Q & A
Here are some questions from subscribers. Simply click on the question below for the answer. Would you like to ask a question? Fill in your email address and name in the sidebar to the right. A special email address will be delivered to you where you may submit your question.
I am also posting some of the many questions I received in regards to the launch of The Online Singing Course - The Captivating Singer. Here newsletter subscribers addressed their most pressing vocal problems.
- The falsetto side of my voice is really hoarse, and often I find it near impossible to flip into falsetto. How can I go about strengthening and clarifying my falsetto, as well as eliminating the breaks between registers?
- My voice becomes hoarse and cracks for a few days after every performance or band rehearsal. It always comes back but what I can do to prevent this?
- Please teach me how to use my stomach to sing properly, extend my range, to sing rock (rock singing with a harsh sound)
- My high singing is either real breathy or it sounds ridiculously strained. Should I just sing in full voice higher and higher day after day, or is there another way?
- I can't control my breathing b/c my heart beats so fast that I can't sing right and I lose my vibrato. How can I learn to control my fear? I don't even want to audition anymore.
- I always had problems finding exercises to develop gospel, blues, and soul style. I have trouble learning to connect a bridge from my low notes to my high notes. And I have trouble finding ways to access all 3 of my resonators like head, middle, and chest. And one of my biggest obstacles is learning to keep my mouth open wide enough with proper tongue position and jaw position, which causes unpure vowels
- How can I learn breath control? Sometimes I can't hold out a phrase. I need more control to hold long notes.
- I think my biggest obstacle is probably the fact that I don't sing as often as I should. It's not because I don't have time, I am just still scared to sound bad so sometimes I don't even try. I know it's not a very productive way of thinking. Please help me. Thank you.
- I would like to be able to sing for hours without any strain on my voice. I would like to be able to put even more of an edge on my voice. I want to be able to communicate with people through music...offer them a message and see how they respond. I strain my voice constantly. I've gotten better about it, but I'm tired of feeling wiped out physically after singing.
- How can I learn to project my voice? I keep losing my voice.
- I want to improve my range. I also want to work on my original sound, and to learn to read music.
- I would like to learn to use my breath more efficiently while singing, as well as increasing my range and the passion that comes through in my voice. My biggest obstacle (aside from the money for ongoing vocal coaching) is that I am asthmatic, which sometimes makes it a bit harder to hold a note for very long and creates some extra noises when I breath in deeply. I really appreciate what you are doing for people with your untraditional approach, it's refreshing.
Below are the answers. Please click the rating icon to the right to let me know how useful you find the answer.
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Rating: +2
question coming soon
answer coming soon
And here are answers to the questions in regard to the online singing course
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Rating: +6
The falsetto side of my voice is really hoarse, and often I find it near impossible to flip into falsetto. How can I go about strengthening and clarifying my falsetto, as well as eliminating the breaks between registers?
You just haven’t found the muscles that make it happen, so when you try to achieve the desired sound other muscles engage instead. As a consequence you get less and less power and go hoarse/breathy. This is not all that hard to reverse. Already after lesson #1, you’ll have good understanding of this. You’ll also learn the difference between falsetto and head voice and what it’s going to take to sing without breaks – i.e. without having to “flip”.
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Rating: +7
My voice becomes hoarse and cracks for a few days after every performance or band rehearsal. It always comes back but what I can do to prevent this?
This of course limits both your income potential and the joy you could be experiencing. There’s nothing wrong with being tired. Athletes get tired too. But being hoarse and crackly for several days is something we need to fix. In the online course I’ll show how to condition yourself so you don't get hoarse in the first place. I also show you what to do so you can dramtically speed up your recovery. I used to sing seven shows a week and learning how to recover is crucial for performing artists like yourself. I might add that few things are as rejuvenating as water and sleep. Are you getting enough?
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Rating: +7
Please teach me how to use my stomach to sing properly, extend my range, to sing rock (rock singing with a harsh sound)
I’ll bet my slipper on that you use your stomach too much. However, by saying that I might be misunderstood. That’s why I have to show you - or rather make you discover yourself. There is a reason why rock singers like my method. You will in fact discover how you can sing rock even “harsher”, but with less physical effort than ever before.
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Rating: +9
My high singing is either real breathy or it sounds ridiculously strained. Should I just sing in full voice higher and higher day after day, or is there another way?
You describe similar issues as many other people - it sure is common. Yes, there is certainly another way. No, trying to sing higher and higher day after day is not the way to go (you'll just create more muscle imbalance). It is the combination of the strategies that I show you in the course that always, without fail, has such a dramatic effect. Here's one hint;, we often develop the high register by training the freedom of the voice in the lower register, then suddenly you fly up, and voila! – you sing higher than ever before.
