Home VOCAL DEMONSTRATIONS for the Bold!

Volume 2 Workouts So Far...

Well sadly I can't afford webcam lessons or anything like that so all I have is this forum which has been such a fantastic help so far.

I just want to make sure I'm doing these Volume 2 exercises correctly and safely rather than hindering my progress by incorrectly exercising!

(You'll have to excuse the pauses in each audio clips, I was doing the scales along with the workout audio with headphones and the pauses are when Ken reminds us to do things!)




Chest Stretching Exercises - http://picosong.com/c72M/

Final 2 Exercises - http://picosong.com/c72G/

I am concerned about the final 2 exercises as ken has this strong mix whereas I have to dumb down my notes in order to be able to connect chest and head, I can't "mix them" as he does, I can only go from chest straight to head rather than find a mix like he can!

Finally, I understand the velocity of my scales change and I go from quiet to loud and it's a habit I'm trying to work on but it's difficult to stretch chest and remain quiet!

Thanks in advance for the evaluation!

Comments

  • highmtnhighmtn Administrator, Moderator, Enrolled, Pro, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 15,354

    Lah: Where your voice distorts, you should be supporting more.  You make it through your passagio fine.

    Yes, your head voice is not a mix.  That's OK.  It will take a long time for your voice to grow.  Part of being able to mix will come from stretching your chest voice.

    You could try to get more ping and brightness out of your tone.  Copy Ken's voice when he demonstrates "It's the LAH!!! AHHH!!!!

    You are correct that you need to work on leveling out the volume of your scales with the lighter level you are using for the passagio.   On your way down on the last AH passagio you hit a speed bump.  Sounds like you need to spend more time working on connecting your chest voice and head voice both going up and going down.  The more time you spend working on this, the more volume you will eventually be able to apply when going through your passagio.  You will need this strength in order to not have the passagio be weak in the middle of a strong scale or song.

    LAA scales: At 0:23 your pitch gets off-track for just a moment. Similar to your LAH, your LAA hits a distortion place, where you are pushing too much air.  More support will help to prevent this.  Your passagio is also having difficulties on the way back down into chest.  More support is needed.  Make your LAA really AA as in HAT.  Really bright.

    Your tone is a bit too breathy.  You need a bit more cord closure.  Again, this goes back to the Pingy, Bright tone Ken demonstrates when he shows you  "It's the LAH!!! AHH!!!"  The same applies for the AA vowel.

    I'm not really hearing any vowel modifications in your demo, except maybe at times you go to Ae in the EE vowel, but it's inconsistent.  EE needs to be brighter.

    Chest stretching:  If that's the Lah, Oh, Ooh exercise at the beginning, I don't hear anything but AH.  You need to use the vowel modifications to help you to stretch your chest voice. They will make it easier for you.

    Final Two Exercises: Keep doing these exercises.  Over time, your voice will grow.  These exercises will help you to lay the foundation for your mixed voice, as well as the chest-stretching exercises.  You are having challenges getting through your passagio with connectivity.  Be sure to work on your connection.  That is something that you may need to revisit Volume One on in order to get it smoothed-out.  However you go about it, your connection is something that needs to be worked out in all of these exercises.

    To summarize:

    Brighten up the tone.

    Use more support, especially as you near the passagio.

    Work on connecting your chest and head voice, especially on the downward connection of head to chest voice.  Sing your scales at the volume at which you can smoothly connect, both going up and coming down between chest and head voices.

    Incorporate the vowel modifications.

    Practice diligently every day, five days a week to build strength, range, and stamina.   

    This is a lot of work, but you can do it.  You're coming close in every exercise, but you need to really focus on these details I'm mentioning.  Your pitch is good for the most part.  When you get some of the excess air out of your voice, your tone will increase.  Hang in there! 

     

    Bob

Sign In or Register to comment.