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Efficiency Problem

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classical guitar

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Thats one of those tricky ones, learning to control air without using resistance in the mouth or throat...you probably simply have more resistance with the lip trill. Thats where the stomach muscles come in...they should do the resisting.

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No dude... i assure you. I can do the lip bubble with full voice almost a minute. Mixed and Falsetto, well over a minute. I have superhuman breath (low brass player in HS!). I can actually go longer on a lip roll w/o tone than i can on a hissing sound... Brass playing chops. But really... Maybe I should re-ask my question.---- Any tips to get your resonant szzz sound to last longer?---- Thanks guys. If you really want I'll record a cheap video on my mac tomorrow when I'm warming up and do it for you.

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No dude... i assure you. I can do the lip bubble with full voice almost a minute. Mixed and Falsetto, well over a minute. I have superhuman breath (low brass player in HS!). I can actually go longer on a lip roll w/o tone than i can on a hissing sound... Brass playing chops. But really... Maybe I should re-ask my question.---- Any tips to get your resonant szzz sound to last longer?---- Thanks guys. If you really want I'll record a cheap video on my mac tomorrow when I'm warming up and do it for you.

classical guitar: to do it longer, reduce the airflow while maintaining the resonant szzz, until you have found the minimum required for a stable, clear tone.

Then, when you think you have it, start a tone on the szzz, say about the D below middle C, (open 4th string on your axe) and make sure that the tone is stable and clear... not fuzzy. If the tone is soft, but stable, clear and buzzy... that's about as well as can be done.

Just out of curiosity... what do you want to sing that has phrases lasting more than 1/2 minute? Even some of the baroque aria roulades don't require that much. Most of those only need about 15 seconds. ;-)

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No dude... i assure you. I can do the lip bubble with full voice almost a minute. Mixed and Falsetto, well over a minute. I have superhuman breath (low brass player in HS!). I can actually go longer on a lip roll w/o tone than i can on a hissing sound... Brass playing chops. But really... Maybe I should re-ask my question.---- Any tips to get your resonant szzz sound to last longer?---- Thanks guys. If you really want I'll record a cheap video on my mac tomorrow when I'm warming up and do it for you.

just amazing...would you?

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I find that lip trills on a tone require me to be much more engaged mentally, which engages me more physically. Perhaps you are expelling a great deal of air either right before or as you start the szzz. Try a "fffff" (or the voiced version of the consonant, "vvvvv"), then work your way toward the "sssss".

One technique I have learned that helps me is to hold your forefinger up to your lips (as if you were telling someone to "ssssh"), and focus the air toward your finger while singing a 1-8-5-3-1 scale on "vvvv" (making a sound similar to a kazoo). It may seem stupid, but it helps. (Besides, you are warming up, *not* singing for the Queen of England, so who cares if it's not pretty, as long as it helps! ;) )

Another tip; make sure you aren't taking in too much air, as that will make for inefficient air management as well. I actually started to slip into this habit about 2 1/2 years into my formal classical training. I didn't notice anything but the sudden loss of efficiency in my air management (long, "rangey" and more coloratura phrases began being difficult for me to get through). Fortunately, my teacher did notice and drew my attention to it so I could fix it. Odd little habits are easy to slip into even if you have been training for years, so it's best to be on the constant, honest lookout.

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Hey guys thanks for the tips. Sorry I didn't get the video yet. I ran real hard in the cold the other night and pulled a rib or something, but it's healed up now enough for me to take a complete breath, so when I get home today, I'll record the bubble.

I got my szzz up to 38-40 seconds.. I wasn't placing the tone far forward enough in the mask. I went back and forth from the most forward EEE vowel I could think of to the szzzz and resolved the problem. Thanks for the tips though. All really useful.

Stephen, you're the man. You know just about everything about the voice. I really enjoy your info. I'm actually working on the beginning of NITRO's "Machine Gun Eddie," and the chorus in "O.F.R." Not really the sound of any serious classical music. I can belt out stuff up to a soprano c, but I don't have the technique or know-how to get that pure countertenor classical sound.

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  • 1 month later...

the air is getting blown out because you are taking too much in to start. When sustaining a note, the voice only needs a small amount of intake, otherwise you will have to hold your breath for a second in attempts to keep it. If you hold your breath, try it, you will feel everything tighten including the throat, which will shut. To exhale, you will have to push up to get the air to pass by the cords for sound. Pushing up causes you to lose all your support.

I have a newly released book out published by the Hal Leonard Corp, "Vocal Strength and Power" that can help with this bad habit and created exercises to correct it. It will help you to attain the endurance and sustainable notes you seek

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