Saturday, August 28th, 2010
Every Fall I get emails from teachers complaining of voice fatigue, and sometimes even voice loss. In these next few minutes I’ll share some ideas and exercises that are good for teachers, salesmen, pastors and anyone who uses their voice consistently throughout the day.
To begin with, remember that what we call “the voice,” is really a physical, mechanical and acoustical instrument. It is designed to work in a specific way and involves a number of different organs and systems of the body. Posture, breathing, articulation, projection and more are involved every time you speak. Here are some thoughts and exercises to help you prepare and maintain your speaking instrument:
A Physical Instrument
Since your voice has always just “been there,” it’s easy to mistreat. The fact is, the voice is a series of physical systems that need to be maintained and cared for. Posture, breathing and articulatory muscles are all involved.
Warm It Up and Cool It Down
Because we are dealing with muscles, tendons, cartilage, membrane and more, you should warm up your instrument before you hit the classroom or office. Just how does a teacher or speaker warm up the voice? Here is a checklist that will help:
1. Hands Up! Prepare the instrument, which is you, by lifting your hands straight up over your head to align the body. It will feel good, while at the same time, prevent tension in the neck and larynx that can tire the voice. Muscle memory will help you maintain this posture throughout the day.
2. Check the Power Source. With hands still up, take in four sipping breaths and feel the entire waist area expand. Now, expel the breath on four hissing sounds. Sip, sip, sip, sip, hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss etc. You will quickly realize where you should be feeling the breathing. Muscle memory will help you use these same muscles throughout the day, rather than leaving the chest up and down.
3. Hummmmmm. Relax the arms and start humming anything you want – a song, or just sounds. Go high and low, reaching into all parts of your range.
4. Cool it Down. At the end of your teaching or work day, do some more Humming on a simple melody. The goal is to allow this physical instrument to gradually return to normal resting size and temperature. The obvious parallel is sports. Those who cool the muscles are more protected from injury.
Use the “You” Sound System
You are the sound system. While you were humming you could dramatically feel vibrations in the face, head, neck and chest. These are the acoustical chambers of your body amplifying and projecting the sound. The great part is that it doesn’t take a lot of air. Instead, it naturally amplifies the sound if you don’t over-push it.
As you respect your voice, warming it up and allowing it to naturally project, speaking becomes much less stressful on the voice. To learn more about ways to preserve and maintain your voice check out the FREE RESOURCES page of our site. If you have questions you would like to have answered just email chris@vocalcoach.com . Need some training tools? The Complete Breathing, Warm-Up and Diction and Daily Workout CD’s are perfect for teachers and speakers. The are fun and easy to use. Check them out by clicking here.
Tags: chris beatty, protecting the voice, singing lessons, speaker's voice, teacher's voice, vocal coach, vocal lessons
Posted in Choir Directors, From the Coach, Performance, Posture, Tips Tailored for You, Tone, Uncategorized, Warm-Ups | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
Question from a Blog Reader: Both my daughter and I have a problem: After we sing for a time in our highest range (we’re both sopranos), we can no longer reach our lower notes. Is there something we’re doing wrong? Thanks.
Vocal Coach Answer: This is a very, very common problem and I’ve got some solutions I think you’ll like.
Common Scenario: You “kind of” warm up . . . though not all the time . . . and even then often while doing other things. As you begin a rehearsal, or performance your voice gets stronger. Because most songs don’t start on their highest notes, everything continues to feel good . . . for a while. Then it’s time to move into some higher notes for a while AND THEN SUDDENLY sing some lower notes. The same notes that were strong and easy when you started. How hard could that be?
Plenty hard if you don’t regularly exercise through your full range, from top to bottom. And the more casual you are about maintaining your voice the more likely you will encounter this situation. Does the above scenario describe your experience? If so, a great solution can be easily explained.
Solution:
First Some Background
Understand that there are 19 muscles busily adjusting so that just the right length and thickness of the vocal folds (vocal cords) are able to vibrate. As the sub-glottal breath comes up from the lungs, the vibrating leading edges of the folds produce a specific pitch, or frequency. Faster vibrations result in a higher pitch; slower vibrations, a lower pitch. The many adjustments that make this all happen can be quite effortless and automatic if, and only if you have trained and prepared your voice. It’s all about muscle memory and what your voice has memorized, be it good, or bad.
Here’s Your Course of Action
You now have one more reason to care for your voice. As you do, you and your listeners will hear the results and you will be a happy singer.
Let me know your thoughts or questions in the “comments” section below.
Chris Beatty
Tags: chris beatty, singing lessons, singing low notes, vocal coach, vocal lessons, vocal training, vocal warmups, vocalcoach.com, worship leader
Posted in From the Coach, Performance, Singing Exercises, Singing Subjects, Soloist, Vocal Range, Voice Fatigue and Strain, Warm-Ups, Worship Team | 1 Comment »