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Hi, My name is Brandon, and I'm currently singing lead tenor in a Barbershop quartet. The song we've been learning is "Notre Dame medley" by Ringmasters, and while I can sing the whole song in pieces, the part is so high that by the end of the song I've been belting in the D4 to A4 range for a 6 and a half minute song, and my voice is really taking a beating. This is made worse by the fact that at the very end of the song (the "tag") my part has the post, which means I have to hold out an A4 for 20 seconds straight while the other three singers do other things. I can get the post fine normally, but after singing the whole song, my voice is straining a bit to stay on the note, and sometimes it goes flat or accidentally flips into my mixed voice (which I haven't worked on too much so it sounds really bad). I can't do it in falsetto because having it belted is a big part of the ending, and overall it would feel weak(not to mention I don't exactly have the best falsetto). What exercises can I do to increase vocal stamina and what can I do while singing to make myself less tired at the end? The video of the original group doing the song is linked below, and the one singing my part is the one 2nd from the right. https://youtu.be/Qo_N9_ZFBhs

Hey guys, I was wondering if I can get some advice from you. I’m a male singer in my 20s, typically sing in a similar register as people like Gavin DeGraw. I typically do 3 hour (sometimes 4) acoustic gigs with a break or two in there. Ive always off and on had some issues with mucus and post nasal drip. But lately, over a lot of this year, it’s been much worse. There’s just an overload of mucus build up, sometimes I feel it more as a drip and sometimes it just feels like my nasal passages are tight. It has made my usual 3 hour gigs MUCH more tiring....it’s like the mucus is affecting my technique. Like there’s something blocking me when I try to bring my voice up into mixed voice and incorporate my nose for proper technique. Like there’s a wall blocking that area off or something, so I’m forced to use a not as healthy technique to hit the higher register which wears me out so much quicker. Basically, singing in my upper register/mixing doesn’t feel nearly as easy as it has in the past. Ive been allergy tested and have a dust mite allergy, i now take an antihistamine at night, Flonase in the morning and Mucinex as needed. I don’t have a ton of dairy and especially try to avoid it around my gigs. I drink a lot of water. I also run a lot and consider myself to be in good physical shape. Does anyone else have experience dealing with this, and if there’s any ways to deal with it?

