#teaching singing

How can you sing like a professional without getting your voice strained?

Well, most of the singers have a really great voice and are capable of singing in different voices as well. But sometimes some singers strain their voices in order to get the high tone voice. It is essential that a singer learns how to sing high notes without straining as this will put them in control and also will be a great pleasure to everyone who hears them singing.

When a singer strains his or her voice, the tone gets ruined as well as the pitch is affected and in the end, it sounds extremely terrible. Also, each one of us is made differently and these are various standard voice types which are different in both males and females. Let us take a look at them.

The standard voice types in women:

·       Alto: it is from G3 (the G that is below the middle C) to F5 (this is the F that is in the second octave which is above the middle C).

·       Soprano: this typical voice will lie somewhere between middle C and the high C.

·       Mezzo-Soprano: that lies between A3 (the A that lies below the middle C) to A5 (the A two octaves that lie above A3).

The standard voice types in men:

·       Bass: this is the second which lies below the middle C to the E above middle C.

·       Tenor: this voice lies between the C one octave which is below the middle C to the C one octave which lies above the middle C.

·       Baritone: this is the second F below middle C to the F above middle C.  

A vocal can be really bad and keep you away from your work for a few weeks or the worst could be that you might permanently damage your voice and will never be able to sing again. You must be wondering how to sing high notes easily. Well, it isn’t that tough also. Mentioned below is something that will be helpful to you in singing high notes more easily. This includes the following:

The warm-up exercise: this is one of the most effective ways how to sing high notes without voice cracking. You can stretch out while you are trying to learn to sing those high notes. Like you must have noticed most of the players do a warm-up exercise before they start playing but has anyone ever considered a warm-up before singing? The voice that you possess is a muscle which clearly implies that you need to use it in an appropriate manner. Thus it is essential that it needs a good amount of stretching before and after singing which will help in making your muscle all the more flexible over a period of time. When you make efforts in stretching your muscles on daily basis then it will make you more comfortable and you will be able to sing higher notes easily. So if you are wondering as to how to sing high notes then this is a great way to get there.

Here are tips to sing high notes easily and these include the following:

Step 1: The facial relaxation The most commonly made mistake while people sing higher notes that that make is they open their mouth wider, push more air while you just go in for it. Well, this is absolutely wrong! This is not the way that needs to be done because if you use this method then you will definitely end up hurting yourself. You need to make sure that you avoid all the possible injuries and it is best to relax your mouth and face before you start singing. How can you get this done?

·       Both your trigger fingers need to be placed on your chin and then place your thumbs on the fleshy part which is under your chin. Then make sure you softly massage this area which will help in loosening up your muscles.

·       Then you need to open your mouth and eyes as much as you can and then get your face scrunched up and do this as much as you can. You can repeat this for a few times.

·       Make sure you yarn out as much wide as you can. This is a great way of stretching for both your face and jaw.

·       Also, make sure that your shoulders and neck are well stretched. A lot of tension is being held over here and this could be a barrier while you sing thus it is essential to get off the tension from here.

Step 2: Breath

Well, as we all know that our breath is a very crucial part of us learning how to go about with singing high notes and yet not straining the voice. In order to have a clean and projected sound, it is essential to have good support of your breath.

·       All you need to do is place your hands directly above your stomach that is on your diaphragm and make sure you take deep and long breaths while you are relaxed in a standing position.

·       Make sure your shoulders are not raised when you are taking your deep breaths. Also, you need to make sure that the breath that you pull in is done from your stomach and not from the upper portion of your chest.

·       After you take a few long and deep breaths you will feel an expansion of your diaphragm.

·       Then you need to slowly release your breath and you need to try and get this done without having any breaks in your breath.

With the help of this exercise, you will learn that your breath will cleanly support your sound and you will not require to push also.

Step 3: Now you will be able to sing higher notes without any efforts in your local warm up

Once you have your face relaxed and your breath is in control as well this exercise will help you and make sure you can sing higher notes without having to strain your voice. Eventually, as time passes you will realize that with the help of the exercise you will be able to sing higher notes without much of hassle.

Also, you need to know that it is very important for you to stay hydrated. Thus water is considered to be the best fluid that you should consume when you are singing. Other liquids like alcohol and coffee should be kept away from as they tend to be harmful to your voice.

What are the signs that will let you know you are in need of vocal training?

·       Getting hoarse after regular performances: there definitely could be other reasons as to why you are getting hoarse but if the main cause is singing then you need to take the hint that the way you sing is causing the hoarseness. The main reason as to why this hoarseness in the voice is caused is because of the bad vocal techniques which can be easily corrected by taking some good professional vocal lessons.

·       You restrict yourself to an area that is limited: if you have restricted yourself to a limited range then it clearly means that you are passing on the songs because they have higher notes or you keep lowering the key until it fits in that key that makes you perfectly comfortable. You do not have to worry because with the help of vocal training you will get better freedom to express your voice and also the range that you have will increase.

