Tag Archives: how to sing

Do You Really Need Vocal Training?

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One of the questions I hear a lot is, “Do I really need vocal training? Why can’t I just sing following my inspiration, and not worry too much about technique?”

It’s a very good question, and I want to give it proper consideration.

Interestingly, I’ve never heard the question, “Do I need training to become a violinist?” But when it comes to singing, many people are under the assumption that we’re all born singers!

In this video I address the question of vocal training and why, I feel, it’s important in order to effectively convey inspiration through our singing. I hope it’s clarifying.

 

 

Do you have any thoughts on this subject? Please share them with me in the comments below! 🤗

Happy singing,

–Ramesha

Are You Trying Too Hard?

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by Ramesha Nani

free singing tipsA few years ago I read a quote from a great musician and composer of the 18th century whose name escapes me. He said “Those who don’t do too much, aren’t doing enough.” Even though I couldn’t figure out why, I remember feeling that he was wrong. Too much is simply too much!

Every worthwhile goal requires a huge amount of energy, concentration, and effort, but that most certainly doesn’t mean that there’s not room in the process for relaxation. In fact, we can’t concentrate deeply if we’re not relaxed. Our efforts will only generate increasing amounts of physical and mental tension, diverting our focus toward the strain, rather than keeping it on the task at hand.

In singing, relaxation is paramount! A tense throat will never produce strong, resonant, and reliable sounds. Even while doing one’s best to work on the many details of good vocal production, we need to allow room for relaxation. I remember once, during one of my voice lessons, my teacher told me “Remember to focus on this, and that, and also that…” After a few minutes she added “You’re thinking too much! Relax!” I felt like I couldn’t win! But later on I got what she meant: concentrate, but without tension.

Have you ever had the experience of being stuck on a problem and relaxing and letting it go, only to find the solution present itself, often in an unexpected manner? This process works well with singing. When you repeatedly fail to get the sound you want, it’s often a good idea to stop and take a break. You can free yourself of the physical and mental tension blocking your efforts with a short walk or deep breathing.

Performing singers need to include practicing relaxation as part of their vocal training. Why? Because of the all too common tendency to be nervous in front of an audience. Nervousness will trigger an already existing physical tension, noticeably compromising the vocal quality. Nervousness is not always easy to control, but the conscious practice of relaxing the body and mind and make that a habit significantly lessens its influence on our voice.

[If you want to learn how to deeply relax your body and throat, click here. If you need help with stage fright, read this article.]

An important part of vocal training for most singers is ridding the throat muscles of needless tension. Vocal relaxation is essential to being a truly good singer. Without it, most of the energy and focus is directed toward the throat, rather than on the music you’re sharing with your audience. It’s like trying to write an inspired poem with a defective pen: your focus is always on on the pen, rather than on the flow of inspiration.

https://www.facebook.com/vocalbliss/UPCOMING: Free vocal coaching on Facebook Live!

Join me for a LIVE event on my Facebook page called:

“SINGING FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE AFRAID OF SINGING”

When: Thursday, June 22 2017 at 11:30 PDT

Where: On my Facebook Page (please go there and like it if you haven’t yet!)

How to join: ​

  1. ​Go to my Facebook page
  2. Like it and follow it
  3. Once that’s done, you will receive an invitation from me through Facebook to join the live broadcast on Thursday, June 22 at 11:30.

 

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How to Boost Your Chest Voice and Why

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Incorrect use of the low rang is one of the most common issues that I run into in working with singers. Most women resist singing in their chest voice and tend to sing everything in their head voice. I believe this is because it’s easier and the quality of the tone is more ethereal and less masculine.

There are significant problems with this approach:

  1. The voice in the low range sounds weak and breathy
  2. It’s extremely difficult to sing low notes as they simply won’t come out!
  3. It’s impossible to sing loud in the low range. Volume decreases the lower you sing.
  4. The quality of the tone is often gravelly.

There can be other reasons for not wanting to use the chest voice, ones that are rooted in our emotions and psyche. I discovered this while helping public speakers develop a strong, resonant speaking voice.

