The vocal power method.
Testing one, two, three.
Testing one, two, three.
Created by Elizabeth Howard and Howard Austin.
Should we get a level on the tracks, please?
Great.
Let's go from the top.
You were born to sing.
So we'll sing our song together.
Let our voices ring.
And our song will go on forever.
Whoa.
Hi.
I'm Elizabeth Howard.
And I'm going to sing our song together.
Let our voices ring.
Hi.
I'm Elizabeth Howard.
And I'm Howard Austin.
We've taught thousands of people the vocal power techniques we're about to share with you.
Whether you're already a professional singer or just starting out, this program will help you sing better than ever.
These techniques are used for all styles of singing.
For example.
An easy way of talking, an easy way of walking, an easy way of pleasing me all right.
Every time I.
It's a rainy day when you're gone.
And the sun shines when you're home.
It's a rainy day when you're gone.
And the sun shines when you're home.
Yeah.
When the world was young.
When the world was young.
And you and I had grown together.
We had forever.
We had just begun.
When the world was young.
We're going to take you step by step through the basic techniques of singing.
And as you sing with us, you will feel more freedom, power and confidence.
These are the ingredients of wonderful singing.
Exercise your voice for 20 minutes to an hour once or twice a day.
And as you move along at your own pace, use your new skills to sing pop, rock, country, rhythm and blues, Broadway, classical and anything else you want.
This course is for singers of all ages and all voice types.
Let's start with breathing.
The voice is a wind instrument and you need breath to play it.
Everybody knows if you take a deeper breath, you can sing a longer phrase.
But a deep breath will also make voice control easier.
Now, let's look at correct breath intake for singing.
The ribs are in this position before the breath and the diaphragm is in this position.
As the air comes in to fill the lungs, the ribs expand to this position and the diaphragm moves down to this position.
Let's see what that feels like.
Place your hands so that your thumbs feel the lower ribs toward the back.
Let's take a breath through a comfortable open mouth and throat.
And as you take a full breath, feel the expansion of the rib cage.
Allow the lower stomach to expand at the same time.
Good.
Again, when I say breathe, take a breath and expand your ribs out against your thumbs and hands, pushing them apart with the expansion.
Breathe.
Let the air out.
Don't raise your shoulders like this when you inhale.
But keep them relaxed and down like this.
Again, breathe.
Relax your neck, relax your jaw.
Let the air out.
Feel your tongue relaxed and forward with the tip of your tongue resting against the lower teeth.
Feel a kind of yawning sensation as the incoming air cools the back of your throat.
Now, let's inhale for two counts and hiss out for four counts.
Ready?
In, two, out.
Two, three, four.
In, two, out.
Two, three, four.
In, two, out.
Two, three, four.
Good.
Train yourself to take a comfortable deep breath just before each phrase of singing.
When there is sufficient time between phrases, breathe normally.
The singer, like a wind instrument player, uses airflow to create tone.
We control airflow with the abdominal muscles, and we call it breath support.
Let's see how it works.
Place your fingertips firmly against your waistline.
Now, gently clear your throat like this.
Ready?
Breathe.
That outward firm sensation that you feel here is natural support.
Good support for singing is a firm, steady outward feeling in your abdominal muscles.
Notice that you can create the same support by choice without clearing your throat.
Feel it.
Make it firm.
Now, let's hiss like this.
Sss, sss.
Feel the same support.
Ready?
Breathe.
Sss, sss.
Make sure you feel that outward firmness against your fingertips.
The support takes place just before you start the sound.
Let's start with two hisses and then a calling out sound like this.
Sss, sss.
Hey.
Use the same support that you feel on the hisses for the calling out sound.
Check with your fingertips.
Two times.
Ready?
Breathe.
Sss, sss.
Breathe support.
Hey.
Sss, sss.
Breathe support.
Hey.
Warning.
Don't push the air so hard that you produce a breathy or raspy tone or feel an uncomfortable throat squeeze.
Now, let's sustain the tone longer like this.
Sss, sss.
Hey.
Now with us, two times.
Take the breath and create the support before the hey sound.
