-Sound check.
Check one, check two.
[APPLAUSE]
-Hi.
My name's Dr. Dan.
Welcome to another voice essentials quick tip.
You've probably clicked on this video
because, like most singers, you want to learn to sing higher.
The modern audience seems to have
a fascination with high, full tilt belted sounds,
and so it stands to reason that as a singer,
you would want to deliver safe, secure notes
at the very top of your range.
There's just one problem.
Most voices don't naturally produce big, high notes easily.
So, over the next few minutes, I'm
going to educate you as to how the voice coordinates
to sing through its notes, low to high, and what
is technically required to hit the big, top note
without cracking or locking up.
I hope you'll stick around as we survey the excitement
and challenge of high notes.
High notes don't typically occur as an isolated
event within a song.
In most contemporary repertoire, there is at least a lead up
melody that ascends to the top notes.
These penultimate notes are like a pole vaulter's run up
before they leap into the air.
If the pole vaulter mistimes her step
or carries the pole incorrectly, she'll
have no chance of making the giant leap over the top bar.
Everything must be coordinated and balanced.
Achieving high notes is no different.
As we sing through the preceding melody in the lead up
to the top note, we need to make sure we
have a good balance between airflow and muscle activity.
Too much air and our laryngeal muscles
will most likely constrict in order
to hold the air pressure back, with the voice getting tighter
as the notes progress towards the top note.
The opposite is also true.
If you don't have enough air pressure,
your intrinsic laryngeal muscles will
struggle to activate in a manner sufficient for the task
of hitting the height required.
The key skill required here is breath management.
Learning to manage your breath flow rates
will enable you to monitor your breath
pressure as you sing through the phrase and up to the top note.
You'll find a couple of great breath management activities
on my exercise CD, Dr. Dan's Voice Essentials.
The biggest temptation when singing big, high notes
is driving the voice too hard.
When we overdrive the voice by pushing too much pressure up
through the larynx, the mechanism
will often respond by valving against the pressure.
This high level constriction reduces the dynamic balance
needed by the vocal folds in order to oscillate freely.
Simply put, the constricted voice
will struggle to maintain pitch and volume.
The smart singer learns to work counter intuitively
to this temptation.
As you sing up through the phrase towards the top note,
work to subtly reduce the air pressure.
Actually, as your melody rises and your volume increases,
so does the subglottal pressure, the pressure directly
beneath the vocal folds, but the unskilled singer will often
find themselves adding to this pressure by pushing harder,
and it's this additional push that
all too often tips the scales, causing constriction.
A second temptation that many singers experience
when singing high notes is the tendency
to sing up to the note.
The mental image of the ascending scale
often causes the inexperienced singer
to physically lift and elongate their neck and head.
Again, the outcome is muscular tension.
I advise my students to sing through the phrase.
The mental image of the notes traveling horizontally
as opposed to the notes traveling vertically
can be helpful in managing your physical response
to those high notes.
Perhaps the best way to develop muscular balance and even
breath flow is by using a lip bubble.
[MAKES NOISE] You've probably used lip bubbles
for your vocal warm ups.
For example, [HUMS SCALE].
Lip bubbles are fantastic because they
cause the laryngeal muscles to coordinate
in a balanced fashion.
Lip bubbles also require an even, consistent breath stream.
This makes lip bubbles a great exercise
for singing through difficult melodies, especially ones
that end with a high note.
Simply sing your difficult melody using a lip bubble,
ensuring that the notes are predominantly sound,
not the lip or air.
For example, I might lip bubble an ascending melodic line
in the "Pity the Child" from the musical "Chess."
[HUMS MELODY]
Notice I'm not lifting my head or pushing more air
through the lip bubble.
I'm singing through the phrase.
[HUMS MELODY]
Once your voice starts to learn the muscular balance required
for the melody using the lip bubble,
start to make artistic decisions about the color of your notes.
For example, in my melody from "Pity the Child,"
I want the whole line to be full bodied. (SINGING)
Someone to treat her just the same way as before.
(SPEAKING) Of course, this takes practice.
The practice is not simply focused
on learning the notes or the lyrics.
More importantly, you are developing muscle memory,
muscle memory that is laying the pathway
of muscular balance needed for the melody you are singing.
There's no quick fix here.
Often, this is going to take weeks and months of practice
as you teach your voice how to achieve
the high notes without tension.
It's a bit like learning to do the splits.
Go too quickly and you're likely to do yourself some damage.
Work your muscles over time, and they'll
respond with active balance.
High notes are most certainly a voice essential.
Without them, our songs have no contour or shape.
Our job is to make sure we can sing them confidently
in an artistic manner we've chosen.
I hope the tips I've provided in this video are helpful to you
as you continue to work on your singing.
For other helpful singing tips, check out my YouTube channel
and subscribe.
I'd also love you to join my free email list.
Simply go to djarts.com.au and sign up on the home page.
I wish you all the very best as you
continue to develop your voice.