SINGING TEACHERS ANSWER: What does it mean to SUPPORT THE SINGING TONE /VOICE?
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- čas přidán 11. 07. 2024
- This is the fourth video in a seven-week series entitled 7 Questions for Singing Teachers. In this video, singing teachers from around the world and from various backgrounds share their thoughts on what it means to 'support' the singing tone.
Dr. Meribeth Dayme (0:31)
www.coresinging.org
Inspiringsingersandspeakers.
www.MeribethDayme.com
Meribeth (Bunch) Dayme is an internationally known voice consultant/strategist, speaker, author (Dynamics of the Singing Voice, The Performer's Voice, The Singing Book, and more), and founder of CoreSinging®
John Henny (4:15)
johnhenny.com
intelligentvocalist.com
John has trained hundreds of voice teachers (through master classes and his online Voice Teacher Bootcamps)
and has been a featured columnist for Backstage Magazine, and has lectured and taught at USC, The Learning Annex, Mount Saint Mary's, and Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute of the Arts.
Music Academy in Glendora CA and Skype lessons.
Nancy Bos (6:33)
nancybos.net
Author, voice teacher, performer, and Vocologist. Nancy is the author of The Teen Girl's Singing Guide, and Singing 101. Her most recent book release, Singer's Practice Plan, Log and Journal has shot to #1 on Amazon. Nancy is the host of Every Sing Podcast and will soon be serving the National Association of Teachers of Singing as the VP of Membership.
Carl Wehden (10:43)
carlwehden.com
/ cwehden
Kristin Jensen (11:25)
www.singingsavvy.com
Salt Lake Valley, Utah
Kristin Jensen specializes in coaching classical, opera, legit Broadway, and folk music, and her students have successfully performed in all vocal mediums. She helps her clients find the full expression of their voice and gives them the tools to sing with confidence, in both private and public settings.
Mark Baxter (16:05)
voicelesson.com
Mark Baxter has been a singing voice specialist for the past 35 years with a clientele ranging from super stars to super beginners. His approach to vocal issues combines empirical knowledge with satirical wisdom. Logging over 3,000 performances before becoming a vocal trainer, he knows first hand what it takes to sing for your supper.
Professor Michelle Breedt (17:18)
michellebreedt.com
Michelle Breedt teaches at universities in both Munich , Germany and Bern , Switzerland while continuing to perform internationally alongside other opera greats, including Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming, and Cecelia Bartoli.
Christopher David Mitchell (19:23)
christopherdavidmitchell.com
Christopher has worked with Brett Manning and Jason Catron at ‘Singing Success’ technique and became the first and only Vocal Associate and representative in Europe for ‘New York Vocal Coaching’ (with Justin Stoney).
Rachel Gerrard (23:42)
Rachel Gerrard is a contemporary voice coach and session singer working in Folkestone, England's Creative Quarter and via Skype. She worked as a professional singer before moving into teaching privately and in stage schools.
Dr. Daniel Robinson (29:06)
Dr. Dan's Voice Essentials (CZcams)
djarts.com.au
/ drdansvoice. .
Daniel Robinson, DMA, is an award winning freelance artist and educator, predominantly teaching in his private studio (Djarts) and performing Australia wide. Daniel regularly presents for conferences as a Singing Voice Specialist, providing workshops and practical learning activities to contemporary vocalists across Australia and abroad.
Daniel is also known for his various academic-level writings.
Tom Gareau (29:37)
Since 2009, Thomas had served as a teacher in the Boston area - maintaining a private studio of adult pre-professionals in Cambridge, MA, the Brookline Music School, and teaching private voice and musical theater seminars at the Franklin School for the Performing Arts. He was a full-time instructor at the Boston Conservatory Vocal/Choral Intensive, and spent a semester as a guest instructor there in applied musical theater voice for undergraduate and graduate students in 2016. He has relocated to Luxembourg where he serves as an assistant conductor/vocal coach to the University Choir at the University of Luxembourg.
