-There is one vocal exercise I see done more than any other
by amateur and professional singers alike.
Lip bubbles are fantastic and should be
included in any vocal workout.
But most singers are performing them incorrectly
and, in doing so, may be causing more harm than good.
Are you getting the most out of your little bubbles?
Let's find out.
-Sound check.
Check one, check two.
[INSTRUMENTS TUNE, CROWD CHEERS]
-Hi.
Welcome to "Voice Essentials," where we develop your voice
and improve your sound.
My name is Dr. Dan, and I'm a contemporary singing voice
specialist.
And it's my job to help singers just
like you to get the very best out of their voice.
Lip bubbles or lip trills, as they are sometimes called,
from the semi-occluded vocal tract activities family.
And they've been around for ages.
For example--
[SPUTTERING SCALE]
Lip bubbles are primarily used for two things-- vocal warm-ups
and registration transitional work.
At first glance, they disappear easy enough.
But there are few key skills that you
need to employ to get the most out of your lip bubbles.
When we form a lip bubble, there are three sounds involved--
the lip--
[SPUTTERING]
--the air--
[SPUTTERING]
--and tone.
[SPUTTERING]
Take a quick moment to make a lip bubble using
one long extended note.
[SPUTTERING]
Which sound was predominant?
Was it the air, lip, or tone?
If it was the lip or air, then your lip bubbles
aren't quite working as well as they need to.
The aim in any lip bubble is to ensure that the tone is
the primary sound.
You see, if you lip or air are the predominant sounds,
your vocal folds probably aren't adapting in a balanced fashion.
And this means that your vocal folds may not
be coming together neatly.
They may be lightly rubbing each other as they make contact.
And it's this light rubbing that may be doing
your voice more harm than good.
So what do we need to do to ensure
that we perform lip bubbles in the very best manner possible.
Before I work on lip bubbles with my private students,
I always address two key topics first-- tension management
and breath management.
You see, if you're carrying too much tension
around your neck and your shoulders,
the larynx will struggle to produce efficient sounds.
And likewise, if your breath management is poor,
it's likely that when you produce lip bubbles,
the air will simply push past the larynx
with high levels of pressure.
The inability to manage muscular tension and the breath strain
during a lip bubble typically dictates
that either the lip and/or the air are the predominant sounds.
Again, a good lip bubble-- for example, this arpeggio--
[SPUTTERING SCALE]
--has an easily distinguishable tone
with a free and agile larynx that
is capable of moving through each
of the vocal registers with these.
[SPUTTERING DYNAMICS]
Just like that good siren.
-Sound check.
[CROWD CHEERING]
-Now, before you go off and start
working on your lip bubbles, there
are two more things you need to be conscious of in order
to get the very most out of this activity.
Firstly, make a lip bubble again using one long extended note
and take it through till the end of your breath.
For example--
[STEADY SPUTTERING]
[JAZZ MUSIC]
Did your lip bubble end cleanly?
Or did it end with an involuntary expelling of air?
[SPUTTERS, EXHALES]
Of course, our aim is to end each lip bubble
phrase with a clean, simultaneous offset.
Again--
[SPUTTERING SCALE]
If it ends with the breath of your aspirated offset,
then the vocal folds are working in an inefficient manner
and will likely tire at a quicker rate.
Finally, you'll have noticed that I'm
using two fingers either side of my lips.
Notice I'm not pulling or dragging or lifting lips.
I'm firmly resting the fingers next to the lips
in order to add structural support to the bubble.
[SPUTTERING]
With a bit of practice, you may not need to use your fingers.
But start with the finger support
first and then explore your options from there.
Lip bubbles are awesome, and I encourage every singer, amateur
and professional alike, to take full advantage of them.
Just make sure you're doing them correctly,
or they could be undoing all your good intentions.
Here at "Voice Essentials," I want to develop your voice
and improve your sound.
Every month, I upload new videos just
like this one that will provide you
with tips and tricks and instructions
on how to get the very best out of your voice.
You can have the voice you've always wanted.
So if you want to engage with the latest
information available to contemporary vocalists,
then hit the Subscribe button and join
our ever-increasing family of singers
from across the globe who are realizing the full potential
of their voice.
But for now, until I'll see you in the next "Voice Essentials"
video, I'm Dr. Dan.
Sing well.
[CROWD CHEERING]