Ready?
Breathe.
Sss, sss.
Breathe support.
Hey.
Sss, sss.
Breathe support.
Hey.
That was in the lower register, also known as chest voice.
Now, here it is in the upper register, also known as head register, head voice, soprano, or falsetto.
Let's use the vowel E on a siren-like slide.
Liz?
Sss, sss.
Breathe support.
Hey.
Falsetto is a term more commonly associated with the upper register of the male voice.
Howard?
Sss, sss.
Breathe support.
Hey.
Ready? With us.
Sss, sss.
Breathe support.
Hey.
Now, let's sustain the tone like this.
Sss, sss.
Breathe support.
Hey.
Ready?
Sss, sss.
Breathe support.
Hey.
Support is a comfortable, firm, steady outward sensation in the abdominal muscles.
Support should begin after the breath and just before the start of the vocal sound.
Support should hold steady through the very end of the phrase.
Like this.
Breathe support.
When a new day dawns.
Relax.
Now, with us.
Try that.
When a new day dawns.
Good.
Good.
Now, let's look at focusing the tone.
Focusing means producing a tone that is clear and not breathy.
A tone that projects easily with the least amount of effort.
The vocal cords, which are located here in the larynx, vibrate with the airflow to produce sound.
When the vocal cords are too open, like this, a breathy sound is produced.
Ah.
When the vocal cords are well-focused or approximating, like this, the tone is clear and energized.
It has a buzz, a ringing sound.
Ah.
Ah.
An easy way to find the vocal cords and feel the focus is to use a kind of a scolding sound like this.
Ah, ah, ah.
Ah, ah, ah.
With your mouth open as if ready to bite an apple, try that with us.
Ready?
Breathe.
Ah, ah, ah.
Again.
Ah, ah, ah.
Hear and feel the difference between the breathy and the focused tone.
First breathy.
Ah.
Now focused.
Ah.
Ready?
Breathy.
Ah.
Now focused.
Ah.
Ah.
Now let's sustain the focused tone like this.
Ah, ah.
Breathe support.
Ah.
Now with us.
Ready?
Ah, ah.
Breathe support.
Ah.
Feel and hear the buzzing sound of the focused tone.
Listen to the energy in your voice.
Feel your support and use your fingertips to check.
One more time.
Ready?
Ah, ah.
Breathe support.
Ah.
Good.
We've got a chance to shine.
That was a well-focused tone.
How does it sound unfocused?
We've got a chance to shine.
When the tone is unfocused like that, there's a tendency to lose control, lose projection, and run out of air more quickly.
Breathiness is a good artistic choice at times, but should be used sparingly and avoided completely in the high and loud range.
Remember, don't push the air too hard.
Now, let's carry the focused tone into some other vowel sounds.
Let's use eh as in when.
Like this.
Ah, ah, eh.
Ready?
Breathe.
Ah, ah, eh.
Now, try it in this phrase.
Can't remember when.
Now, sing it with us.
Ready?
Can't remember when.
Now, ah as in hot.
Ready?
Breathe.
Ah, ah, ah.
And when the music gets hot.
Ready?
With us.
And when the music gets hot.
Okay, let's use ah as in love.
Ready?
Ah, ah, ah.
Takes a whole lot of love.
Ready?
With us.
Takes a whole lot of love.
Now, ah as in dawn.
Ready?
Ah, ah, ah.
In the light of dawn.
Ready?
With us.
In the light of dawn.
Now, uh as in look.
Ready?
Ah, ah, uh.
With just one look.
Ready?
With us.
With just one look.
Now, e as in me.
Keep your jaw comfortably open and let your tongue form the e vowel sound.
Ready?
Ah, ah, e.
You and me.
Ready?
With us.
You and me.
Now, i as in him.
Keep your jaw open and let your tongue form the e vowel sound.
Ready?
Ah, ah, i.
Then I saw him.
Ready?
With us.
Then I saw him.
Now, uh as in blue.
Keep your jaw open and let your lips form the u vowel sound.
Ready?
With us.
Ah, ah, uh.
