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Vibrato and Support

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I still have trouble believing that support releases tension in the throat. How could a tension in a different place result in a release of tension in another place. I just can't believe it unless someone can really prove it to me. Especially since through my own training experience I have found it to be absolutely false. Maybe support makes you want to open the throat more which releases tension? But I swear the two don't have a direct cause and effort relationship.

I would love if someone could explain the actual physical mechanics of how support releases tension in the larynx...

Can anybody else relate to what Bob is saying or is that just a Bob-ism of his?

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owen,

please watch the video below, then read where i ask him for confirmation.

i read about this tension displacement benefit in a few books, but i'm honestly not sure which ones or where. is this mandatory no, of course not. but it works for me.....

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I can relate to what Bob is saying. However, support is not the only key to release tension in the throat. There are all kinds of things that can be in the way. My point is it's all connected and can't really be that divided.

Owen, if support does not release the tension in throat for you I would say you are either not supporting correctly, or there is some other tension lingering.

I mean absolutely no offense with my post, just posting my thoughts :)

Cheers!

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I can relate to what Bob is saying. However, support is not the only key to release tension in the throat. There are all kinds of things that can be in the way. My point is it's all connected and can't really be that divided.

Owen, if support does not release the tension in throat for you I would say you are either not supporting correctly, or there is some other tension lingering.

I mean absolutely no offense with my post, just posting my thoughts :)

Cheers!

No offended at all, I get that a lot. I am aware I am not a master of support. But I also question its importance often as in attempting it it has almost always done more harm than good. It's like, I sometimes seriously think maybe this support thing is just a placebo effect that these singers are falling for or something haha

How did you personally learn to support correctly in a way that relieves tension? Could you recommend a teacher that could guide me through this specific concept, without screwing up what I've already developed?

It seems like I'm not able to figure it out on my own. I have the CVT book and their support methods just create way too much tension everywhere for me...and I'm tried many other things that ultimately didn't work

Currently for me I like to think in terms of breath management rather than support...do I need more air or less air...that simple. And that's what has worked best out of what I've tried. But so many will argue that is not the full picture, and that support is this super physical thing.

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I am no expert :P but these are my thoughts. When you take a breath, expand the ribs. Keep the ribs expanded. When in the middle of a phrase do not let the ribs collapse. Take a small breath to refill from the expanded position. Use a pause in the singing to refresh your full breath.

The type of onset you use will determine the "Support". If your onset Has a tight squeezed sound you are going to struggle and fight to keep power and connection. If your onset is relaxed and free you will not need as much puch to keep the power and connection.

I was singing "You ain't Seen nothin' Yet" by BTO. I thought I needed a tight,pressed sound for this. I struggled the whole time. Then I remembered that I sang a similer song from a different singer who had a more open sound.

I tried the open sound from the other singer and "You ain't seen Nothin' Yet" was a piece of cake.

The way I used SUPPORT did not change but the way I used my vocal cords did.

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No offended at all, I get that a lot. I am aware I am not a master of support. But I also question its importance often as in attempting it it has almost always done more harm than good. It's like, I sometimes seriously think maybe this support thing is just a placebo effect that these singers are falling for or something haha

How did you personally learn to support correctly in a way that relieves tension? Could you recommend a teacher that could guide me through this specific concept, without screwing up what I've already developed?

It seems like I'm not able to figure it out on my own. I have the CVT book and their support methods just create way too much tension everywhere for me...and I'm tried many other things that ultimately didn't work

Currently for me I like to think in terms of breath management rather than support...do I need more air or less air...that simple. And that's what has worked best out of what I've tried. But so many will argue that is not the full picture, and that support is this super physical thing.

Personally, I learned from Felipe. Before I always thought it was this big muscular movement of the belly and a thousand other things, but it's not. It's just a coordination that builds over time and when done right (in my experience) just makes everything feel so much easier than you ever thought it would. Again, I'm not saying support is the single variable here, it's all connected so you need someone that knows how to hear/see what is failing AND how to correct it.

I believe Rob, Felipe, Dan, Phil, Dante would all be able to help you out :)

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Nice post. However, light singing doesn't require less support. Support is balance no matter what sound. :)

Thanks Martin. Yes - it is all in semantics isn't it? I was referring to different levels of support. In the CVT book they refer to more and less support in various spots in the book. In my book on page 42 they even have a graph of Support Values required at different pitches and different volumes. It clearly shows that the support values are much less for low volume (light singing) than for high volumes. This graph pretty much sums up what I've been saying.

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Geno,

Yes, it's probably just a case of semantics. My point is that more support isn't equivalent to more muscle activation as CVT proposes. Higher levels of muscle activation don't necessarily result in a higher level of support.

Support is the right balance between air pressure, air flow and vocal fold adduction. So in a way it doesn't quite make sense to state that a powerful note needs more balance (support) than a less powerful note. :)

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No offended at all, I get that a lot. I am aware I am not a master of support. But I also question its importance often as in attempting it it has almost always done more harm than good. It's like, I sometimes seriously think maybe this support thing is just a placebo effect that these singers are falling for or something haha

How did you personally learn to support correctly in a way that relieves tension? Could you recommend a teacher that could guide me through this specific concept, without screwing up what I've already developed?

It seems like I'm not able to figure it out on my own. I have the CVT book and their support methods just create way too much tension everywhere for me...and I'm tried many other things that ultimately didn't work

Currently for me I like to think in terms of breath management rather than support...do I need more air or less air...that simple. And that's what has worked best out of what I've tried. But so many will argue that is not the full picture, and that support is this super physical thing.

Just to clarify:

It CAN be physical if you are doing something that is very intense and therefore requires more energy. And even low dynamics can be very intense depending on what you are doing.

But maybe its the pysical thing that is confusing. Physical is not contracting the abs or something else hard. Lets think of the levels like this:

0 - On a sunday evening having a drink on the beach, almost sleeping.

1 - Speaking normaly with someone

2 - On a bar, talking and laughing loud

3 - Mad at your pet or younger brother, scolding the hell out of it/he/she

4 - You were working on wood and a small, sharp and pointy chip just got under your fingernail. Ouch.

Thats it, the way you feel the physical side is more related to these states, not lifting weights, if you ever experienced how nice it is when number 4 happens, you know what a strong support state is, and probably used a very intense headvoice to say some nice things :P. I think its also obvious that it can tire you. Of course, you dont need the discomfort/pain that being mad or hurting yourself brings, and thats why its trained.

A lot of teachers will say that you sing with your whole body, its the same.

Oh yeah, its not guaranteed that these mental images will result in adequate support, actually it probably will not, my point here is just to clarify the "physical" thing. Those ideas will probably have an effect on resonance that may not be desirable.

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