to be able to accurately change pitch as the melody moves along. This calls for being able to pre-set our voice for each pitch exactly at the moment it's needed. You can hear this problem especially in a young children's choir, where sometimes it takes longer than a full note for them to agree on what pitch to sing. Alone, in the back seat of a car, they sing just fine, but in the confusion of a group of singers, their lack of training and confidence shines through as a muddle of pitches. Any number of day-care centers and junior choirs have discovered what their kids can really do when they can hear themself singing with HearFones on. It's like day and night. Being able to hit pitch accurately, and being able to change pitch accurately and instantly, is a learned art. It needs to be internalized and stored away as what some would call a muscle memory so that it's available on call, so to speak. Muscle memories, of course, are what pianists and violinists use to move their fingers as quickly as they do. By practicing fingering, over and over and over, they create what a computer programmer would call a sub-routine -- a snippet of programming that accomplishes a specific goal, like display the lowercase letter p. All you do is push your finger on the P key, and the computer does the rest. These subroutines apply equally in tennis, and in golf, where your muscles pull off a success without any deep thinking at all. In fact, there's a series of books titled The Inner Game of ( _ _ _ ) by Timothy Galwey that includes The Inner Game of Music and goes into significant detail about how muscle learning takes place. And takes over, too, for that matter: just think DO-RE-MI, and out comes DO-RE-MI The Inner Game series takes for granted what we call feedback. And feedback is just what HearFones do. You wind up to hit the ball, and you hit it, and you see where it goes, and if it goes wrong, you try again. When it goes well, you practice that again and again until it becomes instinctive. With time, and practice, you get better and better, and making a mistake happens less and less often. Of course, in a real game, a lot depends on how the ball arives to you. Does it have spin? Which way? What do I need to do to compensate for that when I hit it back? So, effective practice demands playing as well as exercising. After you become Serena or Venus Williams, your focus is on the incoming ball, and your response is intuitive -- and immediate. Here, a solo singer has an advantage, but a chorister does not. As part of a team, you need to act together, following the director's directions, listening to the choir around you and to the accompanist if you have one, and trying to avoid being sucked in by the voices around you if any one of them makes their own mistake. For an adult, this can be a trial; for a child, it can be daunting! Imagine trying to learn without feedback, or even with just partial feedback: - you toss the ball into the air - you look at the target - you swing the racket - you hit the ball (if you're lucky) - the ball flies away, and hits a little low, but your nearsightedness causes you to lose focus at that distance and you just hear it hit the wall - would you bother to try again? Now, imagine learning with coached feedback: - you perform the same steps (1 through 5) - your coach informs you that you were a little low and a little to the left - you try again - this time you're a little low again, but on the right. Or, in singing: - you sing into a microphone - you play back the recording - you change what you're doing - you try again. Vocal teacher Katherine Verdolini Abbott has been studying this at the University of Pittsburgh for years, and this year's Voice Foundation conference included any number of researchers reporting what she's said for years: giving a person instructions is the best way to NOT effect muscle memory. You need immediate, pertinent, relevant, meaningful feedback -- to literally see how it goes -- in order to effectively teach muscle memories. A pianist sprinkles her fingers across the keyboard and immediately goes Ouch! That's not right! No one needs to tell her anything. The violinist plays an arpeggio and says No! I've got to do that again; that F didn't come out sharp enough! The singer sings a phrase, but her voice flies away and she only hears partially what she's doing -- after it reflects off the other wall, and the ceiling, and reverberates through the air around her. Now, imagine learning with accurate, immediate and meaningful feedback: - you perform steps 1-5 again - with eyeglass binoculars you track the ball as it spins and arcs away - you study its behavior, all the way to the target - you see where it hits - and now you try again. Soccer players do this -- routinely. They kick the ball, and they watch it spin and arc around in its inevitable curve as it first eases away from the goal, but then gracefully curves back to squeeze between the keeper's glove and the far corner of the net. Bend it, like Beckham! Kids do it -- when they casually skip a flat rock across a tranquil pond. In our Chapter 6, we'll focus on the details.

