Robin Earl - Voice Coach

By Robin Earl

Many singers have great abs and core strength. Many may also have great lung capacity, breath control, and be in great physical shape... But sometimes they are not connecting the breathing and support in such a way so that they work together when they are singing.

This is sometimes because of their mental vision of their ‘voice’ being in the throat or vocal cord area, and therefore they have created a vocal technique that uses throat muscles for singing, rather than using their core muscles for singing. A sign that a singer may be guilty of this is if they gesture to their throat when they speak about ‘their voice.’

To check out the breath/support connection, I have them vocalize:

HoHoHo! HaHaHa! HeHeHe! and HooHooHoo! (I have written before about the ‘Santa Claus’ HoHoHo’! exercise being good for developing this control.)

If they can vocalize this in a ‘staccato’ manner, with sharp, fast, clear, loud tones, I know they have the breath/support connection going on (which can always be improved). If the connection is there, this exercise is easy. If the tone is breathy, difficult to do, or coming from the throat area, they just need training to learn this breathing/support connection. I train singers to repattern the singing muscles, and reframe the vision of ‘voice’ to include their entire body, especially the core, ribcage/lungs, vocal cords, resonating areas.

For help with vocals, vocal fitness, performance, and recording, I can be reached at [email protected]

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By Robin Earl

Has anyone ever told you to open your mouth more when you are singing? Most of us FEEL like we are getting our mouth open more than we really are.

You’ve probably heard voice teachers say ‘open your mouth’ when you sing, but many singers feel like they are opening their mouth enough to create a good tone, but sometimes are not.

The YouTube video ‘Some Nights’ by F.U.N., with lead singer Nate Ruess, shows quite an example of a more extreme open mouth position.

It allows him to be amazingly efficient in his high note singing and seamless range. Not every singer has a style where they need to sing with their mouth this far open, but it proves a point in how important paying attention to mouth shape is for a singer, no matter the style or how open their mouth needs to be to create the tone and sound they want.

Is your tongue in the way, closing off the back of your mouth and creating a muffled tone? Are you paying attention to tongue shape, getting your ‘tongue groove’ on? Are you showing top teeth on high notes to create a ‘lift’ into the nasal area? Just like a guitar has a round space, as well as a saxophone, trumpet, etc., your mouth creates your unique sound, with resonance, pronunciation, timbre, placement, of your own.

Singers can, and should, vary in how much they open their mouths, depending on their personal style, musical style, their physical jaw structure, and technical awareness, thereby creating the best mouth shapes are a process!

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By Robin Earl

Today I had a singer ask me how to get rid of ‘tension in the upper chest area,’ which was interfering with her singing breathing… Someone had told her that the ribcage moved ‘out and up,’ but she was getting a lot of tension when she moved ‘up’ with the inhale of her breathing.

Yes it’s true, the ribcage moves out and slightly up on the inhale, but it is more of an ‘out and flare’ than an ‘out and lift up.’ The ribcage moves out to the sides as the lungs expand, but it is an upward flare from the lower part of the ribs, rather than a lift up of the whole ribcage for the singing breath.

If it helps, bring your arms slightly up from your sides and visualize the flare of an umbrella opening, ballet arms coming out to the side, or a jellyfish expanding out and then propelling through the water. The ribcage expansion is basically out, the diaphragm moves down, and the feeling is more of a balloon shape in the core and lung area and not the feeling of lifting the chest up. This causes constriction and tension in the upper chest and neck, and a feeling that you’re just not getting enough air. It’s cool how we invent and create items in our world that are similar to what nature has made, such as creating balloons that function similar to lungs.

I hope this helps with getting a relaxed, deep, tension-free breath for your performance! What images have helped you create an efficient breath?

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By Robin Earl

A singer asked me this today:

“People tell me I lack the energy and focus and intensity at the beginning of my show, but am fully warmed up and at peak performance by about the 3rd or 4th song in. How can I warm up so I am performing great from the start of my show?”

