Hey All :)
dbalfour
Enrolled Posts: 4
Hey everyone,
I am Dave from Livingston, Scotland. I purchased the How to Sing Better Than Everyone Else at the start of January I believe. I have done some of the first DVD but I had stopped for a while because I was opening up my own photography business. Now that I am back on track and have time to do this I am going full blow into it and doing it everyday to strengthen my voice.
I have a large music history and can play all sorts of instrument like: Violin, Piano, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Trumpet ect. But I have never really brought my voice further from when I was singing in a choir as a child. It has always been my dream to be able to express through singing instead of just through the sound of instruments. My life in music began when I was introduced to the trumpet and cornet in primary school and it branched from there. I learned guitar next and I am self taught in all my instrument but also got one or two lessons for guitar from my uncle who was song writer and lead guitarist in The Exploited for a few years. He is now in charge of all the youth music in my area of Scotland and he teaches and sets up gigs all over it. He also runs a music academy where he brings great teachers from all around to teach young people to play in a band and puts a gig at the end of the week.
I would say that my passion for music is driven in my emotions and also what I see in music. I grew up looking after my dad and brother as they were both disabled and a lot of that emotion got expressed in music. I also have synesthesia and I see colours in music which has made my learning curve a lot faster in learning a lot of instruments.
My concerns:
My only concern is that when I am doing my warm ups from the Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy is that Ken tells you to open your mouth as wide as you can with open throat ect ect. I get sore neck muscles at the side from opening my mouth so damn much. I think I am just opening it too much....lol. But just thought I would confirm that ( I have a large mouth). I have no tension throughout my neck or any of my body. It is only that my neck just progressively gets sore after having my mouth open so wide for so long. I get this neck pain even just opening my mouth the same way but not singing at all, so that is why i think it is just my big mouth. Anyone else get that or is something that will go away as my muscles strengthen in this new way?
I am Dave from Livingston, Scotland. I purchased the How to Sing Better Than Everyone Else at the start of January I believe. I have done some of the first DVD but I had stopped for a while because I was opening up my own photography business. Now that I am back on track and have time to do this I am going full blow into it and doing it everyday to strengthen my voice.
I have a large music history and can play all sorts of instrument like: Violin, Piano, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Trumpet ect. But I have never really brought my voice further from when I was singing in a choir as a child. It has always been my dream to be able to express through singing instead of just through the sound of instruments. My life in music began when I was introduced to the trumpet and cornet in primary school and it branched from there. I learned guitar next and I am self taught in all my instrument but also got one or two lessons for guitar from my uncle who was song writer and lead guitarist in The Exploited for a few years. He is now in charge of all the youth music in my area of Scotland and he teaches and sets up gigs all over it. He also runs a music academy where he brings great teachers from all around to teach young people to play in a band and puts a gig at the end of the week.
I would say that my passion for music is driven in my emotions and also what I see in music. I grew up looking after my dad and brother as they were both disabled and a lot of that emotion got expressed in music. I also have synesthesia and I see colours in music which has made my learning curve a lot faster in learning a lot of instruments.
My concerns:
My only concern is that when I am doing my warm ups from the Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy is that Ken tells you to open your mouth as wide as you can with open throat ect ect. I get sore neck muscles at the side from opening my mouth so damn much. I think I am just opening it too much....lol. But just thought I would confirm that ( I have a large mouth). I have no tension throughout my neck or any of my body. It is only that my neck just progressively gets sore after having my mouth open so wide for so long. I get this neck pain even just opening my mouth the same way but not singing at all, so that is why i think it is just my big mouth. Anyone else get that or is something that will go away as my muscles strengthen in this new way?
Comments
Hello, Dave.
It's nice of you to introduce yourself and give us a slice of your background. I think you are going to do very well with Ken's program.
A large mouth can be a good thing for a vocalist, as can a large jaw. It makes for a wonderful resonating and amplifying chamber.
If you are feeling pain, then back off just a bit. Ken does say to open it just as wide as you can and then that's still probably not enough, but then again maybe you really ARE opening up enough. The point there is that MOST people "think" they're opening up enough and they really aren't. You really do need to go much wider than most people would think would ever be necessary.
Get it really wide and really open and really bright. Make the tone ping.
You will feel more comfortable with the wide open mouth posture after a while, but you can take some time getting used to it, and please DON'T hurt yourself overdoing it too much.
The vocal techniques will be achieving a different sound than what your choir instructors were going for. Your voice is going to be the next instrument you will master. You're going to like what is about to happen to your voice.
Bob
Thanks for your welcome
Another question I have to ask. Is it normal that I get a natural tendency to burp and yawn when I am going through these scales? Is it because I am using to much air and I should back away a bit?
Burping is a release of swallowed air from the stomach, not from the lungs, so you are doing something to swallow air, unless you are drinking carbonated soft drinks, beer, or consuming yeasty foods or drinks prior to singing.
Yawning is very common to singers first getting started with Open Throat singing. It's like when you see somebody yawn. You almost can't resist the urge to yawn. Having your Throat Open for Open Throat Singing stimulates that reflex. It will gradually decrease and eventually go away altogether.
Yes, you can sing lighter. You want to hold back enough so that you aren't getting hoarse.
Use the bright sound Ken is showing you in Volume One. The cords should be closed in order to create more tone with less air passing over the cords.
All the best.
Bob