Quick Tips to Sing Better Fast by Jeannie Deva You love to sing. You do whatever it takes to sound good, but it's not always easy. You have your embarrassing moments. Sometimes your voice feels tight. Sometimes you get the note but not always with the best tone. Sometimes your voice cracks and you run out of air too soon. But you keep on going because you're determined to do this wonderful, magical thing that for some possibly unexplainable reason you can't imagine life without the magic and the power of singing. But could it ever feel easier? Many singers tend to do a few specific things which actually make singing harder. Here are a few tricks of the trade that make singing easier no matter your style. Quick Tip #1: Relax your tongue. Does your tongue tense as you sing? Does the back of it pull up as you go for a higher note? Does it pull back into the back of your mouth? (That will cause it to tense.) Try this: Select a song to sing. As you do, rest the tip of your tongue behind your bottom teeth. It will need to move a bit to accomplish some of the consonants, but otherwise, especially as you sing long notes, leave it relaxed low in your mouth with the tip resting against the back of your bottom teeth. It may take a bit of practice to break the habit of tensing and overworking it. Remember, do let it move for the consonants your words will still be understandable. But you will discover that releasing tension in the tongue has a lot to do with singing becoming easier. Quick Tip #2: Relax your lips. When you sing do you tense your lips? Are you exaggerating their movement or that of your cheeks or the opening of your mouth? Try this: Put on a recording of a song you like to sing or a backing track of a song you perform. Stand in front of a mirror and watch yourself as you sing. Really put yourself into the song and watch your face, especially your lips and mouth. If you exaggerate the movement of your face as part of achieving the notes, this tension will back up into your throat and you will find yourself pushing against this tension. Remedy: Gently place the palms of both your hands on either side of your mouth on the sides of your face. Sing the song again and let your hands help you to relax the movements of your lips, checks and mouth. Of course there will be movement but with this we are working on letting the movement be relaxed and natural. How does that feel? Do you notice a difference in how you sound as well? (Hint: it should be automatically easier and better.) Facial expressions should be part of your expression of the song - not to get your voice to work. Quick Tip #3: Breathe into your back. Do you push your stomach forward when you take a breath and then push it in when you sing? If so, you're pushing out too much air which will in turn over-pressurize your vocal folds and cause them to either tense or over relax. Or, as you sing, do you exhale or in some way push up or push out your air? Instead try this: Put your hands on the back of your sides (not the front, the back). Take a breath letting your ribs in back expand. You will probably feel the air coming into your back. Now sing. As you do, let your stomach remain relaxed and maintain the open position of your back). Do this a few times so you can really test it out. Explanation: When air comes into your body it goes into your lungs. The biggest parts of your lungs fill about 3/4ths of your back. To fill with air, your lungs need your rib cage to expand. The expansion of your ribs is what physically opens your lungs. This movement is what pulls-in your breath. If your ribs collapse as you sing or if your stomach pushes inwards, too much breath is expelled too fast. This can cause tension in your throat and can make reaching certain pitches more difficult. Singing with your ribs expanded results in a fuller voice. You will find specific rib cage exercises, additional information and coached vocal workouts that enhance natural breathing which will make your singing better and easier in my Contemporary Vocalist Volumes One and Two! May you enjoy the rewards! Jeannie Deva Jeannie Deva is a celebrity master vocal coach and recording studio vocal specialist who has worked with and been endorsed by engineers and producers of Aerosmith, Elton John, Bette Midler, Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones. Seen on E! Entertainment and TV Guide Channels, Jeannie has been a celebrity guest interviewed on talk shows in both the US and Venezuela. Her private voice studio is located in Los Angeles where she teaches in-person as well as singers around the world via Internet video conferencing. Certified Deva Method® teachers are located on east and west coasts of the U.S. and now in Sydney, Australia. Clients include Grammy award winners, American Idol Finalists, and more. www.JeannieDeva.com

This article has been republished from my blog, www.findingmysingingvoice.com. I've been thinking a lot lately about what it takes to be a great voice teacher, so I was excited to see that the latest issue of Opera News focuses on education. It includes a great piece by vocal coach and frequent Opera News contributor Scott Barnes . Here's my favorite quote from the article. Ultimately, the path to being a good singing teacher is not so different from the one that leads to being a good psychotherapist empathy, an avid interest in process as well as product, the flexibility to adjust vocabulary in order to achieve understanding, technical as well as instinctive knowledge, and driving curiosity. Scott Barnes, Opera News , July 2009

