This is not wonderful but maybe a little better than my last upload...

Krystal

Audio on this is bad, but I wasn’t sure of exact settings, and I stood with my back turned to my device. You might be able to make out where I said something indicating this was an experiment... I think next time I’ll just make another video. I’m no prize to look at—I am bold, but not beautiful, lol— 🤓 but I think the sound would be better.

So I have been more mindful of correct breathing, etc. so that the highest notes are easier to reach without strain. My only real issue here is some of the lower notes not coming out right. 😳 I’m sure there is a way to fix that but I’m not certain how? It happens sometimes. My voice might even “crack” or break in the lower range. I can do runs, but that’s different from when you sing a piece like this...

As some of you might recall, I mentioned that I have been singing solo work for 35+ years, so out of mere curiosity I wonder should these be posted under the “ more experienced” heading...? But in all that time I never knew much about mechanics as we discuss here...

OK, here we go—

https://youtu.be/bkh0cq-1a3E

Klaus_T

hi Krystal, it's totally fine to post this here in this category.

it's great that you feel you make progress with your technique!

regarding the low notes: i think it might be due to the fact that you will have mostly sung in the high range, which might have caused an imbalance. Ken wants us to develop a rock-solid chest voice before we even start practicing head voice. he says you can "atrophy" one of the registers by over-using the other. apparently, in real life it is quite normal for people to limit their ranges by doing this, because only a fraction of the singers out there will actually have such a well-thought-out routine as we learn here (and even know about the atrophy issue).

i assume you will always have sung in rather high registers, and won't have balanced it out with exercise, so it is quite possible that this has happened, especially considering you might have been doing this for 35+ years, as you said.

since this is the public forum, I would like to ask one of the admins to give you more advice on this. the students aren't allowed to post content from the course here, so I am unsure how much info I can give you. also, it might not be so helpful anyway, seeing the course teaches a whole system, and isolating anything from it would probably create other problems down the line. your best bet would be to get the course, if you want to be absolutely sure you are doing it right.

I guess I am not telling you too much when I say that if you practice songs or scales in lower registers, this would already be a good start.

anyway, I tag some of the admins now:

@Wigs @doc_ramadani @Sophia

Krystal

Hi, Over all those years I never was completely clear on the differences between head and chest voice, and had no one to train me in my everyday experience. Oddly enough, in decades past I was pegged as an Alto but only because I lacked confidence, and didn’t know how to extend my abilities. Finally I began to push myself and learn...but it came very slow. I can still sing the lower notes but I absolutely need a mic, so that I can “croon”. If I am in a situation where I can’t hold a mic in my hand, but it’s maybe hanging over me 5-10 feet away, then I tend to over-sing the low notes and they come out ragged, worse than they did on this recording. Back in the days when I had to sing Alto, if I were in choir or a choral group it became difficult and eventually painful, trying to project low notes, ouch! That is why I love a hand held mic, no need to shout. But you could well be correct, in my efforts to improve the higher range I may be losing the ability to create the low notes. When this happens, I feel like I need a shift in my throat muscles somewhere. Low notes either come out sounding off key or else barely audible.

Klaus_T

hi Krystal, yes it sounds like you will have some imbalance then. also, the "crooning" part, it might be a lack of support. even people who train with vocal coaches (that aren't Ken) reported that the teacher never taught them how to do it, so if you are self-taught, I believe chances are high that you will have potential to grow in that area.

since I can tell you are very passionate about singing, I am sure that if there is any way you can get the course, you would really benefit from it. I am just a student here, so please don't think I try to sell you anything, I just say it because it will probably open up a whole new world for you. it did for me, anyway.

are you doing the free exercises on youtube?

Krystal

Firstly...yes I am doing the free exercises on YT, I enjoy them but only wish I had a full hour every day to do what I know would help my voice. You see I am almost 65 (hard for some to believe, I look ten years younger than that) and wish to hold onto what I have as long as I can. People say I am gifted and maybe I am...I am a very fast learner although I am not good at sight reading music. I have to hear the piece once or twice before a written score makes sense. Over all those 35 plus years I had no real training, pretty much self-taught, just experiences in various choirs in a casual setting, the rest was “by ear” and often a cappella if I had no accompaniment at all. I love a cappella singing, sometimes I think it is easier than singing with accompaniment or with a group. But yes, the exercises have helped my breathing thus far, so that my high notes are coming more easily. So far, so good! But, I need to develop more strength and stamina, so that those longer mini concerts don’t wear me out.

