Hey singers!
Today we're gonna learn one of the very best
vocal exercises you could ever do...
♬
the glissando!
♬
Hey singers,
I'm Justin Stoney the founder of New York Vocal Coaching
joining you for episode 108 of Voice Lessons To The World.
Today's question comes from Gelinda V. in Durban, South Africa.
Gelinda writes, "Dear Justin, I've heard that
practicing glissandos can help the voice.
How does it work?"
Sensational question, Gelinda.
Glissandos are in fact one of the most helpful
and effective exercises in all of the singing voice.
And today we're going to find out exactly why.
Plus I'm going to give you an exercise
that will help you to really experience
and feel the benefit of glissandos.
Let's start with a definition!
What is a glissando?
♬
A glissando is pretty easy to define.
It simply means to slide or glide between notes.
When they're written into sheet music
glissandos get a pretty cool looking squiggly line to notate them.
♬
So essentially, it's a very gradual movement between two pitches.
A glissando can be ascending...
♪ Ah ♪
They can be descending...
♪ Ah ♪
Or it can be both!
♪ Ah ♪
It can also be done between any musical interval.
This is a major third,
♪ Ah ♪
But I could also do a fifth,
♪ Ah ♪
Or an octave,
♪ Ah ♪
Or let's say two octaves!
♪ Ah ♪
Really any interval can work.
You can also do a glissando that's sort of random
when it comes to its starting an ending point.
♪ Ah ♪
That's generally what we call a siren.
Now that we've defined a glissando
we need to explore the incredibly abundant benefits.
To do it, let's go to the lab!
♬
The first benefit of glissandos is singing all the notes.
♬
When we move from pitch to pitch
we really only learn our voice's coordination
for those exact pitches.
That goes for intervallic movement,
♪ Ah ♪
As well as scaler movement,
♪ Ah ♪
But when we move by slides
♪ our voice learns to coordinate
each and every little half step and quarter tone
as we move up and also the same exact precision happens
when we come back down to where we started ♪
So in effect, we aren't just limited to the notes
that are written on the page
or that a musical instrument can play.
Nope!
We gonna sing all the notes!
Next gliss bliss, pinpoint the exact moment.
♬
The cool thing about sliding
is that we can find the exact moment that
a problem happens.
Maybe the larynx is lifting up,
maybe the embouchure is spreading out,
maybe the vocal folds are squeezing.
Whatever it is, glissandos kind of act like detectives for us.
In other words maybe the problem doesn't
start ♪ here ♪ or ♪ here ♪.
Maybe it starts,
♪ here ♪
Or
♪ here ♪
Or
♪ here ♪
The exacting nature of slides helps us to
pinpoint and expose the precise moments
where we tend to cheat.
But it also helps us to iron them out.
Next, register blending!
♬
Maybe my favorite benefit of slides
is the way they help us to blend our registers.
There's not a singer on the planet
who doesn't want better vocal registration.
And glissandos are a major tool to achieve this.
Think about it, if I want to find the middle ground in my voice
what better way to do it than to move gradually between
thyroarytenoid dominant and cricothyroid dominant productions.
[hits piano]
If I start off with thyroarytenoid dominance
several things could happen.
I could keep the TA mass and not change it,
♪ Ah ♪
Or I could let CT take over,
♪ Ah ♪
Or I could allow the gradual nature of glissandos
♪ Ah ♪
to help me achieve the precision
that vocal registration requires.
Next benefit, high note helper!
♬
Very similar to the way that gradual slides
help blend the registers,
many singers will use this as a way
to make high notes easier.
Rather than just hit the note cleanly right on it,
they'll slide or scoop up to the pitch.
This is also to gather the mass of the lower pitch,
establish it,
and then drag its qualities up to the higher pitch.
Now sometimes this is super duper cheating.
But many times this is actually a natural part of style
and a desirable part of style.
Which leads us to our last gliss bliss,
stylistic frequency.
♬
Most awesomely, glissandos don't just have
technical benefits.
They also have stylistic benefits
in like, every style ever.
We don't have time to look at them all
but today we'll just look at some examples
from pop, rock, and opera.
