Archive for the ‘voice lessons’ Category

Tricking your singing muscles- Free singing lesson video

Sunday, May 1st, 2011

The normal vocalize consists of one pattern on a specific vowel repeated up and down the scale again and again.  They each concentrate on different areas such as freeing certain vowel sounds, extending range, creating agility in the voice, etc… And that is fabulous; please continue to do those…

Something that I have included over the years, (being a voice teacher who is comfortable at the piano keyboard), in my own warm ups and for my students is alternating the patterns of my vocalizes unpredictably throughout an exercise.  I find that I tend to do this in my warm up when I, or my students, are feeling stuck muscularly.

I have had a lot of success with this strategy of freeing the voice and sound, since the muscles are not sure what to prep, or create tension for.  The quick changing unpredicatable patterns help to sneak a way through some doors of resonance when a singer is feeling blocked.

Here is the link to a YouTube video I made showing you how to do this trick! ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyf2tSKfnUQ

Use it during your warm ups when you are struggling to break through to your freest singing voice.

Sing well!

Ariella Vaccarino

 

Written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of  Voice Lessons To Go (singing lessons on CD) and author of  Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for my Vocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Check out my instructional videos on my YouTube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/voicelessonstogo

Listen to my weekly podcasts on iTunes:

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New Video- How to bridge your chest voice to your head voice.

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

Probably the number one topic I am asked about on the technique of singing has to do with bridging the chest voice to the head voice, hiding the break, and creating one voice.

Depending on your vocal style and your individual voice, you will tend to sing in either more  of your head voice or chest voice.  Head lends itself to more of a classical sound while chest is more pop.  Musical theater can land somewhere in the middle.  But no matter what, as a singer, you will be challenged to access the full pitch range that your larynx possesses.

The following exercise, that I have up on my YourTube channel, practices just this issue; taking your voice from the bottom to the top while evening out the break in the passaggio, between head and chest voices.

Add this vocal exercise to your daily regimen.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VoiceLessonsToGo?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/NGqZmzX04O4

 

Smooth singing to you!

Ariella Vaccarino

 

 

Written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of  Voice Lessons To Go (singing lessons on CD) and author of  Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for my Vocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Check out my instructional videos on my YouTube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/voicelessonstogo

Listen to my weekly podcasts on iTunes:

My itunes Podcast

Friend me on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/voicelessonstogo

Follow me on twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/voicelessons2go (I love a good retweet!)

 

Expose your voice with this sustained singing exercise!- New Video!

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

Last week, I posted and blogged about the importance of singing a quick moving vocalize in your warm-up.

Another type of exercise that you should consider adding to your regular warm up routine is one that works on sustained exposed singing.

A sustained singing warm-up is the type of exercise that you need to do slowly and properly.  Sing through this exercise smoothly and supported up to the high note and hold.  As you raise your pitch, go down in your body for maximum support.  Never feel that your larynx is rising for you to reach the higher notes; rather anchor down into your abdominal wall for support.

Here’s a link to the video I made for this sustained vocalize on YouTube:  Sing away to it :) !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocgTI1OF6xU

Sing well!

Ariella Vaccarino

 

Written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of  Voice Lessons To Go (singing lessons on CD) and author of  Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for my Vocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Check out my instructional videos on my YouTube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/voicelessonstogo

Listen to my weekly podcasts on iTunes:

My itunes Podcast

Friend me on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/voicelessonstogo

Follow me on twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/voicelessons2go (I love a good retweet!)

The benefits of a quick moving vocal warm-up: New Video!

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011

The vocal warm up process is the root and building block to healthy singing.  During your warm up there are many different aspects of singing that you can focus and improve upon.  Let’s start with the importance of a quick moving vocalize for this blog, there will be some other types to follow.

Quick singing is definitely an exercise you should include in your vocal warm-up regiment. The reason for a quick moving vocalize is to gain agility and flexibility in your singing voice.  You can’t sing runs without that.  The other benefit of moving your voice quickly is to run your voice faster than your muscles or mind can catch up, in order to bypass the tension that can grip from tongue, jaw, and throat muscles.

Here is the link to a new video that I have made of an exercise addressing the importance of a quick vocal warm up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak5NFqgbMqU

Please remember to add something like it to your vocal routine.

Sing well!

Ariella Vaccarino

Written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of  Voice Lessons To Go(singing lessons on CD) and author of  Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for my Vocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Check out my instructional videos on my YouTube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/voicelessonstogo

Listen to my weekly podcasts on iTunes:

My itunes Podcast

Friend me on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/voicelessonstogo

Follow me on twitter:

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One beautiful note is all you need to build a fabulous voice.

Monday, October 25th, 2010

It just takes one note.  One glimpse into what can be…

As a voice teacher it is my job to “unlock what you bestow within your larynx”… a pretty intense responsibility.

Sometimes being a voice teacher is like mining for gold.  Some students come to me and their voices are out and obvious, they just need polishing, refining etc…  And sometimes I have students who walk in with their voices literally all covered up by muscle tension and I have to peel back the layers of tension to get to their “real voice”.

I like to call these students my onions, (the whole peeling the layers back to get to the source thing ;) ).

And just sometimes, I find a gem in that onion (larynx) that is incredible :) .

I am inspired to write this by a new student that I have been working with.  We started off with her vocalizng with me and it did not go well, her sound was not coming out, it was so held, forced,and pushed.

Then she picked up her guitar and sang me a song…

I have my students  do this for me, especially my new ones, because vocalizing can be so foreign and may not reflect their “true singing voice” at first since they don’t know how to connect to it.

So, she began to sing me a song, and boom this gorgeous, and I mean incredible sounding note came out of her.  Most of the rest of the song was held  and tight, but every once and a while she would release an incredible sound.  I would say- 10% of the song showed off her talent.

But that is enough for me, one great note.  If I can hear it once, it doesn’t matter what it took to get there, I know that I will have enought to build a whole voice off. By finding what worked on that note and recreating it over and over through proper vocal exercises and building it out like a wall one brick, (or note), at a time soon a full voice can be strewn together.

For me as a voice teacher it is a very exciting to find that one note in a student.  It is like “Aha” the challange is upon you.

The single note is like a door to the voice.  If you can find your way in though it, then you can find your way in again, and for a longer path each time.

Her second lesson all ready was a huge improvement because I knew just where to take her right from the beginning, and we began building and stretching upon that healthy resonate tone.

She was so thrilled to be able to have more control over recreating a great sound.  Sometimes, it just takes one break through to change the whole voice.

It was a satisfying teaching experience that hour, needless to say.  Mid-lesson I had to break a moment to take notes for this future blog- a bit “crazy mad- scientist ” of me I know, but you never know when the inspiration will come.  Thank you Brandy for the inspiration, here’s to releasing all of your sound. :)

So, the good news is if you can find an incredible sound somewhere in your voice, that means you HAVE a voice in there worth spending the time and effort to develop.

Happy peeling!

Ariella Vaccarino

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written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of  Voice Lessons To Go(singing lessons on CD) and author of  Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for my Vocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Check out my instructional videos on my YOUTUBE Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/voicelessonstogo

Listen to my Weekly Podcasts on Itunes:

My Itunes Podcast

Friend me on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/voicelessonstogo

Follow me on twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/voicelessons2go (I love a good retweet!)