Dr. Shannon Coates (33:39)
University of Toronto
www.shannon-coates.com
Dann Mitton (37:24)
dannmitton@gmail.com
Dann is completing his doctorate in Performance with a specialization in voice pedagogy at the University of Toronto. His areas of expertise are Russian lyric diction and low male voice development. Dann runs an independent home studio in Toronto’s east end that is open to students of all voice types and levels of ability.
Karyn O'Connor (39:27)
singwise.com
karyn@singwise.com
/ singwise
/ singwisevocals
/ singwisevocals
Chris Johnson (42:09)
chrisjohnsonvocalcoach.com
the nakedvocalist.com
/ chrisjoh. .
Alexandra Engle (49:54)
Echo Voice Studio
Knoxville, Tennessee
/ echovoicestudio
Karyn this series is sooo wonderful and important . THANK YOU TO YOU !!! for your generosity and for giving us all the opportunity to share and learn from each other .
Thank you for agreeing to participate.
Allow me an input into singing SOFTLY with the same spectrum distribution as when singing loudly. When we have established the support provided by the opposing muscle (mentioned before) to feel their resultant at the Sternum we should find there is very little difference between singing softly and singing loudly. If you think about it were are dealing with a broad area at the lower part and reducing the area as we rise towards the vocal folds. So the true indication of effective support is to be able to reduce the magnitude of the tone and then expand it followed by reducing it again while retaining the same voice spectrum. A soft tone should NOT be breathy, nor should it requires that the folds be slammed together for a loud time. Put another way we should be singing horizontally , not vertically, as we would be with slices of tone. Legato always wins. As Richard Miller used to put it.
My segment's at [37:25] and it makes me chuckle to watch it now. Some honest thought there, but it's missing the one soundbyte I tell all my students. 'Support' is: resisting collapse. It's a s simple as those two words. Resisting collapse. Now, collapse of what? is the natural follow-up question, and for that I point to the expanded rib cage. My idea of support is mechanistic in function, but there's a definite feel to it, a kinaesthetic awareness of that balance, and I think that's where my brain was at that day? But yeah: if you ask me in the studio, generally my answer to "What is support?" Is: resisting collapse.
Great nutshell, Dan.
Great nutshell, Dan.
I loved Michelle Breedt definition: singing is a sustained laugh 😊
It made me want to try sustaining a tone that I initiate with laughter. I can't say that my voice sounded as lovely and cultivated as hers does, though! 😐
If I may comment as a working singer, so much of this topic has to with what you want to sing and what you want to sound like. I believe Support is a learned skill of breath control and regulation. You develop the ability to control how much breath pressure is laid up against the vocal folds using your mind and body. There will be times where you need to apply very strong pressure and other times you are holding back pressure.
This ended up to be very fruitful, thanks Karyn and everyone.
Surprised at how few coaches routinely use the term
I know that a lot of teachers don't like it because of the imagery that it creates in some singers, which leads to unproductive habits, and because it's such a vague term that doesn't seem to 'mean' anything. But as I suggested in my follow up video to this one, I wonder how much of this near universal rejection of the term 'support' is due to our tendency to 'follow the leader' (e.g., we reject it because well-respected individuals in the vocal pedagogy community do, and we trust that they have very logical reasons for not using the term, so we stop using it, too) and not wishing to be considered outliers (e.g., viewed as less knowledgeable because we're still using outdated terminology that has been rejected by many of the most well-respected individuals in our community).
Weird, because I still feel like the term is very common place! I wasn't even aware that there were so many other teachers out there who didn't like it for one reason or another.
I agree that the term is still quite common place. It's still widely used in singing circles, and that's actually why I used it in my question (in single quotation marks) and in the title and thumbnail. I knew that it was more likely to show up in searches than 'breath management' because it's still what so many singers (and teachers) use.