MAESTRO DAVID KYLE THE WINDOW OF FAME Vocal teacher for all styles for over 50 years, David Kyle, The “Maestro” became a local Seattle icon and was considered by the industry to be one of the best vocal instructors for contemporary singers in the world. Unique to the “Maestro’s” approach was his method for expanding vocal range into multiple “registers”, or what we would refer to today at TVS as, "Bridging & Connecting". Maestro was also keen on eliminating psychological barriers that hinder singers’ freedom of expression, by use of creative visualization techniques and development of healthy auditory imagery for singing. One day, Nate Burch, one of my students from Seattle, came to the lesson with an old coffee stained piece of paper that had a hand written, transcribed lecture from Maestro Kyle on it. An excerpt from that lecture is shared below as well as popular quotes that Maestro Kyle used to use with all his students. Maestro David Kyle & Robert Lunte - The Vocalist Studio MAESTRO DAVID P. KYLE LECTURE: Those sounds which seem to ring the most are usually the best. Those which seem the roundest are usually the best. Those which seem to resonate are usually the best. Those which seem to echo are usually the best. So listen out into the theater and see if they are echoing, and if they are round, and they are resonant. Connect your notes and don’t be afraid. There are two kinds of stars. There are “stars” and there are “superstars.” The star no matter how he tries he just can’t seem to become a superstar. He’s great, great, great, great, but along comes a Caruso, or a Lanza, or a Gigli, and he can’t quite get over the hurdle. It’s because of one simple thing. The star sings, and when he’s singing he listens to himself; and while he’s listening he shapes it; and he opinionates it; and he shapes it around. If it isn’t round enough he rounds it more. And that sounds logical doesn’t it? It’s wrong! The superstar pictures the sound and knows what he wants to hear before he makes it! Singing is more the concept than anything. If we’ve got the right idea, then the muscles as they train more and more they become like a reflex and the reflexes respond to the image. Even if you’re trained beautifully and your image is a fear that you haven’t got high notes and it’ll never get there the reflexes won’t respond no matter how well trained you are. The epitome of it is you can say singing is absolutely mental. In the process of getting to realize that you have to take a lot of physical steps before you begin to see it, but it is true! The singer has to be in the consciousness and the mood. How does one establish a consciousness and a mood? You tend to become as you act. So if you pretend and try to get your feelings to act as you think they would act if you were doing it, then you’re getting in the consciousness. But if our consciousness is only on body and physical things then our mind is... The rest of the lecture offers another 5 pages of incredible insights about how the mind controls the singing voice. Read the entire lecture in The Four Pillars of Singing. Maestro David Kyle - The Vocalist Studio Maestro David Kyle Quotes “Good singers sing and listen, Great singers listen, then sing” “Good speech is half sung, but good singing is not half spoken.” “Wear the world like a loose garment. Don’t let it tighten in on you.” “Suppose you were learning to drive a car. Would it be better to learn on a road with no obstructions?” “Every negation is a blessing in disguise.” “The art of the art is the art that conceals the art.” “He who would know aught of art must first learn and then take his ease.” “When you open up you should be able to see light from both ends.” “Feel like you are singing with your whole body.” “Your reflexes respond to your image.” “The reflexes respond to the imagination.” “Listen away from yourself.” “Sing on the balls of your feet, like the American Indian.” “Burn Bridges and don’t look back.” “Listen away from yourself, right out into the auditorium.” “Singing is both a science and an art. All art is all imagination and you cannot fix that.” “You have to believe you will receive before you receive and then you will get it.” “Visualize you are already what you want to be. Act as if you are that, and you will become it.” “If you always notice what you are while trying to get there, you’ll never get there.” “Start as if the sound begins before the breath.” “The end is in the beginning, and the beginning is in the end.” “It’s not a game I’m playing! If you think that you’re short changing yourself.” “People don’t get tired of their work; they get tired of the resistance to their work.” “Forever diet the voice. Diet the voice; diet the mind; diet the spirit; diet everything but your income!” “Feel like your whole self is all a part of the sound, like the full violin is just vibrating.” “Imagine the sound you want, picture the sound you want.” “Open up the entire body and see the light through both ends!” “Breath, pause, release the jaw, visualize the sound you want, and sing to the back of (Carnegie Hall).” “We don’t let attitudes control us, we control them!” “Only babies are victims of moods!” “Let the sound flow right over the roof of the mouth into the masque.” “Bowels up, vowels forward.” “Some day you’re going to stand up and say, ‘This is me’ and go!” “We tend to become as we act.” “Attitude is everything in everything.” “Every time you find your thinking going to the strain or the resistance, immediately create mentally the sound that you want, hear what you want.” “And remember you have a beautiful voice. At your worst you sound better than many of them at their best!” “Just don’t sound like everyone else!” “And tell it your singing marvelous, you’re singing wonderfully!” “Sing Away from yourself, to something.” “Listen, then sing!” “Way to go Baby!” Maestro David Kyle passed on Saturday, November 27th of 2004 OTHER VOICE COACHES OF ROBERT LUNTE...

Vocal Athlete Intensive Seattle, WA USA - May 14th - 18th Five (5) Day Vocal Intensive to ACHIEVE YOUR VOCAL POTENTIAL with Robert Lunte & Draven Grey.RESULTS: Take ownership of your voice with hands-on, results-driven coaching. You will learn the top tested exercises and get the feedback for doing them correctly.CONFIDENCE: Get behind the mic knowing exactly what to do and how to do it. Sing with confidence from a solid vocal foundation with a performance that is uniquely you.MASTERY: Achieve your vocal potential. With a proven pedagogy for modern singing, we will show you the way out of vocal frustration into mastery.Study with Robert Lunte, Founder of The Vocalist Studio, author of critically acclaimed vocal training system The Four Pillars of Singing and internationally recognized voice training school for hundreds of voice coaches. Draven Grey is an accomplished musician, vocalist, rock singing teacher and music industry expert. He has coached bands across the world in their careers, released multiple books and course on the music industry. www.VocalAthleteIntensive.com ******************* Be sure to check out the Facebook Event and show your interest: https://www.facebook.com/events/158276921614589/ *******************

As far as Im aware I have a pretty average chest voice range. the highest I can sing are the likes of fear of the dark by iron maiden. Recently I went to see Testament live and understandably I was getting pretty into it. When the singer was saying the typical “are you guys ready” sort of stuff I yelled back “f*ck yeah!” as you do. Somehow I accidentally yelled extremely high and loud (enough for me to hear myself) and I somehow hit this really high note that I have never been able to deliberatly do. Im talking like the trooper and hallowed be thy name range which is really high for me. Its funny because the exact same thing happened to me when I seen Diamond Head live too. Im wondering what made me able to do this so that I can start meaning to do it. Was it just because I was so in the moment and put so much effort into the shout? Or is this not possible? I dont think ive ever tried putting that much effort into singing before due to fear of injury so im wondering if this is what “belting” is?

