I haven't posted in a while

ryker

Sorry I haven't posted in a while! I've still been doing my Vol. 1 lessons faithfully. I'm trying to strengthen my chest voice and improve my bright tone. I still struggle with the F, F#, to G notes. Any advice? Take a listen: 

highmtn

@ryker,

F4, F#4, and G4 are notes that can give you troubles until you have worked at stretching chest voice enough beyond those notes that they then seem relatively low and easy.  They are important notes.  Ken says these are actually the most beautiful of the tenor notes. You have to get good and comfortable with them, though, or they won't sound as beautiful as they should.

You are falling just a little bit flat on several notes in this clip.  I think you probably should go through Ken's Basic Pitch program if you haven't already worked your way through it.  It can strengthen you in ways you may not realize with regards to pitch.  You can find the Basic Pitch program here:

http://vimeopro.com/kentamplin/basic-pitch-program

The Password is PitchFix101

 

You have a nice-sounding voice and you are keeping it bright.  Actually a little more low end would be a good addition to your tone, along with the bright sound you are using.

I think you are singing from your throat and need to move to increased support and sing more from your core.

My advice is to keep doing the exercises diligently to strengthen your voice, increase your range (especially in chest voice), increase support, and also work through the Basic Pitch program. 

Please don't be discouraged by me being direct with you on opportunities for getting your voice dialed-in.  I want to encourage you to work on these specific things to get to the heart of the matter of turning your weaknesses into your strengths.  That's exactly what each of us needs to do: Pinpoint areas of opportunity, and make them shine!

Good Singing to You!

Bob 

jnaab

I like the sound of your voice,—clean and honest, good for the Christian music you are singing. I'll add something I noticed in addition to what Bob said, and it's something that I've been working hard on during my first three weeks in KTVA. You are hitting some of your consonants pretty hard, such as "t", "b", "ch" (in "christ" from one of your other songs), and a few others.

Whereas developing strong support and vocal fold strength/dexterity take months and years of dedicated work and patience, vowel modification and what I call "consonant softening" can produce great benefit in days and weeks of focused attention.

So, to repeat Ken's instructions (and go review his videos on consonants), try singing those songs with vowels only, then sing them again barely forming the consonants, then sing them again where you are tapping on the consonants just enough to enunciate the words so your audience understands what you're singing, and no more than that. I read a tip recently in a Bel Canto book that I took to heart. It said to sing the entire phrase as if it was one long word. This helps with keeping a steady outward flow of air, especially if you soften up the consonants so they don't backfire and cause unwanted muscle constriction.

Keep up the great work.

ryker

Thanks @highmtn for the help! I'll definitely check out the Basic Pitch program.

ryker

Thank you @jnaab! I appreciate your advice!

ryker

Thanks #cgreen for your advice