Archive for the ‘singing tips’ Category

Young voice teacher asking for advice on Vibrato.

Tuesday, March 1st, 2011

Hi Ariella! I have a question for you. I am a recent college graduate with a degree in vocal performance. I am teaching voice lessons to a student right and I am struggling as to how to go about teaching her vibrato. From listening to her sing, I don’t hear any vibrato present in her sound. Do you have any techniques/teaching methods you could share with me? Any advice you can give me would be very much appreciated! Sincerely, Anandi

Hi Anandi,

Welcome to my profession!  :)  Well, everyone is born with their own natural vibrato, as you know I’m sure.  My thought is that vocal tension can inhibit the vibrato as well as exaggerate it.

Finding the perfect balance is easier for some than others.  Keep working on releasing your students voice, especially front he tension in her solar plexus area.  You can even have her hold a note while deeply massaging the muscle just below the solar plexus.  Then try the same thing and try to release  the tension in her shoulders.  Have her drop at her waist and go for the notes, see if any of these things allows for more of the natural vibrato to come in.  Once something works a bit, you will be on the right path.
Free singing, free tension.
Good luck!

Please keep in touch if you have any more questions!

Ariella  Vaccarino

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Posted in beginning voice teacher, singing advice, singing technique, singing tips, vibrato, voice teacher's advice | No Comments »

Belting all the way up, vibrato.

Monday, January 10th, 2011

Hi! I’m eighteen years old, and I just began voice lessons with a qualified teacher. I’ve always had a knack for music, I come from a musical family, but never had much training until recently. Something that bothers me is that my range in my chest voice is limited. I have about three octaves total, two in my chest voice. my lowest note is a D3, and my highest belt note is a D5. I would consider myself a mezzo soprano I have asked my voice teacher if I can learn to belt higher, but she hasn’t given me a clear answer, she always says, ‘it’s all about breath support.’ I haven’t found my support yet, but when it IS supported, I still can’t belt any higher. Are some people just born with those high belt notes? Also, I have no vibrato, I’ve never been able to achieve it, are some people unable to produce such a sound? Thanks for reading.

(YouTube subscriber)

Hi,
Thank you for considering me for vocal advice. First of all, so you know, every body’s chest voice has a limited range. That is why we have a head voice. It is not natural to take your chest voice all the way up. There are a handful of people that are born with a gift to take it very high, Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand etc… But in general, at some point in your range you will need to switch over into head or a mixed voice. Finding a way of blending the two voices so that the break isn’t extreme is something you can work on with your teacher. You will probably, through good vocal training be able to extend your range a bit as you add good support and technique, but you will not be able to take the chest voice all the way up in lieu of the head voice.
Work on breathing exercises to help to build your support (I have great ones on my v.1 of Vocalize and Breath), and try and vocalize regularly to build your stamina.
Regarding our vibrato, a good vibrato is a voice that is released and free of tension. You may be pressing a bit on your larynx when you are singing which is holding back the vibrato. Your teacher should be able to help you with this. Keep thinking “release of your sound”. Don’t drive your voice. Good luck!
Ariella Vaccarino

Posted in Belting, breath support, singing tips, vibrato, youtube videos | 1 Comment »

Where should I focus the sound of my voice?

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Hi Miss. Ariella I got your whole set cds.I learn a lot. I have a question though. When i sing or do theses exercises should i aim the voice sound to the facial mask or to the back head? I mean for any tone (high,medium high,low notes).. Thanks.- Enrique

Hi Enrique,

I am glad to hear that you are enjoying my CDs.  Your sound should be focused mainly frontal out of your eyes straight forward, but it should also have a lift through the top of your head for height in the tone and be grounded  lower in your body and chest for the bottom of the tone.  (I know not the simplest answer).  Your sound should be focused forward but it should resinate around you like a circle.
Hope that helps!
Ariella

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Posted in Vocal resonance, singing tips | No Comments »

Singing after pregnancy

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Greetings Ariella! Have to tell you that I love receiving your e-newsletters! Thank you for sharing such great info! I have a singing question that I don’t find to much information about :) hopefully you can help.  My name is Daniela Brando and I’m a pop/rock singer/songwriter. After being pregnant and having a baby–I am planning a very important show in July. I’m very rusty since I haven’t had much time to dedicate to my voice. Any advice on preparing my voice to sound it’s best in just 4 months?? Also, I am working with new musicians for this show and we never worked together…my plan was doing 3 rehearsals with the whole band (4 hrs each)– I was thinking 1 rehearsal the week before and 2 for the week of the show. I want the band to sound tight; but I also don’t want to lose my voice. Do you think that may be too much of a strain on my voice? If so, what would you suggest with the band rehearsals? Thank You so much for your time and all your help. It’s very appreciated. And keep the newsletters coming! All the Best, Daniela
–

Hi Daniela,

Congratulations on your new baby.  (Good luck finding the time to prep for the show :).  Depending on whether you had a C-section or not makes a huge difference on your own recovery period for singing after having a baby.  A C-section has a much longer recovery rate for obvious reasons (major abdominal surgery).

It sounds like you had your baby 4 months ago and the performance is in July which is 3-4 months from now so you should definitely have enough time to get your body and voice going again.  I would suggest getting your voice in shape starting now with regular vocal exercises.  Depending on how you feel start slowly and build up to more practice time everyday.  It is very important that you get all the proper singing muscles working in your body so that you don’t start using improper ones to support your voice.

If you have my Voice Lessons TO GO CDs those would be ideal for getting you back into shape.  Remember to listen to your body.  Only you know if you are feeling vocal fatigue or strain.  Stop at the vocal fatigue and don’t let yourself get to the point of straining.

I would suggest that you do breathing exercises as well to get your breath support strengthened, (on my first CD Vocalize and Breath).  You probably have not been using your diaphragmatic breathing lately!  A good breath and strong body make for a free and healthy voice.

Also, it would be great for you to start up physical exercise again to help strengthen your body as well.  This will provide added support to your voice. Yoga, and swimming are great singing work outs.

As far as your rehearsal schedule for the band goes, it really depends on how great of shape you get your voice back in.   No matter what you do not need to sing full out for 4 hour rehearsals.  You should “mark” when repeating songs.  It takes a lot of rehearsal to be able to sing through a 4 hour rehearsal and I don’t think you will be there.  Make sure during your practices until that point that you are lengthening your stamina by increasing the minutes on your practice so that your voice gets used to long periods of singing. Check out my 4th CD Stamina- (but make sure you are in vocal shape before you hit this one).   Good luck and listen to your body and voice for signs on all of this.  Sing well!
Ariella

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Posted in preparing your voice for a performance, singing advice, singing after pregnancy, singing tips | 2 Comments »