Robert Lunte & RØDE Microphones present four weeks of vocal training in Germany, Italy and France. April, 2018. For information click the links below or reach out to the people tagged in this post. See you in April! TVS Events Page http://bit.ly/TVSEvents Download The Tour Poster HERE: http://bit.ly/TVSMCTourSpring2018 14-15 APR Ansbach, Germany http://bit.ly/TVSMCAnsbachGermany 21-22 APR Pescara, Italy http://bit.ly/TVSMCPescaraItaly 28-29 APR Cagliari, Italy http://bit.ly/TVSMCCagliariItaly 1-2 MAY Nimes, France http://bit.ly/TVSMCNimesFrance If you have any questions about the event or private lessons, contact me on my personal email or here at TMV World. I look forward to helping you with your singing. You will get results, guaranteed.

Two E4s: https://vocaroo.com/i/s0lOuXELfdDq https://vocaroo.com/i/s19x5gz15FLi I have some issues with tongue tension which I want to not have. That's hard lol I'm a lower placed baritone and I'm comfortable in the range of G2~Eb4/E4~B4 (in head voice) My tongue often blocks the back of my throat, what can I do to keep my throat open and free ? Help me please. Is my tongue well placed in those two E4s ?

So I’m a 17 year old girl and I think my voice is pretty strange. My range currently is D3-E6 but I feel way more comfortable singing low. It seems that when I do sing in a lower register, I have so much more power as I can belt. As I reach the breaking point between chest/head voice it is pretty weak and quiet and then it gets stronger again at the top! My question is: Is it appropriate for me to sing male solo songs if I audition for drama school? For instance: ‘My Friends’ -Sweeney Todd/ ‘Shoes Upon The Table’ -Blood Brothers (and also a bit obscure but) ‘Captain Crewe’ - A Little Princess. I feel way more confident with songs like these as I’m worried to be seen as having a weak voice! If anyone has any suggestions for good songs for an alto(?) voice, please feel free to share as I’m in desperate need, thank you!

HI all OK so today someone told me that there are 4 voice types The first. Is the shy sound The second. Is a puppy sound The third. Is a winey winging sound The forth. Is a call/ belt sound Dose anyone know what I am talking about please and if so what is the proper term for all this?

TLDR: Long story short... what songs would you suggest for a bass which, preferably, doesn't go above E4? (I'm talking about the songs though, I go above E4. I can go up to F#4, G4 sometimes, but I want some rest and actually sing really proficiently in the lessons, not upper belt all the damn time where I strain and push a little cause of the soft warm ups she teaches which doesn't loosen up my voice :/. Am I wrong??? is the teacher right??? I'm a bass and shouldn't be singing in a girl's key??? What do you think about this?? So I took private lessons before with a teacher for a couple months, have stopped taking them for a month or so now, and now I found a new teacher. It's a group lesson with my relatives and some others. I'm the only guy in there. So anyways, she makes me sing in a "guy's key", and whenever I sing in a girl's key, she says it's "not my key" and doesn't want me singing in it. And also, I told her that I can't hit that note, this (guy's) key is too high for me. And she insists that I can. Like no, I've went over the range in that SONG, and my range with my old coach, and I go over my range every single day when I practice. It's either IN my range, or NOT. She picks songs for me without even knowing my own range or that song's. Not only that, but the warm ups we do aren't even for belting. So while the girls sing in their lovely mid range, I UPPER BELT my butt through the song without proper warm up, while the original singer, who sounds either a baritone or tenor, seems to be having a great time. I once sang a girl's song... okay... with some really nice C5 and D5, and C#5 and Eb5 belts. But I sang it an octave lower, and she told me to sing a guy's song next time. What does she think a C#4 and Eb4 is for me? it makes no sense. C#4 is already a high note for me, (my old coach told me about the passagio, I checked mine out and it's around C4, sometimes a note higher) and she doesn't realize that and doesn't want me singing in a girl's key. Fyi, the girls learning are untrained. Vocalizing, the girls start switching to head voice on around C5, I switch to head voice on around C4. Going down? They can barely sing an F3, my lower register is a little better, and vocalized down to D2, and a pushed C2 (I don't train my lower register much). So overall, those FEMALES are pretty much inside my range, y'know what I'm saying? D2-F#4 vs F3-C5, except it's an octave lower, their voices are pretty untrained so their range is much smaller. But if they were more trained, theirs will be similar to mine but an octave higher??? So I'm STILL not seeing why I shouldn't be singing in a girl's key. Passagio is similar and so is lower register, only an octave lower. Another note: There was this girl song that I sang along with, and they told me that it was too low for me. BUT THEN, I SAID, IT'S ALSO LOW FOR THIS GIRL, AND THEY (teacher, and aunt who was taking them with me) SAID BACK THAT IT'S ACTUALLY HIGH FOR HER??? I CAME HOME AND CHECKED WITH A PIANO AND IT WAS AN F3. Tf??? And I know who the singer is, she's a flippin soprano, and they're telling me the 3rd octave is high for her? along with C#5 and Eb5 belts? crazy. Maybe I should've let them try that low note :/. I am upset. I think I'll end the ranting here :/. It may unpleasing to see someone ranting

