Angela Delaney's Journal

[Angela Delaney]

3/26/20 – Day #3

Watched videos for Light Chest – No Chest vocal type. Practiced the exercises for the first time. Voice cracked quite a few times – at the bridge? and sometimes at the top. Lost the bottom notes (very airy) by the 2nd half of the exercises. Doing it too loud, too forcefully? I’ll try again later today. @chuck what do you think? is my experience normal?

[Angela Delaney]

Practiced again today. Low notes felt/sounded better with “go”. Less cracking. Still not sure if I’m doing the exercises too forcefully, though. I’m afraid to “let up” on my voice because I suspect that that is when I head back into light chest – no chest singing.

[Chuck]

Hi Angela:The low notes fading out is part of what I heard and is light chest. Your experience with cracking and breaking is not unusual. Do the exercises as close to the way they’re demonstrated. In time you will find a balance of how hard to do the exercises, and how loud. Think of doing the exercises firmly, but not as loud. See if it makes any difference.

[Angela Delaney]

Thank you for helping me out, @chuck! I appreciate that I can practice, note problems or ask questions, and that you’ll give educated feedback.

[Angela Delaney]

3/27/20 – Day #4

Practiced LC- NC exercises at 3 different times today. Less cracking than yesterday. Occasionally losing low notes, but trying to be firmer the next time I have go down to the low notes and having success. The one-and-a-half arpeggiated scale is a beast. It always has been. But it’s harder now that I’m trying to focus on getting into chest voice. I appreciate that the exercises work on the lower part of my range. I have been doing a little singing after practicing, and I’m finding that my voice is able to get some of those low notes, like E3 and F3. Pretty cool! I kept the palm of my hand on my chest during practice to be sure that I was resonating in chest voice. Also, my speaking voice is affected by my practice. I crack when I speak, unless I speak through my head (voice). @chuck: is my speaking voice’s reaction to these exercises normal?

[Chuck]

HI Angela: I don’t think cracking in your speaking voice is necessarily normal or abnormal. See what happens if you reduce volume…not quick as loud. Just enough to maintain the cord adduction….the closing of the cords…you need. The indispensable minimum!

[Angela Delaney]

Thank you, @chuck, for the tip. Indispensable minimum. I’ll work on that.:)

[Angela Delaney]

3/28/20 – Day 5

Practiced exercises this morning. Watched a few more Power to Sing videos from Stage One. Saw how vocal folds move as we sing lower and higher. Learned about chest voice. Chuck thinks everyone should be speaking in chest voice. Some people speak in head voice. I never thought about that!

Played jazz music with my husband – he, Gordie, on guitar and singing, and me, singing. We video recorded a couple of songs for fun. He shared one of the videos on Facebook. (We did the same thing last Saturday.) My voice was getting tired and sore. Thinking I am working too hard on my exercises. That would be my tendency – a little too intense. Taking a rest from singing for the remainder of the day.

[Chuck]

Hi Angela: When I first started I practiced a lot and pretty loud. My voice felt sore…is the best way I can describe it.
I told my teacher, Dean, and he just said, “Don’t do it so hard”. So I eased up and that did it for me. Everything felt better after that. I think singing is a lot like going to the gym to get into shape. As much as I want it, long hours of exercise usually doesn’t produce immediate results. It is the repeated actions, over a period of time, that begin to reshape our bodies into something we are proud of. Singing is like that. It’s doing things right over a period of time. Even if we are going them right, we need time doing them right, to develop new muscle memory and forget old muscle memory. then things get better and easier.

“Indispensable minimum” is not original. It comes from the book, “Voice of the Mind” by E. Herbert Caesari. I love the phrase because it explains the concept perfectly.

[Angela Delaney]

Hi Chuck! Thank you for the advice. I took today off from practicing. We had a more relaxed day today anyway since it was Sunday. Because of the COVID-19 mitigation recommendations, we were home all day. Our pastor live-streamed our church service from his home this morning, so we were able to pray and sing along with him and his family from our house. It was such a blessing! I hope your family is doing well during this crisis.:)

[Angela Delaney]

3/29/20 – Day #6

Today is Sunday, so I took the day off from practicing. But I did get to sing with my family during church (live-streamed). My husband and I sang through a few jazz songs this evening, as well.

