If you want to know how to sing louder and more powerfully, this video and last week’s videos are essential videos for you to watch. Last week I gave you the one critical skill you need to sing louder and more powerfully. In this video I’ll give you two of the best vocal exercises I personally have ever done to help build a more powerful voice.
Hi I’m Chuck Gilmore, International Vocal Coach and Founder of Power To Sing.
Each week I teach you lessons in vocal technique so you can build a powerful and confident singing voice. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please subscribe to my channel, Power To Sing. Be sure to click on the bell so you’re notified when I post special videos for you each week!
In just a moment, I’m going to give you two exercises to continue balancing your voice.
Seth Riggs, Michael Jackson’s vocal coach for 32 years, explains what you must do to build a powerful singing voice. It is written in his book, “Singing For The Stars”.
He says, “You don’t develop your voice by pushing it to its limit. You develop it by gradually conditioning it to work efficiently with a balanced coordination”. pp. 19-20.
“Don’t be concerned about building a strong voice right away. The ability to increase the loudness of your tone will come by itself, after the coordination of your vocal muscles has been established. Once the ‘crutch’ of depending on your outer muscles to help keep your vocal cords balanced with your breath flow is gone, your vocal cords will develop their own independent strength.” pp.39
One of my Youtube subscribers says her teacher had her singing loudly for 20 minutes a day to build a strong and powerful voice.
However, her voice “muscled up” because she was using the “crutch” of her outer muscles to produce power, rather than allowing the vocal cords to develop their own independent strength.
To develop real vocal power and strength you must use special exercises to:
#1. Isolate the vocal cords from the squeezing, outer neck muscles surrounding them
#2. Balance and coordinate the vocal cords to allow them to develop their own independent power and strength
These little miracles we call “vocal cords” or “folds” have the inherent capacity to develop tremendous power and strength.
Unencumbered by tension from outer neck muscles, they’ll develop balance and coordination faster, better and easier to generate all the power and loudness you will ever need as a singer.
You’ll also sound amazing. You’ll develop vocal control and ability you never thought possible.
Most importantly…..most importantly….this will be a healthy condition for your voice and allow you to sing all of your life.
Otherwise, you risk vocal damage, nodules, cysts, hemorrhages, surgery, and the loss of your singing career.
Have you ever had vocal damage before? Let me know in the comments section below.
Here are two exercises that will begin to balance the voice.
The first is a review of one you’ve already received. However, I’ll explain a few secrets to show how to do it better and why it works so well.
Exercise #1: Bubble Lips with a 1 ½ scale
It sounds like this. Say “Uh” while you prop up your cheeks with your fingers. You may have better success with your knuckles…like this. Then blow air through your lips and allow them to bubble as you say “uh”.
Your lips should be relaxed and slow [Demo] vs tight and fast. [Demo] Do it at medium volume. Stay relaxed and not too tense. Don’t allow the tone to break into falsetto like this. [Demo]. If you have to, bend over and look at the floor as the pitch ascends. This will help keep the tone connected.
Men begin on the B2. Ladies on the F#3. Both voices go up 2 half-steps.
Again, it sounds like this. [Demo] Ready men. Begin. Ready Ladies. Begin.
This exercise is deceptively powerful. The “Uh” at the vocal cord level and the bubble lips both resist the airflow and causes back pressure on the larynx so it stays down as the pitch ascends.
When doing this exercise as demonstrated, the airflow naturally balances with the vocal cords, the larynx stays down and tension is eliminated. This allows the vocal cords to develop strength independent of extrinsic squeezing muscles.
Exercise #2: Goo with a 1 ½ scale on the same pitches as Exercise #1
This exercises sounds like this: [Demo]
The secret to this exercise is to allow the swallowing muscles to relax as you sing higher. You can add a slight hooty sound to the “Goo” like this. [Demo] If you maintain the hooty sound it will sound more and more hollow as you ascend in pitch. [Demo] If you lose the hollow sound, it feels pinched and tense. [Demo]
[Demo] Ready men. Begin. Ready Ladies. Begin.
THERE MAY BE NO BETTER EXERCISE TO SEPARATE THE EXTRINSIC NECK MUSCLES FROM THE VOCAL CORDS THAN THIS ONE.
Can you feel the release of tension as you maintain the hooty sound? Let me know in the comments below.
Also, watch Episode 52, (click here), about balancing your vocal cords. There are additional exercises to help you balance your vocal cords with airflow that will help.
Doing exercises for your vocal type is a fast way to begin balancing your voice. Your vocal type is not whether you’re soprano, alto, tenor or bass. Your vocal type describes what your voice tends to do as you sing higher. For example, do you tend to strain, or break or go into falsetto, and so forth.
To discover your vocal type, download this free PDF entitled “Get Your Vocal Type”. You can get it here, or in the description area below this YouTube video.
This PDF contains links to a vocal test. Take the test and get your vocal type. Then watch the videos about your vocal type and download the exercises for your vocal type. On this PDF, you’ll receive links to more powerful vocal cord exercises that will continue to increase your vocal range.
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I’m Chuck Gilmore with Power to Sing. You can sing higher with beauty, confidence and power. I’ll see you inside the next video.
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