From Barely Croaking Out Notes in Chest Voice to Singing Two Gigs - All in Four Days
billthebaldguy
Pro, 2.0 PRO Posts: 54
Hello everyone,
I don't know if this is the right place to share this, but I wanted to share this story for all of us members as well as anyone who may be thinking about studying Ken's materials.
I want to share my back story first to set up where I am coming from; then tell you something that just happened that WILL blow you away regarding something Ken had me do that allowed me to go from almost hoarse with no head voice to singing two gigs - all in just FOUR DAYS.
My name is Bill and I am the lead singer and rhythm guitar player for a local bluesy funk-n-roll band here in SoCal.
My parents were both church singers and I was classically trained symphony member through high school, but had never sang anything, other than in the shower or along with the radio. It has always, always been a bucket-list item of mine to be a blues guitar player and singer.
A little over two years ago, my wife's best friend's husband, who was playing lead guitar in a blues band, heard me singing along to something and asked if I wanted to come sit in with his band. I told him I had never sang with a band, had no singing lessons, no nothing. He said come anyway.
I did, and I never left.
Terrified that I was now in a band and expected to actually sing in front of people, I looked for online lessons. I bought two other courses and even had in studio lessons with one voice teacher. The first voice course didn't help much. The second voice teacher had good material, with a foundation of SLS with some other techniques mixed in.
I studied the second voice teacher's stuff and did okay. Fast-forward to about a year and half ago and I am looking at other voice materials online and I run across Ken's video of him hitting these incredible notes and him telling me I can do this, too. On instinct, I bought everything.
My first workout, I did the ENTIRE COURSE - Volume 1, 2 and 3. I could barely talk afterwards and was sore from the waist up; I even think I was sweating. I was very impressed with the material and said, "I have to get a lesson with this guy".
Now I have had several web cam and in studio sessions and my voice is consistently growing. Ken's has me hitting as high as the G#5/A5 in workouts. I can pop out notes during live gigs around the E above the high C without stressing out or being nervous that I might miss.
Fast-forward to Tuesday, Nov 12th. After singing incorrectly the previous Friday and wearing out my voice and then a long weekend of too much extra-curricular activities and not enough sleep, I woke up with a sinus infection and no head voice. I tried to do a workout and I sounded TERRIBLE. I freaked out because I had a practice coming up that night and two gigs that week - one on Thursday and one on Saturday - both at places that we very much wanted to do well and had a ton of people coming to watch us.
I barely made it through practice that night; I sang everything chest and basically coasted. I contacted Ken's office, told them I had a "small vocal emergency" and they were nice enough to squeeze me in for an emergency half-hour webcam session.
I did the session with Ken. He walked me through some exercises (I thought I sounded terrible and didn't want to sing) but Ken made me sing, even pushing the chest voice and went into head, even though it sounded terrible.
He diagnosed the problem and then told me exactly what to do over the next four days - which included doing full workouts EVERY SINGLE DAY until the gigs were all over.
I didn't say anything to Ken, but I was not happy. I was scared to sing because I thought it would make things worse, not better. I thought I should rest, not push it. But, I sucked it up and did EXACTLY what he said.
Here's what happened:
Wednesday, sounded crappy but a little better.
Thursday did the workout before the gig and was shocked that I was at least 50% better than I was the day before. Did the gig at about 75-80% of voice that I normally have but it still went very well. Gig was great and crowd loved it.
Friday, did a full workout (I did Masters Level for every day) and while I didn't have my top range yet, everything was much stronger than Wed/Thurs.
Saturday, did the workout before the gig and was blown away; I had the E above the high C BACK. It wasn't as clean and strong as it normally was but it was there.
The gig was AWESOME. We tore the place down, voice felt great - and there was an added bonus that happened that I COULD NOT BELIEVE...
At the end of the second set, I felt something in my throat/voice. I thought I was losing it or going hoarse. I was very nervous starting the third set, but it wasn't what I thought...
I can't describe it, but it was like my voice found another gear. I felt totally relaxed, as if I was barely trying or using any air, and my voice felt like a cannon. I had a resonance and power that was NEVER there before. While my top range wasn't there, what WAS there was awesome.
When we got done with the 4th set (two hours later), I felt like I could have kept singing for hours. I was on a high that took me hours to come down from (didn't get to sleep until late:)
Morale of the story: if you don't have Ken's stuff yet - please get it - FOR YOU. You will not be disappointed. You will not believe what happens to your voice.
For the rest of us that are members and studying Ken's materials - if you get sick, don't be like me and be scared about hurting yourself and not sing - do as Ken instructs and unless you are hoarse, do your workouts.
Last note - my fear got in the way of 100% trusting Ken when he told me to workout, even though my voice was terrible. Lucky I didn't let that fear get in the way of listening and following his instructions. When it comes to your voice, listen and follow whatever he says exactly, even if you are scared, don't believe it or don't think you can do it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this long-a#$ story. Hope it helps.
Bill
Comments
Great story, Bill!!!
Thanks for sharing!
Bob