Expanding Vocal Range - Part 2

by Jeannie Deva

To fully expand your range, it is necessary to eliminate throat muscle tension. When I speak of expanding range, I mean having a wide "playing field" of many notes high and low within which you are able to create varied volumes, colors, textures and emotions. In Part One of this lesson, we looked at vocal warm-up as the first remedy. Let's continue our exploration of the Five Primary Causes of Throat Muscle Tension.

2. Air Over-blow - Air vibrates the vocal folds. Too much air pushing under the vocal folds can push them out of position. They will either tense in resistance or blow apart. If they tense, you will sound strained or off pitch, and will reach what could feel like a "ceiling" in your range. The muscles of your vocal instrument will lock up preventing them from vibrating faster to give you higher pitches. Excess air passing through the folds also produces the quality of voice often referred to as "head voice."

All of the reasons for air over-blow and their remedies are fully covered in my home study course: "The Contemporary Vocalist Volumes I and II."

Here are a couple reasons:
If you think you need to push up to "hit" the pitch, your body will respond by pushing out too much air. (See the Free Voice Lesson "Exploring the Mind/Body Connection of Singing.")
If you push-in your stomach you will force your body to push out too much air in relation to the needs of your vocal folds. In fact, if anything happens to cause your lungs to compress as you sing, you will have air over-blow.

3. Over-Articulation - If you manipulate the movement of your lips and/or jaw while singing, it can tighten your tongue and the muscles in the back of your throat. This is called hypertension. (Hyper = too much) In turn, your larynx, which houses your vocal folds, is stiffened and made inflexible. The best way to sing includes the relaxation of the lips and jaw. Let your inner instrument do its job. Tightening your lips and wide stretches of your jaw promote hypertension. This prevents your inner vocal apparatus from moving easily.

This gives the appearance that it's harder to sing or reach higher notes. This is a self-imposed difficulty. Yes, you have to move your lips and tongue to form your consonants. However, you do not need to exaggerate the positions of lips and tongue in order to be understood. The vowels, not the consonants, should be the heart of your sound.

To explore this further, let's use the word "HOW." Choose a pitch slightly above your usual speaking voice. Sing the word "How" on this pitch as follows: Push on the "H" and hold the pitch as you tighten into the "W." If you sounded like a wounded dog, you did it correctly. You probably also noticed your voice tighten and the sound quality was not as pleasing as you might like. Try it again. Really exaggerate the "H" and the "W." OK,

I'm sure you get the point. Now try it again differently. Think of the actual sound of the vowel of this word and go for that sound on the pitch you chose. The vowel of this word is an "A" sound pronounced as in the word "Apple." Try it with that sound in mind. You should find that the "H" and the "W" naturally reduce without your having to really think about it. Just determine the sound of the vowel (not its letter name, the sound of it as you would say/sing it) and sing that on the pitch. This would be your mental focus, while still singing it in the context of the word itself. You should find yourself singing it more freely and sounding much better.

I have a variety of exercises that would help you with this within my self-study course: The Contemporary Vocalist Volume I. In our next lesson we will continue our exploration of the Five Primary Causes of Throat Muscle Tension. "The Contemporary Vocalist Volume I - The Deva Method, A Non-Classical Approach for Singers" can be ordered online using the link below.

All the best,
Jeannie Deva

"Not only have your tapes increased my vocal range and stamina, but they have given me an air of confidence I never had before. I was surprised to discover what an impact they have had on me vocally, especially in such a short period of time." -Charisse Arrington, MCA Records

As the innovator of The Deva Method�, A Complete Vocal Technique for Stage and Studio, Jeannie Deva is the author of the internationally acclaimed �Contemporary Vocalist� Volumes I and II, �The Deva Method Vocal Warm-Ups and Cool-Downs� CD and she trains and certifies teachers in her method. She is the Celebrity Vocal Coach on the E! Entertainment TV Reality show �House of Carters� with Nick Carter of The Backstreet Boys and his family. Ms. Deva is a member of TC-Helicon� Vocal Technologies Elite Voice Instructor Council. There is a growing network of Jeannie Deva� Voice Studios. Clients include Grammy Award Winners, American Idol contestants, Independent and Major Label recording artists. Ms Deva�s private studio is located in Los Angeles, California.