I also believe, though, that the specific pedagogical community that Karyn is linked to is generally very well networked and a sort of "hive mind". I can tell you in my experience that most teachers I've met use the term support, but those who are interested in contemporary voice science and trends in pedagogy have tended to reject it in recent years.
Thomas, I was going to write the same thing! I think it depends on our network, and it does seem that the nerdy-type teachers are the ones who tend to reject the word 'support' because they do more thinking about the word's meaning (or lack thereof).
Thank You! You are helping me to start realizing my dream so much!
Karyn, thank you so much for this. For someone seeking to teach myself singing, these are golden
This is a gold information. Thank you very much Karyn. You did a really great job.
Great video as usual! I have watched hundreds of singing videos on youtube and I never come across a singing teacher who can actually keep their hands still while speaking!! Just flick through the video to see what I mean! Anyway, looking forward to the next one!
Can anyone actually keep his/her hands still while speaking? Most of us gesture a lot during speech as a means of emphasizing, helping to create visual imagery, etc.. I think speeches and lessons would be visually uninteresting if we sat on our hands. :)
Hi Karyn,
Thanks very much for this 😊
It almost did my head in ...I did say *almost!
But got through the lot in regular stages. And I think mostly everyone had something interesting to say, and it is just a choice or preference to how each of us( as listeners) perceives and processes that info.
Plus how short of time one is!
I appreciated the short, direct answers, but also enjoyed Rachel's demonstration of different levels, singing described as prolonged laughing😊,using adjectives for results we desire(Mark) and John Mitton's views near the end.
Time to go work on it now!
Cheers,
Lin.
Oops sorry, Dann Mitton.
So many teachers!😨😉
Love the word SUPPORT because there are so many areas that participate in the process. However, in his case were are working out how to leave the folds alone to do their job in the breath stream. In two words, "Flow Phonation." The diaphragm goes to sleep at the completion of the inhalation decent so we need to feel the throat freedom of holding the breath without throat tension. Take a breath and hold it using the opposition of your Transversus abdoninus and Abs, neither of which you can identify except the resultant. The lowering of the diaphagm stores energy in the epigastric area and the transversus Abdominus is used to retain that epigastric compression so that the rebound and emptying of the lungs is restrained. You can sing without this by supporting the voice on your throat, which is destructive to folds and tone. Onlt the opposition of the Transversus and the Abs allow controlled release of the epigastric energy and the lower pressure of the external world relative to the higher lung pressure. These are specific parts of the support that clearly relate also to the upper body support such as rib cage noble erection.
I love you Screen name XD
With respect the words balance and breath management are no more descriptive than is support. For example, the appropriate adjustment of tongue shape and disposition tune the mouth to a reflected impedance that opposes or balances the forward impedance projected by the folds. Support is ultimately the resultant pressure of the abs/transversus abdominus pressure in juxterposition with steady rib cage establishment. Nasal access damps adjacent resonance and when the voice is effectively supported allows for well controlled nasal consonants.
Carl wrapped up what most everyone said in about 30 seconds, sometimes we can make things too complicated! 10:45
I don't think that the rest of us were making things too complicated. We were expounding, offering different insight and perspectives, talking about the benefits and purposes of breath management, etc.. My hope is that in hearing the same kinds of things explained in different ways, something will 'click' for those viewers who have found it to be a confusing area of technique.
I disagree, while he did basically sum it up simply, a student doesnt need just something summed up, its too vague, they need to know how it works and how to approach it, which the other explanations could help with. So it helps but I feel great detail, if worded correctly, can help much more to clarify doubts. If it was that simple, people wouldnt be so confused by it. I like the teachers who mentioned why they dont like the term, although I do agree that some I feel didnt structure their explanation in an easy to understand way. Too wordy.
Like Tom says it is very complicated, that's where I am with my talking
Maybe your next question can be: What is your TOP exercise to build a healthy voice?
I'm genuinely so grateful that you made this video and series, thank you so much :)
That is actually the question for tomorrow's video!
