Hello! First post. :-)

[Eddie two hands.]

Hello all, this is my very first post on this forum

I'm wondering if you guys could offer me any advice, i'm a singer songwriter which is something i've been doing for a few years now, i've always practised the guitar and if i'm honest i've put no effort what so ever into improving my singing, which is something i really want change as of now, as there is loads of room for improvement!

So for the first time ever i did some lip roll exercises this evening for half an hour and then sang one of my songs on the guitar and there was a big difference, it felt much more relaxed and my voice sounded much more steady than usual.

I just started a borrowed home teach thing by Brett Manning i have the CD"S but no book, i'm gonna go with this for now just so i have something to work on as i'm considering purchasing Robert Lunte's Pillars method when i have the money.

It would be great if you guys could answer a few questions.

The excersise i worked on this evening was just a 5 note scale thing doing the lip rolls, difficult at first but got easier, i noticed when the scales were getting higher that the top of my nose was vibrating, is this the head voice coming in?

It was really difficult to get upto the higher notes smoothly and it sounded quite squeaky and way off pitch, i was nearly on the floor laughing at my self! Is this difficulty i experienced the crossing from head to chest?

At points the vibrating at the top of my nose stopped as i was going higher, it stopped at the same point it was vibrating at before, would this indicate that i was in the higher levels of chest voice and not head voice?

Should a singer always feel this vibration thing when in head voice? I'd never heard of head voice until a couple of weeks ago so all this stuff is practically brand new for me. I also never experienced this top of the nose vibration thing before tonight.

I'm well aware of my limits and Know i'll never sing like Brett manning or Robert Lunte, but i'm very confident that i can improve and do a much better job than i'm doing at the moment and maybe increase my range a little.

I really enjoyed my short session this evening and look forward to really getting stuck in with a lot of practise!

Any answers to the questions i've submitted will be greatly appreciated. :)

[Owen Korzec]

My answers in bold below

The excersise i worked on this evening was just a 5 note scale thing doing the lip rolls, difficult at first but got easier, i noticed when the scales were getting higher that the top of my nose was vibrating, is this the head voice coming in?

Probably but it's hard to be totally certain until a teacher hears it. Does it feel easier when you feel this sensation? If it frees up the high notes it's probably head resonance

It was really difficult to get upto the higher notes smoothly and it sounded quite squeaky and way off pitch, i was nearly on the floor laughing at my self! Is this difficulty i experienced the crossing from head to chest?

Yes.

At points the vibrating at the top of my nose stopped as i was going higher, it stopped at the same point it was vibrating at before, would this indicate that i was in the higher levels of chest voice and not head voice?

not exactly sure what you mean by this, you'd have to have a teacher check it out.

Should a singer always feel this vibration thing when in head voice? I'd never heard of head voice until a couple of weeks ago so all this stuff is practically brand new for me. I also never experienced this top of the nose vibration thing before tonight.

I don't feel these vibrations personally. It's a very weird individual thing as far as I know it's perfectly possible to feel it in chest voice or head voice or neither.

I'm well aware of my limits and Know i'll never sing like Brett manning or Robert Lunte

That's not really a limit. You'd be surprised. You can absolutely get there, both of those teachers did not start with any kind of "gift" or whatever, they just trained hard. They basically represent what any average joe can achieve after many years of training, but i'm very confident that i can improve and do a much better job than i'm doing at the moment and maybe increase my range a little. Yes you will. You can even increase your range more than a little, especially when you put in the training to learn to connect chest and head well, that opens up a lot more range that you can actually use in singing

I really enjoyed my short session this evening and look forward to really getting stuck in with a lot of practise!

Any answers to the questions i've submitted will be greatly appreciated.

[Eddie two hands.]

Helo Owen and thanks for your reply.

Probably but it's hard to be totally certain until a teacher hears it. Does it feel easier when you feel this sensation? If it frees up the high notes it's probably head resonance

Yes it feel easier when this vibrating sensation happened, i practised yesterday day evening but the sensation never returned.

Would it be true to say the larynx/adams apple must not move up as a singer is going up in pitch through a scale?

[Owen Korzec]

Helo Owen and thanks for your reply.

Would it be true to say the larynx/adams apple must not move up as a singer is going up in pitch through a scale?

False, at least in my experience. It HAS to go up and down or there will be very little flexibility of tone and pitch. You just don't want it to go so high or low that you feel pain.

[Keith]

False, at least in my experience. It HAS to go up and down or there will be very little flexibility of tone and pitch. You just don't want it to go so high or low that you feel pain.

It will go up as you ascend, but at a point, it should start to tilt, not just go up. Mastering laryngeal tilt will also make singing higher easier.

[Nicogratouille]

Would it be true to say the larynx/adams apple must not move up as a singer is going up in pitch through a scale?

Instead of focusing on your larynx you should focus on keeping a consistent tone throughout the scale, correct vowel (don't let it change as you go up) and even volume.

Nicholas

[Eddie two hands.]

Thanks for your replies and advice, i'll let you know how it goes after my next practise session, i'll also post some recordings uo so you guys can have a listen. :)