Hey guys, welcome back again to Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy, where the proof is in the singing!
Why do I say that all the time? I say that, guys, because there is so much confusing
information going around, particularly on YouTube, and guys, I had to spend 30 years
studying the voice, and understanding what really works and what doesn’t. What’s
legit, and what isn’t. How do you determine what’s legitimate, and what isn’t? Einstein
said it best when he said “Example isn’t "A way" to teach, it’s the ONLY way to teach.”
Here at Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy we believe the PROOF is in the SINGING. So if you’re
looking for a vocal coach, make absolutely certain that that vocal coach truly: shows
themself singing, and singing WELL, demonstrating and displaying that what they teach is true,
and that they have students demonstrating and displaying that their technique actually
works. We have over 300 videos here on YouTube,
with several dozen students displaying just that. Today we’re going to be discussing how not
to choke off the cord, or how not to gag on your vowels, or choke off the sound as it goes
into ascending passages, or singing high. So, how to sing high without choking off the cord.
How we do this is, now everyone has different
styles, and there’s different types of singing, so I would have to break down a lot of different
styles and I’m not going to take all the time to do that now. What I’m going to take
time to do is, we’re going to talk about a simple “AH”vowel. And within this vowel
itself, and you may have seen my other videos. We’re just going to go for a straight triad
of “AH”. We’re going to start a little higher than what we’ve been doing. I’m
going to start with the guys, and ladies, will get to you in a second. We’re going
to start on the ah vowel. Now, we’re going to open the throat just like the Doctor wants
to see our tonsils, with the ah! Lah! AH!! I’ve coined the phrase. It’s called “It’s
the Lah! Ah!” “It’s the Lah! Ah!” And we’re going to have the tongue to the
base of the jaw… Like this:
Now as we go a little higher, there’s something called vowel modifications. We actually have
to modify the vowel sound, because if we don’t, it gets too broad, or too wide, and it splats,
or it becomes top heavy. So in other words, if I didn’t, when I get here…
The higher up I go, the more unmanageable that sound is. I have to corral it, or “lasso”
it, or pare that sound down, in order for that vowel to be manageable. So we have something
called vowel modifications. Now, this is really important, because first we start with our
diaphragm, and the diaphragm actually is what is the engine that drives our car for singing.
I’m going to cover that in the section called diaphragmatic support later, but that’s
actually the key and the cornerstone to great singing, and a relaxation response between
the chest, the neck, and the throat. But as we go up the scale, what we want is:
“Lah, ah, ah, ahhhhhhhh, ah, ah, ahhhh.” Did you hear me go a little towards “aw”?
Like loft? I closed down that sound a little bit, so that it’s not so big that it doesn’t
splat and get away from me. I’ll do another one: “Lah, ah, ah, ahhhhhhhh, ah, ah, ahhhh.”
I’m not going:
I’m going towards “aw”, like loft, as I go up the scale. Now, as we go up the scale,
there’s a lot of these different vowel modifications. I cover this in my course. It’s called
How To Sing Better Than Anyone Else. There’s a lot of different kinds of things like this
that we must do in order to get control of those scales.
So ladies, I promised I would help you out, too. So, with you, same thing. We’ll start a little higher...
Do you hear me go towards aw, like loft, again? Okay, so there’s a series of these different
kind of vowel modifications that we use to go up and down the scale, in order to maintain
good vocal health, and freedom and relaxation response in the throat.
Guys, it’s how you see me, when you see me go up really high: Heeeeeyyyyy! Go up and
down the scale with these crazy notes? It’s cause I know how to control my vowels, and
though it may sound like I’m singing really big, I’m actually governing my sound, and
getting really good control within the vocal tract, of what it is that I’m singing.
So, if you guys like what you’re hearing, would you please LIKE on my videos, and subscribe,
that would be super awesome, and we have more videos coming your way.
Until next time. Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy. Peace. Out.