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Hi everybody!
My name is Justin Stoney and I'm the founder of
New York Vocal Coaching here in New York City.
Welcome to episode 41 of Voice Lessons To The World.
The show where we want to help you guys as singers
by answering your questions from all over.
And I'll give you a chance to ask questions later.
But our question for this week comes from Chaimae M. in Rabat, Morocco.
And Chaimae writes, "Dear Justin my technique is getting really good.
I can sing high notes that I never could before.
But when I go to a song I can't sing some of
the same notes that I could in technique.
What do I do to fix this?
Now Chaimae that's just an awesome question.
And I'm so glad to hear that because I do want you guys
practicing your technique a lot, that's very important.
And actually Chaimae, I do want your technique
to go beyond what you can do in a song.
We need your technique to be the place where
you're building past your limits.
So that when you go to a song it's easier.
The problem here though is you're not finding
how the songs can become easier.
We're going to fix it together,
and we're gonna make some discoveries.
So what I'm going to do is
I'm just going to work through a song.
And I'm going to talk about some problems that I may be having,
and maybe you might be having.
And see if we can see how concepts of technique
are applied to a song, okay?
So I'm going to work on "Lately" by Stevie Wonder
and see what we can see.
Alright, so it goes something like this.
♪
♪ Oh I'm a man of many wishes ♪
♪ I hope my premonition misses ♪
♪ But what I really feel ♪
♪ My eyes won't let me hide ♪
♪ 'Cause they always start to cry ♪
Now that part's not so hard.
But the next part might
require some technique thought on my part
because it goes a little bit higher.
♪ 'Cause this time could mean goodbye ♪
♪ Goodbye ♪
Okay, so that's the part that may be giving me trouble.
Now let me talk about some problems that I could be having.
What if my problem is that I squeeze?
I squeeze the vocal cords as I go higher.
Then what I'm gonna get is something like this...
♪ But this time could mean goodbye ♪
And I'm feeling very pinched at the top.
Then I'm going to need the opposite.
I have to work the opposite in from my technique.
So maybe I pick something lighter, looser.
Like an H, hah or hi.
And I do...
♪ HI - HI - HI ♪
A nice light exercise like that.
♪ HI - HI - HI ♪
Right?
And then I can put that concept into the song.
♪ HI - HI - HI - HI - HI - HI - HI ♪
Just to give my voice a little bit of that give.
Then all of a sudden I have more looseness to my cords.
♪ 'Cause this time could mean goodbye ♪
And I feel that ease a little bit greater
because of the work I just did.
Now what if the problem is the opposite?
What if I'm coming apart when I go up there?
I don't have enough compression.
♪ 'Cause this time could mean goodbye ♪
And I'm always cracking...
♪ Goodbye ♪
on that high note.
Then like I say I'm gonna have to get back to
my compression exercises a little bit.
Luckily I've got that nice B.
That hard consonant B helps me find a little bit of my compression.
So I do something like...
♪ BI - BI - BI ♪
Right?
And then I'm feeling more of my compression.
Taking that exercise I can put it to a song...
♪ BI - BI - BI - BI - BI - BI - BI ♪
And then I feel a little bit more sealed up on the top.
That's if I'm having that problem.
So what we want to do is figure out what is the issue?
Now you can work with a voice teacher on this
or if you're really smart
you can figure it out on your own.
But you're starting to see how we can apply
these technique ideas to a song.
Now what about another one.
What about if the sound is getting too mouthy?
I'm letting it go spread and out on that high note.
♪ 'Cause this time could mean goodbye ♪
Whoa.
Okay.
What will I do to fix that?
I could pick something that
instead of going out, stays in.
Like for example an M, mmm.
And the exercise we could do...
♪ MY - MY - MY ♪
Right?
♪ MY - MY - MY ♪
And then all of a sudden the M is bringing
the sound into the head.
And then of course the next step...
♪ MY - MY - MY - MY - MY - MY - MY ♪
And I get it into the head more.
What about if my larynx is coming up?
Right?
The hyoid bone, the larynx, is coming up.
And I have something like...
♪ 'Cause this time could mean goodbye ♪
And I feel it come up.
Then I could pick a lower larynx exercise.
For example an UH.
And I could do...
♪ BUB - BUB - BUB ♪
To feel the depth.
Then, you guessed it, next step put it to the song...
♪ BUB - BUB - BUB - BUB - BUB - BUB - BUB ♪
Just to get the depth.
So you totally get the idea.
Last example.
What if I'm blasting the breath?
What if I know I'm pushing the airflow as I go up?
I could pick something like a trill or a Z.
Something that keeps the air from rushing out,
something that keeps it consistent as I go up.
And I could do my exercises first...
♪ ZZ - ZZ - ZZ ♪
Right?
♪ ZZ - ZZ - ZZ ♪
And then of course...
♪ ZZ - ZZ - ZZ - ZZ - ZZ - ZZ - ZZ ♪
Feeling the breath support built-in as I go higher.
So those are some great examples of
how I want you guys thinking.
Think about what you're doing with your technique
and how it applies to your song.
That way you're not just doing technique
and then hoping for the best.
But you're actually smart with it.
And, Chaimae and all, I bet ya, if you are actually
no just running through your songs
not just starting from the beginning
and going all the way through the end
and just doing it over and over again,
but finding the places that there's problems.
Trying to figure out what that problem is
and then taking the exercises that you're working on,
install them in the song and
it's going to make a huge change.
It's like I say, then you're working smartly
and not just working hard.
So I hope that's been helpful for you guys today as singers.
If there's questions that you'd like to see us answer on the show,
you can send an email to Questions@VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com.
So we just encourage you not to lose that joy, [♪]
don't lose that passion. [♪]
Don't let people tell you that you can't sing. [♪]
You know that's not true. [♪]
Get with a great voice teacher in your area [♪]
or if you want to Skype with us in New York [♪]
or come on by to New York [♪]
you can visit us at www.NewYorkVocalCoaching.com. [♪]
And if you like these videos I hope you download [♪]
our iPad and iPhone app. [♪]
There's tons of free resources on there. [♪]
Free articles, tips, videos, all kinds of stuff [♪]
to help you guys as singers. [♪]
Or you can visit www.VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com. [♪]
I'm Justin Stoney. [♪]
We'll see you next time. [♪]
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