We are lonely. In New York City, where I live, I'm surrounded by people every day. On the street, on the subway, there's never a second when I'm not alone. But there is a difference between being around people and really connecting with people. Physical proximity and social cyberspace aren't substitutes for relationship, and we as a culture are starting to feel the weight of that truth. It's part of the reason, in my opinion, that Starbucks has become the corporate and cultural giant it has. You can make coffee at home, but the community that Starbucks provides- a fundamental component of their mission statement, by the way- draws people in droves. Still, we pick up our latte and sit alone with our computers, rather than talk to those around us. Or we go out to dinner with a friend or spouse sneaking glances at the people one table over, rather than saying hello and striking up a conversation. The reality is, we are social animals. Just like dogs that sniff and roll around with each other as a means of introduction, we too long to get close and personal with each other. That's not to say we should start nuzzling strangers at cocktail parties, but we've gone to the other extreme, becoming isolationists in a social context. In my practice, I've recently started suggesting social interaction along with personal introspection as a recipe for progress and growth. And it's working! Joining a choir, establishing a Friday morning coffee group, participating in a hiking club and volunteering are really making a difference in the lives of my clients. It's not just benefitting them individually, but their marriages and partnerships as well. Without realizing it, our loneliness has caused us to expect too much from the one relationship we do consciously allow ourselves to look and long for. That bridge isn't built to carry that much weight though, so all too often it collapses under the pressure. But when we recognize the difference between our relational needs and our foundational social needs, and fulfill them both via the proper channels, everyone thrives. Our lives become more rich, and we feel more fulfilled. Not that that's going to stop me from going to Starbucks every morning... : ) To read more of Jennifer's Blog, please visit: http://jenniferhamady.blogspot.com/

(Tobyo from the Bakemono-Dukushi - Unknown Artist) "Uncoiling I" was originally written in September 2002, elaborating on drafts dating back to September 2000, and a first version was published in 2004. The title of this miniature fugue for quartet comes from Kundalini energy, one of my subjects of interest at the time. From Wikipedia : The present version was completed in August 2007, mainly to incorporate vibraphone into the piece, and also features classical guitar, fretless bass and piano. The Music Of Poligraf series are reposts of writings and audio clips that have been originally published on The Goal Was So Near from November 2008 to April 2009, made available for those who missed the original Clip Of The Day series.

("Masculine Wave" by Katsushika Hokusai) "Ocean" is the concluding part of "The Dam" and symbolizes the dream, the goal, the calling. The ocean is calling. The Music Of Poligraf series are reposts of writings and audio clips that have been originally published on The Goal Was So Near from November 2008 to April 2009, made available for those who missed the original Clip Of The Day series. Please note that poligraf.net will be offline for a few days while our servers are being relocated and upgraded.

www.vocalizing.com By Karen Oleson and Timothy Strong The genesis for this article comes from a workshop I was asked to present for a local chapter of NATS (National Assoc. of Teachers of Singing). It is only in very recent history, that performance studies in vocal jazz have been offered in academic settings. Prior to this if one wished to be a jazz singer they learned by listening to, following and copying other singers and experimenting and performing at every opportunity. Now that jazz styles have been codified it is easier for modern educators to expose jazz singing to students at almost any age. It can be confusing for both student and teacher to try to translate the voice building techniques and exercises needed to produce desired results for both classical and jazz singing. The vocal choices one makes for singing jazz are quite different from a classical singer. My students love singing jazz and are thrilled when they are accepted into their jazz choir or ensemble but are challenged to bridge the differences between techniques. So what are these differences? Can we bridge these diverse techniques? Can they be compatible? Have we been allowing style differences to interrupt the goal of voice building? The following chart suggests some of the presumed differences in vocal technique and style. Classical Technique Voice Quality: Resonant, full bodied, clear. Breath Management: Fundamental building block for voice development. Opera singers need to sing for hours over symphony orchestra with no mic(rophone). Articulation: Pure vowels, clipped consonants, years of study in at least four languages Range: Wide range, 2 1/2 to three octaves, top notes of prime importance no matter what voice type. Flexibility: Desirable for keeping voice fresh and healthy. Necessary to negotiate challenging cadenzas. Registers: Blended, seamless connection between registers Posture: Very important consideration for breath management and voice projection. Dynamics: Requires large dynamic range from pp to ff. Messa di voce important study for voice building. Vibrato: Used extensively, integral part of the vocal quality. Jazz Technique Voice Quality: Can be earthy or breathy. Close to speaking voice. Breath Management: Singers also required to sustain long phrases and scat. But since the sound doesn’t need to as resonant, or as powerful, learning nuances of mic technique becomes essential. Articulation: Very close to speaking voice. Diphthongs are used according to singers’ choice. Range: Ranges of more than an octave unnecessary but often desired. Vocal improv takes the singer to the extremes of the voice both low and high. Flexibility: Desirable for improvisation. Registers: Breaks in