Vocal Training Methods

[cloudwind]

As many might have known, there are some special ways for vocal training.

1) The lips brrr-ling

2) Power "ha"

3) Humming

4) Yawning

In-Breath

1) Mouth

2) Nose

Out-Breath

1) Audible "Sssss"

2) Blow air out

So which techniques have u come across? And which are the ones that you think might not be effective? Or hav you guys learnt some other methods? Pls share it here.

Eg. Some singers don't agree with lips-brrr-ling exercise as it diminished vocal power though it relaxes the cord and helps us sustain tone

 

[music_soul]

Hi!

Yup! The exercises you listed are commonly used in vocal warm-ups. Personally I find the lip thrills and humming exercises some of the most useful ones for warming up the voice and smoothing out vocal registers (chest, middle and head voice). I recommend breaths to be taken in and released through the mouth (not the nose) during both warmups and singing. Diaphragmic breathing and vocal projection is the most healthy and effective way to go=).

Another exercise I often do is the vowel exercise which goes like this:

- pick a starting key, say C major
- sing the syllables mah-meh-mi-moh-moo~ (joining the 'm' between the syllables) slowly in the melody of C-C-C-C-C-D-E-D-C
- then move up the scale by semitones

This exercise is useful for breath control, working facial & jaw muscles, and building vocal range.

Have fun!

Music_soul

 

[sage]

1) singing everyday
2) singing different styles
3) observing variations in tones and throat mechanism transitions
4) listening a lot until the ear and brain bleeds... preferably with headphones, one ear only and the other to listen to voice
5) i breathe a lot and make funny sounds to experiment on what my voice can sound like lots of experimenting..

prolly useless info lah but whack haha
i'm too lazy to commit to vocal training, so these are budget methods

 

[btherl]

The exercises I'm focusing on now are

- Dog pant: Continuous panting using the diaphragm. Only the expulsion of air is conscious. The inwards breath happens as a reflex. This trains breathing in and also endurance, and prepares for quick tensing of the diaphragm.

- ff ff ff ssssssss. Three ff supported by the diaphragm followed by a sustained sss. This practices a steady release of supported air.

- breath equilibrium. Breath in and keep the air in without blocking your throat. Throat should be totally relaxed. This practices the relaxed position needed for singing.

 

[ANDY82]

hm... so far all are important

well to me all are important but if u are tired of warm up try to pick a song for your warm up.

 

[Turn]

all the above are just warm up as you call it, more specfically they are used so you get used to these good practise unconsiously.

My 25cent advice is simple-- dont sing unless you get your voice out.Ever wonder why teachers will press their bell even after the first few words?

try getting a phase out right and let others be your judge(and of course pick one phase that does not strain your voice), once you get the feel and control, the rest are history.

 

[cloudwind]

haha, thks bther & music soul. I find the previous method i used stil faulty, though gain power would tend2 have break between registers when the octaves are too apart. Due to ur advice, im adopting back to Lips-Thrill & "Sss" methods.

 

[rainedrop]

haha i've been trying for quite some time to get hold of some vocal techniques that work.. thanks for sharing these! =) does anyone have any tips for more "special" techniques beyond the basic ones? i wld reli like to find out how to sing a note tt sounds sth lke growling but its not growling.. like how to add a lot more intensity to that particular note/word in a song.. its kinda hard to describe tt sound in words =X

 

[btherl]

Hey rainedrop,

Can you give an example of a song with the growl you want?

Regarding exercises, my latest favorite is "mmmaaa" on a 5 note scale, CDEFGFDEC, moving smoothly between the mm and aa on each note. It's similar to a lip trill in that the mmm sound lets you vocalize with less pressure, and makes it easier to relax. Then opening up to the aaa trains you in doing a relaxed aaa.

I start the exercise on my low C and go down as far as I can (usually down to E or Eb), then go up as far as I can (usually up to E or Eb until I go into falsetto, so around 2 octaves). Above that my throat muscles keep tensing and preventing me from hitting the higher notes.

It's working great for me because my lip trill sucks, and my throat keeps trying to tense up, so this exercise counteracts that.