A strong, yet relaxed speaking voice is deeply connected to self-confidence. Often those who speak with a breathy voice were told many times as a child to be quieter. They may have been told to not sing, or to just lip sync because they were judged to be inadequate singers. When working with these students and we touch on making their voices fuller, buried emotions are often released, revealing the deep connection between the voice and our emotions. Working on the voice acts as a catalyst to bring deeply rooted issues to the surface.

A full voice communicates clarity of expression and conviction. If it’s forced out it’s often perceived as revealing insecurity. A voice that is full, strong, resonant, and without strain, conveys an attitude of self-confidence that is not imposing and is without ulterior motive. This predisposes the audience to be more receptive to you and what you have to share.

For a singer, a full, resonant voice means a larger “bandwidth”, better suited to sharing energy and inspiration. The correct use of the chest voice ensures that inspiration is grounded, practical, and accessible by the audience. Fullness and volume are but one aspect of what you are offering to your audience. Remember to remain open to the flow of inspiration, which can only work unimpeded when you get the ego out of the way.

Learning to balance strength and self-confidence with selfless expression of inspiration is a constant process of fine-tuning and recalibrating our intentions as performers. The reward, however, is the growing, overwhelming realization that we are part of something much greater, and through singing, we can access this and share it with the world.

CHECK OUT MY LATEST VIDEO

How to REALLY Sing – How to Be a Charismatic Singer

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Let Music Talk to You

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Are you familiar with Star Wars? It’s a series of seven sci-fi movies that tell the story of a small band of heroes (the archetypal good guys) fighting against a huge army led by an evil emperor on a campaign to conquer and rule the galaxy. The first three movies that were released starting in 1977 are fun, witty, and full of action. The characters show depth of feeling, courage, and many qualities that  resonate with us. The later three movies, although a lot more engaging from the perspective of technology and special effects, lack depth of humanity, making the characters and their experiences feel stilted, almost fake. Although the pictures dazzle the audience with incredible special effects, one leaves the theater with a sense of emptiness. Yes, the movie tells a story, but it does so without much feeling, much like the experience one can have reading a history book.

This is similar to the experience of hearing someone sing with a gorgeous, well-polished voice who lacks the ability to convey feeling. Feeling, not a perfectly trained voice, is what touches the heart.

Recently, my wife and I were in Switzerland visiting family. While there, we attended a Christmas concert performed by a family of seven singers called Gruppo Vocale Famiglia Sala. We had heard them before, but this time I had a greater appreciation for their ability to feel the music deeply together, to enter a timeless zone where they feel and breathe together, where they and the music become one entity. The church where they sang was packed and yet it was pin-drop silent. I could feel that the audience was captured and transported on wings of inspiration.

We had a chance to meet them personally last year. Beside their incredible talent, we saw many qualities they shared: an innate, child-like joy, deep love for one another and for what they do, and a sincere desire to inspire people with their music. Not much room for ego there!

I sincerely believe that this is the secret to a magnetic performance: to humbly tune into the music and our fellow performers, to try to feel and breathe together, and to remain open to what the music itself is guiding us to do, instead of egotistically using the music to show off our talent.

Truly inspired music creates a strong flow of energy. If we tune into it, it can take us and our audience soaring on wings of inspiration, upliftment, and joy. One song can completely change us, if we are receptive.

The great American scientist and botanist George Washington Carver wrote “Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough.” Using our talents in service to music, supported by our deep love and sincere desire to tune into the music, will unlock for us the secret to deeply inspiring and magnetic performances that can transform us, our audience, the entire world.

 

CHECK OUT MY NEW VIDEOS

1) How to Sing in the Low Range

2) How to Sing in the Low-Medium Range

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3) How to Improve Your Singing Tone

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High Notes Are Not Hard!