voice often dramatically emphasized. Posture: Appearance often cool, dispassionate Dynamics: Fewer vocal extremes required. Vibrato: Often used minimally and at end of phrases. Classical Style Pitch: Often taught to come in on top of pitch, but to sing in middle of pitch. Rhythm: Precision is important. Runs done as meteronomically accurate as possible. Rubato done at specific places in music and according to era of music and composer. Attack: The onset of the pitch is executed gently. Letting the breath lead. The pitch needs to be precisely in tune. Musical Accuracy: Do not deviate from composers apparent intent. Sing rhythm and pitches according to what is written in the score. Improvisation: Improvisation is dictated according to current trends. Improv is allowed only in certain styles and periods of music Other features: Acting and presentation skills are important in classical singing. The quality of the sound, communicating the text and music are prime considerations. Jazz Style Pitch: Sing on lower part of pitch. Enter or scoop from under pitch. Rhythm: Fluidity within the meter is allowed and desired. Sing against or after the beat. The pause is strictly kept by the drummer so that the rest of the group can play with the rhythm. Attack: Sometimes hard onset in used, other times soft. Enter from below pitch, strong blues influence. Musical Accuracy: The whole point of singing jazz is to be a co-creator with the composer in that particular moment in time. Next time it will be different (hopefully). Improvisation: Scat syllables and improvisations are influenced by current trends. Improv is the name of the game. Other features: Presentation is secondary to listening and responding to other participants while performing. Everything is new, so that cultivating awareness of what's going on around you is of primary importance. Being in the musical moment. The chart shows how singers make choices about how they use their voices depending on the style of music. So how does this affect their training? How do we bridge these diverse techniques and can they be compatible in voice building? Most music educators will agree that we want our students to sing well, no matter what the style. Breath management is an essential part of voice building and good singing. However, because classical singers sing without a mic and have to maintain a fuller resonance they are unable to play with the subtle vocal nuances that the jazz singers enjoy. The microphone assists the jazz singer in singing with a breathy tone, growling, and singing very lightly if they wish. Still, all of those choices need breath management. Articulation is an important ingredient for both types of singing. The jazz singer can be more speech-like and casual in their approach. Ex. My = ma-i. They can play with diphthongs according to their will. Classical singers are more formal in their use of language most often stay longer on the first half vowel of a diphthong. Ex. My=mah-i. It might seem that clarity of text and understandability should have priority but both classical and jazz singers may sacrifice this for a certain type of vocal sound. Classical singers spend years learning to blend the natural occurring register breaks in the voice. Although somewhat important in the jazz singer, it is minimal. The mic can assist the jazz singer with this so that they are able to play with subtle qualities and ranges that wouldn't be heard if a classical singer tried it. Today when students enter my private studio, I ask them about their musical goals. As they are exposed to voice building techniques their goals may change but the important thing for us is to help them find their way efficiently. I've experienced having younger students wanting to be country singers develop into prize winning classical singers. I've also encountered classical trained singers who were relieved to find that there are other techniques that would help them sing musical theatre or jazz. If they are interested in both aspects of singing, the lesson time needs to be subtly managed to address different musical goals. They will need to educate their ear about pitch, vibrato, and the volume of sound and resonance of the voice. A classical singer needs to hear their voice in a natural acoustical environment without artificial support. Jazz singers needs to become accustomed to hearing themselves through amplification. As pointed out in the chart, the use of vibrato, dynamics, pitch onset, voice coloring, rhythm, and many other aspects of these two diverse styles are for the most part at odds with one another. When these considerations are pointed out to the students, they have a better chance of making appropriate choices without confusion and with an appreciation of the differences. Our studio has developed publications that present voice building exercises encompassing various musical styles.* In the example presented below, the purpose of the exercise is rich and deep: ear training, pitch accuracy, flexibility, and singing in contrasting styles. In my opinion, you get the best of both worlds here - a classical warm-up, learning to sing in a major and then a minor key (great ear training), and then scat improv in both major and minor keys. With this exercise, you have an opportunity to show off your classical voice and quickly switch to jazz. These contrasting styles require different ways of using your voice. The classical style requires a more fully resonant sound including vibrato, whereas in jazz vocals, a more speech like quality is appreciated. In conclusion, clear and meaningful communication as to the differences in vocal usage and styles can make all the difference in your students’ abilities to enjoy and perform different styles of music. I have found that presenting them with practical models for bridging the gap can do wonders for their understanding and enjoyment of music making.