 

[rainedrop]

haha its not a growl. i duno how to describe the sound =X here's a video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJDBl9FFN9g

the "sound thing" is during 02.44 ("oh~~ MAAA ...etc"). yeah the kinda sound is the "maa" she sang. haha

im a newbie to techniques. wad are lip trills? =x

 

[rainedrop]

oh btw, how can we train up our mixed voice? its the one btwn head and chest voice right? thought i read sth about it somewhere.. =]

 

[hecklerkoch]

Kopitiam Auntie

I have always admired those auntie kopi kias who have excellent voice projection.

They make it all seem so effortless.

"TEH KATTAAAAAAIIIIIII!!! KOPI KAAAAAWWW!!!!!! MILO PIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGGGG!!!! LIANG CHAAAAAAAAA EEEE PEEEEIIII!!!!"

Wonder if they provide lessons for voice projection.

Hahahahahaha!!!

:mrgreen:

 

[rainedrop]

lol. i wont mind taking a lesson for projection

 

[btherl]

I don't see mix voice as between head and chest, I see it as a mix of head and chest. Starting from around A (depending a little on who you are) you'll need to alter your voice a little to get to higher notes. By the time you reach E you will really need to be either in mix voice, head voice or falsetto. Chest alone just doesn't work up there. Once up there you have a choice of falsetto, head or mix. It's not just for use in the range between chest and head.

Edit: Oh, you asked how to train it Well I've managed to access it by singing in falsetto and then opening up space at the back of my head to add the "head" part. The method my teacher recommends is to access it by starting in chest voice and moving upwards, maintaining balance along the way. He says that if I keep doing that, my voice will naturally change to mix voice. Sometimes I can get it, sometimes I can't. Falsetto is certainly much easier, though it's a challenge keeping that stable.

 

[btherl]

im a newbie to techniques. wad are lip trills? =x

That's where you bring your lips together and have them flap open and shut, making a "bwbwbwbwbwbwbw" kind of sound as you vocalize. Babies like to do them The benefit is that they reduce the pressure required to make a note, making it easier to train higher rangers. They also relax your lips.

I still can't do them after nearly 1 year of vocal lessons .. sigh. Maybe that's why I progress so slowly.

 

[rainedrop]

ohhhhhhh now i finally know wad lip trills are. lol. anything u guys do to "relax" urslf and stuff before singing? sometimes i just feel lke my body's all tensed up and stuff which makes me dun feel lke singing at all but i haf to during jammings.. =S sucks esp whn its a headache or some tension at the jaw..

 

[btherl]

Hehe, good question

Jaw tension: Press HARD on the muscles keeping your jaw up. They are in front of the bone right at the back of the jaw. You should feel pain when you press on them. Press for around 10 seconds in one spot, then move to another spot. If you're pressing hard enough in the right spot, you will actually force your jaw down.

btw, the jaw moves down and a little back when relaxed, not directly down. Moving it directly down doesn't work.

Throat tension: Well that's pretty tough. You can massage some muscles directly, but you really need to change your lifestyle. Make sure your throat isn't tensing when you speak (mine often is), and make sure you sit properly (don't have your throat muscles stopping your head fall back or forwards). And never lie sideways without head support, that'll kill your muscles.

Lip, tongue tension: That's what lip trills and tongue trills are for Lip trill I've been learning and it's very good. Tongue trill still I can't do .. but trying You can also grab your tongue and pull to relax it. Also you can poke underneath your jaw to massage some muscles in there. Don't poke too hard.

My teacher often gets me to swing my head around in a relaxed way as I sing, to release throat tension.

 

[rainedrop]

jaw tension: tt'll be somewhere arnd de side of my face, right? or is it wrong? =x

 

[btherl]

Yeh it's at the side. Where your lower jawbone goes up at the back, there are some muscles around there that pull it up. If those are tense, your voice will sound like a "clenched teeth" sound, and often nasal.

 

[cloudwind]

ohhhhhhh now i finally know wad lip trills are. lol. anything u guys do to "relax" urslf and stuff before singing? sometimes i just feel lke my body's all tensed up and stuff which makes me dun feel lke singing at all but i haf to during jammings.. =S sucks esp whn its a headache or some tension at the jaw..

Hmm.. Classical teachers encourage "Yawning" exercise 2 relax the throat & jaws. Give it a try. If u intend to practise lips-thrill, try practising mouth in-breath(breathe in,hold,breathe out) & out-breath (blowing hand,windmill etc) b4 dat. Dat would help a bit on managing the breath for supporting tone.