Draven Grey

If you're in The Four Pillars of Singing course, or the lighter Udemy course, train the Pentatonic Blues workouts and the Groove workouts in Phase 4. And in particular, learn the four step routines for the "Groove Improvisations." If you're not, then go purchase one and get started. Until then, besides slowing down a "riff" to learn the notes, one of the most effective I've used to teach vocal runs is singing a pentatonic scale that slowly expands upward while always returning to the first note. For example: 1 121 12321 1234321 123454321 12345654321 1234567654321 But you can start anywhere on the scale, it doesn't have to start on 1.

If it's a pitch issue, which I'm not sure it is, know that pitch is a listening skill that can take a very long time to learn. I use tools with my students like humming into and matching a pitch pipe, watching their pitch on a guitar tuner app, finding apps that train pitch through playing phrases or intervals you have to sing back in key, etc. However, it's most likely a resonance placement issue, rather than pitch. For singing in general, you need to train for command and control over a lot of little muscles in the vocal tract, not just good form. Your terminology makes it a little difficult to understand what you're trying to express, so I'm going to assume a few things here. You saying "jumps back and forth" sounds like you're switching between light head voice and chest voice. Chest voice resonates similar to our speaking voice. Head voice resonates between the ears and can sound like Mickey Mouse. I highly suggest looking up Robert Lunte's videos on bridging and connecting the voice, as well as his videos on cry (I'm in a few of those too!). Then, buy this course (it's cheap!), learn the onsets and acoustics, and jump into the training routines asap. http://bit.ly/BestSingingCourseLight

Interesting. I've seen the opposite in thousands of students - from little to no breath support to pushing way too hard. Very few have had great breath support naturally. I completely agree that if you overthink it while singing, or "push" or "force" it, then it gets in the way, especially in performance. At the same time, the whole reason we train anything is so that we don't have to think about it when performing - that applies to pretty much anything, especially in athletic ventures. I use specific exercises for breath support, so they don't have to think about it when doing other things in training, and they know exactly what feeling to go for when I tell them they need to support better for add volume. The above video was about great breath support from sighing through phonations, rather than pushing or forcing anything to happen.

The difference is as I said. Falsetto is a vocal mode that is characterized by being open and airy. It's a "false voice." Head voice is a range. Within head voice, you can have difference levels of push/mass, compression, resonance, and chest voice musculature mixed in. Sadly, there are a lot of teachers who think falsetto and head voice are the same thing and use the terms synonymously. In that part of the song, you're singing in what I would call light-mass head-voice. A warm-up and then singing songs while she "fixes" various parts of your song isn't training. That's what you should be training to be able to do for yourself. However, I've had many students with whom that's all they wanted to do. Have you communicated clearly with her what you would like to train for? Also, training to bridge and connect your voice into the head voice range will do amazing things for your voice. Training above your bridge utilizes many more muscle groups, requiring you to learn much more fine-motor skills and fine-tuned coordination. Even for my students who mostly sing around E2, I still train above their bridge over half the time, because of how much coordination and strength you can build by doing so. I like Ken, but his technique had me straining my voice in higher pitches. Robert's course is far better, and much more comprehensive, especially if you focus on learning the onsets and acoustics, and jump into the training routines as soon as possible.

I agree that a bit too much emphasis is put on breath support with a lot of teachers out there. I would add that good breath support does so much more than what you get from simply breathing from the belly. Balancing compression with respiration is fundamental to any type of singing. Using good appoggio for increasing resonance and therefore volume, rather than pushing harder, makes a HUGE difference,

Of course you can sing it! Allow me to address a couple of things before praising you on your incredible voice. Reading the things your teacher said to you, I'm infuriated. Let me ease into it from the least to the greatest offense. First, that's not falsetto, it's light-mass head voice. Falsetto is a vocal mode defined by being open and airy, usually within the head voice range. Jo Estill defined vocal modes in the 1930's, and any teacher above $50/hr should know the difference between falsetto and light or disconnected head voice. But that's not the main issue here at all. Telling you it's outside your vocal range is saying she doesn't know how to train you to sing that high. Is she working with you on bridging and connecting the voice?Saying it's outside your comfort zone, as if to say you should stay within your comfort zone, is a way of saying she doesn't want to or know how to train you to do what you're wanting to do. But saying it will never sound good? She's projecting her insecurities on you, and you need to find a better teacher, and not be afraid to tell her why you're looking elsewhere. A teacher should never think that of a student, MUCH LESS say it! From some that knows how to train you to belt that high, or use any type of voice you want to that high... You have a great voice. Yes, you have some work to do on resonance, relaxing into your upper range, and opening your diphthongs (e.g. "Way" as /w/+/eh/+/ee/, the /ee/ should only be the last 5%, not really sung),. However, your current sound color reminds me of Paul McCartney in his prime. That's incredible! Great job! If you're good with self-study, I highly suggest Robert's Udemy Course. If $20 is too much right now, even just looking up Cry or various other videos on Robert Lunte's YouTube Channel will help. I'll be recording a video this weekend about increasingly range as well, that addresses cry vocal mode and exercises to do that will increase your range. Cry and lifting resonance into "up and out" soft palate resonance usually increases a students comfortable connected range by 5 to 7 notes immediately.

You train to learn a new skill, get better at a skill, and continually improve. The question isn't if you're good enough to take lessons. The question is, why would you wait when you can have someone show you how to learn and improve on that skill?

