meant2bheard

It is profoundly stressful when the tone and quality of the voice do not match our sense of self, or our gender and age identity. It becomes psychologically painful when we are misunderstood, misjudged or ridiculed. While it is always ideal to work with a voice coach or speech therapist to make vocal changes, there are also always things we can try on our own.

To sound more masculine or mature:

– the pitch needs to lower
– the voice needs to be clear and strong with no excess air
– there needs to be more resonance in the chest

To sound more feminine or youthful:

– the pitch needs to be higher
– the voice needs to be lighter without becoming breathy
– there needs to be more resonance in the head

To lower the voice:

–do a descending sigh on “AH” and allow the voice to gently go as low as possible without collapsing the posture or losing air

– hum and work with open “OH” and “AH” vowels (place a hand on your chest to be sure you can feel the sympathetic vibrations there)

To raise the voice:

– smile

– do ascending sirens on “EE”

– make little squeaks to find high sounds

– hum and work with “EE” and “AYE” vowels (make sure you can feel sympathetic vibrations in your nose and the roof of your mouth)

If you are disciplined and motivated, you can use audio and internet programs to help you.While I don’t wish to promote my own work over that of others, I created a Vocal Tune-Up for Speakers that can be downloaded at www.morethanspeaking.com. It has a full set of exercises which, if you practice, can help you develop your natural voice to sound appropriate for your gender and age.

I recently met a gal who, by her own account, is frequently dealing with resistance at work. She thinks it’s because she is a revolutionary thinker and challenges the status quo. I’m certain that is part of it. However, I had an opportunity to read a very telling email message she sent.

She was scheduled to attend a meeting that involved several people, most of whom had changed their work schedule and one who was driving for 2-1/2 hours to be there. Her email announced that something had come up and she would only be able to come for the first 45 minutes. As an after thought she asked if that would affect the agenda.

How differently her message would have been received had she written, “An urgent conflict has arisen, but I have worked out a compromise with the other party so that I could still come for the first 45 minutes.” And if she then had asked, “Would there be some way you could address the most essential items on the agenda first so that it could still work for us? Or can you think of something else that could work?”

I like this woman very much and when I reread the message a few times I realized she was doing her best to accommodate everyone. However, the way she announced it didn’t give all of the others being affected any voice in the matter. There was no opportunity to agree or to perhaps even improve the compromise.

Blunt, imperative messaging usually leads to ruffled feathers and, if it is a habitual way of communicating, often blossoms into an ongoing power struggle.

If it seems like people often become defensive with you, take a look at your communication style. Getting what we need goes best when we invite the people who will be affected to help work things out. If they are part of designing the solution we do not have to convince them to accept it and we do not come across as demanding, pushy or inconsiderate.

Even better, try to do it by telephone or in person so that others can hear from your tone of voice that you sincerely care about how changes affect them.

An exquisite poem by Khalil Gibran that speaks to me of all the voice may express.

Song of the Soul XXII

In the depth of my soul there is
A wordless song – a song that lives
In the seed of my heart.
It refuses to melt with ink on
Parchment; it engulfs my affection
In a transparent cloak and flows,
But not upon my lips.

How can I sigh it? I fear it may
Mingle with earthly ether;
To whom shall I sing it? It dwells
In the house of my soul, in fear of
Harsh ears.

When I look into my inner eyes
I see the shadow of its shadow;
When I touch my fingertips
I feel its vibrations.

The deeds of my hands heed its
Presence as a lake must reflect
The glittering stars; my tears
Reveal it, as bright drops of dew
Reveal the secret of a withering rose.

It is a song composed by contemplation,
And published by silence,
And shunned by clamor,
And folded by truth,
And repeated by dreams,
And understood by love,
And hidden by awakening,
And sung by the soul.

It is the song of love;
What Cain or Esau could sing it?

It is more fragrant than jasmine;
What voice could enslave it?

It is heartbound, as a virgin’s secret;
What string could quiver it?

Who dares unite the roar of the sea
And the singing of the nightingale?
Who dares compare the shrieking tempest
To the sigh of an infant?
Who dares speak aloud the words
Intended for the heart to speak?
What human dares sing in voice
The song of God?

For many people, noticing that they are in an inspired state is something of an accident. It seems special, maybe even mystical. For the artist, however, this state is a practice and it is entered into daily.

Throughout my life I have explored many paths. However, on my personal journey nothing else has opened or deepened me as much as singing does. It would seem to be my “way” through life.

Practice is the essential element that has made singing a reliable creative ally — rigorous, intentional, daily practice. I have given years of my life to practicing details like perfecting the overtones of an “AH” vowel on a certain pitch, or mastering the articulation of a consonant so the high note is easier. Mundane details that require such intense concentration that my mind is scrubbed clean of every other thought. My heart is open and receiving because I am submerged in curiosity and not replaying a past encounter or projecting a possible future.

