Belt technique is controversial in the voice world. I grew up with the belief that if I did anything other than sing in head voice that I would destroy my voice, and even in 2018, I meet students and voice teachers all the time who share that sentiment. The truth is, belting can be dangerous […]
It can be challenging to remember to do at first, but if you work on applying this technique to your singing, everything, from operatic singing to heavy belting, will be more comfortable and healthy.
The world is shrinking with the expansion of the Internet, and with this smaller world, the popularity of online singing lessons is mushrooming.
One of the most common questions vocal students ask me is how they can make their voice louder. The truth is that there isn’t just one right answer. There are a wide variety of ways to make your voice carry more–some ways that take years to develop (and if you love singing, I encourage you […]
Have you ever noticed how some people have sweeter-sounding voices than others and wondered how to sweeten your singing voice? Listen to these two examples: Do you hear how the first one sounds fairly harsh and horizontal, while the second one has a more rounded quality that you’d probably describe as more sing-y than the […]
I tend to shy away from any blanket statements about how to sing a particular style, since each one has so many variations that are all valid. But in the interest of not rambling on forever, I’m going to give you some suggestions about how to sing jazz. None of these are hard and fast […]
You hear all the time that to sing well you need to learn breath control. But what do breath control problems actually sound and feel like in singing? Here are 7 common vocal issues that are related to breath control. 1. Unwanted Breathiness If you’re having a hard time getting a solid tone when you […]
You constantly hear voice teachers telling their students to “use [their] support muscles” or “support [their] tone,” or even just “support!” But what does that mean exactly, and how do you find your support muscles? Support in singing means that you need to stabilize your body in such a way that you can control your […]
Vocal registers are one of the most confusing singing-related topics out there, because there are so many myths flying around about how you must shift into chest, middle, or head voice at certain unbending places. When I was a teenager, I once worked with a Speech Level Singing teacher who told me, “These aren’t my […]
Last year we gave you an article detailing what mixed voice is. In short, it’s many, many things, and you’ll get different answers from each voice teacher–everything from “It’s a healthy belt” to “It’s a twangy head voice,” to “It doesn’t exist.” The bottom line is that mixed voice (or middle voice) blends resonance from […]
Last year, we talked about what the term twang means in singing. In short, twang is brightness, forward resonance, or that little laser-focused crying point you hear in a wide variety of vocal genres. It’s not the same as country twang, but it’s related because both use that little cry and a high degree of […]
Recently, I started working with a wonderful student who complained that she wasn’t getting solos in choir. Her choir director told her that her voice is perfect for blending but that it doesn’t stand out enough for solo work. This advice frustrated me to no end, because it’s such a vague and unhelpful thing to say […]