[Angela Delaney]

3/30/20 – Day #7

Practiced exercises this morning. Didn’t push as hard. Felt better afterward. Watched a few more videos in Course 1. Lots of good information. I was able to sing a scale from head voice into chest voice without cracking. Wondering if I’m singing in falsetto vs. head voice some of the time, therefore, making it difficult to get into chest voice. And I’ll be practicing one or more of the vibrato exercises. I’ve watched the vibrato video before. It was good to watch again to refresh my memory. This evening I shared the falsetto video with my husband. He really enjoyed learning about the voice. He wants to improve his singing. He is planning to submit a vocal sample to @chuck to find his vocal type. Exciting!

[Chuck]

@angela-delaney @melody-irish This is great Angela and Melody. Motivation to practice ebbs and flows as most things in life. For sure I am highly motivated when I have an audition or I’m in a show. One thing for sure is improving singing technique is more a marathon than a sprint. Even if we are sprinting, it turns into a marathon. It is a real process of gaining awareness and then discovery and then improvement and the cycle seems to repeat itself over and over. During all of this, we can still be singing and enjoying the journey.

[Angela Delaney]

Thanks, @chuck! I feel like I’ve “run” many marathons in my life. I’m guessing you get what I mean. Age teaches us that “marathoning” is what gets us to where we want to be. And the cycles! I have thought many times that by now I should have this thing called “Life” down. 🙂 Even when my grandma was in her 80s, she said she stilled learned something new EVERY DAY! We just need to be open to learning…YES! We CAN still be singing and ENJOYING the journey. I actually have to work on remembering to enjoy the journey because I tend to focus on the accomplishment/goal so much. I hope we all find JOY during the process!

[Angela Delaney]

3/31/20 – Day #8

Sang in the car with the radio on the way back from dropping off one of my sons at work.:) Fun! Watched more videos. Loved the videos on singing psychology. As an introvert, I live in my mind most of the time. It’s a great help when I’m called to question some of the negative or wrong thoughts that are circulating in my head. Reviewed how to do the LC – NC exercises. Practiced the exercises this afternoon. Didn’t have cracking; very little breaking. Getting stronger! Not sore after practice. Did a little bit of vibrato practice, as well. Participated in Power To Sing Live. Thank you, @chuck, for sharing your experiences and wisdom, again.:) I loved listening to your stories! We can get rid of old habits and make new ones by practicing the new CORRECTLY. But it takes time and patience. And paying attention to what we are doing when we’re singing. Recording and listening to the recordings can help us to understand what we need to work on. Practicing in front of the mirror can help us to be aware of what’s going on with our body’s posture, as well as what’s happening when we are forming vowels with our mouths. Distracting ourselves while we sing by bending at the waist on high notes can help. My husband and I went through a few songs this evening. It was good, even though he was tired. (The COVID-19 pandemic is wearing him out. He worries for our family. We all need prayers to get through this.)

[Chuck]

Thanks @Angela-delaney! Stay Healthy!

[Angela Delaney]

4/1/20 – Day #9

Watched more videos. Today I crossed over to the second part of Stage 1 – BRIDGING! Some of those pics in the videos cracked me up. Yes, I would say that facing the bridge is like that child holding up the boulder. Haha! Seems nearly impossible. I get inspired when I watch the videos and see that I’ve moved along a little…teensy weensy…but a little. Knowledge about how the voice works has helped me to understand a little more about what’s going on with my singing in particular. I soooo look forward to singing in a mix some day…soon. Oh, and the missile blowing up the bridge was fantastic!

I practiced this afternoon in front of my bathroom mirror (2 for 1!). Got to see myself and my quirks and hear my voice reverberating. Fun! I saw that I change my vowels as I go up and down. So I concentrated on keeping the vowels as steady as possible. I also worked on making sure that I was taking deep breaths. Doing those two things at once was a juggling act. With practice I know I’ll get better at both. I saw that there are things I do (ticks/tells) that show up when I’m getting uncomfortable or confident. I had fewer breaks and cracks today. The first 3 exercise with /a/ (as in cat) are the hardest for me. I feel like I don’t have control over the pitches…I also practiced vibrato. One day it will be consistent!

I hope to sing with my husband this evening.

[Angela Delaney]

4/2/20 – Day #10

Practiced late in the afternoon. Was tired from work today but practiced anyway. I had a little breaking going on from the beginning exercises to about midway. The low notes are still not coming out like the higher notes, meaning not as full. also practiced vibrato. Sang with my husband this evening. A little discouraged by the weak sounds and breaks I heard coming out of my mouth.

