Hoping to share some wisdom

[DavidJames]

Hey all,

I’m James and I’ve been studying singing for the past 2 and a half years. I’ve taken 1 lesson and that was with Robert Lunte and it was extremely helpful in opening up some doors in avenues I was confused about. I mostly train with the Singing Success and Mastering Mix products but I’ve also used The Four Pillars of Singing and Ken Tamplin’s 3 Stage Vocal Academy lessons. I find myself going back to the basics often because I’m always learning something new. I’ve found that in many products the descriptions on HOW to do the exercises are not clear enough and I thought I’d share some of my experience with you and hopefully help some struggling singers. These will mostly be about SLS type exercises but I think they can help anyone.

Lip Rolls – I’ve found that if you do these with a “boo” sound instead of a “buh” sound, it gets you more into the “Mask” region and out of your throat. Any “Uhh” type exercise seems to make me pull up chest too much and start to yell, I feel like sticking with “lighter” vowels (Ooo and Eee) to get me in the right spot. I usually consider these just a warm up to get the blood flowing and don’t put too much emphasis on them as a workout tool. But they do help in that aspect as well if my voice isn’t doing what I want it to.

“Nay, Nay, Nay’s” – With these and any other exercise that you are using “words” you have to keep these very light, as in don’t use too much weight on them. Robert had me “Buzz” in my lesson with him to establish a “Resonant Tract” which I think is great terminology. You can look at this like a road that used to be two lanes and now has been widened. First you lay concrete for the two lane road and you work on that until it’s flat and paved, then you lay down more concrete and pave it to make it wider. You should do these exercises lighter than you would even sing them to get the tract to connect. Then you can start adding more weight and volume to “widen the road” so to speak. I’ve found that the easiest way to do this is to lift up your upper lip so you show your teeth. This gets me into the resonant area I need to be in when I sing. This is the same thing Robert says to do when he says "Lift." Ken also says to do it when you do his "Lah" exercise. Give it a try, maybe it will work for you!

Using your lips – Having allergies for my entire life, mucus has plagued me. This has put me in a very low place when I talk and trying to sing from that place just doesn’t work. I’ve found recently that you need to speak and also sing from the lips. This helps you enunciate better and yes, your voice will sound higher but if you work on larynx position then you can get deeper if you want. Once you start doing exercises for long enough you start to feel like singing SHOULD be lighter than speaking. Find some artists that you like that use a method that incorporates head and chest connection and work on singing songs by them and after a while you’ll feel like you’re being restrained when you sing a song by someone who doesn’t use head voice!

“I’s” – This vowel was amazing for me showing me how light the voice should be. I used to take the letter “I” and go up and down a scale opening my mouth and really pronouncing it. It is great for staccato and it opens up the voice (at least it did for me!) Give it a try sometime.

I like SLS type exercises because they try to make singing as easy as speaking. This works for some styles and not others which I understand. I feel like this is a very great approach to establish the voice so you can sing quiet or loud with not much effort. I feel like everyone also needs more intense training to make sure you can understand how to exert some effort for rockin’ vocals and not have constriction or choke your tone. This is what Robert and Ken are awesome at, taking that same coordination further with distortion, twang and insane volume. I think when we let go of what our idea of singing SHOULD be and just concentrate on doing exercises correctly, then we can find our voice start developing to something we only dreamed of before we started. Whether this helps 1 person or 100, my goal is only to help.

Thanks for reading,

James

[DavidJames]

No, I actually mean the sound "I" like in the word "Dive." Just a pure "I" sound will work you with a staccato sound and give you better attack when you start phrases with vowels.

[VideoHere]

Hey all,

I’m James and I’ve been studying singing for the past 2 and a half years. I’ve taken 1 lesson and that was with Robert Lunte and it was extremely helpful in opening up some doors in avenues I was confused about. I mostly train with the Singing Success and Mastering Mix products but I’ve also used The Four Pillars of Singing and Ken Tamplin’s 3 Stage Vocal Academy lessons. I find myself going back to the basics often because I’m always learning something new. I’ve found that in many products the descriptions on HOW to do the exercises are not clear enough and I thought I’d share some of my experience with you and hopefully help some struggling singers. These will mostly be about SLS type exercises but I think they can help anyone.

Lip Rolls – I’ve found that if you do these with a “boo” sound instead of a “buh” sound, it gets you more into the “Mask” region and out of your throat. Any “Uhh” type exercise seems to make me pull up chest too much and start to yell, I feel like sticking with “lighter” vowels (Ooo and Eee) to get me in the right spot. I usually consider these just a warm up to get the blood flowing and don’t put too much emphasis on them as a workout tool. But they do help in that aspect as well if my voice isn’t doing what I want it to.

“Nay, Nay, Nay’s” – With these and any other exercise that you are using “words” you have to keep these very light, as in don’t use too much weight on them. Robert had me “Buzz” in my lesson with him to establish a “Resonant Tract” which I think is great terminology. You can look at this like a road that used to be two lanes and now has been widened. First you lay concrete for the two lane road and you work on that until it’s flat and paved, then you lay down more concrete and pave it to make it wider. You should do these exercises lighter than you would even sing them to get the tract to connect. Then you can start adding more weight and volume to “widen the road” so to speak. I’ve found that the easiest way to do this is to lift up your upper lip so you show your teeth. This gets me into the resonant area I need to be in when I sing. This is the same thing Robert says to do when he says "Lift." Ken also says to do it when you do his "Lah" exercise. Give it a try, maybe it will work for you!