Now, don't be blue.
Ready?
With us.
Now, don't be blue.
The same principles apply to the head voice.
Use your support and focus and let the space in the mouth and throat increase as you slide upward.
First, e as in me.
Keep your jaw comfortably open and let your tongue form the e vowel sound.
Ready?
Ah, ah, i.
You and me.
Ready?
With us.
You and me.
Now, i as in him.
Keep your jaw open and let your tongue form the i vowel sound.
Ready?
Ah, ah, i.
Now, I follow him.
Ready?
With us.
Now, I follow him.
Now, let's use e as in when.
Ready?
Yee, yee, yee.
Can't remember when.
Ready?
Now, with us.
Can't remember when.
Now, ah as in hot.
Ready?
Yee, yee, yee.
In the calm of the night.
Ready?
With us.
In the calm of the night.
Okay, let's use ah as in love.
Ready?
Yee, yee, yee.
Takes a lot of love.
Ready?
With us.
Takes a lot of love.
Now, ah as in dawn.
Ready?
Yee, yee, yee.
In the light of dawn.
Now, with us.
Ready?
In the light of dawn.
Now, ah as in look.
Ready?
Yee, yee, yee.
With just one look.
Ready now?
With us.
With just one look.
Now, ooh as in you.
Keep your jaw open and let your lips form the ooh vowel sound.
Ready?
Yee, yee, yee.
Now, don't be boo.
Ready?
With us.
Now, don't be boo.
Controlling focus on all the vowel sounds throughout your range
will make you a more expressive and effective singer in any style.
Along with support and focus, an open space to sing through and resonate the tone
completes the three-part system of the vocal instrument.
The open space includes the throat, the mouth, and the nasal areas.
There are four ways you might block the open resonating space.
Squeezing your throat sounds like this.
Have a great day.
Closing the mouth sounds like this.
Have a great day.
And closing the nasal passage sounds like this.
Have a great day.
Pulling the tongue back and up sounds like this.
Have a great day.
Really attractive, isn't it?
If all the spaces are open, you get a free, rich sound like this.
Have a great day.
Have a great day.
Here's an exercise to help you feel the open space.
With the mouth shaped like you were just about to bite an apple
and the feeling in the throat like you were just about to yawn.
Aha!
Have a great day.
Ready? Breathe.
Aha!
Have a great day.
Good.
The shape and size of the open space will vary with vocal color and articulation of words.
We will explore some of these variations in the sections to follow on consonants, volume, and resonance.
Have a great day.
Consonants tend to interfere with focus and resonating space.
Even when your support is good and steady, the voiceless consonants are the most difficult.
Let's see why.
Place your fingertips at the front of your throat and say the voiced consonant, zz, as in zoo.
Ready?
That buzzing vibration you feel is the vibrating and focusing of your vocal cords.
Now say the voiceless consonant, ss.
Ready?
Notice there's no buzzing sensation.
Your vocal cords are open and don't vibrate for the voiceless consonants.
All voiceless consonants require an interruption in the focusing of the vocal cords.
With your fingertips at your throat, say the zoo.
Ready?
The zoo.
Now say, with Sue.
Ready?
With Sue.
Notice the interruption in focus on the voiceless sound of the ss in the word Sue.
Again?
With Sue.
The voiceless consonant tends to cause breathiness in the vowel that follows it, like this.
Sad.
We want a well-focused vowel like this.
Sad.
The voiceless consonant is often the cause of your voice cracking.
It sounds like this.
I'm sad.
To feel a well-focused vowel, let's use a-a as the setup, like this.
A-a, sad.
Make the vowel in the word as well-focused as the setup.
Ready?
Breathe.
A-a, sad.
Again.
Breathe.
A-a, sad.
Now.
A-a, stay.
Ready?
Breathe.
A-a, stay.
Now in the head voice.
E-e, key.
Ready?
Breathe.
E-e, key.
In the chest voice.
A-a, fun.
Ready?
Breathe.
A-a, fun.
And in the head voice.
O-o, stone.
Ready?
Breathe.
O-o, stone.
In chest voice.
