Sing Better 10 Secrets to help You Sing Better Nowtrueconnectedvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Sing-Better.pdf · Introduction Sing Better! 10 Secrets to help You Sing Better

Sing Better! 10 Secrets to help You Sing Better Now

Joe Genuardi and John Kenney trueconnectedvoice.com

http://trueconnectedvoice.com


Sing Better!10 Secrets to help You Sing Better Now

Joe Genuardi and John Kenney

Table of Contents About The Author 2

Introduction 3

1. Avoid Singing Louder to Sing Higher 5

2. Vocal Compression 6

3. Vowels 6

4. Warm Up Your Voice 7

5. Warm Down Your Voice 7

6. Sleep 8

7. Drink Plenty Of Water 9

8. Quit and Care 10

9. Tension 12

10. Find A Teacher 12

Closing 13

Useful Links 13

About The Author

Joe Genuardi is a full time entertainer and vocal

instructor in Orlando, FL. You can learn more at http://joejams.com.



http://joejams.com

http://joejams.com



Introduction



My name is Joe Genuardi and I have been singing professionally for over 20 years. I have studied with many

excellent vocal teachers including Mary Walkley, Seth Riggs, Mark Baxter, Randy Beuscher, Roger Love and many others. I studied for years before meeting these teachers on my own and encountered many struggles with singing

along the way.

It wasn’t until I started to develop vocal nodules that I really started researching better ways to sing and maintain my voice, increase my range and ability, and do what I do now, which is singing three to six hours per night, five to six nights per week. Over the years I have developed my voice to become healthier, stronger, more elastic and with an increased range and endurance.

From studying with with these vocal teachers, learning their techniques, I have had the privilege of developing a program that I was able to apply in my own singing. As a result of being a professional entertainer, I have had to learn how to quickly and efficiently apply the techniques that I am about to share with you in this E-book.

Along with my long time friend and colleague, John Kenney, I have developed True Connected Voice (http://trueconnectedvoice.com), which is the method of voice training that we both use and apply as professional entertainers. We are also teaching this method to many students in the Central Florida, Orlando and Tampa Bay areas as well as all over the world. Our most recent student is a woman in Victoria, Australia. Using the internet and technology, we are able to provide voice lessons using Skype for working one on one with clients anywhere in the world.



http://johnnykaudio.com

http://johnnykaudio.com





Thank you for downloading this e-book! We look forward to serving you and helping you to unlock your true singing potential. Visit us online at http://trueconnectedvoice.com. Feel free to contact us, comment on our site, and join us for vocal coaching!

-Joe Genuardi







1. Avoid Singing Louder to Sing Higher



It is ok to sing louder if you want to sing louder, however, it is important to

develop a habit of not having to sing louder to sing higher. If you are singing soft, the tendency is to sing louder to reach higher notes. This causes vocal strain and

can really wear out your voice. Learn to mix instead of belting. Consider training

with a teach that understands the concept of connecting and mixing your voice.

Whenever you are practicing vocals,

performing or warming up your voice, it is important to fight the urge to push

your voice and sing louder to reach

notes that are higher in your range.

“Using these simple ideas, you will be able to instantly become a better singer. However most results are seen after consistency and practice. Follow these steps to start

improving your singing voice, vocal range and recovery time after singing.”




2. Vocal Compression

3. Vowels



L ! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ! ! ! K

The above demonstration is the word “look.” The “L” is the first consonant, the “OO” is the vowel sound and the “k” is the ending consonant.

This also works with diphthongs. A diphthong is a vowel like “A” and “I” that are actually the combination of 2 vowels. The vowel “A” is actually the vowels “eh” and “ee.” The vowel “I” is actually the vowels “ah” and “ee.”

So singing a diphthong starts with the first vowel sound and ends with the closing sound.

When you are singing words, you do not voice consonants, you voice vowels. We call this the vocal sausage.

The first end of the sausage is the first consonant, and the end of the sausage is the last consonant. The rest of the sausage is the vowel you are singing.

The goal is to not blow the candle out. You compress the air so that there is not a lot of air pressure coming out of your mouth. Learn to hold air back, and not force air to the vocal folds. Your vocal cords only need a small amount of air to vibrate. Learning how to compress the air coming through your voice will help you decrease the stress you put on your voice.

Learn the feeling of vocal compression. Instead of thinking of singing out of your mouth, imagine that there is a hole in the back of your neck, and you are singing to somebody behind you so that you are not forcing all of your air to your vocal folds. Think of the imagery of someone singing a vowel with a lit candle in front of their mouth.



4. Warm Up Your Voice

5. Warm Down Your Voice



It is important to warm up your voice by using whatever is easiest on your voice to warm up with. Try singing something that is easy, non taxing on your voice.

If you are planning on singing one song, warm up your voice a lot. If you are singing throughout an entire evening, try a shorter warm up, and then you can actually warm up more during your performance. Just take it slow and warm up using a hum, or something that is light and easy on your voice. It’s also recommended, as a singer, to warm up your voice in the morning before speaking.