Using your lips – Having allergies for my entire life, mucus has plagued me. This has put me in a very low place when I talk and trying to sing from that place just doesn’t work. I’ve found recently that you need to speak and also sing from the lips. This helps you enunciate better and yes, your voice will sound higher but if you work on larynx position then you can get deeper if you want. Once you start doing exercises for long enough you start to feel like singing SHOULD be lighter than speaking. Find some artists that you like that use a method that incorporates head and chest connection and work on singing songs by them and after a while you’ll feel like you’re being restrained when you sing a song by someone who doesn’t use head voice!

“I’s” – This vowel was amazing for me showing me how light the voice should be. I used to take the letter “I” and go up and down a scale opening my mouth and really pronouncing it. It is great for staccato and it opens up the voice (at least it did for me!) Give it a try sometime.

I like SLS type exercises because they try to make singing as easy as speaking. This works for some styles and not others which I understand. I feel like this is a very great approach to establish the voice so you can sing quiet or loud with not much effort. I feel like everyone also needs more intense training to make sure you can understand how to exert some effort for rockin’ vocals and not have constriction or choke your tone. This is what Robert and Ken are awesome at, taking that same coordination further with distortion, twang and insane volume. I think when we let go of what our idea of singing SHOULD be and just concentrate on doing exercises correctly, then we can find our voice start developing to something we only dreamed of before we started. Whether this helps 1 person or 100, my goal is only to help.

Thanks for reading,

James

james, thanks for your suggestions however i'm not sure i can agree a couple of points.

doing lip bubbles with "boo" i would think you would constrict, especially on the lower range notes....i can't even make that sound on low notes. i guess that works for you? i prefer "buh" but as i go way up it becomes more of a "ih" sound..

i believe lip bubbles to be one the absoute best vocal exercises because to do them right is a barometer of a lot of skills.

it's fine to use your articulators, as you said using lips more on lower notes. but, the higher you sing, the less you'd want to involve the lips, not more...up high is vowel modification territory. less concern is placed on articulation and more on resonance and tone production. you want to de-emphazise all breath-interrupting sounds..if you articulate well up high, you end up blocking the air.

your use of "i" is actually a dipthong composed of "ah" and "ee." the "ee" is probably what you like and as you go way up you might be shading to an "ih" which gives the illusion of an "i".

[ronws]

A qualifying statement from what I have learned from classical technique. The vowels should be in the upper back of the throat at the soft palate, no lower. The stops of the words are at the lips but only lightly, especially at higher pitches. If I sing a 'b' at high pitch, I pronounce it the way mexicans do. Or I lead in with a soft consonant. Though it's hard to hear (which is the point, after all) when I sing the bridge in "Brandy", the sound is actually "mmbrandy, you're a fine girl..."

[Ronron]

Though it's hard to hear (which is the point, after all) when I sing the bridge in "Brandy", the sound is actually "mmbrandy, you're a fine girl..."

Why on earth didn't I think about it earlier ? I'll try to focus on that for ALL THOSE f*cking "P"s that lie in every song (why can't people write songs without p ?)

mpink should be much less violent than pink for example. Thank you ronws !

[ronws]

Don't worry, Ronron, it took me a while to figure out how to soft the explosive consonants.

[DavidJames]

VIDEOHERE,

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond!

With the lip rolls, the "boo" sound gets me out of my throat, the "buh" keeps me too low and therefore i pull chest. I have spoken very deeply my entire life so i experiment with exercises to make them work for my problems. It won't work for everyone but i just thought I'd throw it out there, I'm glad that you've seen results from the "buh" it just doesn't do much for me.

With the "I" sound, you're right. Never thought about it that way! "Ah" is good for the staccato and "Ee" is good for a light closure and resonant sound.

Like i said, I've only had one lesson and I've learned the rest on my own. I've had more fun that way because i feel like I've learned how to correct a lot of problems by myself. Has the road been longer? DEFINITELY!!! But I've learned how to "fix" problems through experimentation rather than just being told "This is how you do it." I appreciate all feedback and hope it keeps coming! We all have one common goal, to sing whatever we want right?

Thanks again and Good singing,

James

[ronws]

Hey, David, I too, learn through experimentation. As well as continuing my studies of the classical method, even as I apply it to rock and heavy metal. And I am getting my ass handed to me on a paper plate because I am not advocating or actively talking about using one of the modern popular systems.

Welcome to the forum. :)

[VideoHere]

VIDEOHERE,

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond!

With the lip rolls, the "boo" sound gets me out of my throat, the "buh" keeps me too low and therefore i pull chest. I have spoken very deeply my entire life so i experiment with exercises to make them work for my problems. It won't work for everyone but i just thought I'd throw it out there, I'm glad that you've seen results from the "buh" it just doesn't do much for me.

With the "I" sound, you're right. Never thought about it that way! "Ah" is good for the staccato and "Ee" is good for a light closure and resonant sound.

Like i said, I've only had one lesson and I've learned the rest on my own. I've had more fun that way because i feel like I've learned how to correct a lot of problems by myself. Has the road been longer? DEFINITELY!!! But I've learned how to "fix" problems through experimentation rather than just being told "This is how you do it." I appreciate all feedback and hope it keeps coming! We all have one common goal, to sing whatever we want right?

Thanks again and Good singing,

James

james, glad to help. yes, a lot of this is trial and error and finding out what works and dosen't work per your particular voice.

ah is good for staccato, but i just want to point out the "ee" mouth set up is not much different than an "ah." be sure to be open for the "ee" not closed like we would speak words with "ee."

[ronws]

I've never had a voice lesson with another human being, per se. Though my first wife would listen with a critical and classsicaly trained ear. My current wife is a rock n roll hippie chick and she knows a good or bad note when she hears one, without all the musical training. But even if I purchased a particular singing system, could it replace the ear of someone who can hear? And I phrase that most carefully. For hallf the battle of a singer is to have a good ear of his or her own.

[kevthemusiclover]

Just start on buh and shift to boo on the lip rolls if you can't do the boo down low.