Okay, so let’s talk some more about how to do the tongue trill and what sound should be made under it to lessen the vocal strain even more. So, the fingers are pressing in the cheeks to where you can feel the teeth. This lifts the weight of the skin, and the lips are closed, as you blow the rapid series of /b/.

The sound under the trill should be a low, dopey “uh” sound. It shouldn’t be a squeezy, whiney “eh” sound. This will keep the larynx low and prevent it from rising too much as your notes get higher.

This same thing can be done with the tongue trill. This differs from the tongue trill in that the tongue bats up against the roof of the mouth, similar to the formation and sound of the rolled /r/ in Latin American speak. All the other guidelines of the lip trill apply to the tongue trill.

Hope this is helpful!

Aaron

So, how do you do lip trills work? Lip trills are basically a rapid series of /b/. It’s the sound that you make when it is cold outside, “Bbbrrrr, it’s cold!” The best way to do this exercise is to put two fingers, on each cheek (about ½ inch from your mouth) and push in, to take the weight of the skin off the face. Then, make sure your lips are as relaxed as possible, even pouty. Now, blow and let the lips flap.

If you’re still having trouble, try sticking out your tongue and blowing, as if you were a kid and didn’t like the person in front of you, “Pppfftt!” Then stick your tongue back in your mouth, and, with closed lips, try again. This should help.

Hopefully this is helpful so far. I’ll give you further instruction on how to do this and what sound you should make under this in the next post, as well as give you a scale to complete it.

Aaron

Do you really need to take singing lessons in order to become the singer that you hope to someday be? No matter how well you think that you can sing, you can always improve your blind spots with singing lessons.

Also online singing lessons are a great and cost effective way to get lessons and get better more quickly. And with online lessons you can get an entire systematic program for the cost of about one or two private lessons, which is great financially. Also because you get all of the lessons upfront you can tailor your system, you’re learning system to how you learn best. For example if you are fast learner then you can take a bunch of lessons back to back. If you are a slower learner then you can take your time, and you don’t have to try to keep up with a class or pay a private instructor more money because it’s taking more time.

The best thing about singing lessons is that they can help you correct bad techniques that you don’t even realize that you have. You may be singing in a way that is actually damaging your voice and not even know it. And with a systematic, step-by-step learning program, you can get rid of these bad habits and instill good habits, so that you can sing better and have a longer career.

Another great thing about online singing lessons is that you can take the lessons in your own home and you do not have to go to the local community college or go to a vocal studio and pay a bunch of money. All you have to do is sign up for the program and take the lessons at your speed and at your pace in your own home, which is very convenient. And you get to keep all of the lessons so you can take them as many times as you feel that you need to.

I just finished a singing lesson program myself, and I have not only added almost an octave to my singing ability and my range, but I also corrected some of my own bad habits. I went through the Brett Manning singing success course and found it to be extremely helpful. I am now going through his advanced program and am finding it to be very helpful as well. And it also comes with a bunch of vocal exercises that I use daily to help warm up and improve my voice. I am already noticing that my vocal stamina is much more than it was before. Also I am able to hit higher notes with less strain in my voice, which is a really great thing.

So that is why I wanted to do this singing success review.

The tongue is odd because it’s the only muscle in the body that is attached at one end and not at the other. It’s a squirrelly little guy that is right in the way of the airflow, often killing the resonant sound that every singer longs for and needs. So, I want to give you an idea where the tongue should be while singing and help you practice it by giving you an exercise to work on it with.

As odd as it will feel at first, the tip of the tongue should remain at the surface of the lower teeth (in back, of course!) for all vowels sound and many consonants. Notice I say vowel sounds and not just vowels. This is because there are far more vowels sounds than vowels. So, the tip of the tongue should remain there for about seventy percent of the time, and when it is lifted to hit a consonant sound like the “th”, it should immediately return to its position afterward.

So, in order to give this some practice take a couple of different vowel sounds and repeat this pattern: 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1. Make sure the tongue stays where it’s supposed to be!

Good luck, and I hope this helps!

Aaron

The lip trill is an important exercise because is takes that place of hundreds of exercises that vocal experts have used in the past. What it does is take the strain, the tension off of the vocal cords and allows you to sing higher notes with less strain.

It’s also a great warm up exercise, if done around speaking range. The lip trill loosens up the muscles in the face and lips, preparing you to sing, and sing with less tension. It also helps you pace the outflow of air, which is an important aspect of singing. It is one of the primary goals when it comes to breath support.

Okay, so let me give you an idea of how to do it in case your don’t already. The lips trill is basically a rapid series of “B”. It is the sound you make when imitating a horse, just more extended. If that doesn’t register, it is the sound you make on a cold day, “bbbbrrr”. It’s air blown through closed, relaxed lips.

The idea is to do this with a sort of dopey, “uh” sound under it. This will steady the larynx, keeping it down as you begin to hit the higher notes.

Do these with any scale.

Hope that helps!

