2 songs, same range - I can only sing one of them without cracking. ?

[VideoHere]

From the clip I heard of 'Cryin' IMO you need to sit into it and deliver the lines, they are way to heady and light for my taste. If you sing tentatively you're gonna have problems with connection. If you want to sing rock authentically you gotta ride the rail man. This ain't belly boarding, this is big wave surfing. Get aggressive with it.

It all depends on what your goal is, if you're a weekend warrior and want to sing for fun on the weekends with your band or karaoke night then you can play it safe but if your goal is a career as a rock singer then you need not be f'n around. You need to hit that B like you mean it, with balls. The right intensity will help keep it together, if you're gun-shy you're gonna struggle.

You gotta a nice voice man, it's like you've been givin the keys to a Porsche and you're driving around in circles in a parking lot, you gotta take it out on the freeway and drop the hammer and see what she can do, blown the carbon out. That's just my opinion but I will tell you I have personally mastered that style of singing and not just from a coaching standpoint. I only say this because the art of singing the way you want is mastered by few but taught by many these days. I was teaching screaming long before probably anybody on this site (cuz I'm old...lol), Sabine was one of the only other ones. Now there's money in teaching screaming so a lot have jumped in the water, which is not a bad thing. I'm not writing this to be a d**k I'm just trying to help you the best way I know. If you go on stage singing that style of music to heady people will turn their backs and order drinks, you gotta grab them man! Don't be afraid, you lack nothing. You can do it. The first step is to step into the role of being that singer and then go after the technique, not the other way around.

this is exactly how i feel but couldn't articulate. singing takes work and energy!!!! thnaks james

[jonpall]

The files were probably removed because the "speedyshare" website only stores files for a limited time.

I uploaded them again. Here's the first one:

http://www.speedyshare.com/files/20448391/Cryin_home_.mp3

And here's the second one (the one James Lugo liked more):

http://www.speedyshare.com/files/20448413/Cryin_downwards_sensation_.mp3

[jonpall]

Is it normal that after one or two songs like Cryin', Sweet child o' mine, Pride (in the name of love) or Roxanne, that my low abs and back are starting to shake because I'm contracting my mid section so hard for so long?

I mean, I've heard that singing like this takes effort and I'm not in bad shape, but is it even possible for anyone to have their abs in a state of extreme contraction for pretty much the whole gig? Is f.ex. Sammy Hagar contracting his abs as hard as he can for the whole night when he's doing a gig?

[analog]

Jonpall...what's normal or not is a VERY individual question. I would think that, because you are learning new coordinations, you are most probably working harder than you eventually need to. But of course, it very well may be that hard for you right now. Give it a few weeks and your support strength will increase. This will lower your "perceived" effort. You may also get better at "centering" the modes(in CVT parlance.) This will again be perceived as "easier" with less work involved.

My guess is that when singing lyrics, especially in the high part of the voice, you are blending modes and therefore need to work your ass off to keep from constricting. In my opinion...this is the hardest part of any singing technique(transferring technique to song application.) Welcome to the jungle brother!

[jonpall]

Yeah, we got fun and games

Thanks for the reply. It makes sense. If anyone else wants to comment on this, it would be great!

Here's a very related question:

I've been trying 2 ways of doing support lately. The first one is the one James Lugo suggested - thinking down as I go up - pretty much Jamie Vendera's "power push" method. The second one is CVT's method of the solar plexus moving outwards while the low abs and low back move inwards in a gradual manner.

To ask the question in a simple manner: Which method is better (especially for producing powerful tenor notes)? If they're equally good, what's the difference in the results they produce?

Thanks in advance,

jonpall.

[jonpall]

I just did a quick experiment with both these methods of support in front of a mirror. It seems that if you do the power push method (or the James Lugo method or whatever you want to call it), the rib cage kind of automatically stays expanded. But if you do the CVT method, at least the way I did it, i.e. I just focus on keeping your ribs expanded, you kind of get some slight strain in your chest area. I'm probably using the incorrect muscles when I try to do the CVT method, i.e. NOT the low abs, sides and low back - and that's probably why I get it wrong. So I would assume that both methods are essentially the same and I'm going to do more of the standard "ssss exercise" in front of a mirror, keeping the sound for at 30-60 seconds and see how that affects my singing. Cheers!

[markgrubb@gmail.com]

To ask the question in a simple manner: Which method is better (especially for producing powerful tenor notes)? If they're equally good, what's the difference in the results they produce?

This is a topic of great contention among voices. There are many celebrity voices that support pushing out or down.

CVT clearly documents lavatory support (Melissa Cross termed this support 'dump' and promotes pushing down, similar to giving birth or using the rest room.) as improper support. CVT adds that lavatory support can cause hernia of the diaphragm. Lisa Popeil's, "The Total Singer", explains how improper support results in the resultant pitch going flat and is in agreement with CVT's documentation.

I am not defining what constitutes safe or correct support; rather, I add to the discussion documentation from multiple pedagogies.

Support as instructed by CVT is a source of one more recent breakthroughs for my voice.

I do think that sometimes singers are supporting very different from how they describe (ie perhaps the singer is supporting as documented by CVT; however, they describe their sensation as lavatory support).