Here are some singing myths that I would like to debunk. You will find more information on these specific things in the Vocal Release manual.
1. "In order to sing really high notes men have to sing in falsetto."
This is simply not true at all. Men can learn to sing extremely high notes in a full voice without straining and pushing and without going into falsetto. Men that sing high notes in full voice are not singing in falsetto.
There is a distinct difference. To hear it, first listen to an artist that does sing high notes in falsetto, like Justin Timberlake. Then listen to someone who sings high notes in a full voice like Rob Halford or Geoff Tate or David Coverdale.
2. "You have to be born with singing ability or have natural talent to sing well."
There are two reasons some people think this. The first is that often times people go to a vocal coach or buy a course that doesn't really teach them anything.
It just has them run through scales and go Ah, mum, Nay, without teaching them an attack or what to actually physically do when they sing. This leaves the singer to try and figure out the attack by ear which rarely, if ever, works.
The other reason is that most natural singers sing instinctively, so when asked they can't really explain to you why their voice sounds good. They instinctively do the best attack, the attack of the mask.
But, can't break it down into a step by step process to tell someone who can't sing well how to do it. So, it makes it seem as if it's something you have to be born with. The Vocal Release Course will teach you a definite attack that always works that is broken down step by step.
3. "You should sing from the diaphragm."
"Singing from the diaphragm," is possibly the worst, "singing technique," ever invented. The technique was just that, "invented." It is not natural and makes your voice sound like you are shouting harshly.
This technique was invented by a failed opera singer, turned vocal coach, decades ago when opera was the most popular music and opera singers were considered the absolute best singers.
Garcia Jr invented it. He was a singer from a family of singers. His father was a vocal coach and his two sister were successful diva's of their time. Garica Jr was a failure however and even booed off stage at one point for tremolo (unwanted wavering of the voice).
Garcia became obsessed with the function of voice. You would think his father could teach him. But, in the past singing instruction was only done by ear. A coach would sing and then have you sing. You were to produce the same quality of tone. If you didn't he would sing again and say, "no more like this."
If the vocal coach didn't know what internal physical things to tell you to manipulate then the singer would be left to instinctively figure it out .....which rarely works well. Vocal Release teaches you the exact internal things you have to manipulate to sing well.
In Garcia's obsession to find a way to sing he invented a scope to look at his vocal cords. Seeing them vibrate he came to the very wrong conclusion that singing is all based on air support. He further concluded that for great tone and resonance you needed lots of push from the diaphragm.
He then developed a school of singing on this premise, then proceeded to ruin many singers voices down through the ages as this erroneous information was passed down through ages.
Singing by pushing from the diaphragm puts your breath behind your voice and unbalances the breath support. It makes a tone that sounds more like bellowing and quickly tires the voice and can even damage the voice.
When you learn the best attack, the attack of the mask, breath support happens by reflex and is instantly balanced. It happens as it should at the same time the voice is produced, not from behind it, forcefully pushing it out.
4. "You should sing like you are shouting at someone across the street who is breaking into your car."
This is simply someone trying to teach, "singing from the diaphragm." Extended shouting is not singing. Singing like this will quickly make you go hoarse and tire out your voice from an unbalanced vocal production. Some argue that to sing loud you need to, "sing from the diaphragm." Again, this is simply wrong.
When you learn to attack the voice from the mask the voice flows out effortlessly and can get much louder then pushing from the diaphragm. When you attack from the mask the diaphragmatic action still happens. But, it is a reflex as it should be. It happens as you need it without thinking about it.
Singing with the attack of the mask makes singing feel like humming resonantly with your mouth open. It is very comfortable, easy to use and is the best way to sing, period. SINGING IS NOT SHOUTING EXTENDED! If you bought vocal instruction that tells you this, throw it out, it's garbage.
5. "Singing great takes years of practice."
Singing with the ability of a vocal master, yes that takes years. A vocal master is someone who has a great range, great control of dynamics and has unbelievable skill. However, learning to sing well can be learned in just a few weeks.
When I say learn to sing well, I mean learn to sing at least as well as the commercial music currently on the radio and music television stations. The fact is most singers you hear now are not that skilled.
A few here and there have exemplary skills. Most, however, are mediocre compared to what a singer can do vocally after the right training and with continued practice.
6. "I sing off key I must be tone deaf?"
There is no such thing as, "tone deaf." You either can hear a tone or you can't. You do not lose the ability to hear specific pitches. When you lose your hearing you lose the top or low end of your hearing range, the ability to hear extremely high notes or low notes at either end of your hearing range.
Not being able to distinguish one pitch from another close one is just lack of ear training or simply not paying attention. Singing off key is most often due to not having vocal ability, since the voice is not trained to match pitch at will.
Singing with the wrong attack or in forceful manner that is not natural will make the voice go off key as well because the singer is struggling. Also, often times when singers break and sing in falsetto someone may say they are singing off pitch, when in actuality they are not off pitch they just broke very badly and it sounded very funny.
There is a difference between being off pitch and just singing with a bad tone. Being on pitch does not automatically make singing sound good. You can be perfectly on pitch and still sound bad if your attack is wrong.
7. "Learning to sing opera will enable you to sing any music style great."