This singer is a great country artist, vocalist, and performer. He just needed some tools to warm up ahead of his show to get his game on. He was doing all the usual vocal warmups he had been given along the way, but needed something more to create an energetic performance.

It turns out he also is a swimmer and basketball player, so we took what he had learned about warm-ups, focus, and mental and physical energy he had for swimming, and incorporated those concepts into his warm-up routine before his show.

He learned he could physically and mentally simulate and visualize the power he needed to start a swim race—physically by using movement and breathing he uses for swimming, and mentally by creating energy and focus.

He learned he could do a simulated basketball warmup— using upward arm movements like shooting baskets, which engaged the intercostal ribcage support muscles better; lateral moves which engaged the core muscles; and visualized the ‘up and forward’ motion of making baskets, which helped with energy and projection.  

Even a few minutes of this type of work can help create the mindset and physical energy that helps a performance, and can be adjusted for the amount of time you have.

Any other ideas to get you off and running right away in your show? 

-Robin Earl

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I was a 3-year-old swimmer...

She made an impression on me. Margie Cranston was my swim teacher and my first teacher. I remember her classes so well. Her swimming class was so much fun! And beyond all my years of singing training, wind instrument training, and yoga training, I still remember Margie’s breathing exercises for swimming.

Margie had us hold on to the side of the pool with both hands, put our faces in the water, then roll our head to the side, keeping our left ear in the water. Inhale, head turns to the side—inhale through nose and mouth. Then exhale into the water—exhale through nose and mouth. Again and again, inhaling with head to the side, nose and mouth, and exhaling blowing bubbles into the water, so the bubbles came out of your nose and mouth on the exhale.

I still think about this type of breathing with singing. Leaving the nose and mouth open for the inhale, and open for the exhale as well. Some college teachers use the ‘pant like a dog’ exercise, which works great too, to keep everything open.

A few years ago I thought I’d test out Margie’s method in the pool. I tried swimming just inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the nose while doing a lap of freestyle. Then just inhaling through the mouth and exhaling through the mouth. Neither really worked, and it actually slowed down my speed.

I worked with a singer a few years back who inhaled just through her nose, and exhaled through her mouth. It was not too efficient, as she had to close her mouth, or put her tongue on the roof of her mouth to inhale for every breath, then switch each time to exhale. It’s a lot of excess motion, which is really too time-consuming to do while singing, and too inefficient to do for each line of a song. Singers who shut down their nose and breathe just through the mouth while singing get a closed or nasally sound, and have trouble accessing their high range much.

So to be a speed swimmer and an efficient singer, keep everything open and free when you sing. Do you have another way of thinking about your inhale and exhale for efficient breathing?

-Robin Earl

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By Robin Earl

Think of your ‘breathing and support’ as your foundation for singing. Just as a house has a foundation which gives stability to everything ‘above,’ your breath and support foundation will give stability to everything ‘above.’

Everything else will be able to line up above this foundation. As you master projection, placement, range, mouth shape, pronunciation, vibrato, etc., you will sing ‘supported,’ and not ‘from the neck up.’ If you sing from the neck up, and then learn to sing with ‘support,’ you will wonder how you ever did it the other way!!

As you fine-tune the toning and conditioning of the support (core) muscles and fine-tune your breathing for maximum efficiency, getting the support and breathing working together in a strong and coordinated way will make your singing easier, relaxed, flowing, because your foundation is there. It allows you to relax the throat muscles when the core muscles do their job.

A couple of ideas to get started:

1) Breathing — inhale, expand your ribcage out, all the way around, including the back. Allow your lungs to fill downward, like a balloon, not lifting the chest up. Then exhale, bringing the lungs in and up.

2) Support — realize your ribcage is flexible (to expand out of the way of the lungs, as well as protecting the lungs). The intercostal muscles will become efficient as you work on the expansion and contraction of the lungs. Feel your ribcage with your hands — feel it expand wide (and to the back) then contract as the lungs become more empty. Try to increase the expansion and contraction slowly, becoming more full and more empty each time.

