singing advice

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six

six

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once again I didn't know where to post this since there's still no singer's forum :p ...

so here we go: my vocal abilities know reached a point where I can smoothly pull up a note from my deepest chest voice to my highest headvoice and back. and there's no break and you won't here any changes in tone easily.
BUT - this works only on 'a' (like in 'santA claus'), 'e' (like in 'yeeeeeeah') and on 'o' (like in 'top').
I do have big problems with 'i' (like in 'chili') and 'u' (like in 'you'). there's always a bit of a break in power and tone and you can definitely hear the change from chest to head voice.
is this normal? how can I work against it?


cheers
six
 
Don't work against it. Just accept that for the moment, you can't do it. Get on with singing the song with what you can do.

Damn, this is good advice.

See, if it's possible to do what you want to do, AND you follow my advice, it'll come to you naturally in time. Some things take time.
 
If you keep practicing what youre not doing well you should eventually nail it. I have the same kind of thing where I can smoothly change notes at the top part of my range in 16th note increments like "awaa-a-a-a-a-a-ay" and "the-e-e-e-ey" and "see-e-e-e." Words like "top" and "go-o-o-o-ne" and "you-u-u" are more open mouthed and less focused and nasal so theyre harder to conrol. It sounds like you need to develop the open singing which cotrols the change of note more in the throat and diaphragm and less in the mouth and jaw. My guess is if you took a couple of vocal lessons just focusing on that, you would probably improve things pretty quickly. This guy I worked with a while ago on a middle eastern/electronica/grunge combo had a similar problem. The vocal phrasing in the songs was very sinewy and open with alot of open mouthed "a-a-ahhh"s and "ooooo"s (like "moon"). He ended up taking several months of vocal lessons but after a month there was a big imrovement in the "aahhhh"s and "oooo"s.
 
six, one practice technique is to substitute the vowels you already sing
well instead of the ones you need work on (sometimes called "flip
flopping"). The next step is to do it enough to become sensitive to the
physical adjustments and sensations associated with producing good tone.
The goal is to gradually get a sense of balance that you will use to properly
tune your voice to sing the more challenging vowels.
What you are encountering is only normal, and indicates your voice is ready
to receive more advanced (classical) training.

P.S. Probably the best book ever written on vocal technique, "The Science
And Sensations of Vocal Tone", by E. Herbert Caesari goes over this
topic much better than I can!
 
thanks for your answers, guys.

well, taking lessons is no option for me at the moment - I really really have no money left :( ... and lessons of any kind are quite expensive in switzerland.

shall I buy another book ? :D

chessparov, I think I'll have to check out if there's a german version of the book you mentioned... when it gets too technical it could get quite hard to understand for me as a non-english. ;)

btw, so "flip flopping" i would sing "hair I come" instead of "here I come"? is it that what you mean?
 
six, another fine book to look for is "Set Your Voice Free", by Roger Love.
It includes an exercise CD (great for working on high notes, by the way)

You're correct also in your example of "flip flopping"-use the vowels you
do well for now. Of course this is just for practice, stick to keys you are
comfortable with when you sing for others! Even the greatest singers
can find something to improve on so take heart.
 
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