Things You'll Need:
- tape recorder
- piano, keyboard or warm-up CD.
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Step 1
Probably the biggest problem with breathy tone is that it causes a singers sound to be weak and airy and doesn't allow them to project their sound very far at all. It also is potentially hazardous to their vocal health, because the vocal chords aren't completely closed when they sing this way. This allows large amounts of air to pass over the vocal chords and dry them out. This drying of the vocal chords causes them to function less efficiently. In the long run this could set the singer up for vocal injury. Also if the vocal chords aren't completely closed, it is hard to sing with good breath support. The singer will run out of air quickly and have difficulty singing long phrases.
Does this sound like you? If you can, record yourself singing and listen to the sound. Is it breathy, airy, quiet or does it seem to be lacking a lot of core to the sound? Then you are probably singing with a breathy sound. -
Step 2
Fix it!
How do you solve this problem? Well first off you need to discover how it feels when your vocal chords are working correctly. So lets say this. Hi how are you. Ok now you try it. I know you might feel pretty funny about making crazy sounds like this, but give it a try. Do you feel how your vocal chords come together? How is that different than when you were singing? Was there more or less air coming through your throat? Did you feel the vocal chords close differently? Try to remember those feelings and say the same thing again only this time hold the words out a little longer. This is essentially what singing is. It is sustained speech. Throughout my years of teaching I've come to realize that many people think that they have two different voices. One for speaking and one for singing. This is not true. The same voice is used for both.
Did you feel anything different from the last time that you spoke in that sing songy voice? Try to remember those feelings and this time I want to you sing "hi how are you." How was that different from the last time that you spoke the words? Did you feel a difference from the way that you sang it before? If you have a recorder, record yourself singing the words "hi how are you" and speaking in the sustained voice "hi how are you." Is there a huge difference between the way that your voice sounds on one verses the other? Play back the recording of yourself singing "hi how are you" from before. Can you hear a difference in the sound?
If you can't tell a difference, don't despair. I have a few more exercises to use to work on singing with more sound. This next one is to work at increasing the volume (and singing with less air in your sound.) It can be found on Track #5 on my warm-up CD "Basic Training for Singers." Simply sing Ha for four counts. As you hold the note try to get louder. It is important that you keep trying to sing louder as you sing this exercise. Place your hand in front of your mouth as you sing this exercise. Notice if the amount of air coming out changes as you get louder. Did you feel a big difference in the amount of air coming out as you got louder? If your sound still sounds pretty breathy, you can also try it on ah. -
Step 3
More exercises to fix it.
Once you have gotten pretty good at this exercise, you can switch to the following exercise. HA with 5th drop. This exercise is on track #14 of "Basic Training for Singers." Try to maintain the volume from the first note to the second note. Especially as you go lower, you will need to crescendo into that bottom note as well.
Try singing this next exercise as well. Sing ha ha ha all on one note. If it is too hard to sing with a clear sound on Ha try singing it with AH. Ha Ha Ha. Keep repeating this exercise up a half step.This is track #4 of Basic Training for Singers. -
Step 4
Practice, Practice, Practice!
As you sing these exercises try to pay attention to how your vocal chords are coming together and how much air is coming out of your throat. Try to sing with more sound than air and listen for a nice full sound. Keep using your recorder to track your progress. If you practice these exercises every day and really concentrate on singing with a fuller sound, you should see a change in your voice over the next few weeks.
For more help improving the sound of your singing voice go to:
www.singerspot.com
Comments
taskeinc said
on 11/7/2008 this would come in handy if I could carry a tune ..