How do you keep on top of your singing? If you need help with vocal issues or physical energy issues, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

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Great meditation tip for singers (as well as everyone else) to handle stress, stage fright, or being overwhelmed.

How can you use meditation to help your singing?

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I had a great time yesterday chatting with Georg Hegelmann‎ & Rebecca Hosking from Fame Music Radio on #TheRendezvousShow! Tune in to the rebroadcast June 6, 8, 10 @ 1-3pm (CST).

By Robin Earl

Many of you know I equate breathing for singing with breathing for sports… Here’s a new one:

I had a voice coaching session this week with a country singer who plays the Nashville downtown clubs, and sings for long hours. He was having trouble with breathing, running out of air, and general throat tension.

First, we practiced ‘Back Breathing.’ He hadn’t felt or noticed or felt that sensation of the lower lungs filling up before. (You can try it by leaning over and putting your hands on your lower back, feeling the expansion of your lower lungs as you inhale deeply.)

When I asked about physical activity and learned he lifts weights, we used that knowledge of breathing he had in his lifting to apply to his singing.

We did some imaginary ‘lifting’ with proper breathing, then felt the same support ‘work’ in his singing. His resonance, forward focus, and power improved dramatically just by that awareness and core muscle support of his tone. So did his flow, enunciation, and confidence, and the chorus he had been struggling with came out so easily.

Coincidentally, I’ve worked with three singers this week who have weightlifting as their main exercise, and the imaginary lift has been a great way to engage the breath for efficient singing. I’ve tried it with some non-lifters too!

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By Robin Earl

My son had a basketball practice the other night. It was going to be the only practice they had as a team before their double-header the following Saturday.

It was not only a good practice, it was a great practice. I have seen years of practice where the kids are going through the moves, but still making the same mistakes over and over again. This practice was different. The coach focused on “Basic Fundamentals.” He must have said it 30 times, and the boys repeated it. He had them say “Basic Fundamentals” so many times! They worked on lay-ups, left and right—They worked on details, “Basic Fundamentals” of dribbling, passing, and shooting. The improvement in an hour and a half was amazing in these 7th grade boys.

Of course it made me think about coaching singers. I have had singers come to me who have had years of singing lessons and have never had learned Basic Fundamentals. I was one of these people; I had several years of lessons before I met a coach who told me I needed to start over and learn how to breathe right--back to Basic Fundamentals! I was impatient about it, but I knew he was right, and glad I stuck with it. 

Connecting breath and support is a Basic Fundamental. Accessing your entire range effortlessly without a break is a Basic Fundamental. Mouth shape, placement, use of dipthongs, singing on vowels? Basic Fundamentals. Releasing throat and jaw tension are also Basic Fundamentals.

Good singers can become great singers if they revisit Basic Fundamentals.

Which areas of singing are most challenging to you?

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I love green tea. I always manage to get my two or three cups of coffee in, so why not the green tea habit? That’s it, I just haven’t made it a habit yet. So green tea is good for singers, right? And overall good health, which singers need for that extra edge in singing and performance, right?

I found my motivation to create the habit! My favorite health blog/newsletter is DrWeil.com. I read it every day. My good friend who is a speech pathologist/vocal health specialist in Hawaii recommended it to me a few years ago. So I recommend it to you!

His post recently was about the health benefits of green tea.  Benefits may include lowering cholesterol, protect against bacterial infections, promote joint health, reducing inflammation, mental focusing effects, metabolism support and aid in maintaining or losing weight, and a potent source of catechins—healthy antioxidants that can inhibit cancer cell activity and help boost immunity.

I’m down for it!!   I’m adding green tea to my daily list! I’ll have to make a chart for a bit til it becomes a habit…

To your vocal health, Robin

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By Robin Earl

It is our natural state to feel good-- feeling good performing, feeling good connecting with people, feeling good inspiring others.

It helps as a performer to incorporate this ‘feeling good’ attitude  into as much of your life as possible so your creativity flows and your positive attitude flows into your performance world. But what about the days you don’t feel good? What can you do as a  performer to help this in such an up-and-down world?