A-a, heart.
Ready?
Breathe.
A-a, heart.
And in the head voice.
O-o, school.
Ready?
Breathe.
O-o, school.
Practice and perfect these exercises throughout your range to improve your ability to focus
your vowels even when they follow voiceless consonants.
Let's work on controlling volume.
Singing louder requires greater air pressure and greater focusing strength of the vocal
cords.
A-a.
Singing softer requires less air pressure and less focusing strength of the vocal cords.
A-a.
To control air pressure, we use our support.
When singing louder, be careful not to use excessive air pressure.
Pushing can cause your throat to squeeze or make your voice raspy or breathy.
And when singing softer, be careful not to relax support.
A yawning sensation will help open resonating spaces for both loud and soft tones.
Now, let's do this.
Hey.
Hey.
Think of the soft sound as having the same energy as the loud call, but coming from far
away.
Keep the tone focused.
Don't let it get breathy.
Hey.
And soft.
Hey.
Ready?
Breathe.
Hey.
And soft.
Hey.
Feel the same support energy on both the loud and the far away call.
Again.
Ready?
Breathe.
Hey.
And soft.
Hey.
Good.
Now, for the soprano and falsetto.
Loud and then soft, like this.
Hey.
And soft.
Hey.
Ready?
Breathe.
Hey.
And soft.
Hey.
And now for the lower chest voice.
Slide, like this.
Hey.
Hey.
Ready?
Loud.
Hey.
And soft.
Hey.
And now an octave above, still in the lower register.
Ready?
Loud.
Hey.
And soft.
Hey.
And now in the upper register on an E vowel.
Ready?
Breathe.
Hey.
And soft.
Hey.
Now, let's sing loud to medium to soft or decrescendo in the lower chest voice, like this.
Day by day by day by day by day by day by day.
Ready?
Breathe.
Day by day by day by day by day by day by day.
Now, up an octave, still in lower register, decrescendo.
Ready?
Breathe.
Day by day by day by day by day by day by day.
And now for the head voice with the words you and me.
Ready?
Breathe.
You and me and you and me and you and me and you.
Now, let's reverse it, soft to medium to loud or crescendo.
Lower chest voice like this.
Day by day by day by day by day by day by day by day.
Ready?
Breathe.
Day by day by day by day by day by day by day.
And now, an octave higher, still in chest voice.
Ready?
Breathe.
Day by day by day by day by day by day by day.
And now in head voice with the words you and me.
Ready?
Breathe.
You and me and you and me and you and me and you.
Now, here's a phrase with crescendo and decrescendo.
You've got the love that I needed all my life.
Ready?
You've got the love that I needed all my life.
Here's a phrase in head voice with crescendo and decrescendo.
Seems like we lost that old time feeling.
Ready?
Seems like we lost that old time feeling.
Good volume control is one of the many vocal skills necessary for expressive singing.
Vibrato is the pulse or wave in a sustained tone.
It's a new day.
Without vibrato, it sounds like this.
It's a new day.
With vibrato.
It's a new day.
Vibrato not only gives the voice a professional sound, but it's also a great technique for expressive singing.
There are three types of vibrato.
The vocal cord vibrato, which we don't recommend, sounds like this.
I'll be home someday.
We don't recommend this type of vibrato because it requires throat tension to produce.
Another common type of vibrato is the throat vibrato.
That sounds like this.
I'll be home someday.
Throat vibrato also requires throat tension, which can wobble the pitch or cause a shaking of the jaw or head.
The vibrato that we do recommend and that we're about to teach you is the diaphragmatic or abdominal vibrato, which sounds like this.
I'll be home someday.
I'll be home someday.
With diaphragmatic vibrato, you can change the speed.
For example, here's a fast vibrato.
You're the one.
And here's a slower vibrato.
You're the one.
A straight tone blending into an accelerating vibrato is a great way to build intensity.
Here's my chance.
Developing this kind of control will enable you to create a variety of exciting musical effects.
The vibrato pulse should ride on a smooth tone produced with steady support, like this.
Ah.
Not like this.
That's too shaky.
