I was a black sheep with Roman Catholic alcoholic parents, throw Irish in there and you you have the CIA, Catholic Irish Alcoholics! ! I had to scream a lot as a kid, very happy in my range...aside from all that, sorry about your childhood, you continue to challenge me Carl. Not sure if you understand golf, but I'll use the analogy. You are teaching me a new golf swing, in the end I'll be much better, but the process is a bitch! You have helped me so much with my vocals. I'm so much more aware of what's happening now...guh guh guh, buh buh buh! SINGAGE!! Thanks Coach!
I figured this out today actually. I mediated for about and hour and a half, and just let my voice out. I was so surprised how much fuller the sound was. Highly recommend anyone to try meditating before singing.
This is actually very deep but explains some of my personal history with singing and my fear/love of it and gives some insight into that. I came to singing late. I wanted to sing when I was younger but got a bit traumatized when I got scared and couldn't pass the public school choir audition. I forgot all the words to any song I knew ..and ended up mumbling out Mary Had a Little Lamb. I was a shy and non confident kid. My parents, especially my dad is kinda like you explained. BOth my parents used to yell and argue. I remember being home sick for a week and had to listen to them. My dad worked afternoon shift and was home during the day. After a couple of days of that ....I then proceeded to put on the record player and would sing along to Get Back by the Beatles. It was good emotionally to get away from that scene. Then the choir rejection when I got back to school. Anyways ....years later I saw a video of Nana Mouskouri singing...one particular song ...where she had her eyes closed and seemed to go somewhere very deep...as she opened her eyes ..it took a couple of seconds for her to readjust. I could empathize with that. Eva Cassidy has that quality...just takes you somewhere emotionally. That motivated me to pursue singing again and take lessons ....40 years later. I have been learning to sing the last 10 years and had many of the same reactions and feelings you put forth. Sweating profusely at singing lessons!!! I guess that is the deep stuff you are talking about....dealing with that base layer. John Lennon went through that with Arthur Janov. Weird something he was a part of that helped me couldn't help him? Thanks for the tips and insights really good stuff!!!
Before our previous lesson I was locking my voice a lot, but I think it was because I had voice teachers who didn't apply careful training with me. Many have said my voice is natural, but the teachers I had took my natural voice and tried to wield it as if my voice was theirs. After our lesson, I felt calm. For me a natural singer feels, they don't think hitting the high note (of course you have to have technique behind it, but not to think about). They feel it more and that's what I want to get back to. Basically letting the voice flow. Great video again Carl!
Great video. Ive been suffering from stage fright for my whole life. Always been a guitarist, and never had a problem with confidence there. But stepping in front of a mic always paralyzed. I could sing well at home by myself and in public i didny even recognize myself... Today i found this video nd watched it, thought about it all day, reflected and tried a new mentality. Something clicked and i could sing like I do when im alone. We have a gig tm and i just wanted to come back to give you props. Ive watched a few videos and this is my new favorite singing channel. Thanks for the advice and the new perspective on singing.
This is a huge percentage of good singing, at least it has been for me (and likely many others). Fixing it in singing can transfer to other areas of your life. I hope this is a theme in your book.
I have a lot of this type of stuff in my book yes, it's coming along OK right now will be in the next couple of months I hope to have an announcement video of some kind
Thank you..I am experiencing the soft squishy happening right now. I have been trying to "push" my way through this emotional barrier my whole life I think...and only recently have I been able to unlock the power of my mindset and use my imagination in a way to release this tension. And now as I have done that more, that ceiling, when I don't think about it I am able to feel it as softer and with less pushing I am navigating it somewhat. Anyway, I appreciate your description of this process it helps me tremendously! Thank You!
One of the best videos I’ve ever seen. I’ve been in a vocal block and haven’t been able to reach certain notes without straining. Do you do Skype lessons?
My singing coach watched me sing kareoke once. B4 in full voice easily and with quality. In lesson I'd tense up around G below B4... She said it's because when I sang in front of people I wasn't thinking of the note I was just singing fearlessly.
Yeah some people actually have this in reverse to me, I sing better alone typically but I've met people who say 'I always sing much better in front of an audience' which seems insane to me :D
After applying the methods you talk about, i find myself being more confident and unafraid to explore. Many thanks keep these vids coming, its so insightful.. Peace and love.....
Carl after watching this video, I was playing around and thinking about what you said (I also had a similar family situation) and it was like I unlocked something singing higher notes. I was able to sing songs with higher notes that previously I either couldn’t, or not like I was. Good stuff!
My issue is my muscle underneath the chin. It gets harder the higher i go but i also feel ON TOP OF THE NOTE as you describe. I did and practice that light sound you describe all the time and i can indeed do it and it sounds squishy. But physically it doesn't feel effortless like you talk about
The psychological issue is huge. Same thing in sports. Gymnastics is super psychological. Some of the most amazingly talented gymnasts couldn't reach their potential because of mental roadblocks.
My stressful area is my lower end, probably about B flat 3 downwards. I feel most comfortable singing quite "largely" and when I am stressed I have a tendency to make the low notes too big which just kills the tone. I've combatted this by working on "thin edge" exercises in this area, and stretchy exercises, coupled with 100% mouthy sounds but lifting the soft palate so that I don't get that "putting on a deep voice" feeling. I worked out that I needed way more "support" in the lower end - before I was kind of relaxing into the lower notes as if they required less effort, and now I am pressing in and "holding" them more and everything feels more controlled. Also using a lot of vocal fry and having that as a "base" which I keep coming back to - it sounds emotional and interesting and it also stops me from blasting it out :D :D Also use lots of whisper to help with this. If I go in too heavy on these low notes, I find it really hard to move up towards the middle voice in a balanced way and everything gets too big and heavy, but not in a good way. Dropping in lots of small sounds such as vocal fry and whispers immediately releases energy build-up, like opening a pressure valve :D I can sing high notes when I am stressed, but find it hard to do things quietly.
