Can a flat tongued technique be damaging to vocals? Is it possible?
RonRocker
Pro Posts: 46
Hey Ken, i recently found this website about damaging vocal techniques, and it says that keeping the tongue down flat is damaging to vocals. Now, i personally don't think that way, because i trust you as a vocal coach and so far, i haven't experienced anything bad from keeping(or at least, trying to keep) my tongue down flat while singing. I just want to know your opinion regarding this claim. Well, and also your thoughts about whether there is any reliable information at all in that site or not.
So, what are your thoughts, Ken?
Comments
Ken's teachings are divergent in many ways from this particular instructor.
If you have listened to any of the training CD's from this person you will find that what he teaches is not at all applicable to pop/rock/Blues/Rn'B, etc.
I had this guy's program before finding KTVA. I'm very thankful that I found KTVA.
When I go back and listen to the CD's I got from that program, I have to ask "WHAT was I THINKING?" I did not find what I was looking for there. I spent good money there, but did not learn to be a good singer, in my opinion.
There are many different vocal teachers and methods out there. Listen to them all and you will hear much contradiction. Figure out who you want to sound like and go with them. If you want to sound like this guy, knock yourself out. I don't.
I like what Ken sounds like, and he shows us how he does it.
The others are a waste of time and money.
Bob
Didn't i myself state, that i trust Ken and believe in his teachings?
I don't regret getting the KTVA program.
I am relaxed. Very simply, you should listen to this person (or his students) sing.
It's a very classical sound, operatic.
It is very important for any singing student to listen to the instructors they are considering following.
Because of the vast differences in teaching methods, you should listen to the instructor sing, and compare to other potential teachers. Mixing methods is not recommended.
I apologize if you felt that my response was rude or abrupt. I thought I was being straightforward, honest, and direct.
You just asked a question. I just gave an answer. It's all good!
Bob
This vocal instructor is an advocate of the "NG" tongue position. Ken is pretty adamant that the NG position, overall, is counter-productive to an Open Throat technique. Oddly, Jones claims to teach "open throat". In years past, Ken used some NG exercises, but no longer advocates them, due to the tendency to close off the throat.
Ken teaches the concave, at-the-base-of-the-jaw position. This creates a continuation of the "Tube of Air" sensation we want to maintain when singing with the open throat.
If the tongue is retracted even just a bit, the flat tongue can have a tendency to close off or restrict the vocal tract. Keep your tongue forward, touching the back of the front teeth with the tip of the tongue.
Bob
Hi, Bob and Ron!
I´m just (re)beggining with KTVA, but I studied some years and sang in some recitals and an opera before. As this
is about pure Bel Canto, maybe I can help share some experiences that I lived inside of the "microcosm".
The question of the tongue is a complete contradiction even among the classical teachers.
When I first began, I was soon classified as a "Basso Cantante", or the commom voices for most of the operatic bass roles. In order to sound darker, I used to make my tongue point upwards and drop the larynx to the ground to sound "more mature" (another contradiction - I heard many basses advocating that young basses should darken the voice until their voices mature better).
But as I learned more about the technique, I started to let the tongue rest flat in my jaw and realized a more natural and easier sound (since I was darkening so much the sound that it would tire me even more than normal).
Applying some examples inside the belcanto world, search for Placido Domingo, the russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky and the great american bass-baritone Samuel Ramey (one of my opera heroes! hahahaha). They all sing with the tongue raised in many cases. On the other way, the huge majority of the singers use the tongue flat. Legends like Del Monaco, Corelli, Pavarotti, Callas, etc.
What I experienced is that inside of the classical world is even more filled with contradictions than out here. So, now that I´m not following this carreer anymore, I´d say: don´t get bugged by these "know-all blabbermouths" on the internet.
Ken got all his vocal lifestory and his students as a curriculum. Most of this guys have not. And, to me, that´s enough.
Hope that helps!
And it´s good to be back; now to never stop!
Hugs