So the story goes... Today/ yesterday made a new piano/ scales exercise up to do repetativally on the CD player When you get going on it, getting into the rhythm and hitting the notes of the melody, after a while you/ or should I say I start raising my voice and I start shouting or belting the notes After doing this it has left me with a loss of voice or a fading voice trying to sing higher notes I remember my teacher telling me a few weeks ago you should not belt with out doing the estill exercise, he said Adel did this and that is why she had to have an operation on her vocal cords Apart from that he also said I should go and have a look online and I should find this estill exercise somewhere Well googled estill; and nothing but the usual rubbish and sales tricks So what is of this exercise? Thanks 2CIADB

Hey guys, I'm new to the site. I am really worried about my vocal health. I have just graduated uni after years of specialising in vocals and two months ago I began my first proper singing contract in a different country. Because of the change in climate I got ill and ended up with laryngitis. Unfortunately I still had to sing and do shows with laryngitis, however, I had to almost scream to get a sound out. My voice kept getting worse and the laryngitis developed into pharyngitis and guess what... I still had to sing every night. No voice rest for me It has now been two months and although I do proper warm ups before my shows, afterwards my voice is gone because of the amount of strain I am putting on it. I still have to shout to get the notes out and I cannot sing effortlessly like I used to. I'm getting so fed up of it. I live with other singers and I feel unworthy to join in with their songs because my voice sounds so bad compared to what it used to be like. The other singers in my company must think I'm talentless. I just want my voice back. I cannot do runs clearly; it sounds like I am sliding around the notes and my head voice is completely non existent. I know now I should see a voice therapist but finding an English speaking one may be difficult out here. Does anyone have any advice on remedies or exercises that will help me get my voice back? Almost importantly, do you think I have permanently damaged my voice?

Throughout the last 4 years, since I started singing until now, although I gained technique (went from eardrum destroyer to mediocre/acceptable), my high register is fading away. What I did during this time was to smoke a lot (quitting now due to lung infections) and to focus on mid-register and lower register songs. Those songs were easier for me because I have to make little effort to reach the notes (from D2 to A3 is the area where my voice sounds better). When I have a higher song to sing, I lower the key to fit around D2-A3 for it to sound acceptable. In the past, I could sing easy cool F4's, although a little airy. Now, every note past around A3 (which is my "primo passaggio", D4 beind the second) sounds either heady, airy, thin, or unpleasant. Sure I can sing some 4th octave notes today, but they are limited and they use to suck. The main question is, is there a way to help recover some of the range that I lost due to heavy smoking and/or lack of practice, and then belt anything past A3 with some real chest resonance?

Another great added to the Angel Band. R.I.P. Gregg you helped us through some troubled times.

She is straining right? or am I wrong :3 2:33 build up to a G5

what is the most easiest ways to develop mixed voice..and and what do i do to get resonance,neutral larynx and breath support?..my vocal range atm is a2-g#4..and head voice goes up to f5 i strain at e4 and i carry chest up to g#4...i know its a bad technique..and im thinking of getting a coach in the future..but i want to start now

I want to improve my belting range. So far, the highest I can belt is up to an F#5. But I have sometimes belted up to a G5 before. Anyways, I want to improve my belting range, and I want to practice it, by singing songs that are like, at the end of my belt range. So if you guys know of any songs, that have E5-F#5 belts, feel free to comment them!

