Resonance building help

[Keith]

Are there any resonance building excersizes I should be doing? My band is trying about a bass player so if it works out I'll be able to spend more time on singing. .. And building resonance is most likely the next step for me in my vocal travels. With the addition of a bass player, I'll be able to concentrate more on singing on stage! I'm pretty psyched about it.

[Felipe Carvalho]

Keith, do the following experience IF you are absolutely postitive that your emission is working well right now:

Strech you neck to all sides, do some slow breathing, controlling the release so that the intake and release time is somewhat the same, for 5 minutes is enough. Aim to relax as much as you can in this process.

After you get relaxed, whistle gently with your lips. There is no need for a super ear blowing whistle ok, can be a little airy and there is no need for volume. After doing it a few times, notice the overall posture of your mouth and the vocal tract. After you get a hang of the feeling, whistle a few times, and keeping the whole posture the same, close your lips GENTLY. You will end up with your mouth closed, and your lips round as in a whistle position but closed too.

With this posture, inhale slowly and let it out in a firm but non pushed NEE as in "needles", use a confortable low and easy chest note please. Of course that since your lips are closed, the sound will be nasal, but notice how you can feel your lips vibrating.

Imagine that this NEE should happen on the very tip of your tongue, that should start behind the upper teeth on the N.

Repeat a few times, keep the sensation there. If any thing feels weird on your throat, in fact if you feel anything other than the frontal vibration on your lips, stop the exercise and look for a coach before trying anything further. Slowly work on bringing the feeling of vibration from your nose to your lips. Focus that feeling in the lips.

Do every step slowly, take your time. Do not push it into the lips. If you do it, the feeling will happen, but instead of achieving resonance you will create a muscular tension and block it.

If you get this going, you will feel vibration against the lips. After this, just relax this round formation of your lips back to a more "natural" posture, without letting go of the internal posture of the vocal tract. The feeling should move from your lips to the back of you upper teeth. Notice how this EE is placed, up, nothing on the throat, but not on the nose either, its inside your mouth, focused against the back of your teeth.

Repeat it with your mouth closed and using the N to guide it to the place. NEE.

Get a hold of the overal posture, and the feeling of the resonance. This is forward placement.

DO NOT attempt to directly apply it to the other vowels, work with this alone, take note of the posture and the feeling and add this exercises to your warming up exercises.

If you feel any thing, ANY thing on your throat, cease using it.

[Keith]

Funny story... I can't whistle while exhaling - only inhaling...funny right?

[Felipe Carvalho]

lol, quite funny, but this means that when you are exhaling, something is moving out of place. Its even better, if you can map this movement, you will have an even more solid reference on the posture.

If not, I really dont feel confortable on issuing other references.

That said, if you can whistle while inhaling, you can whistle while exhaling. Its exactly the same posture.

Edit: Try whistling while you inhale, and when you let go, focus on keeping everything in place, dont try to push the air, just realease the hold. Do not attempt to do the previous stuff without getting the whistle working first. The whistle is the resonance you need. No whistle = no point.

[Keith]

Also, when I sing chesty notes, I can feel the vibration in my chest, throat,back and even my shoulders - once I get into head voice, I feel it in my nose, lips, tongue, and maybe the very top of my throat. There is not one single note that I can sing that I do not feel some sort of vibration or something in my throat. is this normal?

[Felipe Carvalho]

Also, when I sing chesty notes, I can feel the vibration in my chest, throat,back and even my shoulders - once I get into head voice, I feel it in my nose, lips, tongue, and maybe the very top of my throat. There is not one single note that I can sing that I do not feel some sort of vibration or something in my throat. is this normal?

In this exercise no. The feeling should be all in the front of your mouth, as if the NEE was all containned there. At the beggining it may wander around the nose area, but you should be able to effectively bring it to the front of your mouth.

Vibrations around other areas will be minimal, and will be most superficial, as if just the skin was vibrating. Your internal hearing will be almost nullified. The feeling of frontal resonance will be very strong compared to anything else. If you feel the vowel back on your throat, or as if it was "comming" from there, do not attempt to go further.

You should sound like a cellphone on vibracall. :P

[VideoHere]

keith, frisell's descending slides start to resonate like crazy after you've done them for a while.