Singers who come to my Sing Like a Star vocal studios who are interested in learning to sing are helped by knowing that there is a basic 3 step process to creating new and correct vocal functioning. Each of the three steps requires different exercises and training, and are designed to create different results. Each step builds on the previous step.
The three steps are: 1. Finding coordination 2. Developing the new coordination 3. Habitually correct coordination.
Step 1: Finding coordination. I use exercises and techniques that help a student to discover and feel (usually for the first time) what it is like to sing from the bottom of their register to the top of their range, without straining, and without vocal breaks. I do long exercises that encourage a coordination between the lower register and the upper register, and give the student the experience of singing correctly in each of these very differently produced registers. At this stage, the idea is not to go for power right away, but to find an easily produced sound that is free from strain. Once the coordination is developed, then it is time to press in to create more volume, power, and dynamics.
Step 2: Developing Coordination. I will use exercises that require the student to sustain pitches, to sing higher and lower than they have previously done, and to develop the skills necessary to sing with a mix- that is a combination of upper voice and lower voice which is so important in commercial music. These are usually brand new skills that must be reinforced and improved over time with a great deal of repetition, since we are dealing with an entirely new approach to vocal production in most cases. At this stage we can start to sing with more power, always taking care to maintain balance. In other words we don’t want to blow more air against the cords than they are capable of resisting at this point, but we do want to progressively become stronger, as well as acquiring skill such as vibrato, sustain, dynamics, etc.
Step 3: Habitually correct coordination. At this stage the voice is functioning well as a result of the hours of practice over time that the student has engaged in. I always tell my students “what you put in is what you will get”. Lots of repetition over time creates a new neuro-pathway in the brain, which results in a new habit. The fewer times over this process that you engage in the incorrect habit, the quicker you default to the new good habit. In other words, if the student can refrain from singing songs in the old incorrect way, while they are establishing new vocal habits, these new and correct habits become established much sooner, resulting in “habitually correct coordination”. At this stage you are ready to focus on delivering the song with emotion and feeling, confident in the fact that your voice will function automatically, as a result of the work we have done together in steps 1 and 2.
This is a process over time; some students get there faster than others, but anyone who works at it consistently will get there with the Sing Like a Star vocal method.
For professional singing lessons in the Atlanta, Marietta and Alpharetta GA area, or to register for voice training online by skype, facetime, or speakerphone, please visit the website at www.singlikeastar.com, and click on the GET STARTED tab to register for a professional vocal evaluation and consultation.