I have been somewhat in a kind of void wondering what I might post. It's been a while. I stumbled across Rosetta in my hours of Youtube wanderings searching for music. I remembered the old hymn she was singing called, "This Train," though I sang it with a waspy congregation, the whiteification of the song didn't water down it's impact on me. I like the way Rosetta soften's (with humor) the potentially "condescending" anti drinking & smoking lyrics by gesturing towards one of her band members as a loyal whiskey drinker. The inspiration of course is to always strive to shed my vices and aspire to righteousness! Makes me wanna be good! So as I'm watching Rosetta with a tear in my eye, suddenly I think of Alabama Shakes, realizing what an interesting similarity Rosetta shares with their lead singer Brittany Howard. Not ONLY that, but my favorite song by Alabama Shakes, "Don't Wanna Fight" was also a perfect sentiment to my personal circumstances, and is an outstanding groovecentric tune! Both these Women really demonstrate a level of passion and emotion in their singing that I really admire!

So ive worked my headvoice quite a bit over the last several months. Its responded nicely and my upper range has opened up quite a bit. Time to work some belting now. I find that when I want to sing loud in headvoice its not too hard to do, I can get a nice cutting tone etc...but when i try to really go for it in chest voice or maybe right in the bridge, it gets a little constricted, maybe a little muffy. i cant quite make the note as "big" as I want it to be. of course i also know that I simply havent trained that aspect very much...but im gearing up for it now of course, I have seen about 2 dozen definitions of belting etc. I am going to post up 4 examples of singing styles that I like and want to emulate. Would all of these be considered "belting"? (also testing the forum to see if the post eating bug has cleared up lol) are these all clearly belting, or are some just good strong headvoice? of those, David Lee tends to be more chesty. Im realizing lately that dude was a monster singer

"White Rabbit" Tribute! I am proud to share a performance and production of Jefferson Airplane's classic, "White Rabbit". SaraEllen has been training with TVS for about two years. Excellent job SaraEllen! LOVE the curbing vowel resonance, steady embouchure, and "snappy" glottal attacks on the vowels, apart from the interpretation that captures the nuances we coached and discussed. Sounds great, looks great, a kick ass production and worthy achievement! Coach.

Oh man, I'm trying to learn this song and it's just killing me. But what I'd like to ask is what is she doing when singing 'lovers' at 1:30. Is this a really fast trill/run she's doing? I'm new to this technique but I always thought it was something you kind of did with the back of your throat yet there's a lot of movement in her lips. Can anyone shed some light on what's going on?

So I've never been able to sing a B4 or higher in modal voice. My range goes from C2-Bb4 with another octave of falsetto on top of that. Even when I sing a good feeling Bb4 belt the B4 seems like a physical impossibility for me; it feels like a rubber band that can't be stretched anymore. Overall a step under three octaves I consider to be a pretty good range, and through lots of training I have good dynamic control all the way up to the Ab4. A4 and the Bb4 are tricky and crack frequently. It's quite rare to find a singer that sings over 3 octaves without resorting to a brian johnson-esque distorted head tone. Do any of you experience a note where your modal voice just can't continue anymore?

For years I sang as a very high soprano (I believe I'd be classified as a lyric soprano), doing a lot of Classical and Broadway stuff. After about a 20 year break where the most singing I did was in the shower due to raising kids, I started singing again, but now I'm being called upon to sing mostly Pop/Rock, and I'm struggling a little. I have a "soft and mellow" chest voice that I can mix easily through the middle and up into my upper registers, then through to very high whistle with no effort. That's good but it doesn't really work for the genre except during emotional moments. I have a mixed voice that I can access from middle C on up. At least I think it's mixed. It's strong, but it is definitely not a belt. Then I have this very limited "strong low belt" voice that I can't seem to transition into my mixed voice through. I can pop into head, but of course that's ugly and all I get is a soft head voice, but it takes me a few more notes to adjust back to mixed. In my strong low belt, I sing like a tenor (I'm female) and can't really even hit an alto range. For reference, my belt is strong from D3-G4. Above G4 it cracks badly. My head voice can go through to beyond C6. I'm very confused by all of this. I speak very low, and often times people are confused by my singing voice because my speaking voice is so different. This leads me to believe it's a technique issue but after reading and watching and trying to learn I'm not sure what I'm missing. Any pointers to exercises that may help me sort this would be terrific.