Two friends who obviously love to sing even tho we are nowhere near Sandy Patti & Larnelle Harris :)

Krystal

FAR from it!! OK, my pal Joe and I teamed up on this, it was great fun even though neither of us is exactly awesome. It was my idea to create this medley; what would have made it better would have been for our pianist (who BTW just turned 96!) to know how to transpose, so that both songs could have been in the same key.

As you can tell (I confess with many blushes) my high notes can get screechy. My throat gets tight and dry, I can feel it. This is the “killer” for me. I want to be able to extend my range and also gain stamina so that a simple workout like this one doesn’t leave me tired and hoarse.

So here we go...a taste of Southern gospel, my fav genre...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP6pc94hz2I&feature=share

Wigs

Mate I was expecting a cat getting their tail stepped on😅 I think you both did wonderfully. I grew up around hymns in church but never really sang much, this brought back memories. Have you checked out Ken's YouTube videos? Plenty of good tips for you to try. One thing I can suggest is to smile and open your mouth more, show the joy on your face🙂

Krystal

Wigs said:

Mate I was expecting a cat getting their tail stepped on😅 I think you both did wonderfully. I grew up around hymns in church but never really sang much, this brought back memories. Have you checked out Ken's YouTube videos? Plenty of good tips for you to try. One thing I can suggest is to smile and open your mouth more, show the joy on your face🙂

Haha, thanks for not saying my high notes sounded like a cat fight! Joe doesn’t smile much when singing either. I think we are just so focused on what we are doing, we forget! The two of us are the best singers in this little church (no brag, just fact). We need to do more duets. Like me, he has his own style. His fav hymn is How Great Thou Art, his fav singer the late George Beverly Shea. Joe can sound like him, but has a bit more of a formal “clipped” way of singing the words.

I have been watching Ken’s videos faithfully. You are right, I do need to open my mouth more, and I have been trying to do that whilst opening my throat more. I just came home from our final rehearsal for the cantata this Sunday eve. I carried some room-temp water which made a difference! I’ve been casting around for other ways to ease the killer dryness and throat tension which can prevent me from sailing thru some of those high notes. Ken’s video about throat care was so helpful. I bought some raw ginger at the supermarket. I’m considering oil of oregano but I read that it burns! Also read about a licorice tea called Throat Coat that sounds good, I ordered it but it won’t arrive till Monday, darn it.

doc_ramadani

Hi Krystal,

oh, that was very, very nice. With some technical exercises you could do magic to your voices.

Doc

Krystal

doc_ramadani said:

Hi Krystal,

oh, that was very, very nice. With some technical exercises you could do magic to your voices.

Doc

Ahh, thank you, I feel better now! And it’s true, I think I just need certain exercises to unlock some hidden abilities and even do some “magic”... I have been singing since I was two! My mom liked to tell anecdotes about me singing myself to sleep at night, and if I started singing in my baby voice in public and she tried to hush me, one time she was told, “don’t try to stop her, the child has a beautiful voice and will go far someday.” Well, lol, I didn’t go far, but I have come a long way over the ensuing 63 years or so. In more recent times I was considered to be an Alto! But singing low notes while trying to project got physically painful until I had to ask one choir director to please at least let me sit in the mezzo soprano section. Ahh, MUCH better! And later when there was need of more strong first soprano, I had to “train” myself to reach some higher notes. I can just barely touch G above the scale, on a really good day. I want to learn how to make those notes a breeze, not a chore... Oh, and I do a lot of a cappella singing too, I will upload a clip of that some time.

Klaus_T

nice performance! the symptoms you describe with dry throat: sounds like you are using too much air., and thus blasting the vocal chords dry. this might stem from a lack in support. you might want to watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv3T-xA28fE

with good support you won't need any ginger (although it is healthy so you can still have lots of it). and I would be careful with the Throat Coat, I would probably only drink it after the singing, not before. it looks like it might be sweet. it might literally coat your vocal folds, and you won't notice the wear-and-tear, but that doesn't mean it's not there, you might even be tricked into more over-singing. i heard that about sugary drinks so maybe it is a bit less severe for this tea, but I would be careful with it

Krystal

Klaus_T said:

nice performance! the symptoms you describe with dry throat: sounds like you are using too much air., and thus blasting the vocal chords dry. this might stem from a lack in support. you might want to watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv3T-xA28fE

with good support you won't need any ginger (although it is healthy so you can still have lots of it). and I would be careful with the Throat Coat, I would probably only drink it after the singing, not before. it looks like it might be sweet. it might literally coat your vocal folds, and you won't notice the wear-and-tear, but that doesn't mean it's not there, you might even be tricked into more over-singing. i heard that about sugary drinks so maybe it is a bit less severe for this tea, but I would be careful with it

Thank you! I found that video last night, and how I wish somebody had gotten hold of me years ago and given me a bit of training...rather than, as Ken speaks of, just talking about the do’s and don’ts but not physically demonstrating as he does. I agree this is something I need help with. It is true that after blasting out a few of those F’s as I did here in the example, my throat feels very tight and dry even tho I remember being fine ahead of time. I always thought I was breathing right and wondered why my throat felt constricted after only a short time. So, now we know.

Water does help, altho during a concert you don’t always have time to grab it! I will let you know about the throat tea. I think it is supposed to coat the vocal cords. I hope it isn’t sweet. A long time ago I learned that anything sweet would kill good singing, and dairy products will too. They do create that “gack” and stickiness. I remember when I heard about Lionel Richie having so much trouble with his voice that he feared his career was ending. But I guess he got a tip somewhere. He said all he had to do was give up dairy products and he was fine! I wish it were that simple for the rest of us... I am lactose intolerant so I don’t drink regular milk anymore. But I still have some voice issues.