The Pathway to Great Singing Video 3 – The Singer’s Success Path
Hi, it’s Chuck Gilmore again, founder of the website and YouTube Channel, Power to Sing and teacher to 1000’s of students worldwide. It’s great to have you join me for the third video in my free workshop, The Pathway to Great Singing. Todays video is about the Singer’s Success Path.
In this video, you’re going to get the exact blueprint you need to become an amazing singer.
If you’ve ever been confused about how all the pieces of getting and keeping a great voice fit together, and more importantly, what goes into creating lasting singing success, this video’s for you.
Maybe you’re just beginning as a singer, and you aren’t sure what to do next, or you’re an accomplished performer that wants to make substantial improvement. In this video, I’ll show you how all of us can learn to sing like never before.
In video #1, we talked about how now is the time to master bridging so you can have consistency and confidence every time you sing.
Then in video #2, you discovered your vocal type and did exercises that caused you to bridge into head voice without straining, cracking or breaking into falsetto.
If you haven’t seen those videos, watch them now and then come back to this one.
Today we’ll build on what we’ve already discussed by giving you the complete blueprint to becoming a great singer. By the end of this video, you’ll have so much more clarity about building a fantastic voice and you’ll see how everything fits together.
I’m also going to give you bonus training on how to stop breaking into falsetto, so you can use head voice. Once you master this, your ability to be consistent every time you sing takes a major step forward.
The added vocal control you gain gives you terrific confidence when you sing.
We’ve got a lot to cover today, so get ready to take some notes!
Anytime you’re working on your voice and trying to improve can be hard.
Often in the beginning, everything’s new. Things like singing easily from low to high notes, learning how to bridge, and singing with a strong mix of chest and head voice may seem beyond your ability.
If you’re an experience singer already you don’t have time to waste. You want to find the 20% that’s going to produce 80% of the results.
That’s why I’m going to give you the Singers’ Success Path. This is the exact blueprint you need to get amazing results with your voice. It’s going to save you countless hours and I’m excited to share it with you.
So, at this time I invite you to click the link now to get your own copy of the Singers’ Success Path!
You’ll find the link in the description below if you’re watching on YouTube, or somewhere next to this video if you’re watching on Facebook or a website. Here’s the link: https://www.powertosing.com/SingersSuccessPath
With that said, I need to warn you before we get rolling, once you see the Singers’ Success Path, you’ll be tempted to dive in and start reading.
It definitely gives you the complete high-level overview, but don’t take time now to read it all. Right now, I’m going to make things easier for you by focusing today on the 20% that gives 80% of the results.
Through my years of voice lessons, I always hoped I was making progress. Sometimes I was elated, and other times discouraged. I didn’t have any idea where I was along the pathway of developing a remarkable voice and becoming an amazing performer.
Do I have the ability to do the fundamentals of good singing? Are there specific things I should be able to do? What makes a good voice? Can I really sing higher?
I measured things by my success or failure in auditions. If I got a call back or a role in the show, I felt like I was improving. If I didn’t, I felt like I was retrogressing. Maybe I was actually getting worse!
We want to know where we are now, where we’re going, and when we’ll arrive. We want to assess our skills now, what we’ll learn along the way, and what our skills be like when we’re at the end of the path. We want to know what we’ll be able to accomplish with our voices.
Will I be able to reach my singing dreams and goals?
Everyone has questions like these. We all want to understand our voices now. We want to know what is possible. We want to see a clear path ahead of us. We want to know some of the major steps and signposts of accomplishment.
This is why I’ve developed the Singers Success Path. It’s shows a clear pathway to developing an awesome, wonderful voice.
Let’s take a look at the Singers Success Path. Overall, there are 7 stages in our journey. Today, we’ll take a closer look at the first two stages.
Stage 1: Discover Your Potential
In this stage you’ll get a greater understanding of your voice. You’ll see how your past singing experiences have shaped your current thoughts and feelings about your voice. Most importantly, you’ll discover your vocal type and start doing singing exercises tailored for your voice. You’ll begin to see your true potential as a singer as you experience new and exciting progress in your voice.
Your minimum achievement is:
You will better understand your voice and how to improve it. You will sing higher with greater ease, improved tone quality and strength. You’ll believe in new possibilities for your voice!
Stage 2: Conquer the Bridge
… Now you’re ready to learn about the key to great singing, the vocal bridge. Understanding your vocal bridge will begin a transformation in your singing and your life.
Your minimum achievement is:
You will know where the first bridge is in your voice. You’ll be able to sing through the first bridge with a connected tone without breaking or cracking. You’ll discover your middle or mix voice.
For our purposes today, I’ll give you the birds eye view of stages 3-7.
Stage 3: Eliminate Vocal Weaknesses like muscle tension around the vocal cords and lack of confidence.
Stage 4: Succeed with Fundamentals such as proper breathing and vibrato.
Stage 5: Strengthen Your Technique with exercises to increase your range and increase your power.
Stage 6: Master Challenging Songs so you can apply and maintain your technique in any song.
Stage 7: Build Your Power and Confidence while you’re performing. You continue refining and improving like a high-performance athlete or artist on your road to mastery.
What if you are a professional or semi-professional singer? How do you use the Singers Success Path?
The Success Path works for all levels of singers because we all fall into one of these stages no matter your level.
Most singing pros understand their vocal challenges and can see quickly what stage they’re in. In fact, many will go back a few stages to work on some basics that they’ve been neglecting.
