Vocal Training Summaries 1&2 (8thFeb2007)

1 Always breath using your diaphragm to the max such that your tummy bulges forward. Don't bother breathing with your chest....for now. So we don't want to see anybody's chest rise when they take a deep breath to sing!....for now.

2 Breath through your mouth and not your nose.....same as when you speak.

3 Stand straight with your chest facing forwards and upwards in a proud manner. Feet slightly apart with one foot a few inches in front of the other. RELAX entire head, face, neck, shoulders, back, limbs.

4 As you sing, make a conscious effort not to strain and tense any of your facial, head, neck and shoulder muscles, especially when you try to reach the higher notes.

5 Be aware of how your "Chest" voice feels like. This is your 'normal' singing voice for the lower to middle notes where the sound mainly comes from the chest with the vocal chords having a characteristic buzzing vibration. When you want to sing with your chest voice, mentally make a note to 'direct' the voice to come from the chest.

6 Be aware of how your "Head" voice sounds like. This is your falcetto voice for the high notes of your vocal range. Notice that it has a smoother feel with less of the vocal cord vibration/buzz as in the "Chest" voice. When you want to sing with your "Head" voice, mentally make a note to direct the voice to come from 'above' the 'head'.

7 The idea is to be able to gradually change from your "Chest" voice to your "Head" voice as you sing from low to high and from high to low. When you are very familiar with the way each voice feels like in your throat and larynx, you will be able to manipulate it such that the change is gradual. I think it is too complex to describe it in words. ha ha

8 Remember: As you sing downwards from your "Head"(Falcetto) voice towards the lower notes, switch back to your "Chest" voice at the appropriate pitch. Some of us continue to sing downwards using the "Head" voice and forgetting to switch back to the "Chest" voice. The result is a very weak tone.

9 Practicing with the lip thrill helps us to relax the facial and neck muscles so that we may focus better on the feeling of the Larynx and throat as we switch between the chest voice and the head voice. The idea is to be utterly familiar with the way to contract and relax your larynx's muscles so as to toggle back and forth smoothly between your "chest/normal" voice and your "head/falcetto" voice......I think. ha ha!

10 Sing an arpeggio upwards using a very nasal tone. When you reach the top note, change the nasal tone to a rounder deeper tone by dropping the larynx, opening your mouth slightly. Be familiar on the sensations in your throat as you change from a squeaky nasal tone to a deeper mellower tone. Start the arpeggio with an "nee nee nee nee" and on the top note, change the "nee" to a "neeeeeaaaaaaah....."

11 To correct 'tone deafness' or the inability to sing the correct pitch, practice singing and speaking outside of your comfort zone. Sing and speak(to yourself) in all the ranges....eg deep low voice to a high falcetto voice. When you have enough experience and practice singing in all the different high and low ranges, you will improve on your ability to sing any note accurately upon hearing it.

12 Practice singing the arpeggio upwards and downwards, starting from a low key and progressing stepwise upwards until you reach your maximum pitch. The notes to sing will be: upwards 1,3,5,1,3,5 downwards 4,2,7,5,4,2,1. In the Key of C major, the notes will be ... upwards ... C,E,G,C,E,G, ...downwards ... F,D,B,G,F,D,C.

13 Have no fear! Let go of your self consciousness if you want to be a singer or musician. Your self consciousness and shyness will be a big big obstacle to you ever improving. If you want your voice to sound rich and thick, then your skin has to be thick as cow hide. ha ha!

The above lessons by John Lee was summarised (and improvised) by Malcolm. Please suggest corrections and improvements. Thanks.