Hey Phil fantastic video the vowel modification info was very interesting as was the head voice explanation that finally made sense to me. I got more in the 9 minutes than I did attending 8 hours of singing lessons/coaching. Cheers mate.
Great video. This is what belting REALLY is. People have starting to call pretty much everything "belting" nowadays, when it's actually a mixed voice or even reinforced falsetto. But in essence Belting simply means to modify towards more open vowels in the high range.
this was interesting. I have a deep voice and wished for a range higher so I could sing rock stuff but I just dabble with it. I mostly play guitar. Thanks for the slo mo example of the vowels. Although it looked hilarious (imagine taking that out of context) but it made perfect sense. thx.
This IS the best lesson I ever had! So many times I've tried singing the way I talk instead of opening my mouth and singing ing the word, thus cutting off the note. Years of frustration from this. In a few minutes, Phil fixed it for me. The best voice teacher anywhere!
Hey Earl thanks for dropping in and leaving a comment buddy I'm really glad you found this useful! Sometimes all it takes is just one piece of insight to unlock and destroy the plateau we're in. I'm glad my lesson was the one that did it for you! Stick around and head over to GROW-THE-VOICE.COM and sign up for my free guide on increasing range and improving tone.
the true gem of this video comes at he second half of this video. almost no one talks about that real belting eventually leads to natural distortion. Thank you, very insightful
Slowing down those vowels and making it obvious how you are modifying vowels as you go up very helpful. Been using the “talking like a little boy 👦” from a previous video for hitting notes higher up without breaking
thanx Phil for your videos, I am amazed by vowel modifications, I have learnt a lot since watching them & slowly but continually improving quite notacibly! your knowledge is invaluable & presented well, you share a lot of yourself & what you have come through in a way that many of us can relate too. many thanx
Hey Mike! Thanks for the kind words and encouragement it means a lot and motivates me to do even better. Are you signed up to my mailing list on my website? If so, drop me an email and tell me more about yourself and your goals I'd love to know more
You have a really good voice for rock sir, that was the surprising thing I learned (never really heard you do much stuff like this from the other videos I've seen). You should do a few Cornell covers, or better yet start a rock band :)
It is possible to sing without opening the mouth a lot but the skill generally comes AFTER one has learned to stabilize the larynx properly, which learning to open the jaw properly can help a lot with that. Once the muscles are coordinated then one can tweak how far they open to a CERTAIN EXTENT depending on range, intensity etc. If you need any help with this, contact me on my website. philmoufarrege.com
Finally!!! Someone who knows how to explain these techniques in a way to understand easily and also actually demonstrating and showing how to lift the soft palette properly. I'd love to hear your explanation and demonstration on how to sing Pat Benatar's 'All Fired Up' or Black Velvet so those high notes sound awesome rather than yelled or pushed. Thanks heaps for sharing your knowledge !!!
7:16 It's true!! Months ago i was practicing the octave up part of counting stars and just after singing two lines with mixed voice, my voice started trying to switch into distortion as it's more comfortable to sing with the distortion on!
Holy phuck! It's all A's...right on, I hear it now...Cornell barely opened his mouth on the lower register but it's projecting, looks relaxing and definitely is full of "A" vowels, it also explains why he was never gasping for air...I wonder what his diaphragm looked like, probably can see it in the right video...Thanks dood! The "truth" explanation was key...
Great video Phil! I really liked the way you approached this and the explanations felt very clear and translatable to things we can practice. Your demonstrations are also just plain fun to watch, would enjoy it if you kept this series up and continued showing different types of singing.
Why yes Phill I would love a breakdown of the bridge/guitar solo and final chorus of Temple Of The Dog - Call Me A Dog, or there Say Hello To Heaven. Please :)
This sounds really cool Phil. The most interesting thing I learnt from this is the more weight you try to bring through, your voice will want to distort it. I could see you resisting the pressure but I didn’t know it was also about resisting distortion, so helpful.
Yes that "resisting the pressure" is the key to belting without hurting the throat! The distortion is almost like a mini-release from that resistance you build up.