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Rating: +7
I can't control my breathing b/c my heart beats so fast that I can't sing right and I lose my vibrato. How can I learn to control my fear? I don't even want to audition anymore.
I’m with you. Here’s one of the big benefits of the way I teach. Helping people overcome their fears is perhaps my number one objective, and the number one reason why I coach in the first place. (Many professionals also live with a tremendous amount of fear.) Immediately in lesson #1, you will be led to a shift of mind that changes the way you look at yourself. The physical freedom that you start experiencing will go hand in hand with a newfound sensation of releasing fear and gaining confidence and trust. I’ll also teach you how to translate that for performance. You will be looking forward to auditioning and performing again real soon.
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Rating: +7
I always had problems finding exercises to develop gospel, blues, and soul style. I have trouble learning to connect a bridge from my low notes to my high notes. And I have trouble finding ways to access all 3 of my resonators like head, middle, and chest. And one of my biggest obstacles is learning to keep my mouth open wide enough with proper tongue position and jaw position, which causes unpure vowels
Hmm… Your choice of words suggests that you’ve been taught by an old-school teacher. As you’ve noticed this hasn’t helped you in developing gospel, blues and soul. The term “unpure vowels” is a subjective judgment that classical singers tend to use, and which a true blues singer would likely oppose. Chest voice and head voice received their names because of the acoustic effect in the body, but you actually don’t access the registers by changing the “resonator” muscles (those include just about every muscle above the larynx). “Old-school” teachers often try to imply that you have to “hold” jaw and tongue positions, and have a certain resonance to be able to sing through registers. This is completely inaccurate. How you use the "resonator muscles" depends on style not range. I will show you how you can achieve a seamless range in whatever style. "Learning to keep my mouth open" suggests muscle tension, as does having "proper tongue position" and "jaw position". How about achieving relaxation and freedom instead, where the jaw, mouth and tongue move freely due to your expression, rather than artificially holding them in certain positions? You'll discover and learn this in the online singing course. It not only makes you a far better singer than today but you become truthful and interesting in your expression.
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Rating: +7
How can I learn breath control? Sometimes I can't hold out a phrase. I need more control to hold long notes.
No, you don't need more control. This is one of the biggest misconceptions people have. Let me tell you, one of the most rewarding experiences for me as a coach is to see the look on people’s faces - people like you with perceived breath control problems - when they suddenly in lesson #1 sing longer notes and phrases than ever before. I'm not kidding. It works every time. It’s so simple. Even in the online course you'll have that experience - guaranteed. And by that discovery you set the stage for dramatically increased range and power.
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Rating: +6
I think my biggest obstacle is probably the fact that I don't sing as often as I should. It's not because I don't have time, I am just still scared to sound bad so sometimes I don't even try. I know it's not a very productive way of thinking. Please help me. Thank you.
Yes, I will help you. I’m help you gain confidence in your ability – a confidence that will resonate through everything you pursue in life. Let’s get you to a point where you feel pure joy and trust when you sing - that's what singing should be, don't you think? You gain that confidence both from dramatically enhancing you skills and the simultaneous shift in your whole psychological makeup that occurs when going through the online singing course.
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Rating: +6
I would like to be able to sing for hours without any strain on my voice. I would like to be able to put even more of an edge on my voice. I want to be able to communicate with people through music...offer them a message and see how they respond. I strain my voice constantly. I've gotten better about it, but I'm tired of feeling wiped out physically after singing.
I hear you. All of this you will improve by following this course. I’ll also address the edginess that you speak of – i.e. how to do it without strain
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Rating: +9
How can I learn to project my voice? I keep losing my voice.
Losing your voice and not being able to project affects your life in all areas. Losing your voice goes hand in hand with not being able to project. Besides learning how to use your voice effectively, we also need to strengthen your voice. You need to learn how to effectively strengthen the voice rapidly but in a healthy way. You also learn in lessons 1 and 2 of the online course how to release the voice without force. You'll notice you'll get a much more powerful projected voice immediately, yet with much less effort used.
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Rating: +6
I want to improve my range. I also want to work on my original sound, and to learn to read music.
You’ll definitely improve your range and discover the real, unique original you. Unfortunately this course will not help you read music. I’m going to have to develop another course for that.
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Rating: +5
I would like to learn to use my breath more efficiently while singing, as well as increasing my range and the passion that comes through in my voice. My biggest obstacle (aside from the money for ongoing vocal coaching) is that I am asthmatic, which sometimes makes it a bit harder to hold a note for very long and creates some extra noises when I breath in deeply. I really appreciate what you are doing for people with your untraditional approach, it's refreshing.
Thank you. By creating this online course, I hope I have helped you with the money part. Being asthmatic, you’ll find the breathing exercises in lesson 4 extra helpful.