All misgiving disappears and without a single strategy or logical calculation I seem to know what to try next. It is not necessarily the key that unlocks the doorway to “success,” but it always opens into the next thing I need to learn. I emerge renewed, inspired and ready to interact with what life brings my way.

Singing becomes an inspirational practice when it is done with the kind of concentration and awareness that stops time and opens into unbounded creativity, when it focuses the mind and liberates the heart from its brokenness.

You do not have to have any special powers to enter into this state. All you have to do is practice every day with focus, intention and curiosity instead of with drive, urgency and expectation. This is the difference between perpetuating what is known and creating something that moves everyone to perceive life as never before. It is the difference between pushing to achieve ambitions and tuning-in to inspiration.

Here is a link to Tony Robins interview with 108-year-old Alice Herz Sommer, a pianist and holocaust survivor. She inspires my practice!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTwnlW5lscg&feature=related

Children do not always, sadly, have a healthy natural vocal technique. I have had very young children come with nodules from the way they have been using the voice without instruction. If these children do not get help in childhood it could lead to permanent vocal dysfunction. Others have had conditions like acid reflux that was not diagnosed until I sent them to the doctor — I could tell from the voice that they needed more than a singing lesson. There is so much we can do to support the development of children’s voices and I find it to be profoundly different with each child.

As a perspective, here is a bit about Beverly Sills from Wikipedia that shows how early singing and lessons can start, and how a lifetime of giving to audiences can come from it.

At the age of three, Beverly Sills won a “Miss Beautiful Baby” contest, in which she sang “The Wedding of Jack and Jill”. Beginning at age four, she performed professionally on the Saturday morning radio program, “Rainbow House”, as “Bubbles” Silverman. Sills began taking singing lessons with Estelle Liebling at the age of seven and a year later sang in the short film Uncle Sol Solves It (filmed August 1937, released June 1938 by Educational Pictures), by which time she had adopted her stage name, Beverly Sills. Liebling encouraged her to audition for CBS Radio’s Major Bowes’ Amateur Hour, and on October 26, 1939 at the age of 10, Sills was the winner of that week’s program. Bowes then asked her to appear on his Capitol Family Hour, a weekly variety show. Her first appearance was on November 19, 1939, the 17th anniversary of the show, and she appeared frequently on the program thereafter.

Sills is 8 years old in this clip of “Arditi: Il bacio” in the short film “Uncle Sol Solves It” on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAz2HgSZaDs

I encourage anyone who feels a deep call to support children’s singing to honor that call, and also to heed the words of caution so often spoken regarding teaching children to sing. It is a less explored and studied practice and there is less to guide us. We must be utterly present and aware.

Teaching children is not for everyone, and until I did it I would not have believed all that is possible. I find that children immediately feel vocal shifts and they delight in them. They are often quicker and more adept than adults. They adore learning and mastery as much as any of us, and I could never deny them.

To communicate successfully with a child has asked the same from me as communicating successfully with anyone. I must listen deeply for how they learn. I listen to the language they speak and then use it to frame the concepts that will help them express themselves. We learn together and their singing evolves in s healthy, playful way.

There are three factors that determine pitch:

1)  The length of the vocal cords that is vibrating
2)  How deeply the vibrations work into the vocal cords
3)  How much the vocal cords are stretched

If the larynx elevates excessively when attempting a high note, the vocal cords may be overly stretched and there can be a great deal of tension, almost a feeling of strangling.

To practice keeping the larynx stable:

Lightly touch the little bump of cartilage you should be able to feel at the front of the throat to help locate it. You will notice that as you simply breathe in and out the larynx remains stable; it does not bobble up and down.

Now lightly hum and imitate a siren, sliding the voice up and down while noticing that the larynx remains stable. DO NOT PUSH DOWN ON IT OR FORCE IT LOWER.

If the larynx moves you might need more support from your lower ribs. Although you NEVER want to grunt while singing or speaking, if you place your hands on the sides of your body where the lowest ribs are located and make a little grunt, you will be able to feel your ribs engage. Keep this work in the ribs and completely relax your throat.

Notice that you can hum and keep your ribs open without tensing the throat. Now see if it is easier to do a siren on a hum without the larynx elevating.

To practice having the vibrations go less deeply into a shorter length of the vocal cords:

Practice making little mouse squeaks. In the following video clip, Carla Mafiorelli perfectly illustrates these squeaks while being “wound up” to finish the aria (at 2:55 into the clip). Her high notes are easy and in balance with the rest of her range because that squeak is at the core of them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGo-jdBaZAk

Most of the trouble people have singing high notes is created because they try to make them big and full. High notes NEVER open into the same sensations as lower notes, nor do they sound as rich or full to our inner hearing. Let them be squeaky, small and easy.