4/3/20 – Day #11

Practiced late in the afternoon again. Tired when I practiced. Had breaks in some of the same places as yesterday. Same story for low notes today. Practiced vibrato.

4/4/20 – Day #12

I didn’t want to practice singing because of how discouraging it is to hear myself sing songs. Also psychologically and physically tired. Went outside to weed plants and prep pots for seeds. The weather is so beautiful today. It lifted by spirits so that I wanted to try to practice, even though I expected to have the same breaks and such. But much to my amazement some of my notes sounded pretty good! Breaks? Yes. A little vibrato showed up – maybe more tremolo, not sure. Low notes still not same volume as higher notes. I don’t know if there is something I’m missing in making the low notes stronger. I’m thinking about sending a chip to @chuck this week so he can give me some tips. May sing with my husband later.

[Angela Delaney]

Addendum to Day #12

Watched a few videos on bridging. Went through the first exercise Lip Trills. Will be practicing this daily as well.

[Angela Delaney]

4/5/20 – Day #13

Took the day off from practice because it’s Sunday. But my family and I sung along with our church’s live-streamed services. We are very blessed to have a pastor to wants to keep music our worship even though we’re far apart.

[Angela Delaney]

4/6/20 – Day #14

Practiced LC – NC exercises and Lip Trills. Video recorded my LC – NC practice. From watching the video, I noticed that my vowel formation is not consistent. Have to work on that. I hope to send a clip of it to @chuck for this week’s Student Focus. @chuck, how do I send it to you?

Watched and practiced along with the rest of the 5-tone scale exercises in Stage One – Sing Higher Than Ever Before. I didn’t seem to have any difficulties doing them. I’ll be incorporating them into my daily practice.

[Angela Delaney]

4/7/20 – Day #15

I was able to practice all that I mentioned in the last entry early this afternoon. I feel like m voice is breaking and cracking less often. I still have a hard time at the beginning of the LC- NC exercises. When I get to the “ney’s”, things seem to fall in place.

After that, I worked on recording a video to send to @chuck for tomorrow’s Student Focus. I re-recorded several times. Never satisfied. But I finally sent something in. I think next month I will try to do something with a recorded accompaniment. Not sure that I’m ready for a cappella.

Watched Power to Sing Live Ep. 177. I feel like my larynx does not go up as I sing higher, but I definitely feel a “stop” F5 and G5. Last week I had a hard time reaching E5, so there’s hope! (I can reach E5 in practice but not so much in singing songs.)

[Angela Delaney]

4/8/20 – Day #16

Some notes from today’s Student Focus #3:
-Higher notes need less air
-Low notes need firmness
-Chest voice is the foundation of the voice and anchor of the larynx; larynx will be evenly situated and elevated
-If there’s not enough chest presence, what is the quality of the mix? Too light.
-Be comfortably, consistently strong on all notes
-Remedy: make all the notes (low and high) FEEL THE SAME; make sure you’re firm on the bottom notes
-Light singing: letting a little too much air through
GOOD EXERCISES: “go” and “ney”
-“wee, wee, wee” helps to free up the high notes

I enjoyed listening to other the other singers. I was so thankful to have the opportunity to have my singing checked out because I wasn’t sure about my low notes. Thank you @chuck for confirming what I thought.

I practiced LC- NC this afternoon. I also practiced the 5-tone scale exercises. Recorded and listened. Some of the low notes are barely audible. @chuck they seem too low? Worked on keeping the volume the same throughout. I think I need to make the “ney” brattier.

Watched the next video on vocal exercises, “Octave Repeat”. Will be incorporating them.

[Chuck]

@Angela-Delaney Hi Angela. The low notes for the exercises are generally doable for all adult female voices, but for certain voices will definitely be the lowest notes you can sing. The question is are you at the bottom of your range, or is it possible with correct practice those notes will solidify? Only time will tell.

When you are doing the exercises for LC/NC do some of them with staccato. Such as the [ae] as in “at”. This is a vowel that is very “chesty” and will adduct the cords really well in chest voice. The staccato will bring the cords firmly together on your lowest chest notes. Afterwards try the same thing only legato while maintaining the firm adduction of the [ae] vowel…so they all feel the same.

