On this page, we will feature several articles writen by Lori. These articles are excerpts from her upcoming book on singing and may not be copied or reproduced in any manner except for personal use.
1. There is no such thing as a "chest" voice and a "head" voice. The voice doesn't migrate through the body looking for different spaces to resonate. It is stationery, utilizing one resonance system: the pharynx, mouth (front and back) and the nasopharynx (the space joining the throat and nasal cavity.) The reason singers feel sensations in other areas of their body ie: the chest, mask of the face, top and back of the skull is due to the sympathetic vibrations caused by bone and water content. Bone is an exellent conductor of sound and vibration. Feeling these sympathetic vibrations can be used as feedback on how well we are utilizing the proper resonating system and how well we our utilizing our voice box to produce the initial beginnings of sound. Since the terms head and chest are still used by many voice instructors and singers around the world vocal scientists and laryngologists will periodically refer to these terms to off set confussion. They are used more as a point of reference to 'how' the voice is resonating and not literally where.
2. We don't sing in the 'mask of the face', or rather the sinus cavities. Air inside the sinus cavities would really, really hurt. Again these are sympathetic vibrations and a good indication that we are resonating optimally. Why different parts of our bodies feel vibrations for different vowels and different frequencies is explained in chapter 8 of Johan Sundberg's The Science of The Singing Voice.
3. Anyone can teach themselves how to sing. Although all singing students must eventually out grow their teacher and become the expert on their own voices, all beginners need an experienced voice teacher to show them proper technique. Since we listen to ourselves from the inside out it is very difficult for the beginner to properly hear his or her own voice so they need the ear of a trusted vocal teacher .
4. Tea or hot water is good to drink while singing especially if you're sick. This includes so called medicinal teas that contain slippery elm which makes the throat feel as if it is being coated and protected. Although warm liquids help to sooth the pain of a soar throat, a performer is better off taking ibuprofen (which also helps with swelling) if your not prone to hemmoraging. Of course consult your doctor.
Since the vocal bands are comprised of muscles and tissue they are susceptible to swelling and inflammation cause by hot liquids. If you are already swollen or inflamed due to a sickness, such as a cold flu, etc which effect the voice box, the last thing you want to drink while performing is something hot. This will immediately worsen the situation. Swollen and inflamed muscles and tissues need cold compresses, not hot. A cool drink will help to minimalize the swelling.
5. Never drink anything cold while singing. It causes the muscles to contract. Ridiculous! There is no detrimental side effect. Unless you're drinking liquid nitrigen. Then you've got bigger problems.
6 Young children should not take singing lessons because their vocal anatomy is not developed enough. Soooo wrong. Young singers are at high risk for singer's nodes. Children often try to immitate adult singers causing them to 'belt' or rather yell thus straining their vocal instrument or developing nodules. Child vocalists should be taught good technique and good heathy singing habits as early as possible. This should include proper breathing and age appropriate vocal exercises. Growing up with this amount of solid technique will produce one fabulous adult singer. Its been my experience that when children begin training at an early age, by the time they are in their mid to late teens they are almost completely unaware that they even have breaks in their voice.
7. All singing genres use exactly the same technique. Although the fundamental aspects of technique are universal, certain muscles and cartilages work differently for rock singing as compared to classical. That's why there is a large difference in tone between these genres. If a rock singer sang in pure classical technique he or she would be laughed off the stage and vice versa. Rock, blues,certain jazz and contemporary Broadway singers should become familiar with proper technique that utilizes heavy mechanism as well as light mechanism. Each mechanism utilizes certain throat muscles in a different way. Thyroarytenoids are more predominant in heavy mechanism while the cricothyroids are more predominant in light mechanism. "There are not actually two separate mechanisms but changing, dynamic balances among the laryngeal muscles." Richard Miller ,The Structure of the Singing Voice. Rock utilizes much more heavy mechanism. I had a voice teacher once who had me singing Janice Joplin's Piece of My Heart in pure light mechanism. I sounded ridiculous. I knew it had to be wrong, even though she tried to convince me that it sounded great. All her pop and rock singers sounded this way; too classical, pretty and light. They sang with what many refer to as head voice. Her classical singers sounded great. Make sure your teacher is proficient at the genre you sing.
8. Singers don't need to do a morning vocalization. Vocalizing before we begin our day helps to warm up our voices for a day full of speaking and singing. The right exercises will not only get the blood flowing but activate the muscle memory in our instruments setting it up for proper alienment and usage thus strengthening our voices throughout the day instead of causing possible abuse.
9. Singers need to put their voices to bed at night. Let me tell you, after singing thirty five to forty songs at a gig the last thing a singer needs is more singing. There are no exercises that act as a sleeping pill for the voice. If you've strained your voice at a gig or during the course of the day, leave it alone, let it rest and deal with appropriately the next day. Just go to bed.
10. The vocal instrument is comparable to a guitar string. The vocal chords are not plucked like a guitar string. "The way that a voice is produced is analogous to the way sound is produced by a trombone. The trombone player produces the sound at the mouthpiece of the instrument with his lips vibrating from air that passes through the mouth. The vibration within the mouthpiece produces sound which is then altered or shaped as it passes through the instrument. As the slide of the trombone is changed, the sound of the musical instrument is similarly changed". The Voice Foundation
The Structure of the Singing Voice, Richard Miller
The Science of the Singing Voice, Johan Sundberg *may be a difficult read, but one of my favorite vocal text books. If I can understand it anyone can.
Discover Your Voice, Oren L. Brown *world's best voice teacher
Complete Handbook of Voice Training, Richard Alderson *even if you're not a teacher this book is packed with pertinant info.
