Hey Guys and Ladies! I'm Greg :) 18, from New Zealand

gscholly

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd finally introduce myself quick backround; I'm 18, I've been playing piano with and without lessons (in most genres) for the last 9 years, I've been self taught with guitar for the last 4 years, I started singing just after that (so roughly 3 and a half years) and I've been composing music for the last three years. I really REALLY love music, it's my passion and I would love to make a career of being a performer/entertainer I have quite a unique voice with an alright range, I can hit an E2 no sweat and when my voice is warm I stop at about G above middle C. I really want to expand my voice, I'd love to have power and versatility throughout my whole voice and have the confidence to sing most songs. I've done the Volume 1 part of the program once but I got caught up with my tongue doing its own thing the higher I sing and it annoys me something silly, any tips on how to keep it down? Thanks in advance also should I be doing the vowel modifications as late as I can? Or when I feel a little strain? I'm just reading up how to do the program, so I'll try again tomorrow how it's supposed to be done.

Any help on encouraging myself or how to do anything or what I should do would be really appreciated! Have a great day/night!

highmtn

Hello, @gscholly,

And welcome back to restarting your KTVA journey.  Don't get too intense about your tongue just yet.  You will learn to relax it, but you can't force it.  You have to make peace with it.  It's one of those things that if you get really intense and TRY to control it, it just won't cooperate. 

When you can truly relax and let your brain figure out what it can and cannot control with your tongue while singing, your tongue will realize that you aren't trying to boss it around, and it will quit trying to boss you around.  Really, it is a balance kind of thing, and you have to trust your subconscious to help you with muscles that are largely involuntary. 

Trying to control your tongue sometimes can be a little like trying to control your heartbeat.  Let's try to make our hearts beat in 3/4 time.  Ready, set, go!!!  Hmm.   Didn't work, did it?  

But we know our hearts will keep beating for a long time, and we just trust that it will without our conscious effort.

For now, just concentrate on your singing and the sound, and pay attention to how your voice sounds when your tongue IS cooperating.  Try to get a feel for that feeling, and try to encourage yourself to allow that to happen more and more of the time.  It will improve.  If it's misbehaving for now, concentrate more on other aspects of your KTVA program and come back to the tongue a little later.  Don't get hung-up on just one detail.

It's an important detail, but one that WILL work itself out.  Put up some video demos after a while if this isn't getting better to your satisfaction, and we'll offer some suggestions, but it MAY take care of itself if you just put one note in front of the other and keep going.

Do practice trying to make the "furrow" with your tongue, even when not singing.  Just practice making it do something, but don't get too frustrated if it takes you a while to get the hang of it.  It will come to you.

Yes, delay doing the vowel modifications until you need them.  They buy you time before you must transition into head voice. Use them as pressure relief valves.

 

Bob

gscholly

Hey, @highmtn,

Thank you very much for that! I'll not worry about it anymore, as I'm sure it'll just come.
Okay, I'll just use them as needed

Thank you for the advice Bob!