Work on thinning out the vocal cords as you get higher - then you can still go for large sounds but without dragging all the weight up. The buzz/fry might be a polyp - if you go for "safe" exercises for a couple of weeks it should go down.
I can relate with this aswell! I'm figuring out how to keep the edge on my 'low' notes, mostly when they follow some high ones. I'm starting to see (not sure yet) that I tend to use more power than necessary to reach them, which creates an ugly oscillation. I don't know, but I guess low notes must resonate less than higher ones, and that's why I tend to fail everytime I come for them after a high note.
It depends what kind of voice you have and what sound you want, but I look at it like "graphic EQ-ing" - I find my lower end is far too "resonant", so I have to control the frequency balance more consciously . I found I had to imagine the lower end as "narrow" rather than wide (not the vowels but the whole feeling), and the vibrations living on the hard palate rather than the chest or throat. Someone else looking at this might call BS, but that's how it has worked out for me personally.
Same here! :D Also found that I need more "squeeze" in the lower end than even the very highest notes. I think part of the problem is that the lower end is so easy to pull off, in terms of creating the pitch, but it is the precise execution of it that allows freedom of expression and determines whether yo will get the best tone possible. Insufficient technique on the high notes is more obvious because the compression change, flip or reach is so apparent, or the pitch just won't happen. Whereas you can really believe you are singing well in the lower end, when really all you are doing is creating "flappy", ugly sounds but on the right pitches :D
Yeah you can't fake that bigness, people will sense it. Adele sounds big because she was born that way with big fat vocal cords. Most girls are just never going to sound like her and they shouldn't try to in a sense. I have this sense of there being a difference between 'real weight' and 'fake weight' I'll make a video about this topic because it's interesting!
I strained at A3 before then after experimenting I started to feel my voice and I found I did weird thing which caused my larynx to raise and I had robotized sound and when I found what wrong muscles I activated I just stopped doing that and now my beginning of middle part of my range is easier. Now I can go to C4 queitly and loudly, still have some thing to get down but I'm quiet there I guess.
This video I know will help me. I'm currently re-learning how to sing because I was taught all the wrongs ways, from what I'm seeing here. I do have a few requests/suggestions though. Do you think you could do videos of diets for singers and just maintaining vocal ability?
Man, there also a chance that behind all those panic there is a strong energy, that can drive your voice. Once i blocked myself at A4. And after a while i screamed being in a simple life "panic situation" , and my friend told me that was freaking high, accidentally he was recording someone audio message, and my first high D on a real speech phrase, chestiest it could ever be. That was breakthrough, and barriers were smashed. Still having transitioning problems at the same spot, even though I dont really feel panic, its more about trying to maintain heavier compression on the bridge while keeping true vowel, and this is really the hardest task, my last battle. I can transition with lighter mix, just a matter of taste and style.
I have ups and downs some time knockdown hahahaha... But my family is very positive thinking type of family my father always say find a different ways listen to a coach and then you have to practice on that once you learn it.. It becames easy. So anything happened to me how much I shattered down next morning I started with new fresh mindset and remember what I did when I was singing comfortably or which exercises gave me benefits last in past start doing it again. Because Bhudha said 'when you stuck somewhere start it again.'
Loved this video ...I have a naturally heavy weighty voice so I envy light nimble high voices such as yours...I thought your opening statement aptly identified my attitude towards high notes though ... I don't think about them much I just sing them & if I hit them great... If not...not so great... I believe this attitude is directly related to your teachings.
I think you’re maturing a lot lately, putting your ego aside and showing the inner workings to the core is gonna take this channel far! Can I suggest you have a backdrop? Your room is very distracting haha! The canvas “wardrobe” and “that’ll do” effort of making the bed just doesn’t help. Unless it’s the look you’re going for. A green screen be good. U could even take a pic of your room and put it out of focus to fake depth of field. Anyway well done in the vids lately!!
Im 16 and i can go from b1 to g4. Can i still improve my vocal range ? And with my range now can i sing most of the songs or do i still need to improve my range.
Ehat if u can't get above f4 even when you're not in fear? My voice cracks at f4# and I can't get above it although I narrow vowel and do all of these things but my voice still cracks
Perhaps that is the highest you can do, presumably in modal voice. That would be consistent with an operatic bass voice. Just because you don't sing opera doesn't mean you don't have an upper limit, right? Besides, why would F4 not be high enough for pop singing? Do you want to sound like you're in a boy band? Just go into falsetto without too much volume; that would probably be the best you can do. In the studio you can speed up the track and easily grab a tone that way. Also, I have to warm up before I can get up to A4 and some days I can do around B4 without stress, but I have no use for it in any songs that I would consider singing in public.
I know but I'm a tenor my lowest note is c3 and my comfortable range is between f3-f4 but when I get to f4# my voice cracks into falsetto. I'm guessing because I don't have a developed mixed voice
You start with simple/easy songs, not by trying to be the "best" singers of a genre. Would you start learning to play baseball with major league players?
Who told you that you were a tenor? You may have an abnormally restricted range due to a physical condition, for all anyone knows! You don't need "mixed voice" for your high notes; who told you that? You use mostly C-T muscles for your high modal notes, assuming we're not talking about falsetto (and trying to push falsetto higher than is possible is basically an attempt to destroy your vocal cords, IMO). I suggest finding a voice coach who is responsive to your needs, but if you are just going to ignore what they advise then you might be stuck in a rut for years and years!
I can highly recommend Kenny Werner's "Effortless Mastery" book. He's a pianist, but this can be applied to all instruments including singing. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Un3p614XExc.html