Now, let's learn vibrato control step by step.
Using a gentle calling out tone, first, one pulse.
Hey.
Three pulses.
Hey.
Five pulses.
Hey.
Nine pulses.
Hey.
Now, with us.
One pulse.
Ready?
Breathe.
Hey.
Three pulses.
Breathe.
Hey.
Five pulses.
Breathe.
Hey.
Nine pulses.
Breathe.
Hey.
Now, here it is in the head voice on the E vowel.
One pulse.
Breathe.
Hey.
Three pulses.
Breathe.
Hey.
Five pulses.
Breathe.
Hey.
Nine pulses.
Breathe.
Hey.
Another good way to develop diaphragmatic vibrato is to pulse on a hiss or a shh sound, alternating with the voice, like this.
Shhh.
Hey.
Now, with us.
Ready?
Breathe.
Shhh.
Hey.
Again.
Shhh.
Hey.
Again.
Shhh.
Hey.
Now, in the head voice on the E vowel.
Ready?
Breathe.
Shhh.
Hey.
Again.
Shhh.
Hey.
Again.
Shhh.
Hey.
Good.
In performing a song, we never count pulses, but we do so here for the purpose of perfecting our vocal coordination.
Now, here's an exercise with words and five pulses of vibrato at the end.
On and on.
On and on.
Ready?
Breathe.
On and on.
On and on.
And here it is in the head voice with the words, you and me.
You and me.
You and me.
Ready?
Breathe.
You and me.
You and me.
Delayed vibrato is used a lot in pop music.
It sounds like this.
I'm so blue.
Ready?
With us.
I'm so blue.
Now, here's an exercise for delayed vibrato.
On and on.
On and on.
Ready?
Breathe.
On and on.
On and on.
Now, again with the phrase, I'm so blue.
I'm so blue.
With us again.
Ready?
I'm so blue.
Remember, having control over your vibrato will not only give your voice a professional sound,
but will enable you to be a more expressive singer.
Your voice is an acoustic instrument.
That means it has resonating spaces that amplify and color your sound.
The four basic resonating areas are chest, mouth, nasal, and head.
Here's what they sound like.
Howard, chest resonance.
Now is the time.
Mouth resonance.
Now is the time.
Nasal resonance.
Now is the time.
Head resonance.
Now is the time.
All your resonators are activated when singing, but you can control the balance of vocal color as you sing.
The head resonance is the lightest and softest tone.
Head resonance is not the same as head register, but is a color that can be used throughout your voice.
Here's an exercise for head resonance.
Ready?
Breathe.
Ooh.
Ah.
Feel as though you're aiming the tone straight up behind a yawning sensation.
Keep your tongue relaxed with the tip resting behind the lower teeth.
Try this phrase emphasizing head resonance.
Now is the time.
Howard?
Now is the time.
Ready?
With us.
Now is the time.
And now in the head voice, like this.
Now is the time.
Ready?
Breathe.
Now is the time.
Now in order to get in touch with the nasal resonance, try this.
Remember to keep the throat space open.
Ready?
Breathe.
Ah, ah, ah.
Emphasizing the nasal resonance like that is rarely done, except to create a character voice.
Try this phrase emphasizing nasal resonance.
Now is the time.
Liz?
Now is the time.
Ready?
Breathe.
Now is the time.
And now in the head voice, like this.
Now is the time.
Ready?
Breathe.
Now is the time.
Some nasal resonance should always be present along with the other resonances to add brilliance to your sound.
The presence of nasal resonance is often referred to as forward placement or singing in the mask.
The mouth resonance sounds more like speech. It feels like you're resonating the tone in the mouth.
Ah, now is the time.
Ah, now is the time.
Ready?
Ah, now is the time.
And in the head voice.
Ah, now is the time.
Ready?
Ah, now is the time.
The chest resonance, which should not be confused with chest register or chest voice, is the darkest and deepest of the vocal colors and can be used throughout the entire vocal range.
Whoa.
Now is the time.
Whoa.
Now is the time.
Ready? Breathe. Whoa.
Now is the time.