Problems and solutions come together. The second you identify a problem (and have a bad feeling in your system), flip it and think of a thought or feeling that makes you feel better. Then you'll be in the ‘solution mode.’

With practice this can become second nature and even more present in your life as an entertainer.

What do you do to become more ‘solution’ oriented?

RobinEarl.com

By Robin Earl

I spent my early life doing some recreational competitive ‘mogul’ skiing while living at Lake Tahoe. 'Boogie in the Bump’ contests!! I’ve taught skiing and other sports along the way, and I love to find similarities in concepts between sports and singing.. So here’s a mini-ski lesson in addition to a singing tip!!

1.  Project your energy forward. Lean In…don’t pull back.

2.  Use your core muscles for control.

3.  Think down, not up.

4.  Get in shape;  breathe.

SKIING:

Keep your weight forward— Lean into that next turn assertively. The second you feel fear, don’t pull back or you will fall, pull your energy forward and stay focused, and know that you will make the next turn.

Use your core muscles— critical for control. This is your center of gravity, and you will keep your balance if these muscles are strong and engaged. Keep your hips pointing down the mountain, use your knees to ‘absorb the bumps’, keep your upper body more level.

Think down, not up— at the top of the mountain, visualize yourself going down fearlessly. Hands forward, stay grounded and focused, keep your skis working the snow.

Do your conditioning to be in shape before you hit the slopes. Learn breathing techniques to maximize energy and go with the flow.

SINGING:

Keep your tone forward— the second you get to your ‘break’  and feel fear of ‘missing’ that high note, move your tone placement forward confidently, not back, and know that you will hit it.

Use your core muscles— more important than most singers realize for support and coordination of your breathing. Pitch problems are usually support/breathing problems or placement problems. Use these muscles also for your movement and rhythm on stage. Take up dance.

It actually helps to think ‘down,’ not up on your high notes. Ground them, and you will hit them. You can practice this by using your hands to ‘push’ down, as you sing higher.

Get in shape; breathe— Do your vocal exercises, do your physical exercise. Learn singing and breathing techniques that will support your tone and help you sing strongly and effortlessly.

How do you keep on top of your singing? If you need help with vocal issues or physical energy issues, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.  

RobinEarl.com

(Shamed into my New Year’s Resolution... By accident!)

By Robin Earl

I’ve been slacking off in my fitness routine lately. To get back on track, I went to the Y for a quick Dance Blast class before the tornado weather was due to hit the other night.

Well, the Dance Blast class was cancelled due to the storm, but in it’s place was a BodyCombat class. Hmmm… BodyCombat, sounds intense!  The six of us who showed up for Dance Blast decided we were game to try something new, so in we went.

The class was a very high intensity, boxing/ martial arts class to music. The two girls who showed up to attend BodyCombat were in phenomenal shape! Authentic boxing moves, and kicks over their heads. The rest of us were going through the motions... our boxing and kicking moves looked so lame compared to the ‘experts’, that it made me laugh for about ten minutes! Laughing at myself for getting out of shape, and trying my best to look cool sport my best boxing moves!

One routine in this class had 33 ‘left hooks’ in a row’, then wind-sprinting in place, then a bunch of men’s pushups. (one girl was doing them one-handed!)  My first thought was to get discouraged… But we have that choice, to get discouraged or get better!  Like music! We can compare ourselves to others and get discouraged, or get better!

I decided it would be more motivating for me to make a ’30 Day New Year’s Resolution’ than a New Year’s Resolution, so here is my 30-day fitness goal:

• 1 BodyCombat class/ week (yes, I’m going back) • 1 Dance Blast, Yoga, or Cycling class per week • 5 Morning home workout routines, dance/exercise to music for 5-20 minutes • Walk at the river several days a week while my dog runs/swim

Here is a challenge to anyone who would like to do it — create and write down your 30 day fitness plan! What ideas do you have for the first 30 days of the New Year to keep fit?

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