I like the 'keeping everything open on the 'a' vowel', no ones ever said that directly before, also I like the 'heavy first, lighter later' approach, not everyone can start light and 'build' it from there, interesting that the distortion creeps in by itself as well, I've noticed that many (most) rock singers who seem to sing effortlessly high always seem to have 'gravelly' voices and I've long suspected that that's what enables their effortless range
As I have been working on the materials over the last couple of years and more currently that last year I have discovered a most of what you are talking about how your voice can naturally release into some good distortion rather than trying to force it. Both Coordination feel about the same just on will hurt you and is obvious pretty quick that you are doing that rather than when it doesn't hurt. The stronger your clean voice is the more you can take it to the limits in my experience. When I over sing my voice fatigues in a short time. Or possibly cause it's not in a range that is comfortable for me. Like taking the hardest phrase in the song and focusing on it tires me out quick and I have to take a lot of breaks and maybe even do other things and come back to it. I feel like I am on the right track seeing that I'm making more progress than ever before and even more as time passes. Thanks for the video and hitting on some Chris Cornell too. BTW Myles Kennady is another one I like in the same vain.
one more thing I notice is when working on Chris Cornnell stuff if I tune the guitar down one half step I'm much more comfortable and can nail it pretty much every time. Don' t know wither to take this as a limit to my range capabilities or what.
It's just showing you where the end of your current "sweet spot" is. Do it a half step down for sure. Practice it higher but perform it where you do best. People talk about the original key like it's some magical thing, it isn't! It's just where the original singer sounds best. How about we put it in a key uncomfortably high for him? Suddenly you won't like his voice nearly as much. Find a key that makes you sound great that's all that matters brother
You make a very good Chris Cornell! I thought his voice was IMPOSSIBLE to match. Thanks for the clear instruction. Always something to learn even though I have a way to go to develop my voice...I love watching your videos. And thanks for shinning that light on your uvula...I had no idea that thing could move UP...so much. Something to practice for sure. :)
Hi Jelena, haha I wouldn't say I match Chris Cornell at all - my voice is quite different :-P Yeah getting that soft palate/uvula to raise is the key for getting that big sound. glad you enjoyed it!
That's cool! Now I got difficulties about singing is because of that, I try to sing reading the lyrics exactly and the sound doesn't get good because I didn't know about shifting vowels in the lyrics for the resonance.
Great video . I am a beginner singer and I see I have a long way to go before I can sing with distortion as I am not even there with clean yet. My goal is to add grit to my voice.
Hey Phil, this was the first of your videos I watched a few days ago, then I immediatly went to watch several others. Your tips are really fucking awesome. The best advice I heard from you in many years was not trying to back up in volume, but actually use the full voice for exercising. That goes against what almost everybody says. Chest voice up to A? You're kidding, right...Well, my voice got reasonably better, and singing is easier, in a matter of days. And I went "really??". I'm a good guitar player, but singing was always difficult for me, lots of strain and frustration, although I always thad the feeling I could get better. I struggled for years just doing backing vocals and getting hoarse, and recently had to become a lead singer in a band, which got me training my voice. Now, it's so fucking strange to sing high and loud and don't get any pain or get hoarse. I still sound kind of like an opera singer sometimes, and that's the only way I can sing high without strain. Trying to get any brighter gets me stuck in the throat. Any advice on that? Anyway, just so you know you're helping people all over the world. Cheers from Brazil!
Hey man that's great to hear. I can't really comment on what you are doing without hearing you, but I would say don't try to overbrighten the tone, just stay in your sweet spot and leave it there, trying to mess around with it too much can imbalance the voice. Over time you will learn how to brighten things naturally and if you still can't then I suggest training with me or getting your hands on my program.
Hi, I have a Question: I like to sing a song called Bound to Come Some Trouble by Rich Mullins (it's on RU-vid as well) , and it says towards the middle of the song: "people say maybe things will get better. People say maybe it won't be long. People say maybe you'll wake up tomorrow and it will all be gone." It starts to get high there... Then it says "I know that sometimes maybe isn't enough when you *need something to just hold on." When I get to the high parts I have a hard time staying in chest voice no matter how much I try not to flip... It sounds very twangy/airy/as well as running out of air a little, even if compressed... I try not to force notes out too... When it gets to the highest part of the song that says "when you*need something to just hold on" the word "need" is super hard to stay in chest voice even if I do it kinda in falsetto it sounds almost like my range limit for now. I sound like a slightly louder version of a squeaking mouse on the "ee"... Do you have any advice on how I can do it in a strong but not forced, clear clean chest voice? I have watched alot of your chest voice videos... But this is hard... Ty for everything! You're a wonderful teacher!