And in head voice.
Whoa.
Now is the time.
Ready? Whoa.
Now is the time.
Here's an exercise in chest register that begins with the head resonance. Then we add nasal, then mouth, then chest.
Head resonance.
Now is the time to love.
Ready? With us.
Now is the time to love.
And nasal resonance.
Now is the time to love.
Ready? With us.
Now is the time to love.
And mouth resonance.
Now is the time to love.
Ready? With us.
Now is the time to love.
And chest resonance.
Now is the time to love.
Ready? With us.
Now is the time to love.
Good.
And now in the upper register, head resonance.
Now is the time to love.
Ready? With us.
Now is the time to love.
And nasal resonance.
Now is the time to love.
Ready? With us.
Now is the time to love.
And mouth resonance.
Now is the time to love.
Ready? With us.
Now is the time to love.
And chest resonance.
Now is the time to love.
Ready? With us.
Now is the time to love.
For interesting and expressive song interpretation,
vary the resonance as you sing according to the emotion of the phrase.
Most people have noticed that the voice has two distinct registers
with a break or obvious change between them.
This is true of most voices, but not all.
They are called the lower register,
ah, ah,
and the upper register,
ah, ah.
The lower register is also referred to as the chest voice.
Most people speak in the lower register.
The upper register is also referred to as the head voice, soprano, or falsetto.
Falsetto is a term more commonly associated with the upper register of the male voice.
Many singers experience an abrupt change or break in the vocal sound
when moving from one register to the other, like this.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
It is possible to sing smoothly from one register to the other
without any apparent change in sound quality.
The area of transition between the registers is called the passaggio.
To make a smooth transition,
you must control both volume and focusing strength of the vocal cords, like this.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
Try that with us. See if there's a break.
Ready? Breathe.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
Here's a technique called upper mix,
which will extend the sound of your chest voice into the upper register without a break.
For you pop and musical theater singers,
this technique will prevent you from pushing too high and too forcefully in the upper chest voice.
Pushing your chest voice too high and loud will hurt your voice
and prevent you from making a smooth transition.
Here's an exercise for upper mix.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
Ready? Breathe.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
And here it is a little lower.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
Ready? Breathe.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
And here's another good mixing exercise.
Meow meow meow meow meow meow.
Ready, breathe.
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow
And here it is a little higher.
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow.
Ready, breathe.
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow.
Meow meow meow
And here's another great exercise for blending the registers
Ready breathe
Meow meow meow
Here it is a little higher
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow
Ready breathe
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow
Not very attractive, but it really works for blending the registers
Now here's a phrase that exercises your upper mix
Ready
Good with practice you will get better and better
Now here's another phrase for your upper mix
Ready
Ready
On your own repeat these exercises a half step lower each time and then a half step higher each time
As you move higher in pitch gradually increase the head nasal resonance
Also use various vowels and word combinations
Here's a technique called lower mix which gives substance and strength to the lower notes
So that the lower register matches the sound of the upper register
For you classical and musical theater singers soprano, mezzo, contralto, counter tenor this is for you
In the following exercises as you move downward into the lower mix
Gradually add focusing strength to the vocal cords and widen the throat space to add chest resonance
Don't forget to maintain good support and forward placement
Starting in the upper register moving down to the lower mix Liz
Ready
Breathe
Here's another exercise for lower mix
Ready
Ready
Breathe
Here's another exercise that moves through the passaggio part one
Part two
With us part one
Ready
Breathe
Here's another exercise for lower mix
Ready
Breathe
Part two
Breathe
Good
Here's a phrase that exercises your lower mix
Ready with us
Breathe
On your own repeat these exercises a half step lower each time and then a half step higher each time
Your ability to blend the registers is a valuable skill whatever style of singing you choose
To speed up your progress record your voice and listen back frequently during each practice session
Repeat and perfect those techniques that need attention
Start applying your new skills immediately to your songs
Now you're on your way to opening a whole new world of singing enjoyment
You were born to sing
So we'll sing our song together
Let our voices ring
And our song will go on forever
Thank you for watching!