More often than people realize, psychological distress is caused by some combination of lack of meaning, lack of social engagement, and lack of spirituality. These and other existential issues aren't often discussed in Western therapies (or in performance and voice coaching), but that doesn't make them any less real. Also not discussed in Western therapies are the concepts of duality and non-attachment, social service as a means of transcending self-absorption, and the importance of mindfulness, meditation and yoga. We come from a culture that insists that to resolve our mental health problems, we need to focus on them- and ourselves- more. How do I feel? What do I need? What am I missing? The answers are out there, if we're willing to listen, and looking in the right place. Recently, for me that place has been Eastern Philosophy, including Asia's two more prominent forms of psychotherapy, Morita and Naikan, both of which purport to offer complete psychological cure from fear, psychosomatic pain, perfectionism, anxiety and neurosis. How do they do this? In the case of Naikan, the resolution of these issues comes from asking and answering three simple questions about the people in your life. These questions are: what did that person do for me? what did I do for that person in return? what trouble and inconvenience did I cause that person? As you probably noticed, not one of the questions is about ME. Both Naikan and Morita believe that relief from anxiety and malaise comes not from asking "what's in it for me" and "what have I not been given" but rather "what have I not given?" It would be easy to dismiss Naikan as some Zen, optimistic ideal if it hadn't been proven in a series of studies to be as effective if not more than our own Western psychotherapies. Which means- get this- that the roots of anxiety may in fact be culturally created and empowered. Rather than an innate and inflexible response in all people to a host of performance, life and family circumstances, anxiety may in fact be caused in large part by our conscious preference for self-focus, self-obsession, and self-absorption. This is a hard pill to swallow- on a number of levels- for us Westerners one that many people can't or don't want to stomach. The idea that all psychological unease can be resolved by an increase in gratitude and a decrease in victimhood is uncomfortable. It takes away our right to pout, our right to dwell on our fears and insecurities both on and off the stage... The next time you take a yoga class, go for a walk or sit before the majesty of the setting sun, consider quieting the litany of thoughts running through your head... your to-do list, your drama, your issues, your pain, and ask... first about your mother, then about your father... next about your siblings, then about your children... then about your friends, your colleagues, and your partner: what did that person do for me? what did I do for that person in return? what trouble and inconvenience did I cause that person? Similarly, the next time you get on stage to perform, quiet the pervasive fear and ME-based mantras 'what will they think of me? how do I sound? how did I do?', and ask yourself before your first note, 'how can I share, what can I give, how can I help to touch the souls and hearts of the people that have come here today?' You don't have to be a believer in Naikan or Eastern Philosophy to feel the precious shift in both your performance and life.

("The Winged Man" by Odilon Redon) "The Winged Life" takes its name from the following verse by William Blake : This piece is a singularity as far as the poligrafic repertoire is concerned. I didn't aim for innovation or cleverness as I usually do because I felt that the best way to let the message through was to keep the music simple. Thus the song is about 4 minutes long and stays within a fairly standard structure. The song starts in a negative, finger-pointing, minor mode, progressively evolves to a positive, hope-fostering mood, and ends on the instrumental section harmonized to an uplifting variation of the original chord progression. The lyrics are at the almost-done-yet-still-tentative status : 1st Verse I remember quite well, seems not so long ago You had to face a choice, at last you had your chance to go You said you would I can recall, your mind made up, you couldn't fall But when came time to break the news, you clearly showed you were confused 2nd Verse We took some time apart, and let the dust settle But you let your fear build up, a pressure that you could not handle I faced your flames, I played your games, you said that I should take the blame And after all this much abuse, I thought for sure there was no use, in going on 1st Chorus Because you didn't believe in us You're not one of the team - oh believe that Because you linger from faith to fear You're not part of the dream 1st Bridge We have wings, when we refuse to cry We have wings, when we refuse to lie We have wings, none of us can deny We have wings, but were afraid to fly 2nd Chorus Believe, you have to believe in us Play your part in the team - oh believe Believe, of faith and fear one is clear Be your part of the dream 2nd Bridge We have wings, when we refuse to die We have wings, when we stand up and try Grow your wings, and stop to ask why You have wings Just jump up and fly The Music Of Poligraf series are reposts of writings and audio clips that have been originally published on The Goal Was So Near from November 2008 to April 2009, made available for those who missed the original Clip Of The Day series.