Hi Phill, this is an excellent series!, thank you so much! Can you suggest me some excercises to train the roof of my mouth to elevate as you show at 5:53. Mine seems not to move from where it is normally all the time. I have tried to yawn but although the root of the tongue remains relaxed and flat, my roof is stuck at the same position. Please help!
I can't sing falsetto. Or can I? I've always wondered if it can be learned. It feels like my vocal range is very narrow and I've been singing for over a decade and had a few lessons. My breathing and support are fine. Pitch isn't perfect. I think the main problem is my voicebox tightening.
I really loved this video on belting .. As it actually helped me get down on some songs so thanks. Alot I'm not trying to be greedy but could you please do a tutorial on high sustained belt notes like the B4 on Given Up by Linkin Park ? #ARequest
The most interesting, and insight full thing i found here, was how you mentioned you teach taking clean and covering the note slightly with the Ahh vowel to distort it, verses, the lower register thing , i hear Steve Miller, and Gregg Allman doing . Steve Miller , in take the Money and Run ,Does this aside (Whoah Lord" where the lower belting is used . I have a singer friend who sings, "Midnight Rider" with more of a Ahh, vowel , It doesn't sound like the Allman Brothers! Even though all the notes are correct . His pitch Recognition is very good .. I don't doubt you can do any of those techniques . But do you find that to be more advanced . Or a style that your just possibly not interested in ?
Slow and frustrating my friend. Gonna let Eli take some stabs at my stubborn baritone chords next week. Great breakdown on the Cornell tune. Hope you keep it posted on RU-vid as it is the best 'how to' I have seen yet to get the Cornell vocal style
That was great . Alice in Chains Rooster, or Man in the Box? Those would be great examples, too . Do you do those kind of grunge era things in your complete course?
My course teaches singing technique to free your voice - this works regardless of style. Once your voice is free you can use it how you like and shape your voice as you see fit.
splatting your vowels is opening them up too far where the larynx begins to excessively rise and constrict, the vowel begins to lose depth and gets too yell-like without head resonance . how far you can open your vowels depends on the individual, and sometimes it's a fine line between opening up the vowel and going just a little too far as you get experienced with it you can feel the difference.
Shouldn't raising your soft palate so much also lower your larynx and in consequence darken your sound? I sound like an opera singer when I do it. How do you manage to raise your palate so much without darkening your sound? Gret videos!
No I don't recommend doing it like that all. Think about creating a more CLEAR AH like I am doing in this video, shine a light in your mouth and try to get the uvula to raise when you sing AH. I cover how to do these things in my program.
Thanks. Yes, I get how one should be doing it I just don't seem to be able to 'untangle' the downward larynx movement from the upward soft palate movement witch produces way too dark sound and causes me to lose the ringing sensation. I already signed up, I like how rich in content your lessons are :)
I would actually prefer to take a skype lesson with you. Rather soon if possible, I have an audition for a band in a week and I can't sing well songs I wrote myself :p
It can be quite difficult and take time to train. The entire speaking voice has to be trained to use the same technique as for singing. A few things to be mindful for: don't grip with your larynx by overpronouncing consonants, you need to learn how to glide over consonants in a smooth way and use the tongue fluidly. At first you may need to speak with more of a gentle mellow tone before adding back the volume.
My teaching revolves around helping singers develop their full voice better so that they can have more vocal range, control of their voice and sing with greater consistency, freedom and stamina.
not at all. I used to feel the same way. In fact I learned how to sing high with distortion before I ever figured out how to do it cleanly. The reason you're likely finding it trickier without distortion is because you're not engaging your voice the same way. What you should do is sing the note you're trying to do with distortion, then back off the distortion just a hair until it goes clean. Then that's the position you need to sing the clean tone in. You will likely find you were UNDERSINGING when you were singing cleanly in the past - underestimating how much engagement you need in both the body and the vocal cords. When singing with distortion we tend to turn the engagement on max because we're thinking of an "intense sound". You need to do the same thing for the clean tone also.
When singing live - sometimes he sings much less intense in order to pace himself through the performance (a good thing to do) and in those instances, yes he doesn't open the mouth so much, he uses more of a technique I cover in THIS video here, where he keeps the sound narrow: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ac_K2DrGqnY.html But to get the sound he does on the studio versions is a different story. The times when he sings BIG live, he is for sure opening the jaw to do it. There are some performances where he isn't doing so well and missing the notes, in those occassions, it's usually because he smiles without opening the jaw which causes his larynx to raise and choke him off. But the times he nails it he's opening for sure.