I've had this said to me by no less that five vocal coaches when I first started lessons. It's simply not true. The reason some coaches say this is that that is what they were told. The coaches I heard it from were classically trained and had degrees in voice, which require that they sing Opera.
You can not learn to sing good by singing any one particular type of music style. Style is independent of good vocal production. When you learn the attack of the mask you can sing in any style of music you like and sound good. Your voice production will be based on your own vocal tone ideals. So, you will not sound like an Opera singer trying to sing R&B or a country singer trying to sing rock.
8. "Singing great is dependant on breath support."
Again this goes back to, "singing from the diaphragm." It's simply not true. Breath support or the wavering you might see in the diaphragm of a singer as they sing something powerfu, is a reflex to a voice placed in the mask.
The singer is not consciously thinking things like, "Ok now I'll take a deep breath to my belly and push," or, "Now Ill tighten my sphincter and belt that high note out!" It just doesn't happen like that. Again, if you are using instruction that tells you to, "sing from the diaphragm, push from the diaphragm, take air into your belly, sing like you are shouting at someone across the street," throw it out it's harmful garbage.
9. "There are three registers of the voice, Chest, middle and head voice. A singer needs to navigate the registers without a noticeable break."
Registers don't exist. Period. The registration method of singing is an invention that came about because of bad vocal instruction and singers who use inferior attacks when they sing. A coach or singer who used the registration method will say things like, " sing low notes in chest voice, then as you approach your break blend chest with head voice," or " to sing in a commercial tone you need to sing in middle voice."
A coach who uses the registration method recognizes that the voice needs to be in the mask but calls that head voice or middle voice. When the singer is singing low notes, but not in the mask, they call that pure chest voice. When singing high notes, but not in the mask, they call that pure head voice or even falsetto.
They then proceed to tell you you need to mix the two. Quite simply this is ridiculous. You do not mix parts of your tone. To get different tones you just focus resonance more or less in a different areas of the mask by feeling, which is quite natural when you learn it.
The truth is that even the lowest bass note to the highest whistle notes all should be attacked from the mask.
When you attack the voice from the mask their are no breaks or registers. There isn't even a bridge in the voice. These inventions simply disappear when your voice is attacked from the mask at all times.
10. "The voice has a break between chest and head voice."
Again there are no registers. You only produce breaks if your voice is not attacked from the mask. Most people don't know how to sing using the attack of the mask. So, they sing with a lot of push. When you sing like this, to go beyond a certain point in pitch you have to break and sing in a very weak, "head voice," or falsetto.
11. "In order to sing commercial music you need to learn to sing in a mixed voice or sing in middle voice or mix chest and head voice."
Again, ridiculous. There is no such thing as middle voice or even chest voice or head voice. The voice is all one instrument. All notes from the lowest to the highest can all be sung with pleasing, forward, commercial tone provided you learn to sing with the attack of the mask. Trust me no popular singer is thinking, "Ok I want to sound commercial for this R&B tune so I'll mix my chest voice with my head voice to get a middle tone."
12. "You can only learn to sing if you have a personal coach."
The right coach can help. But, if the only time you work on your voice is when you see your coach you are wasting your time. In order to learn to sing you need to practice 3-6 days a week to instill muscle memory in your voice. I guarantee that Vocal Release will teach more than most vocal coaches you would go to and will show you how to practice at home without having to go to a vocal coach.
13. "If you sing at speech level your voice will work naturally well."
Nope, sorry. The voice just doesn't fall into place because you relax and sing at your speech level with a relaxed larynx. There are specific things in your body you need to manipulate in order for the voice to be produced at it best possible quality.
14. "Resonance or the voice resonating in the head cavities is just an amplification of the pitch the vocal cords produce."
Resonance is not just an amplification. Amplification is taking a given tone and producing the same tone louder. Resonance is a coupling of the initial pitch the vocal cords produce and the upper harmonic pitch resonation into the head chambers produces. It just doesn't happen. You need to learn the attack of the mask to make it happen on command.
15. "A pleasing forward resonance or commercial tone or placement of the voice will just happen if you sing with an open throat and relax."
Simply not true. Resonance just doesn't happen. There are specific things you will learn in the Vocal Release course that will get resonant placement in your voice on command, not by accident.
16. "Lip Rolls & Tongue Trills are a little known secret exercise that make your voice work great."
Lip Rolls & Tongue trills are just nice warm ups. All they really do is get the vocal cords moving without interference from the larynx muscles. If you don't specifically and directly learn the attack of the mask, you can do lip rolls and tongue trills until you are blue in the face and you will hear very little change in your ACTUAL singing voice.
I use them in Vocal Release. But, they are only really a good warm up. Some people think they are a, "secret technique," that makes the voice instantly work better.
17. "You have to use a different vocal approach to sing different types of music."
Nope, not true. The different tones you hear in singers is due to their tonal ideals and where their voice resonates. There are not vocal techniques that work well for only, rock or R&B or classical or country or pop.
If you learn to sing using the attack of the mask you will have a round, forward pleasing tone, which is the mark of all good singing regardless of style of music. How you shape that tone will be under your direct control and be a response to your tone ideal and music you are singing.
|