The soul of our Mother Earth Love doesn't triumph when stupidity of man contained in his ignorance does not respect our Mother Earth. Humanity suffocates, slowly, very slowly, in its total indifference. Our Mother Earth, the great alive soul warms us on her heart and nourishes us, but we are enveloped by ignorance we are blind and deaf to her appeal. Maybe, are we waiting for the ill fruits of our Mother Earth poisoning us? Let us not being suffocated by her, we must cure our Mother Earth with devotion, because she nourishes us with love and energy. I feel my spirit tremble, while her great sick soul is suffering and desperate because her children are ungrateful, they haven't respect for themselves and not even for her. While she dies slowly and in silent I feel her sorrow, her suffering and her tears falling on my anguished heart. Love triumphs only when we respect ourselves and our Mother Earth. Life will continue only if we wake up from the sleep of indifference. I feel her suffering breath, acid rain that falls on me and consumes my members, while she implores us to listen to her echo of pain that flies to our deaf ears and to our minds away from heart.

Let me start by saying that I am relatively new to singing. While I sang in a boychoir as a child, only recently have I really acquired a true passion for singing. Yet as I've become more involved in the vocal world, I've begun to notice a rather disappointing trend in singers: Many seem to focus more on technique and style than any other facet of singing. This can be seen in all genres of music: Classical vocalists use ridiculous amounts of vibrato to the point where you can't understand a word they're saying, (Not that you would, anyway, unless you're quintilingual and have a degree in linguistic anthropology, but that's beside the point...) R&B singers will extend a piece by ten minutes with runs, and power metal vocalists will call every dog in the neighborhood with their climactic, wall-breaking C8. The fact is that singers are proud of their voices. They work very hard to release their full potential and to achieve the sound that they want. That's commendable, and it's natural that they want to show how hard they've worked. The problem is when you display everything you know how to do on every single part of every single song. If you are constantly flashing your abilities, no matter how amazing they are they will quickly become mundane and really ruin the point of learning how to sing well in the first place. For instance: Whenever I hear someone doing a rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner and flooding it with an eclectic mix of soaring runs and moments of crooning, I can't help but think that it's become more about the singer than their country. They've concentrated so much on standing out from other renditions and on doing the song well that they've forgotten what the song is about; what music is about, for that matter. The whole purpose of singing and, in turn, music is to express yourself; to convey emotions to others and to celebrate our common humanity. Technique is an excellent tool in achieving that. It can make us sound the way we want to sound and express the things we want to express. However, we have to remember that in the end it's a tool. In itself, technique does not make the singer. Oh, sure, you can impress people with vocal talent. But to IMPACT them; to bring tears to their eyes and make them feel what you want them to feel, you have to be able to use your abilities when they're called for. Don't be afraid to mellow out on that first verse; it will just make the climax at the end seem all the more powerful. Don't fill every extended note with a run; sometimes a single clear note is more expressive than anything else you can put together. Don't be afraid to ease up on the vibrato; it will add subtle variety to your voice without having to constantly change the actual notes you're singing. In short: Own your technique; don't let it own you. That's my two cents, Noah Martin

Journal of Voice: Predicted Singers Vocal Fold Lengths and Voice Classification”A Study of X-Ray Morphological Measures This is the first of, what I hope, will become a regular blog feature should these be of interest to the community. I shall pick a piece of research relevant to singers from a peer reviewed scientific journal and break it down into easily understandable information that will hopefully be of interest. Please note that these are not thorough critical analysis but are intended to provide an overview of some relevant literature with the aim of stimulating community enthusiasm in the science behind singing. This month's entry comes from the Journal of Voice. This study claims to show that there are consistent anatomical laryngeal differences between singers of different voice classifications, which are of relevance to pitch range and timbre of the voice. This may initially seem very obvious. However, it is very difficult to