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by Ramesha Nani

opera singer

One of the main goals of every singer is to extend their vocal range. Too many singers, alas, pursue this goal by straining and eventually ruining their voice. This is partly due to the many bad examples that can be found among the so called “professional” singers, as well as misinformation found on the internet. Of all the ways that one can sing, there’s only one that is physiologically correct and that fosters vocal health and longevity: by relaxing and expanding, rather than by squeezing and tightening.

Is it possible to sing high and even very high notes without strain? Absolutely! In fact, it is the only way, if you don’t want to ruin your voice. Here’s how you do it:

The ability to sing high notes without effort depends on the ability to access your high range, called “head voice”, or “head register”. In order to access it, it’s important to:

  • Stay relaxed and not push the voice
  • Open and expand the throat
  • Open the mouth wide
  • At first, decrease the volume. It’s harder to get into your upper range when singing loud. Once you know how to do it, you can sing loud or soft, it won’t matter.
  • Don’t be impatient! It might take time to develop and strengthen the muscles that operate the head voice. Some people don’t ever use them until they take on voice training.

One of the best ways to start is to hit and hold some relatively high notes singing in falsetto, and then gradually open the mouth and expand the throat. At first, your high notes will probably sound airy and thin. That’s absolutely normal. Keep practicing! As you do that, you will notice that your sound becomes deeper and more robust. Maybe still airy, but less thin. Gradually, you will strengthen your throat muscles as the sound becomes stable and strong, more and more similar to a “real” voice. Tip: practice on all the vowels (eee, ay, ah, oh, ooo). You need all of them to be able to sing a song!

I created a couple of videos in the past showing this process. Click here and here to watch them.

Don’t be impatient as you practice and learn this technique. It may take a while to get to the point where your voice is strong and loud in your upper range. However, in my experience, this is the safest way to learn to sing high notes without effort or strain.

That Pesky “eee” Sound

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by Ramesha Nani

A problem that plagues many vocalists is finding the correct placement for the vowel “eee”, especially when singing in the upper range. What makes “eee” such a tricky one?

In order to say “eee” the back of the tongue has to be lifted close to touching the roof of the mouth. This position of the tongue works well in the lower range, but as you move up the range it does not provide enough space to prevent the voice from cracking and sounding squeaky.

As weird and uncomfortable as it might feel, the best technique is to learn to say “eee” with your throat expanded. This requires training. The feeling is similar to when you’re yawning, but you don’t want the person in front of you to notice, so you keep your mouth shut and yawn only with the back of your throat. Although the back of tongue will still be lifted, it won’t be touching the roof of your mouth, allowing you to open your mouth a little, making your high notes more resonant and stable.

How to Do It

  1. Open your mouth, relax your throat and make the sound “aww”.
  2. Without changing position or closing your mouth, make the sound “eee”. Notice how your tongue lifts up a little, without touching the roof of the mouth.
  3. Listen to this recording demonstrating the sound of “eee”.

Am I Doing It Right?

If you want to make sure that you’re following these instructions correctly and getting the proper results, feel free to send me a quick note with an mp3 recording of your “eee’s” for feedback: info@vocalbliss.net

Good luck!

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Ready to bump it up a notch?

  1. Try a FREE Introductory Singing Lesson on Skype and get a feel for it. 

  2. Or sign up for my Singing For Busy People online course on Udemy and save $77!

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Questions? 

Feel free to contact me about any singing-related issue or doubt that you might have. I will do my best to help you  find a solution for it.

Everybody Has a Voice!

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by Ramesha Nani

SAM_1049 - CopyIn 2007 I was hired as a music teacher at a spiritually-oriented, alternative college. I enjoyed teaching there; the class was small – around ten students – and they all seemed special people to me. They were exceptionally centered and wise, especially for their age.

My assignment was twofold: teach them about the role that art, and music in particular, has to uplift humankind, and teach them to sing as a small choir. We focused on learning simple songs. At first we all sang melody, then progressed to two-part songs to get them accustomed to singing different parts.

One of the students (whom I’ll call Chris) seemed to have a particularly hard time carrying the melody on any song, which became even more evident when we started to sing two parts. I tried to encourage him, but I didn’t have much hope that he could ever learn to sing. He wanted to sing so much, and he loved the music so deeply that I felt I had to do whatever I could to help him.