Wait really? That's so funny 😂 Can't wait to see it!
Yes! Next week's is 3 tips for a successful performance, and the following week's video is 3 of our favourite resources for singers.
If you search CZcams for this information you will get at least 100 different answers. I think one has to find whatever advice works best for them to understand it. I've been trying to sing for several years now and I still get stuck on the variety of information. And if I try different things it causes me to get hung up! I think the biggest thing is to not use your throat, tongue, etc to "support" the breath.
Who is the woman speak about balance. Rib cage...
and the man that talk about the core.
I can't seem to find my balance for speaking voice, I need help with that control.
I might be asking the wrong group of folks, but, most of you said what I need, but, don't have a clue to manage that breath management.
Wow, what confabulation! Most of the answers could be translated as, "I have no idea what breath support means, but I'm happy to spend the next ten minutes using every technical term that you won't understand (and some I just make up) to pretend I do." Breath support isn't that complicated. Breathe in. You probably feel your chest expand. Now pause right there, but DO NOT CLOSE YOUR THROAT, and don't let the air out. That's support. As you slowly breathe out, don't let your chest collapse. Let your diaphragm slowly relax to let the air out. If you rely on your larynx to manage your breath, you'll have a much harder time singing.
Breath support literally means what you just said ,but what Most Classically trained Coaches demand from a student when they say"More support,come on man" is not just the about the breath flow anymore.Cuz more air pressure from the lungs doesn't automatically means greater quality or greater carrying power in the voice.If its that simple ,We would all be SINGERS.Even I can do what you said but am I a singer ? No
@@MineCraft-nz9pg Support is not about more pressure. It's actually about no pressure at all. It means maintaining your breath without pressure. And, yes, we are all singers. Some just have bigger audiences.
@@HossSingRound Its so confusing 😵.So if support is no pressure at all ,we just need to stop the inhale by pausing the inhalation muscles and start phonating from that? Like how do you start your sound .Do you just let the air move out slowly on its own as the diaphragm relaxes?
@@MineCraft-nz9pg Yes, That's it. Just let the air move out slowly on its own as the diaphragm relaxes. But at the same time, don't let your chest collapse. Keep your chest expanded. That shouldn't take much effort, but it might take some concentration if you're used to collapsing your chest as you sing. Support means maintaining that chest expansion. That minimizes moving parts which makes the breath smoother. Your abdomen will also be moving as the diaphragm relaxes, but that's automatic. You don't have to think about that.
You don't know how much your comment has helped me to learn support, now I know how it feels to support, thanks God.It feels as though my abs and ribs aren't even engaged ,I didn't feel much movement or forceful and intentional flexing of my abs which I thought must happen when I first begin And I sometimes don't know when I inhaled it just happened on its own🤣.I sing a phrase and the next phrase comes ,and I realised I have already taken sufficient air to complete the next line and this air is so so much less than I thought I would need🙀 like I could take a breath and exhale like 90% and I still have enough air to sing "Rain Rain" 🤣🤣.Your comment "no pressure at all" and karyns' video about ferinelli exercise are so helpful , Its amazing I can do simple riffs and runs 🤯which were totally impossible before ,and I feel like my voice is gliding on a breeze when I sing , and I also feel this weird vibrations inside the roof of my mouth ,it can feel uncomfortable when I don't place my vowels correctly, but when I do it correctly ,My voice became so so "loud but not noisy" don't know how to exaplain ,maybe its what they call resonance ,it sounded so clear and effortless,yeah it feels effortless too, and sliding notes became unbelievably easy and for the first time in 2 years of self teaching singing ,I didn't cringe when I listen back to my voice😊.Yeah the four words "No pressure at all" has helped me to stop my habit of trying to push my voice out forcefully by contracting my abs I intentionally, yeah I got this idea from some youtube vocal gurus🤣🤣😂😂.Thank you for your helpful reply ,today is my birthday and seeing this comment and replies makes it more exciting 😇.