Is my pitch ok? Support ok? Need feedback.

Dragonfruit

Hi,

I have attempted to start the KTVA course several times, but always quit after a few days due to hoarseness and tonsils swelling up. I still haven't really figured out what i was/am doing wrong. But I have now, just a few days ago started again and I'm just taking it all really slow..

I recorded myself singing Viva la vida and playing along with the guitar. It sounds okay to me, I just feel like I need to work on my pitch and learn to build more resonance. But I don't know, I have recorded myself so many times that I sort of feel like I can't judge my own voice obejectively anymore.

Here's the link:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=S81on1qzlLM

So I would really appreciate some feedback! Is my pitch ok or is it too far off?
Any other suggestions, as to which things specifically I should work on?

Thanks in advance!!

highmtn

Hi, Dragonfruit.

If you have the KTVA course, you should follow the instructions in this link and get your forums status changed to a STUDENT level if you qualify. There is a lot more information available on the forums for KTVA students.

http://forum.kentamplinvocalacademy.com/discussion/6859/how-to-get-access-to-student-areas-of-the-forums#latest
Hoarsenss and swelling is a good indication that you are oversinging.

It's best to send in a KTVA basic LAH scale to be able to tell what's going on with your voice.

In your demo, you're just a little bit flat in places like 0:55. It's close, but sags down a bit below being spot-on. In your recording of Gold, I don't hear any of that.

I hear good qualities in your voice. Nice cord closure, but I think you're not quite there on the support. Support intertwines with pitch being spot-on. I'd like to get a little sense of you "bearing-down" on your insides to get more tone and stability, diaphragmatic consistency in your voice.

Finally, with regard to your hoarseness and swelling, you really need to strictly adhere to Ken's lessons in Volume 3 on Glottal Compression. It will save your voice.

I thought what he was saying there didn't apply to me, but guess what? I kept blowing my voice out. What he says about cutting back the air seemed hokey to me, and I didn't really believe it. But I kept blowing out my voice, making my cords swell, and losing notes at my passaggio. Then I sat down and watched it, and got off my high horse and did what he said. It's true. It works. Seems to simple and obvious, but it works.

You probably put in a lot of hours sometimes singing. You need to develop the ability to sing with glottal compression (not the distorted version, the held-back breath version) and use it from now on. You'll be singing well into your 70's and 80's if you learn that technique.

All the Best!


Bob

Dragonfruit

Ah yes, I was going to find out how to do this student thing one of these days. And then do a lah scale. Thanks for the link!

Thank you so much for the feedback! Good to hear I'm not as bad as I sometimes like to think I am ;-)
I think I really just overused my voice whenever I attempted to start the course again. My throat is quite a sensitive area anyways, so I will take it slow from now on.

About the glottal compression: Do I understand this right that you're suggesting to learn it right now? Even though it is originally in Volume 3 and I am only starting Volume 1? Does it make sense to do this so early on?

highmtn

For now, just cut back the air. Cut back the volume. You need to protect your voice, so be sure, especially with exercises, but when performing, too, that you don't oversing, or use too much volume.

It would be best to work your way to Volume 3, rather than skip ahead. But when you get there, take Ken at his word. I watched that lesson, and went "yeah, right!" and ignored it. I kept on blowing my voice out, too. Finally it dawned on me that what he was saying was so simple and so true. It will prevent you from blowing your voice out. That lesson alone is worth the price of the course, in terms of preserving your voice for a lifetime of use.

Take your time, but try to learn the threshold at which you get that little "tickle" in your cords that often turns into a setback later on. Usually that happens but we keep on singing, but we are kind of "scratching" our cords from a bit too much abrasion and that will cause us problems. Learn to recognize your limitations and stay just beneath them, especially when performing. Trying to exceed our limits when we are not trained to do so can lead to setbacks. Stay in the safe zone, and build your voice over the long run. It will grow if we don't overdo it. Stretch, don't strain.