·       Your voice tends to get tired quite easily: not having enough of local stamina is an issue that is commonly faced by many singers and if you are serious with your singing career then it is very important that you have your focus on this aspect. So when you decide to take vocal classes your stamina will also be increased.

·       High notes get really tough for you: you might have difficulty in singing high notes and you might see that you need to push yourself to get there. with the help of vocal training, you will be able to understand how you can get access to higher notes in a safe way that will help you in keeping away from all the strain as well as the pushing.

Why should one opt for taking singing lessons online?

·       The reviews provided online: when you are hunting for online vocal training you will come across a lot of feedback by the people who have already used all this. This is one easy way in which you can find the correct program that will suit you. Also, when you choose online vocal classes they will cover a lot of other things that many of the regular classes do not deal with. Some of these things will include instilling of discipline, posture, health and how you can be someone successful in the industry.

·       The comprehensive lessons: do not assume that the online vocal classes are just something where you will be learning just the basics. They are full of confidence and will dedicate the same amount of professionalism like any other coach in a regular vocal training session. The topics which are covered in an online vocal training include how you should breathe properly, how you need to expand the range of your vocals amongst the others out there.

·       You can do your study at the pace you are comfortable with: when you go for regular vocal classes you get a limited amount of time with your coach and if you have already progressed with certain levels it gets difficult t go back to your old lessons. Also, at times you might just feel too lazy to move out and attend classes. But when you opt for classes online it makes a lot of things easier for you. You can sit back and read over and over again all those lessons and concepts until you have got a perfect hang of them. Also, you can choose and play these videos as per your preference so that you understand and learn better from them for as long as you desire. Also, since these lessons are online you can choose when and where you want to study which makes things all the more simple for you. Most of these online programs can also be downloaded and even if you cannot have internet access for some days you can still get the videos since they will be on your computer.

·       Cheap and also effective of cost: well, you definitely are going to save some great amount of cash on online vocal training sessions because you do not have to travel to any far off place so basically your cost of travel is saved. Also, online classes will not cost you much, they are quite reasonable. Also, the mode of payment is simple and can be used easily. Apart from that, once you have made your payment, you can use the program and download whatever you wish to as often as you want. In addition to this hiring an actual professional coach will cost you a fortune but with the online program, you save more bucks! There are many professional vocal coaches who have started off with these online programs – so why not take advantage of the same?

What are some things that you could do to sing high notes?

One of the random things I was contemplating while driving back from Katie's house tonight (after nearly three hours of sight-reading madrigals, motets, and learning a gospel arrangement of "The Lord's Prayer").  In undergrad, at least, all most musicians are taught is to play their instrument well.  (Un)fortunately, most of these musicians will not solely be performing.  They will also be teaching privately.  And there are plenty of teachers out there who only know how to perform, and not how to teach.  For beginning students (if not for any level of student), having such a teacher can be disastrous.

I'm lucky to be interested in how the voice works and how to teach, so I studied it during my senior year of college.  But really, how pathetic is it that I didn't know the anatomy of my own instrument until then?  I've had a decent amount of teaching experience for having just graduated, and I still feel completely lost sometimes, even after studying these things.  I can't imagine what it must be like for someone with less pedagogical knowledge.

When I'm a professor, I want to teach pedagogy.  I want to teach a class on vocal development that includes information on how to teach students of different age groups.  And I have yet to answer these questions for myself.  I have so much left to learn.  Four years blew by, and a two year Master's program doesn't seem like a long time to research and learn.  How can I help someone match pitch?  How can I help wean them off the piano?  How can I teach someone how to read music?  To hear intervals?  It goes beyond just vocal technique--I feel that I need to learn how to teach musical technique as well, because I may encounter students that have little knowledge of music.  If they're paying, I want to make sure they're getting their money's worth...or that they at least think they're getting their money's worth.

If you have never had a voice lesson in your life, you should take one.  Even if you can't sing a lick.  Or go sit in on someone's lesson.  Studying voice is fucking insane.  Teaching it is perhaps even more insane.

The thing that makes singing unlike playing most other instruments is the fact that everything about singing is going on inside your body, and mostly in parts of your body and muscles that you can't physically see.  So it's like weight training--you have to teach your muscles what to do, and nothing but sheer practice can do that.  Then, you have the intellectual component--diction, acting, the translation of the text, etc.  When you're singing, you're thinking about all of that at the same time, so that part of singing is like training your brain to multi-task; more like studying for a test.

And when you're teaching singing?  You have all of that shit going on in your brain because you're wondering if your student is actually doing that, and you're hearing what they're singing and processing it and then saying something that will hopefully change whatever they're doing for the better and then you're waving your arms around and doing strange motions and making weird faces and mouthing the words and getting up and doing interpretive dance in the studio.  It's trial and error, and the good things won't even always work because it all hinges on whether your student actually practices.