Aaron Anastasi

I also wish to touch on how to sing from your diaphragm and if this is possible for anyone to learn or does it depend upon whether you’ve enough talent.

One of the parts of learning to sing vibrato like a professional is learning how to get it done with out a shaky sounding voice. Learning how to sing vibrato should come natural to you personally when you have a healthy voice that has been started properly. You want to make certain you are controlling not merely your vibrato but the rate of oscillation as well.

The funny thing is a lot of people learn how to sing vibrato by messing around or imitating a common singers until they begin to understand how to get it done properly. The easiest way however to find out to sing vibrato is simply by understanding and utilizing proper breath management and control.

One of the best methods to try this is as simple as having good posture and learning how to sing out of your diaphragm. In addition to keeping your chest high, this is one way to sing out of your diaphragm. And also the trick is to not allow muscles of inhalation give way towards the muscles of exhalation too soon, which will help the diaphragm not to ascend too rapidly.

One of the biggest questions I get asked frequently is that if anyone can learn how to sing or when you have to be born with natural singing talent. Well to tell the truth you can now learn to become a better singer and fine-tune their voice with all the right knowledge and singing exercises.

First thing involved when it arrived at learning to sing is the knowledge a part of singing, including all of the tips and tricks of learning how a voice works. Another section of enhancing your singing really comes by understand which vocal exercises you ought to be doing regularly. Because the voice is made up primarily of muscle, you have to workout those muscles and be sure they are nice toned in order that they will respond and sing at an optimum level. Understanding how to do those two things will get you improving rapidly.

And so I hope I have started to reply to the question can anyone learn to sing in the affirmative.

The lip trill is an important exercise because is takes that place of hundreds of exercises that vocal experts have used in the past. What it does is take the strain, the tension off of the vocal cords and allows you to sing higher notes with less strain.

It’s also a great warm up exercise, if done around speaking range. The lip trill loosens up the muscles in the face and lips, preparing you to sing, and sing with less tension. It also helps you pace the outflow of air, which is an important aspect of singing. It is one of the primary goals when it comes to breath support.

Okay, so let me give you an idea of how to do it in case your don’t already. The lips trill is basically a rapid series of “B”. It is the sound you make when imitating a horse, just more extended. If that doesn’t register, it is the sound you make on a cold day, “bbbbrrr”. It’s air blown through closed, relaxed lips.

The idea is to do this with a sort of dopey, “uh” sound under it. This will steady the larynx, keeping it down as you begin to hit the higher notes.

Do these with any scale.

Hope that helps!

Aaron Anastasi

Two vital parts of singing are the lungs and the muscles, and both of these move more agile when they are hydrated. For this reason, staying hydrated directly affects your singing voice. Water also flushes away unwanted phlegm, mucus in the throat, which is good, because the mucus can affect your pitch and vocal control. And if you have ever tried to sing with a dry throat you know the negative affect that it can have on the singing voice.

A dry throat can come from many different factors. The most common though is nerves. Anytime you are feeling nervous about something, your throat gets dry. Well, this is no good when it comes to singing, because nerves almost always accompany singing in front of others no matter how seasoned of a singer you may be.

The best way that you can relieve some of the nerves is to be prepared. Nothing is as powerful as preparedness when it comes to feeling nervous about something. If you have put you time, effort and heart into something, you will be much more relaxed when the time comes to presenting it.

Hope this helps. I’ll say more about the dry throat syndrome in the next post.

Aaron

How you speak directly affects your singing voice. Everyday noise pollution (I live in Los Angeles!) can cause you to want to scream in order to be heard. Okay, maybe this isn’t true for your quiet town, but it is true at sporting events, parties and clubs. But what it takes to scream over louder noise has a grinding affect on the voice. Instead of using the yelling part of the voice, you can implement your newfound breathing technique as you speak. Breathing from your diaphragm is not only applicable to singing but speaking loudly as well. You can raise your voice slightly and breath from your diaphragm, and this should be enough to carry your voice over the noise.

Another thing to look out for is how loudly you speak on a normal day-to-day basis. You may speak loudly and not even realize it. I remember traveling throughout South America and Europe and being taken aback by how loudly some people speak (yell!) in public. Different cultures have different mores about what volume of speaking is appropriate, but a voice is a voice no matter where you are from, and too much loud speaking can be very taxing on your vocal cords.

Hope this helps!

Aaron

I want to finish up our discussion on breath support before moving on to other vocal health related issues. So here we go.

When you inhale, the expansion should be as much in the lower rig cage and oblique area as it is laterally in the stomach. There is a German-based breathing method called belly breathing, that some swear by, but I think the Italian method is superior for more powerful and resonant singing. That is what I’m describing here.

The chest should remain relatively high while singing and shouldn’t collapse, as is the tendency, when singing and getting toward the end of a breath cycle. The muscles of inhalation shouldn’t too quickly give way to the muscles of exhalation.

This simple method helps the diaphragm to descend, which is the goal, and not to re-ascend too quickly. This is diaphragm breathing.

Hope this helps!

Aaron