Well by the time you start reading this 2nd part you guys should be ‘purring’ freely in the vocal region to carry on with more basic vocal technique.
Hopefully by now you have managed to pluck up the courage to record your voice( for later analysis!), then put it away for all posterior until you feel your progress is of such magnitude to make the comparison between ‘then’ and ‘now’. After practicing your scales from ‘C’ to ‘G’ and back down again for ten mins a day you are ready to work on finding your ‘vocal range’. This is so you have a range of notes you can work on with your voice WITHOUT vocal strain,or the fear of going TOO high or even TOO low, therefore WITHOUT putting added pressure to your vocal chords and larynx (on guys this is the bit in your throat where it sticks out and commonly referred to as the ‘Adam’s Apple’, or where cats screech!).
To measure your vocal range begin finding your LOW notes first,and try the note G below middle ‘C’ on your preferred instrument ( ADVICE: a tambourine will NOT do!), this is for guys of the feline variety , I suggest you go a whole eight notes lower (octave) for the male predator (that’s the deep voice amongst you cats!). You then have to find your lowest COMFORTABLE note in the lower range. Starting from this lowest note work your way up the ‘ROUGH SCALE’ (5 NOTES!), and back DOWN the ‘ROUGH SCALE’ (4 NOTES!), and through the various different keys of your range until your voice starts to sound like a blender being scraped through a cheese grater (quite painful for you cats-something you don’t like doing).
ADVICE: STOP on your highest,most comfortable note, and it SHOULD feel less painful and sore. There should be NO STRAIN on your larynx, NOR should you feel any tension. If you feel any tension then you are WAY TOO HIGH BUDDY and back in cat mode, take a few steps back until you FEEL COMFORTABLE with your singing voice.
Ranges in voices fit suitably into cat voices as follows,and commonly called the same:
SOPRANO (C to A), ALTO: (A to E), TENOR ( B to G), BARITONE (A to E), BASS (F to C)
Soprano is mainly feline variety,unless you guys with dangling bits have need of advice from a veterinary surgeon for peace of mind!! MALE ALTO is perfect for Bon Jovi fans,but you need to be at least ‘Rough Guide’ part 10 to consider it!!
ADVICE: DO NOT GO BEYOND YOUR VOCAL RANGE!! Stay cool within your capabilities vocally for NOW. You can be adventurous later! Also now at this stage is a good way to tell you that drinking plenty of water is great for the voice. Keeping the ‘chords’ replenished like this helps for quality singing and gets rid of unwanted groans and squeaks as you practice your singing. Any questions contact me via email at the cats home (!), on my own personal website.
‘ROUGH GUIDE SCALES’ at this point are only within the realms now of your vocal range and NOT BEYOND SPACE!! Practice now on with the consonant ‘M’ before the ‘Ah’, as in ‘M-ah’.This will now suddenly help your voice ‘flip’ into the vowel sound helping you with a more clearer and cleaner tone in the quality of your vocal sound. You should notice the difference immediately.This sound is now YOUR own vocal timbre, totally unique to you.You are a one-off, and no-one in the world has the same sound or quality (well,maybe that old croaking ginger Tom in the last block, but he’s been at it for years, AND without a teacher-ignore him students!).
Sometimes your voice will fall into a ‘pit’during ‘Rough Guide Scale Exercise’. It has the feeling of the voice suddenly becoming weaker, this is called the ‘bridge’ or more correctly we singers call it the ‘passaggio’. It is very common in ALL singers and perfectly natural in any voice, and you should not worry about it. We will discuss the ‘bridge’ and how to deal with it at a later stage. For now get to ‘know’ your voice and practice hard, but this time for NO MORE than 20 mins a day.
See you guys next time when we will be discussing ‘breathing’ and ‘breath control’ along with ‘diaphragmatic support’. Oh, and how to choose your first song with this technique in mind.
GOOD LUCK. HAPPY SINGING!!
purr……………………
more articles by Edward Hatton
December 20th, 2007 at 5:03 am
Mr. Hatton, your singing lessons are excellent! Keep up the good teaching. I’ve been playing guitar for two years and I’m starting to sing as well. I’m looking forward to your next lesson(s). Thanks a lot! =)