Thanks for your active participation in everything Angela. Yours presence helps everyone!

[Angela Delaney]

Thank you, Chuck, for the exercise tip. I have a feeling that I’ll be checking in to make sure everything is ok with what I’m doing until I’m confident with my chest voice. Your time and expertise are very valuable to me!

And, from one introvert to another, thank you for recognizing my participation! My heart is filled with joy knowing that I’m helping everyone!

[Melody]

Hey Angela,
You’re making awesome progress! Don’t be surprised if somewhere in the middle of things your vocal type changes. I went from flip-falsetto/pulled-chest into light/no chest. I think I might finally be singing in mixed, but it takes time. I think you’ve inspired me to get back to my exercises. I just live with teenage daughters who are “haters”. They have a quip for everything. I don’t practice or even sing with them around. I struggle with motivation when I’m not practicing for something. I’m happy to chat about your journey so feel free to reach out. Maybe it will help me restart my own. Cheers!!

[Angela Delaney]

Hey, @melody-irish! Thank you for the encouragement! I thought I might end up creating other problems as I went along, so thank you for the heads-up! That’s wonderful that you may be singing in mixed voiced! What we all aspire to!! I think when you’ve lived life long enough, you START to learn that everything takes time. Practicing patience!! 🙂 I’m SO very, very glad you’ve been inspired to get back to it! Teenagers think they know a lot and can be mean, not necessarily understanding how mean they are being. It’s when they’re in their 20s that they start to get how much they don’t know and, hopefully, they have learned to be compassionate and encouraging.

Until you feel comfortable around them, have you tried, for example, taking your car to a peaceful and secluded place so you can sing your heart out? or something like that? I’m sure others on this forum have some great ideas about places to practice. @chuck do you have any suggestions for Melody?

What types of things have you practiced for? Musicals? Other performances?

You can do this, Melody!

Cheers! And may you and your family be safe!

[Chuck]

@Angela-Delaney @Melody-Irish For many years all I did was practice in the car while I drove around for my job. It’s a great place to practice. Great use of time. The other thing you learn is to not listen to any naysayers. You can pretty well bet that they don’t know what they are talking about!

[Angela Delaney]

4/9/20 – Day #17

Practiced all of those exercises I listed above. I think I feel my chest voice getting stronger. I am noticing that I am having some difficulty getting into head voice without breaking. I’ve been experimenting with trying to blend chest and head voice. A new experience for me.:)

I video recorded my practice, and listened to most of it. There are parts that I think sound promising, like the “no’s” in the LC- NC exercises.

[Angela Delaney]

4/10/20 – Day #18

Practiced the same exercises as yesterday. I think that if I put the vowel forward (like the bratty “ney”), the lower notes are less airy. I think I tend to “swallow” my vowels, maybe to keep the tone even and not put my sound out there too much – at least that’s what I image it sounds like. I find that “ney” and “no” seem to feel the most resonant in both chest voice and head voice. I also like “go”. Some of those low notes are still elusive. Made recordings of my practice.

[Angela Delaney]

4/11/20 – Day #19

Practiced same exercise as above. I felt the lower notes coming together today. I recorded my practice. I think I was able to transfer it over to singing with my husband this afternoon. There was a low note or two that he thought sounded good. I fear, however, that I’m going to need to practice mixing chest and head voice while trying to not lose chest voice, somehow. I can sense the difficulty there already. Trying not to wimp out on my lower notes, or blow out or lighten up my higher notes.

[Angela Delaney]

4/12/20 – Day #20

Did a little warming up before church service. Sang with my family during morning and evening services. Services are still being live streamed. Thought my low notes were getting firmer. Did not practice today because it’s Sunday.

[Angela Delaney]

4/13/20 – Day #21

Practiced the exercises listed above. Listened to recording of today’s practice. Low notes seem to be getting stronger. Still cracking occasionally, especially on “a” (as in cat) and “na” (as in gnat). Good sounds seem to be coming out on “go” and “no”.
Bridging: I’m trying to keep in mind that I have chest voice to keep “alive” while doing these exercises by making sure that the top notes are not louder than the low notes. Tricky.

Haven’t watched any more videos, but I’m planning to watch at least one tomorrow.

I’m excited to have an opportunity to have @chuck work with my voice this Wednesday. I look forward to learning and to watching others’ learning experiences.