prove due to the difficulties in collecting any consistent data. For example, every pitch with involve different lengths of vocal cords and vocal cords when open are longer than when closed. These are just 2 of the many possible variables that affect vocal fold length. However, the most difficult problem is actually in the collection of data. The position of the vocal folds makes actually getting any data very difficult. People have tried using scopes, ultrasound and even lasers. This study makes use of xrays films. What type of study is this? This study was a retrospective analysis. This means that certain data had already been collected and the authors decided to use this to draw a conclusion to their question. What did they aim to find? The authors aimed to find out whether there were consistent anatomical differences between singers of different voice classification. What did they find? They found that the lengths of the vocal folds were statistically significantly correlated to vocal classification. Subjects with longer vocal folds were more likely to be basses and those with shorter folds more likely to be soprano. Problems This study does have a significant number of problems. It is very difficult to measure vocal fold length on an xray. Indeed, of the 132 cases they had, they were only able to make estimates of vocal fold length in 29 individuals, clearly not enough to draw conclusions from. The authors recognised this and therefore used other anatomical landmarks to estimate vocal fold length. In other words, they measured the distance between 2 fixed points that they expected were correlated to vocal fold length, such as the width of the windpipe below the vocal folds. This, however, as a soft structure, can presumably vary in size even when measured in identical individuals. Whilst this may have been an acceptable compromise given the difficulties, it is clear that in order to make a firm conclusion, absolute lengths of vocal cords would be required. The authors did use the accurate data they had for the 29 individuals and plot these against the estimated lengths using their own anatomical landmarks. It would appear that the landmarks they were using to estimate vocal fold length and actual length are correlated. They therefore identified the problem and took steps to increase reliability of the data. However, despite this, making use of a magnetic resonance scanner would have given more reliable measurements but that was beyond the scope of the study and is not without its own limitations. A further problem with this study is that the larynx obviously takes different positions when under different stresses. Whilst it was stated that these films were taken whilst not phonating, it is unclear as to whether the subjects were doing anything that may have altered laryngeal positioning such as raising or tilting. However, it is unlikely given that the same procedure should have been followed for all films. Another problem arrives with the vocal classification which could be considered subjective. All students whose vocal classification had changed were not included in the study, however it was not made clear if more than one teacher had identified students vocal fach. In the scientific world, not stating this information means it was carried out. Whilst this may seem pedantic, it wouldn't surprise me if classification opinions differed between some instructors. What are the implications? Whilst vocal fold length and classification appear to be correlated, vocal classification should not be made based on vocal fold length due to measurement problems and the number of other variables that affect vocal fach. Why would this happen? Longer fold lengths should allow for a greater amount of airflow than shorter folds given the same note. This should allow for, when singers singing the same note, the individual with longer folds to be able to produce a stronger note. Conclusion Despite its problems, this study does add to our knowledge of vocal physiology. Measurement problems were adequately dealt with given the scope of this research. It does appear to show that longer vocal folds equates to a deeper vocal fach. However, it does not take into account other variables in vocal fach, such as the connective tissue and manipulations of the supraglottic (area above the vocal folds) tract which would alter the formant frequencies. The study did acknowledge this but it failed to address these issues and therefore this paper did not to fully answer it's initial question. This is a major flaw. Furthermore, it failed to even acknowledge vocal fold mass as a contributor to vocal fach. Despite this paper not actually answering it's question, this research does add to evidence suggesting vocal fold lengths may influence vocal fach. Reference: F Roers, D Murbe, J Sundberg. Predicted Singers Vocal Fold Lengths and Voice Classification A Study of X-Ray Morphological Measures. Journal of Voice. Volume 23. Issue 4. p408-413.

