How can we sing better?...
Well I always tell my students that singing’s like making an epic butty (or sandwich if you’re from the south). Which always gets a laugh or a confused face....
There are so many layers we need to work if we want project our best voices and I use this analogy as a way of making it fun and easy to understand. Some are lucky enough to do 80% naturally; but to understand the inner workings of your voice is to better understand the instrument as a whole.
The first layer is of course the bottom piece of bread; this will be your breath. It’s one of the important ones and if not achieved correctly your entire sandwich (technique) will fall apart. Plus if you’re going to study this make sure to use a teacher that explains it as breath management where you sing on a steady steam of air and not ‘singing from the diaphragm’. There’s a lot of misconceptions in singing and this is one of the biggest culprits.
The filling ingredients: - remember to keep the sternum elevated, rib cage and solar plexus expanded, the jaw relaxed, the tongue relaxed and up at the back, the the soft palate relaxed even when in the higher parts of the voice, the larynx either neatural low or high depending on the style you’re going for, the mouth rounded, compression achieved by frying, resonate chambers full of buzz, forward placement, the 6 different registers, smooth over of both passaggio’s, diction and vowel modification, and for that added bit of tomato ketchup grit/rasp.
The last layer, the top piece of bread. Will simply be practice practice practice, but don’t over do it!! Singing is very similar to going the gym. We use muscles in our throat and larynx and the more you work in the right areas the stronger your voice will be. Though you have to start slow and work your way up so you don’t pull a muscle, but don’t also fear the crack. Cracking is good, it’s a sign you’re working something new.
If you’re fortunate to be able to afford lessons make sure you go through each one these techniques and you’ll soon be singing how you want.
Please feel free to message me if you’re in the area; now get them ingredients out the fridge and lets get singing!
Thanks for reading,
Neil