[Angela Delaney]

4/14/20 – Day #22

Completed Stage 1 videos. Yay! Deciding on a song to practice.

Practiced LC-NC exercises, along with all of the bridging exercises. I couldn’t seem to find the MP3 download of the compilation of the bridging exercises. @chuck would you point me in the right direction for that?

Listened to recording of my practice. Still getting stuck on the first few LC-NC exercises: transitioning to head voice is difficult. Can’t tell if I’m pushing too hard, not placing the vowel where it needs to be, or swallowing vowels on lower notes.

Watched Power to Sing Live Ep. #178.
~It is possible for a singer with a light voice to be raising his/her larynx to reach high notes.
~When larynx goes up too high in our singing, we go into swallowing mode.
~Exercises: bubble lips, goo, gee, ney
~Try to get away from imposition [exaggerated sound in exercises] as soon as possible.

Had a good time chatting with others on the show.

May practice with my husband tonight. Saturday (3 days ago) was the last day we practiced together.

[Angela Delaney]

4/15/20 – Day #23

Practiced this morning before the Singers Impact Live. Went through all exercises except for the 1.5 scales. Recorded and listened to my practice.

Was live with Chuck on Singers Impact. Got to finally meet both Chuck and Zena! I was so excited about that! SOme take-aways from the lesson:
~When practicing exercises, the starting low note and the finishing low note should be the same firmness – no starting light nor ending light.
~For me, singing those really low notes A4, A#4, and G4 (and so on, if I can reach them!) is a little like yelling right now.
~I think Chuck would like me to try to “bring in” vibrato on those low notes.
~I seem to be doing ok on the mix.
~The support for the low notes is coming more from my throat than my abdomen. A little different idea than I had been taught years ago by chorale directors.

I hope to be able to see the rest of the singers On Friday on the continuation of this episode of Singers Impact Live.

[Angela Delaney]

4/16/20 – Day #24

Practiced ALL of the exercises written about above. I think I know why my voice cracks or catches on some notes: I may be have a hard time blending chest and head on those notes. It’s as if my chest voice is going full steam ahead. I haven’t figured out how to get assistance from my head voice to keep everything stable. But that seems to be only on “ah” and “nah”.

Every once in a while, I’ll get some vibrato going, usually in my mix.

I may need to do some of the exercises a little slower to practice supporting the low notes better.

I still prefer singing to “ghee”, “go”, and “no” over “ney”. I may need to bratty-up the “ney”.

I am still working on trying to keep the volume consistent, and to start off and finish the exercises with firm low notes. Support of throat vs abdomen. I think that with support, the vibrato is more likely to come along. I need to remember to keep the vowel “forward” (instead of swallowing it) while I’m supporting the low note.

When the notes seem to be getting too high, I bow at the waist. It helps!

[Angela Delaney]

Addendum to Day #24

I started Stage 2 today. I watched the first video on Getting Vibrato, “Puppy Dog”. Practiced along with video. It seemed to work. I’ll add that to my practice tomorrow.

[Angela Delaney]

4/17/20 – Day #25

Signed on to watch everyone else on this week’s Singers Impact Live. Was so glad to be able to hear improvement in everyone’s singing as they worked with Chuck. We’re all on different journeys. We have different advantages and disadvantages. I’m thankful for this group of encouraging singers. I hope that I’m able to encourage them as well.

Thank you to @chuck for taking extra time today to follow up on Wednesday’s lesson. I gained even more info on getting those low notes. I’ve been working on singing my low notes as if I’m speaking, not singing in choir. HA! My voice is more relaxed because I’m not pushing the sound/vowel back and trying to sound as if I’m “siiiing-iiiing”. 😉

~sing the low notes like I speak
~start and end exercises with 3 notes vs. 1 note to emphasize and memorize placement and feeling

I’ll be listening to the recordings of this week’s Singers Impact Live to review what we worked on.

Video recorded and listened to my exercise practice. (I’m listening to the recording as I’m typing.)

I did all the exercises mentioned above. I was able to end at least some of the scales with 3 repeated notes. My voice is cracking less because I’m being careful to try to sing from where I speak on the low notes I think. Also, my voice isn’t getting tired and strained as before, which is something that would happen when I tried to reach (and swallow) the low notes.

Trying to remember to keep the volume consistent from low to high and back.

When I sing through the bridge, I feel like I’m in a comfortable place. I would like to feel that comfortable singing in my chest voice.