We decided that we would meet thirty minutes before the beginning of each class, at the end of lunch time, to practice together the songs that we would be singing later with the rest of the class. I gave him some tips for how to better use his voice and corrected his pitch every time he lost it (which was very often!). My overall plan was to make him feel more comfortable using his singing voice. We discovered that Chris had a beautiful bass voice, so we worked on enhancing those gorgeous low notes while also accessing his higher range. Amazingly, he managed to accomplish this almost immediately. Expanding his vocal range made him capable of holding the pitch more and more often, which gave him the confidence and belief that yes, he could learn to sing!

By the end of the school year, Chris had made so much progress that he started to lead chanting sessions, learned the bass parts to many songs, and even sang a small solo at a concert. During the time that we worked together we developed a deep and lasting friendship.

As his singing improved, his love for music grew, too. After college he took cello and piano lessons.

A few months ago I was deeply moved when Chris got married and asked me to be his best man. He and his wife sang together a song that’s part of the wedding ceremony.

Chris’s story helps me remember that everybody has a voice! Sometimes it’s buried under bad vocal habits, tension, or emotional fear of using it (if someone in our past was critical of our singing or even speaking up, it can makes us unconsciously hide our voice). Chris expressed this beautifully in a testimonial that he wrote for me after college:

“Ramesha has helped me to develop as a singer. He has supported me and continuously encouraged me, without which I might not have been able to uncover the joy of singing.

Projecting vs. Pushing

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Over the last couple of months we’ve been working with our choir on Christmas music. The Christmas concert is one of the highlights of Holiday Season here at Ananda Village where we live, and a lot of energy and many hours of rehearsal go into it.

This is also the only concert throughout the year where we don’t perform only Ananda music, but we branch out to other music, especially Haendel’s Messiah. For those of you who might not be familiar with it, the Messiah is a monumental masterpiece that tells the story of Christ’s life in music. We usually perform only two or three songs from it, and people love it.

Unlike most Ananda music, which we’re used to performing, the Messiah songs are more challenging, vocally. There are more high notes, rhythmically challenging phrases, and the choir is often required to sing forte (loud) for extended periods of time. For this reason, we spent a lot of our warm-up time working on how to project the voice without strain. What’s the difference between projecting and pushing one’s voice? Is it possible to sing loud and project the sound without pushing?

Projecting the voice implies good placement. You place the voice correctly – which means that your sound is full, resonant, but relaxed – and then increase the air pressure by actively engaging your abdominal and diaphragmatic muscles to support the air flow. No extra tension should be placed on the throat by squeezing or tensing it. If the voice is not placed correctly, however, and you increase the air pressure, you will still get a louder sound, but because of the lack of a stable placement, the sound won’t be pure and you will have to tense or squeeze the throat to adjust it.

It’s like a radio that is not perfectly tuned to a radio station. You hear some music along with static. If you want to hear the music better you can either increase the volume (=pushing), or fine tune the radio to the radio station, until all the static is gone (projecting through correct placement).

Long Tones Exercise

One of the best ways I know to improve the quality of your sound is to practice long tones:

Pick a low note in your range that you can hit easily and sing any vowel (ee, ay, aah, oh, oo); hold the note long enough to give yourself time to gradually relax your throat more and more as you keep singing.

Experiment with how much you can relax and still be singing. If you relax too much, your voice will sound weak and “breathy”.

Practice with different vowels and different notes; go up a half step at a time and repeat the same procedure.

As you hold your notes and relax, you might notice that your voice will wobble a little. This happens because you’re gradually releasing tension from your throat and relying more on your diaphragm for support (this is supposed to happen).

Practice this exercise in different areas of your range.

In general: don’t try to sing very loud until your vocal placement is really good. When your sound stays consistently full and resonant, whether you’re singing high or low, softer or louder, then you’re ready to work on “turning up the volume”. As you do so, make sure to not tense your throat, but work with increasing the pressure from your belly muscles.