Twice last week, I met new clients whose voice problems traced back to the time they had started serious weight-training. I've seen others who got sudden lesions, including one nasty vocal hemorrhage, when they changed trainers or otherwise increased their workout intensity. Most voice problems have several contributing reasons so I won't argue for an exact correlation. But when this is the only thing that fits the same time-frame as the beginning of a voice problem, it does make me suspicious. You CAN have a buff body and a clear, flexible, pain-free voice. You just have to be smart about both. Vocal mechanics review: besides making sound, the vocal cords work as a valve in your airway. For instance, they open extra-wide during aerobic exercise to help you manage bigger amounts of air. And they close tightly to valve-off the airway when you lift something heavy (as well as whenever you swallow). A dumbbell, a suitcase or a big screen TV if it's hard to move, you'll hold your breath for an instant. It's a reflex that makes your torso more stable, better able to push & pull. Try it. Now, fitness trainers routinely tell people not to hold their breath DURING the lift. This is appropriate, standard advice to avoid serious problems like a stroke or blackout. At my gym, most people exhale dutifully on the exertion, & inhale on recovery. The problem I have with strength training for singers and other voice pro's is the moment before the lift. Most people hold their breath to seal the ribcage closed & firm while getting into position. This means that in the last split-second when you brace yourself and get ready to push, your vocal cordsitty-bitty muscles about a centimeter long, held closed by even tinier ones are being asked to help manage that 50, 100, or 300 lb weight. Then when you do exhale, the pressure in your lungs & ribcage is suddenly released. Even if you don't grunt or yelp, air blasts through your voice box like a hockey player bursting through a double-flap kitchen door. The cords are blown apart and their edges get a little roughed up. During an hour-long routine, that explosive burst can happen 100 times or more! Rough edges make rough sound. Repeatedly squeezing the cords together and then blasting them apart can lead to vocal cord callouses (nodules) or worse. So if you're serious about protecting your voice: pay attention BEFORE you lift. As a singer, if you have to hold your breath at all while bracing to get into position, you're using too much weight. See what happens if you drop your weights down as far as necessary to be able to breathe smoothly throughout the routine. To stay at the same intensity for your fitness goals, increase the rep's, or vary your tempo, such as lowering the weights very slowly. Pay attention also to the end of each exercise. If you're "working to fatigue," the moment you are absolutely tempted to hold your breath is the cut-off! That's when the targeted muscles are already fatigued, & are calling on your vocal muscles to help. BTW, here's what some other voice coaches have written about the combination of weight training and voice. I don't disagree, I just don't think they go far enough. Nashville TMV leader Judy Rodman , quoted again on choralnet The Singer's Companion, by Sharon Stohrer Weight lifting and toning can be beneficial, with a few caveats. . ... My comments on other exercise activities are in the free online excerpt of my book. PS If there's a steam-room where you work out, use it! Without talking.

This was a 'Breathing Trick' I learned from one of my 'Voice Teachers' many years ago! This 'Excercise' will help to'Teach You' the 'Correct Way' to do "DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING." I want to stress right off that this is not the only one but in my opinion the best one to start with to get the idea. OK, First find a nice big fat Telephone Book, or something equal in weight like a heavy 'Book.' Lay down on the floor and place the 'Telephone Book' right below the bottom of your Rib Cage in a 'Horizontal Position' across your stomach. Now take a 'Deep Breath' in and as you do watch how the 'Telephone Book' "RAISES UP!" Now let the air out quickly and watch how the 'Telephone Book' Drops Down! You can try taking a 'Deep Breath' in first through your 'Nose' and then letting it out through your mouth and then through your mouth and again letting it out through your mouth, either way. After getting the 'IDEA' of how to do it and seeing how the 'Telephone Book' goes 'Up & Down' with each inhale and exhale you will take it a step further. Now, take in a 'DEEP BREATH' through your mouth or nose but this time I want you to "Hold the air in and 'CONTROL IT' by blowing it out in a very 'SLOW AND STEADY, HISSING SOUND," like letting the air out of a balloon. This 'Excercise' will 'Teach' you not only to learn how to do 'Diaphragmatic Breathing' but also how to 'Control' your 'Breath' so that you don't run out of 'AIR' before the end of a 'Phrase' unless you want to for your own 'Creative Technique.' I warn you this 'Excercise' can be very 'Boring' and probably 'Hurt' a bit until your 'Muscles' get strengthened up just like any other excercise. But you have to keep on doing it until you can do it naturally without effort 'STANDING UP!' "Good Luck," and Much Success in your endeavor.