One of my students worked regularly in a restaurant. He contacted me because he was having difficulty bridging, which puts him in Stage 2. So even the pros can find clarity and help in any of the stages of the Success Path.
Here’s a bonus training tip: I’m going to give you the one essential vocal exercise to eliminate falsetto and develop a strong head voice.
The exercise is Gee with the larynx imposed down.
Here are the benefits this exercise provides.
- This exercise will help keep your tone connected from Chest to Head Voice. When you break into falsetto, your tone disconnects from the bottom. In other words, you cannot blend into the bottom of your voice without reconnecting the tone. This means you will have to clunk back into chest voice. Falsetto will not blend in with chest voice. You cannot build head voice when the tone is disconnected falsetto.
- Head voice, which is a connected tone, will blend into chest. Therefore, to build head voice, you must eliminate falsetto and stay in head voice. This is when you can begin to build a strong head voice.
How do you to this exercise?
First, how do you impose the larynx? Put your hand on your Adams Apple and say “Duh”. Not a normal “Duh”, but a dumb “Duh”. Can you feel the larynx move downward? The dumb or dopey sound activates the muscles below the larynx and pulls it downward.
Second, now combine the dumb sound with the Gee sound like this: [Demo]
Third, use the dumb gee sound with a 5 tone and octave repeat scale like this. [Demo Both] Men first, then ladies.
Men begin.
Now ladies.
Here are some tips for success.
- You want to maintain the dumb sound to keep the larynx down. If you do, it will sound hollow or hooty as you go higher like this. [Demo]
- Even though it is lighter and headier, if you have done this as demonstrated, it is not disconnected. For example, I can do the exercise and then disconnect into falsetto to show I was actually using a connected tone. [Demo]
- Be careful not to lose the dumb sound like this: [Demo] You can hear the vowel spread, the larynx go upward and the outer muscle tension increase. You want to keep it here: [Demo Correct]
What will this exercise do for me?
This exercise will help you eliminate falsetto…the disconnected tone.
You can also start building on the connected head voice with exercises that build more depth of cord which produces a stronger tone. For example: Gee to Go and then Gee to Guh. [Demo O.Repeat]
Do you hear there is more vocal cord producing the sound, but without any tension? This leads to a fuller, stronger head voice tone.
I remember where I was when I first did this exercise successfully. I was driving in the car and practicing. I kept the dumb sound as I did the exercise higher. I felt myself go up into my head voice without tensing up, without pulling, and without going into falsetto. It was the first time I used a word as I sang into head voice without breaking on the way up.
Why was this important? Because it showed me that I could actually learn to sing higher than I thought I could without breaking into falsetto. I gained a whole new awareness of what was possible for my voice.
Look back on Stage One in the Singers Success Path. Beginning to see your true potential as a singer is an exciting step forward in your progress.
Let’s do a quick review of what we learned today.
We reviewed the 7 Stages in the Singers Success Path. In particular we discussed Stage One and Two. In these stages you begin to understand your voice and discover it’s not mysterious.
Not only can it be understood, but you can discover your vocal type and start doing exercises that open a new world of possibilities for your singing.
Possibilities that in the past you thought were impossible. In Stages One and Two, you not only catch the vision of your potential, but see and experience major forward progress as a singer.
Isn’t it easier seeing how everything fits?
Doesn’t it feel good knowing what you should focus on right now… regardless of where you are in your journey?
Do you see how the Singers Success Path gives you direction and clarity to help you progress rapidly?
I’d like to hear from you.
Let me know in the comments section below how the Singers Success Path would be helpful for you. Also, how do you see the dumb or dopy “gee” helping you build your head voice?
Others may find this video helpful, so please share it on Facebook, Twitter, and/or send the URL link to a friend.
Coming up in the final and 4th video in this workshop, I’m going to show you a fast and simple way to implement the skills and concepts from the earlier videos. This includes bridging, vocal type exercises, controlling the larynx, all guided by the Singers Success Path.
For a newer singer, you get an exact plan for significant improvement of your singing so you can get the consistent, powerful singing voice you want.
If you’re an established singer/performer, you’ll build on what you’ve already achieved by identifying specific challenges holding you back, so you can get back on track and reach your goals.
Speaking of learning how to become a great singer, I know there are lots of questions about Power To Sing’s new membership group, Singer’s Impact. I’d love to see you become a member. In the next video, I’ll talk more about Singers Impact and how you can join.
The way it works is that I open doors for several days to join Singers Impact. After this we’re closed to adding new members for a period of time. So, registration opens for a few days, then it closes so I can focus on new members and giving amazing help for your singing.
If you’re interested in moving forward and want to know how, you’ll want to join me in the next video when I explain all the details.
By taking part in this workshop, you’re already closer to substantially improving your singing voice.
Think about Video 1, where you learned the #1 key to great singing, Bridging! There’s no other way to get the consistency and confidence you want in your voice. And it’s amazing how simple it can be – once you have your vocal type, which is exactly what you discovered in Video 2.
In Video 2 you also experienced bridging into head voice without straining, cracking or breaking into falsetto. That’s huge! I couldn’t do that until I was 43 years old. Learning to bridge gives you a whole new vision of what your voice is really capable of doing!
Today you received the Singers Success Path, so you now have a guide map to becoming a great singer. What will your journey be like, now that you know every step along the way?
The Success Path helps you know the exact steps to take to get the results you want with your voice.
In just a few days you’ve learned a lot about how to significantly improve your singing. In the next video I’ll share the next step on your journey. I’m excited about what’s in store for you! I’ll see you inside the next video.