As you practice the function, your high notes will naturally develop and become beautiful. Learn how to make them so that they sound right to those listening outside of you.  Then learn to hear your optimally functioning high notes as beautiful.

This is fairly technical post, but several people have asked for ways to work on vibrato, so here goes.

The vibrato is created by a very tiny, regular pulsating change in pitch. It is such a small variation that the ear does not hear it as an actual pitch change but rather as a “waver” or “shake” within the tone. Singers do not normally think of creating vibrato because it occurs naturally when the voice is functioning at its best, when the flow of air and the way the vocal cords are vibrating together is optimal.

When there is no vibrato in the voice, the sound produced is referred to as a straight tone. When the voice is producing a straight tone, it is almost always because something in the vocal mechanism or body is tense. Various approaches to singing have ideals and exercises for relaxing as well as for developing posture, pacing the breath, bringing the vocal cords together and accessing resonance. If you have worked on all of these elements and still the tone is straight, there are some techniques and exercises that sometimes help to liberate the voice into a vibrant tone.

1. A single note vowel chant alternating between “EE” and “OOH”
The lips must form the smallest possible “OOH,” as though they are closing around a small drinking straw.

2. A scale passage that starts low and ascends in pitch on an “AH” vowel, then switches to a very small “OOH” vowel before singing the highest note and descending back to the original pitch.

3. A scale passage that starts low and ascends in pitch on an [λ] vowel, then switches to an “AH” vowel to sing the highest note and descend back to the original pitch.

A healthy, natural vibrato is between 5 to 7 cycles per second, depending on the size and character of the voice.

If the vibrato is present but too slow and broad, it can be helpful to work from a straight tone. Gradually release from the straight tone to produce only a tiny pulse in the tone. Once this is mastered release only enough more to produce a free, spinning vibrato. Because the pitch fluctuation is smaller, the vibrato will be faster.

A slow vibrato can also sometimes be corrected by playing with a tongue trill. Try sustaining a rolled “R” and notice the speed of the resulting trill. Next, sustain a note and intend for the vibrato to fluctuate at the same rate as the tongue trill. The vibrato will be slower than the tongue trill, but trying to match the speed of the tongue trill helps the body adjust and create a faster vibrato. If you have difficulty with a tongue trill, try a lip trill (which is produced by blowing air through slightly pursed lips and causing them to vibrate). This time try to match the rate of the vibrato on a sustained note to the speed of the fluctuation of the lips as they trill. Again, the vibrato will be slower but the physical analogy helps the body.

A full trill between two adjacent pitches can be used to broaden an excessively rapid, tight or narrow vibrato. Alternating between a full trill and a sustained note can help to reflex a fuller, richer vibrato.

When people experience performance anxiety, the “fight or flight” response is activated. Nerve cells fire and chemicals are released into the bloodstream. The rational mind is bypassed, fear is exaggerated and thinking is distorted. The respiratory rate increases, blood vessels constrict to reduce bleeding if wounded, pupils dilate, sight sharpens, and the immune system mobilizes. Nutrients are sent from organs to muscles. People might grow pale or flushed. They also might start to shake. I had one student who fainted and vomited in the first singing lesson – quite an initiation into the work!

Three things that support vocal function also reduce symptoms of anxiety:

1. Keeping the sternum lifted and expanding the lowest ribs helps to pace the breath and slow respiration.

To find the posture of the breastbone, raise your arms above your head. This will lengthen the torso. When you lower the arms and relax the shoulders, keep the lift in the torso. You will find you could still elevate the breastbone more but that would be too high and create a pinch in the back. You could also collapse it, which would allow all of your air to escape and the anxiety to take over.

2. Keeping the lower ribs expanded the entire time one is speaking or singing stabilizes emotions. It creates calmness and supports levelheadedness.

If you put your hands on your lower ribs at the side of your body and grunt, you should be able to feel the muscles that expand them. While you don’t want to grunt while singing or speaking, you do want this engagement in the ribs.

3. Refining phonation and adjusting resonance create overtones that bathe the brain in nourishing biochemical elements like positive endorphins.

To find the overtones try humming on “N,” “M,” or “NG.” You can find the resonance in the front of the face by making a nasty “a” like in the word “cat.” Keeping the sensations created by these sounds when you sing or speak will help generate the overtones that stimulate the system. It also helps to smile.

As breathing and vocal function are mastered, the “fight or flight” symptoms begin to fade. They usually disappear altogether a few minutes into a performance, presentation or challenging conversation. The more you face anxiety, the more possible it is to become adept at neutralizing it or using the energy to inspire your message. Eventually, most performers and speakers find the excitement and energy empowering.