Trying to add vibrato to last notes in scales. Not steady. Sometimes too fast or fading. Using my hands to give myself a tempo for the vibrato. It helped somewhat. I think I’m running out of air too soon to keep some of the vibrato going.

Also watched next vibrato video, “Hand Shake”. I’ve tried that before. It works. I just need to keep practicing.

[Angela Delaney]

4/18/20 – Day #26

Watched the rest of the “Get Vibrato” videos today. I’ll be adding them to my daily practice. I’ll move on the Lesson 2 of “Conquering Vibrato” when I’ve improved my vibrato to the point that Chuck suggests.

Though I was pretty tired this afternoon, I practiced all the exercises as before. Recorded and listened to them, too.

Still repeating the last bottom note of each scale 3 times (when I remember to). I do this on the LC-NC exercises.

Keeping the “neys” bratty most of the time.

Need to remember to keep the volume consistent from low to high and back.

Practiced vibrato on bridging exercises. Used hand to “direct” vibrato on last (bottom) note of each scale. Tried to remember to relax to let the vibrato come through. It showed up quite a few times. Vibrato has harder time coming out on lowest notes.

Always feels good to do the lip trills. Relaxing.

Repeating the last bottom note of each 1.5 scale 3 times (in bridging exercises).

Sang with my husband after practicing exercises. We had some good things happening. He said that there were a few notes in there that he really liked. So that’s good. 🙂

[Angela Delaney]

4/19/20 – Day #27

Did not practice today because it’s Sunday. Did a little warming up before church service began streaming. My family and I sang along with the streamed music (Psalms and hymns). Had an easier time singing out and singing low notes. I sang the alto part some of the time.

[Angela Delaney]

4/20/20 – Day #28

I hear that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. That’s equivalent to 6 to 10 years, give or take. Wow!

Practiced all of the exercises this morning and recorded them.

Not pushing so hard on the “ahs” but keeping them firm. Voice is cracking less and not getting tired and sore. Continuing to repeat 3 times at end of scales. Helps with keeping the notes firm.

Keeping the “neys” really bratty helps with the low notes coming out, keeps me from swallowing the sound.

Some of the low notes in the LC-NC exercises are still too low – 1.5 scales.

I’m keeping the volume more consistent from low to high and back down. More difficult to do on the 1.5 scales.

I think I’m doing the bridging exercises correctly. They don’t seem to be too difficult.

Must remember to use “uh” on the lip trill. It keeps the sound forward, not swallowed and shallow.

Practiced vibrato on last notes of [bridging ]scales again. Getting a little better. Trying to remember to relax and have patience. There are certain notes that seem to be more conducive to the vibrato coming out. Not too high, not too low, not on the break.

“Ghee” is really good for vibrato.

I discovered that by doing the “neys”, then the “ghees”, the “nos” fit so nicely in the right place.

Sometimes I’m doing the “nos” with a little bit of the bratty sound. Keeps the sound forward?

Practiced the vibrato exercises but didn’t record them today. I plan to tomorrow. I will probably be sitting at my piano to do those. I tried singing a chromatic scale (slowly) while focusing on allowing vibrato to come through. I got as high as F#5 (2 F#’s above middle C). Cool.

I hope to be able to sing with my husband tonight. He’s really impressed with the progress I’m making in my singing. Yay!

[Chuck]

@angela-delaney Hi Angela: Sorry. When I did this course I only included the recordings at the end of each topic for that topic. I will put this on my list of things to do. Meanwhile, please download each individual topic’s exercises.

[Angela Delaney]

Thank you, Chuck! I went ahead and did as you suggested.

[Chuck]

Angela-Delaney Way to go Angela!

[Angela Delaney]

Thank you, Chuck!

[Angela Delaney]

Addendum to Day #28

I practiced some of our jazz songs this afternoon, before starting dinner. I accompanied myself on piano. There are some good parts and some parts that need work. Sitting down to practice alone allowed me to learn the real tunes vs. what I thought the tunes were. Ha! Helped tremendously. Should help our duo practice go a little more smoothly.

