Straight Posture in Metal/Rock Singing

meirelesalex

Hallo!

I am new to the KTVA, I was reading about posture and am thinking something else.

I have heard from a physical therapist that some abdomen contraction indeed helps to produce high notes such as Iron Maiden songs. That is why Bruce Dickinson and other singers tend to contract it during a show not only for performance but also for reaching high notes.

Do you agree with that?

Also, lots of singers sing in "unnatural" mode. Eg.: Lemmy (Motorhead), Klaus Meine (Scorpions), metal vocalists. Klaus Meine nowadays sing stopped in the middle of the stage but his head is pending towards one side.

Are these methods wrong? If so, why they're so successful in the voices they pretend to produce?

Wigs

Yes that is the concept of diagphramatic support. I think the other thing you are referring to is distortion when you mention unnatural mode. This can be done safely but only with very good support and after alot of training. Check out Ken's videos on both, they are on YouTube and he explains each of them 🙂

meirelesalex

Wigs said:

Yes that is the concept of diagphramatic support. I think the other thing you are referring to is distortion when you mention unnatural mode. This can be done safely but only with very good support and after alot of training. Check out Ken's videos on both, they are on YouTube and he explains each of them 🙂

Thanks. I will do check then for sure. But it is not only distortion I mean. Klaus Meine has a sort of very clean voice, but his head pends to a side. Also, James Dio does that. His head is always pending to a side. It intrigued me.

meirelesalex

About Bruce Dickinson, he sings lots of times curved, i.e., not in a straight position.

Klaus_T

meirelesalex said:

Are these methods wrong? If so, why they're so successful in the voices they pretend to produce?

you are right, calling it "wrong" in the face of their massive success would maybe be a bit weird, I guess it is safe to say that the techniques they use could be improved upon from a technical point of view. the genre i listen to the most is punk, and while some of the bands are actually quite successful (Rancid for example), their singing ability would certainly not impress anyone on this forum. i think with rock bands, it is a matter of the full package being there, emotions, sound etc., and you can get away with technical imperfections or even straight-up mistakes; maybe even more so, these things might be a part of the deal. it is hard to imagine Lemmy doing vocal exercises, and working on his tone (maybe he actually did do some exercise, who knows?!). but it is also hard to imagine him singing a classic opera piece. i think for us mere mortals, it is best to stick with proper technique as much as possible, as opposed to trying to copy the habits of the "big guys" (or girls), because they are probably not successful BECAUSE of their technical imperfections, but for a whole load of other reasons.

adding to what @Wigs said: note that a contracted abdomen does not automatically result in diaphragmatic support. the right contraction does it, but just tensing your abs won't do it. learning this is a big part of laying the foundation for good singing technique. it is one of the pillars of this course I would say

meirelesalex

Yes. IMHO, I think these guys found a way to find their voice using some weird postures and kept doing like this. I agree we should learn the best option before we try something more extravagant.

Klaus_T

yes, especially since the posture is just the most obvious thing. if you look into stuff like diaphragmatic support for example, you will notice that people describe the feelings in such different ways, you wouldn't even know if they actually talk about the same stuff (and in fact, they might not even talk about the same stuff). if it was easy to describe, it would also be much easier to learn it. you could look at two people singing and might not see whether they use correct technique or not. i am not even sure if one would be able to tell from listening in every single case.

Wigs

Bending over I guess can help you use your support on high notes, during practice you want very good posture though to build up your strength. It's possible that after a long set you get tired and don't have the stamina to keep straight so you cheat a bit by bending over. As far as the head thing goes I'm not sure.