- A singing exercise doesn't need to be complex
and difficult for it to be effective.
In this video, I'm gonna teach you the easiest
exercise that I know, but don't be
put off by its simplicity.
This little singing exercise will give your voice
a workout for weeks and months to come.
- [Female Rocker] Sound check.
Check one, check two.
(band riffs)
- Hi, my name is Dr. Dan, and you've just
discovered my YouTube channel.
Here at Voice Essentials, I aim to help you
develop your voice, and improve your sound,
because I believe that every voice deserves to be heard.
Now today, we're looking at the easiest
singing exercise that I know.
In fact, this is the very same exercise
I give to every new singing student that I work with.
This little beauty is easily accessible to
every level of singer, beginner to professional.
So, be assured that no matter what level
your voice is at, you'll get something out of this exercise.
Ah, and keep watching 'til the end of this vid,
because we are going to get practical.
That's right.
You are going to sing.
- [Female Rocker] Sound check.
(audience cheers)
- So, what is it?
Quite simply, it's a five note scale.
It goes something like this.
(he plays the piano)
♪ Yah-- ♪
Yes, on the surface of it, all we're doing
is singing the first five notes of the major scale.
And this is where most people would stop
and disregard the hidden benefits
that this exercise has to offer.
But there are so many things that these
five notes empower us to workshop in the voice.
Firstly, let's focus in on the onset,
the way your voice commences the sound.
♪ Yah-- ♪
Notice that I'm commencing each phrase with a Yah.
The Yah gives the sound a simultaneous onset.
This means that the voice is learning to
start the sound with both the air and the vocal folds
beginning together, simultaneously.
A simultaneous onset is the healthiest
and most sustainable of the three onsets.
The other two onsets are known as breathy onsets,
sometimes they're called an aspirated onset,
or a soft onset.
And they will sound something like this.
♪ Ha, ha--, ha ♪
You can hear the air is starting before the actual note.
And a glottal ontack, the third type of onset,
a glottal attack, or a hard onset,
sounds something like this.
♪ Ah, ah-- ♪
You can hear the voice being separated
and the vocal folds are coming back and
slamming each other, because there's not
a simultaneous onset of air and muscle,
and in turn, the note.
All three onsets have their place in
contemporary singing, but I always orientate
a voice to the middle ground, as a habitual pattern,
that is, the simultaneous onset.
And the second thing I wanna, I want you to
pay attention to is how your voice navigates the notes.
Our aim is to sing through the phrase smoothly.
Now, sometimes voices will want to sing through
the phrase in a step-like manner.
And it'll sound like something like this.
♪ Ya, ah, ah, ah, aah--, ah, ah, ah ♪
Yeah?
Or they'll slur through the phrase,
and it'll sound something like this.
♪ Yaaahh-- ♪
Again, we wanna sing through the phrase
with a smooth, or legato, line, with each note being
heard as separate, but connected to the next.
Again, it sounds like this.
♪ Yah-- ♪
(chord progresses)
♪ Yah-- ♪
(chord progresses)
♪ Yah-- ♪
- [Female Rocker] Sound check.
(band riffs)
- Because most of us can easily sing through the five notes,
we can also direct our mental attention to what our
vocal tracks are doing as we sing the phrase.
Always remember, you're a complete instrument,
head to toe, so we need to constantly monitor
what our entire instrument is doing.
In particular, I want to draw your attention
to what your mouth, jaw, and tongue are doing
as you sing through the phrase.
Now, sing these phrases with me, and as you do so,
I want you to take notice of any
unnecessary tension in your jaw.
I also want you to take note of
the placement of your tongue.
I want you to work on bringing your tongue forward,
and sitting it in, behind your bottom front teeth.
Let's have a go.
So starting here.
(piano chord)
♪ Yah-- ♪
Paying attention.
♪ Yah-- ♪
To any tension, here we go.
♪ Yah-- ♪
Excellent.
What did you notice?
For some of you, you'll have noticed
that your tongue wants to pull back and down.
So, keep workshopping the exercise, and practice
keeping your tongue up and forward.
For those of you who felt tension in your jaw,
try singing through the phrase with your
pinky between your teeth.
And the aim here is to not bite down on the finger,
but simply, use the finger as a spacer.
- [Female Rocker] Sound check.
(band riffs)
- Okay, let's now sing through this exercise
across the range of an octave and a half.
We'll be starting on a fourth, for the ladies,
and guys, you'll be starting down the octave, on a three.
Ladies, don't be put off by the fact
that you're probably gonna have to move
through your transition into your upper register,
or your head voice, halfway through the activity.
Make sure you stay tuned to the things we talked about.
Onset, legato line, and any unnecessary tensions
in your jaw and your tongue.
Okay, here we go.
I'll sing the first couple of phrases with you,
and then I'll let you continue by yourself.
Ah, and before you start, make sure
you are standing up for the activity.
Ready?
And here we go.
(piano chord)
♪ Yah-- ♪
(chord progresses)
♪ Yah-- ♪
(chord progresses)
♪ Yah-- ♪
(piano scales)
Good work.
Paying attention to any
development of tension.
Passing the octave point now.
Good work.
We're coming to the top.
And we're gonna go back down.
Returning to the point at which we commenced,
which is the A-four, gentlemen,
that was the A-three for you.
Again.
Pay attention to your energy.
Don't let your energy die off as we
continue back to our base point.
Good.
Pay attention to your jaw and your tongue.
Think about your onsets.
And those legato lines.
And we're nearly home.
And to finish off.
♪ Yah-- ♪
Awesome, how did you go?
Remember, it's the simplicity of this exercise
that allows us to really drill down into
how the voice is developing sound.
So, practice it repetitively for the next few weeks.
I promise, you will discover new things about your voice
that you've not noticed before.
I hope this video has been helpful to you guys.
I'm wanting to create content for us
here at Voice Essntials, that will be
of high value to your vocal development.
So, let me know if you wanna see more videos
like this by leaving a comment,
and giving the video a thumbs up.
Now, if this is your first time here at Voice Essentials,
then I'd love you to subscribe to the channel,
and join our family of passionate singers
from right across the globe.
We're a friendly bunch, and we love singing,
so I know you'll fit right in,
but for now, I'll let you rewind the video,
and sing through the exercise a few more times.
So until I see you again, I'm Dr. Dan.
Sing well.
(audience cheers)