I agree that cry and lean work together extremely well. I'm not sure about appoggio doing anything to cause cry vocal mode or configure the larynx. I think it's a completely separate control. Appoggio in the description above is more of a way of sighing through singing. Consequently, if tension is focused, however subtle, into the sternum, the increased airflow increases resonance and perceived volume. However, you can still do the same thing without cry vocal mode, although you're more likely to push harder and cause more tension in the vocal folds than necessary.

I don't recommend the hiss, as most students tend to either push too hard, or not enough. Getting very light and squeaky on higher pitches while doing big sirens into the straw, and tracking (humming while buzzing the lips) will both do much more for warming up your voice. There are some great breathing exercises in The Four Pillars of Singing too, if you want to develop better air support. The weight on the stomach is completely unnecessary. Also, a spirometer or volumetric exerciser will do much more for expanding your lung capacity than the hiss will.

Are you training? I highly encourage you to check out The Four Pillars of Singing, or it's smaller counterpart on Udemy. Singing and speaking are very different configurations of the musculature being used. Singing tends to be lifted away from the throat and more soft and hard palate focused. Registers and bridges/passaggi are also a bit different, although most people refer to their bridge as a switch in registers. The Short Answer Your registers are, from low to high pitch: Pulse, Chest, Head, Whistle. With the ability to mix the chest and head voice together in varying degrees. The most talked about bridge is the one right at the threshold of chest and head voice. However, a bridge is simply a shift in resonance and vocal tract shape to help support singing the next set of pitches. You have multiple bridges within head voice. The Long Answer The main vocal registers most often talked about are chest and head voice. Chest feels similar to speaking resonance. Head feels more between the ears and often sounds like mickey mouse. Mixed is not it's own register, rather singing in the head voice range with chest voice musculature mixed in and therefore chest resonance as well (from more surface area in the vocal cords). Falsetto is often mistakingly used as a simile for head voice, when it's actually an open and airy muscle configuration usually within the head voice range. Pulse is below the chest voice, caused from the vocal folds being too loose to do much else.Whistle is above head voice, caused by the glottis/vocal-folds being too closed to do much else but whistle. The passaggi, or bridges, are shifts in pressure and resonance between various formants in order to support a range of pitches. You have several formants or "resonance chambers" that you're working with. In short, Formant #1 resonates more in the throat ("chesty"); Formant #2 more in the front of the mouth or "mask" ("tinny/brassy"); Formant #3 more in the soft palate ("heady/floaty/rounded"). There are more, but I'm trying to keep it simplified. The main bridges are around E4, A4, D#5, and A#5. For Females, leave off the E4. What you're feeling around G3 is a limit to your speaking voice. When shaped for singing instead, you won't feel that limitation until D4 or E4. And if training, you'll be able to smoothly bridge between registers, whether staying connected to your chest voice resonance or not (it will be your choice how much). What you're feeling at the F#4 and G#4 are definitely shifts in formants, but still from a speaking voice configuration rather than a singing one. Besides getting start through one of the links I placed above, try this: Place a finger on your bottom lip, and try to sing up and over it. This will help introduce you to the feeling of lifting the resonance out of the throat and to the palates. Cry/whimper like a puppy, top-down at the back of the soft palate while you sing. There are far too many benefits to list here, but basically this makes it much easier to sing. Touch your tongue to your upper molars and smile while you sing. This greatly help you to stay "up and out" with your voice. Start humming while buzzing your lips as much as you can stand it. This balances compression and air support, helps you get used to "up and out" resonance, and is a good beginning for training your singing musculature. Once you do the above, start working on bridging and connecting your voice. While you can look up Robert Lunte's YouTube videos on cry and bridging, the above courses will do FAR more for you.

Kevin beat me to it

You tend to default to a really good cry vocal mode, which can do amazing things for your voice. If you purposefully use the cry reflex throughout your singing, it can help immensely. (I encourage you to look up Robert's and my videos on Cry. Certain vowels and consonants seemed to knock you out of that beautiful cry vocal mode you kept finding your way back to. A big help for that could be touching your tongue to your upper molars while singing. This keeps your vowels on the tongue, resonating at the front of the soft palate or in the hard palate, while still being able to utilize cry behind it. On higher notes, you want to be able to first sing it lightly without constriction or tension. Then you can learn to use what I described above to hold resonance and increase it (like a ball of sound getting bigger) from good appoggio/breath-support/sigh. Just going for it without first being able to control the fine-motor skills involved in lighter mass, you'll just end up yelling. Try light and whimpering at first, then slowly increase resonance the sound color of your liking - similar to a classical Messa di Voce exercise. Most of your issues are from inconsistency. While the above will help, the only way to work that out is through a regular training routine. Are you a part of one of Robert's or my courses? If so, I can go much deeper into what to do.

Touching the tongue to the upper molars cause even better intrinsic anchoring and helps stabilize vowel resonance. This particular tongue position helps with what I call vowel anchoring, because its easier to keep all your vowels resonating in the same spot to keep your sound color consistent throughout your range. And definitely not your front molars. I've been saying "upper back molars" a lot lately, and just want to clarify that it has nothing to do with your front molars. Those don't exist. haha!

Look at my last comment in the post right before yours, "Teaching Breath Support." I've been posting hat video far too often lately. I think I need to post my own soon.

This is a good start: