Vocal Exercises' Demo

MichelleRox

Hey guys, looking for some feedback on my exercises. I've been doing the program for 5 weeks, 5x a week at least, an hour each time. Thank you guys! \m/

highmtn

On some of the top notes you aren't going quite up to the right high note. For the most part, you are on-pitch and in-key, but there are a few that are a little bit off. Your tone is good, but try to make it brighter. That will help to get more razor-sharp on the pitches.
The beginning scales are a little low for you, but you sound fine after they get up into your range. Listen to the pitch carefully when you're up high in head voice on the EE vowel. Good job on modifying to the "eight" sound.

Generally we want to keep it down to one or two demos per submission because these exercises are copyright protected, and we also want to be able to remain focused on feedback without getting overly broad.

MichelleRox

Thank you! I have a few questions for you! - First, I know we are to do the exercises with the brightest timbre we can achieve with a smiling face, but are we to sing songs that way too?
Second - I heard Ken say in one of his tutorials (about not singing froggy) that he teaches his students to sing with a low larynx, to help keep the throat open. I tried doing that and it sounds "beefier", richer and feels much more open. It also feels a little "fake" like I'm trying too hard? Can you help me understand if I'm doing something wrong or right? (I'm NOT lowering my larynx in these demos)
Finally - I have been studying all of Ken's studio training sessions with Gabriela. I LOVE the richness and range in her voice. Can I teach my voice to sound that way? I also noticed sometimes when she sings, especially higher range, she finishes her lines with this "moan", yodel sound, like she's releasing air in her throat. You can hear it very well in their breakdown of "How to sing like Leona Lewis". Does this have to do with how she sings??

You seem to be a wealth of info and the best person to ask aside from the man himself Thank you so much for taking your time!

MichelleRox

oh, I also removed one of my demos, for those copyright purposes; sorry I didn't even think of that! @highmtn

highmtn

The bright timbre is the best way to train. When you're doing songs, you can do whatever tone sounds best for that particular song, but in general always try the bright sound first, and then adjust if needed. You'll find that brighter often works best, but not always.

Singing with a lowered larynx is good for training if you have a tendency to let your larynx rise when you sing high notes. Often this will happen involuntarily, and the easiest way to keep the larynx centered (if it is rising) is to put a bit of lowering on it so that it will stay somewhat centered. The lower you drop your larynx, the more you will sound like Yogi Bear. The higher you let your larynx rise, the more you will sound like Kermit the Frog or Dudley DoRight. The larynx will naturally move up and down a little bit and that's OK. But in general, you want it to stay more in the middle to get the most natural tone. Not froggy and not like a bear. When you want a deeper tone you can drop the larynx a bit. When you want a little more pinched sound, like Pat Benatar, or Paul Rodgers, you can raise the larynx slightly.

Gabriela does a put a little fry and cry in her voice, for effect. It's often at the break between head voice and chest voice. You can put a little cry there just for emotional effect. It's the opposite of smoothing out the passaggio. Instead you put a deliberate slight yodel or cry there. Sometimes instead of the cry she will do a little "crackle" of vocal fry. It's just a texture that she uses to help move from one spot to another in a song.