[Angela Delaney]

4/21/20 – Day #29

Participated in the Power to Sing Live #179. Here are some notes:

~3 exercises to get into mix: Bubble Lips, Bratty Neys, and Dopey Ghees.
~when open vowels make singing difficult, go softer.
~To practice high notes, sing “ghee” 3 times, then “go” 3 times, keeping the vowel in the same place.
~Lean more firmly into mix; do NOT pull up chest voice to get firmer mix: let go of chest to get stronger sound.
~Do NOT use a “cry” in voice b/c it takes so long to get it out of the voice.
~Do NOT belt: no tension, no yelling
~Starting with medium loud at most, find balance from air coming up through the larynx.
~extra tension occurs when we get louder.
~We only need to narrow vowels in the bridge (or just below it)
~In music, circle the words that are in the bridge (and just below it) that are problematic; narrow those.

Practiced this morning. Had a good practice. Recorded and listened to it.

Did a lot of the same things as yesterday. Vibrato wasn’t coming along as much during my morning practice time.
Repeating the bottoms notes 3 times helps me to keep my chest voice in the right place, not swallowed.

Practiced vibrato at the piano this afternoon. Did “she” and “gee” softly. It’s starting to become familiar.Then I worked on jazz pieces, also at the piano. Vibrato came out a lot more while I was singing songs. Not sure if it was great quality vibrato but it was there.

[Angela Delaney]

4/22/20 – Day #30

Participated in Singers Impact Green Room #3. Sailly had a lot of good questions for Chuck. Some notes:

~Singing for the Stars by Seth Riggs, recommended reading.
~Use imposed (exaggerated) in exercises only temporarily – until they’re not needed any more.
~We don’t want the exaggerated sound to carry over into our songs.
~Does larynx go up and down normally when talking and singing? Yes, like a cork bobbing on water.
~It doesn’t move much when talking, but it does move.
~When you’re done speaking, your tongue rests behind your lower teeth.
~Make sure tongue is resting behind teeth when doing bubble lips
~could do tongue trill to keep tongue from being used to make pitch.
~Tongue in not a “pitch-maker”; the vocal folds are “pitch-makers”.
~Gently biting tongue can keep it from moving around and interfering with pitch.
~Running out of air reasons:
~Singing is softer and slower, and more air escapes
~Tension – vocal folds closed too tightly
~Not taking low/deep breath – taking only a shallow breath
~Breathing – keep chest up, relax, and gently pull belly button back
~Breathing needs to be practiced
~Reasons for exercises having particular consonant/vowel combinations:
~Cause and Effect: the exercises cause certain things to happen
~We’re focusing on the FUNCTION (not the FORM) in order to create a certain result.
~EE and OE bring balance
~AH nd AI opens up, more exposure to the hard pallet, splat sound
~Vibrato in vocal health:
~Helps the pitch – picks up overtones
~Relieves pressure on the voice
~Do not relax the vocal folds, but gain a release or freedom in the voice

Practiced all exercises. Recorded but didn’t listen to it.

[Angela Delaney]

4/23/20 – Day #31

Practiced all exercises. Made recording but didn’t practice.

Need to be careful about making “neys” brattier and not swallowing “ghees”.

[Angela Delaney]

4/24/20 – Day # 32

Practiced all exercises, except for vibrato. Recorded and listened to it.

A lot less cracking on “ahs” and “nahs”. Having difficulty blending chest and head voice at tops of higher scales on “ah” and “nah”.

Continuing to repeat bottom notes of scales 3 times to make sure that I’m keeping the sound forward instead of swallowing it.

Some vibrato coming out on “no”.

Practiced taking deeper breaths to be able to maintain air through scales.

Did lip trill (instead of bubble lips) on one of the exercises to make sure I wasn’t using my tongue to make the pitch go higher. Seemed to be just fine.

Getting better about keeping “neys” bratty.

Need to give more g in “ghee”, I think. Pitch quality seems to be ok, though.

My “nos” may be “nahs” part of the time. Will try to keep the vowel closed more.

I may be swallowing on “ghee”. It’s hard for me to distinguish between the dopey sound and swallowed sound on “ghee”.

[Angela Delaney]

4/25/20 – Day #33

Practiced all but vibrato exercises today but did a little vibrato practice while doing the other exercises.

I feel like my chest voice is getting stronger. Still repeating notes 3 times at the bottom of scales to make sure that I’m not swallowing the notes.

Brattiness of “neys” is becoming more consistent. I especially want to let up on in on the low notes, but I’m catching myself.

The really low notes are still too low for me to sing clearly.