First let's look at a pop application.
♬
Today I'm gonna look at a phrase from an Adele song
that has a very choice glissando.
♪ You look like a movie you sound like a song ♪
♪ My god this reminds me, of when we were young ♪
♪ Let me photograph you in this light ♪
♪ In case it is the last time ♪
But it's not the last time, because next
we need to take a look at a rock application.
♬
Our friend The Boss wasn't just born to run,
he was born to slide.
I need my soulmate here to show you this one.
♬
♪ Oh someday girl and I don't know when ♪
♪ We're gonna get to that place where we really want to go ♪
♪ And we'll walk in the sun ♪
♪ But till then tramps like us ♪
♪ Baby, we were born to run ♪
♪ Tramps like us ♪
♪ Baby, we were born to run ♪
But if you think a classical singer
would run from such sounds like the glissando...
think again!
♬
These little phrases from Puccini
are classic examples of how an opera singer
might blow a kiss to the gliss!
♪
♪ Chi son e che faccio Come vivo ♪
♪ Vuole ♪
Now these are just a few examples
but I hope it helps you to appreciate the fact
that glissandos appear in virtually every style out there.
And now that we've explored the benefits of glissandos
it's your turn to try it with this week's
Voice Lessons To The World Challenge.
♬
Our exercise for the day is going to be a
1-5-1 slide.
Now for some of you glissandos are going to come very easily.
But in my experience, some singers really struggle.
They have every intention of moving gradually between the notes
but instead of...
♪ Ah ♪ [slides]
they end up with...
♪ Ah ♪ [jumps to note]
If you really struggle with glissandos,
then start by trying some police sirens.
[police car sirens]
[buzzer]
That's one of these...
[demonstrates]
Or you could try the cartoon bomb drop!
♪
[buzzer]
That's of course one of these...
[demonstrates]
Finally, there's always the exasperated tattletale.
And that's of course an
Ohhhhh [slides]
You did something
baaaaaad! [slides]
[ding]
And once you're sure that you can
slide like Clyde The Glide
then we're ready for the exercise.
It sounds like this...
♪ Ah ♪
We're doing the AH vowel today
but you can also do any vowel of your choice.
You might consider doing it on a nasal consonant
like an M or an NG.
♪ NG ♪
Or you could do a fricative like a V or a Z.
♪ ZZ ♪
Or you could even do a trill.
♪ [Trills] ♪
All right!
Guys are gonna be down here
and ladies are gonna be up here.
And here we go!
♪ Ah ♪
That's it.
♪
Very nice!
♪
Yeah, really move through all the notes.
♪ Ah ♪
Awesome!
♪
Yeah, move through those pitches.
♪
Good for you!
♪ Ah ♪
I like it!
♪
That's it, coming down.
♪
Nice and gradual.
♪
Great.
♪
Good for you! Two more...
♪
And here's the last...
♪ Ah ♪
♪
Excellent work.
Gelinda and all, please keep us posted
on how you're doing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
all the usual suspects.
And if you have questions for future episodes of the show
write to us at Questions@VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com.
Here's some other things that I hope will
glide you into your vocal best.
For voice lessons or Skype lessons with the NYVC staff [♪]
visit us at NewYorkVocalCoaching.com. [♪]
If you'd like a vocal course that you can do at home check out the [♪]
Voice Lessons To The World Vocal Course. [♪]
This twelve part program takes you on a singing journey [♪]
from beginner to master level vocal exercises. [♪]
You can find it at VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com. [♪]
Or, if you'd like free vocal tips sent to you each day [♪]
sign up at DailyVocalTips.com. [♪]
And now, here's Justin with this week's vocal benediction. [♪]
In life, it's very easy to dart from point A to point B.
We're often in a big rush
to get from where we are to where we want to be.
But looking back at our lives we realize
that point A and point B aren't really what matters the most.
What matters is the in-between.
That uncomfortable time when you don't quite know
if you're gonna stay strong or if you just might crack.
Are you in that time right now?
Are you at your breaking point?
If so then maybe, just maybe,
you can learn to slide and enjoy the ride.
♬