Body parts

jimmygneccofan

Hi guys! I've got a quick question: When you're practicing your "lah & lay" vowels and generally building your higher mix/head voice, what exactly is building/getting stronger? What part of your body (besides your diaphragm) is making those higher notes resemble your chest voice sound? Thanks.

jimmygneccofan

Oh, I see. I guess I need to join program to engage convos like this. I was just curious. I'll start soon and maybe find out then. If anyone feels like answering, that would be cool too. Thx!

highmtn

Hi, @jimmygnecco,

Good cord closure, using a bright timbral sound, and focused breath support will make a huge difference in the sound. There isn't just one part of your body that does this. It is, in many ways, your entire body, but does include the muscles of the larynx, the entire abdominal and chest structure, and the ability to relax, rather than tension most of these structures.

If you do start the course, you will learn a ton about these things. And yes, there are entire sections of the student areas of the forums that are loaded with info on all of these topics and more.

jimmygneccofan

Thank you! That makes sense.

jimmygneccofan

highmtn said:

Hi, @jimmygnecco,

Good cord closure, using a bright timbral sound, and focused breath support will make a huge difference in the sound. There isn't just one part of your body that does this. It is, in many ways, your entire body, but does include the muscles of the larynx, the entire abdominal and chest structure, and the ability to relax, rather than tension most of these structures.

If you do start the course, you will learn a ton about these things. And yes, there are entire sections of the student areas of the forums that are loaded with info on all of these topics and more.

Okay, so Ken states that "...cricothyroid muscle structure can be strengthened to match to match the tones of the thyroarytenoid muscle structured and a blending in the passaggio can actually “fuse together” these two muscle groups to create “one long note” without a “register” or “passaggio” break."
Now...I understand in practice how this works but the physicality is still a mystery to me. Obviously, you aren't actually "fusing" muscles together like melted metal?? You're just controlling these muscles more competently, am I correct??

highmtn

Yes. Fuse is a figure of speech to help you get the idea, since there is no unique word to adequately describe what is done to coordinate this action. And you can get as technical as you want in specifying the C.T. and C.A. muscles and far more than that, but I have yet to meet anyone who can truly manipulate those structures simply by "flexing" them. If you could, we would probably be doing "pushups" with our cricothyroids just to pump them up and would have necks like bulldogs. Actually some of the Volume 3 and also the Head Voice workouts are pretty demanding on these muscles... but you get there through vocal singing exercises, not by simply working the musculature. The goal is singing skill, not big muscles. They do grow and increase in stamina, but there is more to it than just being able to vocally bench-press 200 lbs.

"Blend" is another figure of speech applicable to this process of smoothly transitioning from the CT process to the CA and back, but we don't normally try to impress one another with the technical jargon we may know about the vocal apparatus. We just help one another learn to actually use the voice more efficiently.

All the Best!

Bob

jimmygneccofan

highmtn said:

Yes. Fuse is a figure of speech to help you get the idea, since there is no unique word to adequately describe what is done to coordinate this action. And you can get as technical as you want in specifying the C.T. and C.A. muscles and far more than that, but I have yet to meet anyone who can truly manipulate those structures simply by "flexing" them. If you could, we would probably be doing "pushups" with our cricothyroids just to pump them up and would have necks like bulldogs. Actually some of the Volume 3 and also the Head Voice workouts are pretty demanding on these muscles... but you get there through vocal singing exercises, not by simply working the musculature. The goal is singing skill, not big muscles. They do grow and increase in stamina, but there is more to it than just being able to vocally bench-press 200 lbs.

"Blend" is another figure of speech applicable to this process of smoothly transitioning from the CT process to the CA and back, but we don't normally try to impress one another with the technical jargon we may know about the vocal apparatus. We just help one another learn to actually use the voice more efficiently.

All the Best!

Bob

Ha! Well put. Yeah, the difference between muscular coordination/memory and strength is one of the big epiphanies I keep having (in different ways) as I'm learning and studying what Ken is teaching. I certainly have no interest in impressing anyone with jargon lol. However, I do like to know as much as possible about the technical stuff. Even if it doesn't hugely benefit my singing, it's interesting. But I think it's helping me a bit. I've been self-taught for so long, it's really nice developing a more academic process and a voice that sounds like someone who has actually studied the craft.