I did lip trill again instead of bubble lips on one of the exercises to make sure I wasn’t using my tongue as a “pitch-maker”. I use it as a test to make sure I’m hitting the high notes correctly.

I’m doing the Dopey Ghees more forward. Not sure if that’s how they’re supposed to be done. But I feel that when I do them more “dopey” sounding, I swallow the sound, which is a bad habit of mine, especially on the low notes. @chuck What do you think about this? Should I send you a sample so you can hear what I’m doing?

Sang music with my husband this afternoon. It seemed to take 30 to 45 minutes to get really warmed up and feel like I was singing well. My husband liked quite a few notes that I sang, some high, some low. 🙂 Sometimes vibrato came out, but I still don’t have control over it.

[Angela Delaney]

4/26/20 – Day #33

Took the day off from practice. Same as last Sunday – light warm-ups before singing for church.

[Angela Delaney]

4/27/20 – Day #34

Practiced around noon today. Was waiting for enough time to pass after breakfast so I wouldn’t have lethargy.

My voice feels stronger today. Doing the “ahs” was a lot easier. Still a little cracking at the top of the highest 5-note “ah” scale. My low notes are about as loud as my high notes. I still have a hard time getting the really low notes out on the 1.5 scales. The “gos” and “nos” sound good at the bottom of the other two scales. I think the volume is pretty even low to high and back.

Got some vibrato going on some of the bottom notes of the bridging exercises. Made my “gees” dopier. It felt and sounded like it was in the right place, except on some of the lower notes. I still plan to make a video for Chuck to tell me if I’m doing it right.

I practiced vibrato today at my piano. I did “she” and “gee”. It got better as I went along. Spent about 5 – 10 minutes doing it. Keeping my voice light helps. Since I think I’m able to sustain it for 5+ seconds, I’m going to go on to “Section 2 – Improve Vibrato”.

[Angela Delaney]

30-day Challenge

I practiced LC – NC and bridging exercises. I tried singing at medium or lower volume. It was hard< but I managed to finally get some control by the end of the bridging exercises. My vibrato came out a lot better/freer when my voice was not so loud. I recorded myself. Now I need to listen to the recording. 🙂

I plan to add more exercises (Pulled Chest/High Larynx) as I am able.

[Angela Delaney]

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted my progress, But I’ve been continuing to practice almost every day.

2 days ago I was able to participate in the Singers Impact Live. Chuck helped me to find my lower notes. I need to get into my chest voice sooner as I descend, then I can find the even lower notes.

Also, I learned from watching Ken’s session regarding vibrato. Starting the vibrato “unnaturally” can actually sound “natural”. Use “car battery”, for example.

[Chuck]

@Angela-Delaney yes feel free to send me a sample of your dopey gees. Ideally post it in the forum so I can comment on it and others can see and hear and learn too. 🙂

[Angela Delaney]

Hi @chuck!

Sounds good! Should I submit under “Singers Impact General”?

[Chuck]

@Angela-Delaney Hi Angela. We could do that or in the Singers lounge maybe start a new topic. Maybe start a topic, Dopey Gee’s or something related…maybe “Am I doing this right?” Or maybe there’s a way to have a General Category Am I doing This Right” with subcategories like ” Dopey Gee, Nei’s etc. We can experiment and see.

[Angela Delaney]

Sure! Would you have to set up the new category?

[Angela Delaney]

Still going strong on the exercises – light chest/no chest, beginning exercises for range, and beginning exercises for vibrato. I hear and feel progress.

I have more low notes than I had before.

I have some, albeit inconsistent, vibrato.

I’m glad I’ve kept going, even when I’ve felt like giving up! 🙂

[Angela Delaney]

Today’s practice:

~LC/NC exercises
~Mixed voice exercises
~SHTEB exercises
~Vibrato exercises
~MYHN Release exercises 1-8

Did some in the morning, some in the afternoon. I can hear things coming together in the vibrato and mixed voice exercises.

[Angela Delaney]

Just finished going over Master Your High Notes, Lesson 1 (Release), Topics 9-13. Will add them to my other exercises.

[Angela Delaney]

Completed MYHN Lesson 1!

Had a good time with Chuck and the other singers during today’s Student Focus.

Notes for me:

Go right into the chest voice on the low notes.
Sing my song (“Moonlight in Vermont”) in full voice.
My singing was without tension. Yay!