When I use the term “crooning,” I refer to singing the lower notes more carefully with a bit less volume and closer to the mic. Back in the day when “They” labeled me an Alto, I’m not sure just what I was; but I could barely reach D, but in country, pop, or southern gospel music (my chief genre) we never really talked about ranges or voice types. So I never really thought about it. All I knew was that people like Patsy Cline and Karen Carpenter had a lower range, Streisand and Connie Francis were middle range...then there are Celine Dion and Sandi Patti, wow...!!! 🌟😲💫 Only in the last...oh, maybe 15 years have I figured out more about this topic. Before that, I was a very good “crooner” (as long as I had a good mic!) and my lower notes never broke up or got messy as they do more often today. This doesn’t always happen, mind you, but it shouldn’t be happening at all. Things can get frustrating when I don’t have a mic.

Music and voice are indeed two areas I am most passionate about, and I am excited about acquiring the Course if I can save up enough money 💰 💰I wanted to ask whether, being an intermediate as I am, if I should go for the second package? I assume the proper exercises are in all. I think I should get the portable version that I could plug into my Apple iPad, as well as into my laptop.

Klaus_T

i think the second package is the best value, the price difference isn't huge. I don't know what is in the first package so I can't really say

[Deleted User]

Hi @Krystal,

The Intermediate package is what I initially bought, because I knew that I wanted to learn distortion, but wasn't aiming to learn the more advanced aspects of singing contained in the later Volumes. I changed my mind after a short time and upgraded to the Pro package, because it contained such useful information. The titles (Intermediate, Pro etc.) don't refer to your initial ability, but to the different stages of the course. Even professional singers are recommended to put aside what they know, and start right at the beginning with Volume 1 to make sure their fundamental techniques are correct.

Take at look at the course description to see what is contained in each Volume of the course, and choose which option you buy based on that.

Krystal

Sophia said:

Hi @Krystal,

The Intermediate package is what I initially bought, because I knew that I wanted to learn distortion, but wasn't aiming to learn the more advanced aspects of singing contained in the later Volumes. I changed my mind after a short time and upgraded to the Pro package, because it contained such useful information. The titles (Intermediate, Pro etc.) don't refer to your initial ability, but to the different stages of the course. Even professional singers are recommended to put aside what they know, and start right at the beginning with Volume 1 to make sure their fundamental techniques are correct.

Take at look at the course description to see what is contained in each Volume of the course, and choose which option you buy based on that.

😋I would dearly love to have them all! I might be able to squeeze out enough money for Beginner and Intermediate—as you say, for all the useful information and getting the fundamentals correct—but unfortunately the third package is just way beyond my budget. 🥺

Krystal

Klaus_T said:

hi Krystal, yes it sounds like you will have some imbalance then. also, the "crooning" part, it might be a lack of support. even people who train with vocal coaches (that aren't Ken) reported that the teacher never taught them how to do it, so if you are self-taught, I believe chances are high that you will have potential to grow in that area.

since I can tell you are very passionate about singing, I am sure that if there is any way you can get the course, you would really benefit from it. I am just a student here, so please don't think I try to sell you anything, I just say it because it will probably open up a whole new world for you. it did for me, anyway.

are you doing the free exercises on youtube?

It is kind of funny...I was just enjoying Ken’s cover of Low Rider and trying to sing along with him...I find it is true that I can reach some really low notes (for a soprano) but ONLY if I sing them softly. Since Ken would of course have a super sensitive mic, he doesn’t have to sing those notes loud, at least not on that song. And so, it seems what I need to do, to get rid of my lower notes breaking up, is either sing them more softly when I have a mic, and/or get more power behind them when I don’t have one. Both should work, and be possible, with training.