Warming down your voice is the opposite of warming up. You want to end your warm down with the easiest, softest, lightest vocal exercise you can do. So the end of your warm down should be a low easy hum. You are making sound and you are making your vocal cords vibrate, but you are not pushing. The vocal warm down should feel like a massage for your voice. The goal is to get everything to feel relaxed and flexible after every performance. You should warm down your voice after every vocal practice, exercise, and performance. This will allow your voice to sustain health, and be ready for use the following day.



6. Sleep



7. Drink Plenty of Water

It is important for every singer to get adequate sleep. Sleep is one of the best cures for vocal health and maintenance. You should plan on getting at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night.

“Sleep deprivation among singers jeopardizes their creativity, productivity, safety and their well-being. The importance of restorative sleep to vitality and health and the dangers of even short-term sleep deprivation warrant a central place in the consciousness of every performer, regardless of the current stage of their career.

HOW MUCH SLEEP IS NECESSARY?Sleep needs vary from person to person. Generally, studies describe “short sleepers’ as those who habitually sleep 6.5 hours or less per night, “normal sleepers” as obtaining 7-8 hours of sleep and “long sleepers” as those sleeping 9 hours or more. In the ‘real world’ few if any working people get anything like that. There is also a newer theory which proposes that a 4-5 hour period of core sleep is essential, but additional sleep is optional and could be progressively shortened without significant increase in daytime sleepiness or decreases in cognitive function. Supposedly, however, the functions of a number of body systems are optimized with approximately 8.25 hours of sleep. Do any of you know anyone who gets 8 hours of sleep?

EFFECTS OF SLEEP DEPRIVATIONSleep deprivation may occur because of common problems like insomnia or obstructive sleep apnea, or because of an intentional curtailment of sleep duration. Either way, lack of sleep causes a wide range of consequences including mood shifts, diminished concentration and reaction time, impaired short and long-term memory, decreased logical reasoning, decreased response time and impaired ability to understand and to think.-Operaonline.us



7. Drink Plenty Of Water



It’s ok to over hydrate a little bit, but do not drink too much water before bed, to avoid acid reflux. But keep a glass of water by your bed to hydrate if you wake up in the night.

It is recommended to drink room temperature water as much as possible, especially first thing when you wake up in the morning. The body craves cold water to maintain body temperature, especially during a workout, because it digests cold water faster. If you are singing, you do not want to drink cold water, as it can cool down your singing muscles.

“If you are not well-hydrated the vocal folds can become irritated more

quickly, leading to redness and swelling. For physicians, this is called a ‘predisposing condition’ – leading more easily to vocal fold changes and

issues”. -Dr. Ron Scherer, Voicecounsil.com

“To sing clear, pee clear.”

Plenty of hydration is required for anyone, even when they are not singing. When you drink water, it takes about 20 minutes for digestion to complete. The last organ for survival to get hydrated are your vocal folds. The heart, lungs, liver and brain all need water for survival before the vocal folds will receive hydration.



8. Quit and Care



You are a vocal athlete. An athlete must take care of their body 24 hours per day. You always have to be thinking about maintaing good health. You are carrying your instrument with you all of the time.

Avoid smoking, drinking alcohol, excessive caffeine, and illegal substances. This is just good practice for a healthy lifestyle.

Quit bad habits that are not good for your voice. You are now a vocal athlete, and you have your vocal cords with you all the time. Everything you take and everything you do affects you vocal cords. If you smoke, quit smoking. If you drink excessive alcohol, or caffeine, this substances can dry out your voice and cause acid reflux. If you use any illegal drugs or substances, quit these now. Your voice cannot handle it. Even an aspirin can have a negative affect on your voice.





Another bad habit is clearing your throat. If you clear your throat on a regular

basis, it’s a tick, a habit. Write a line on a piece of paper every time you clear your throat, and you will see how often you actually clear your throat. It is a

habit that is formed easily without much thought.

It is also important to avoid cough drops when singing. Cough drops can numb

your voice, and throat, and you won’t feel when something is becoming damaged or worn out.

If you take decongestants while singing, decongestants will dry out your voice.They keep your breathing canals open by drying them out but they also dry

out the body and the vocal folds. It is especially necessary to over hydrate when taking decongestants. Also, try to avoid singing while you are sick.

Quick tip:

Cardiovascular exercise and practicing yoga are good ways to ease yourself into a healthier lifestyle. Stay hydrated, get in good physical shape, and your

voice will follow.

At True Connected Voice, we will be writing another e-book very soon with how you can sing while you are sick. Please join our mailing list at http://trueconnectedvoice.com where you can find that e-book as well as some of our warm up and warm down vocal programs.







9. Tension

10. Find A Teacher



Although there are many excellent programs to develop your voice on your own, nothing can replace an outside set of ears from a teacher who understands mixing and connecting your range.

A good teacher can demonstrate that they have a grasp at singing. They can mix their voice, they have a connected range and understand the concepts of singing/connecting and not hurting yourself. You want to find a teacher that understands these concepts, explains them well, and helps you see progress in your own singing.

A good teacher can apply their teaching methods to be useful in performing. Everybody's voice develops at a different rate. However, with a good teacher, you will start to see and feel progress with your voice within a month, and even more progress as the months go on. After a year, there should be a considerable improvement in your singing.

Good teachers will give you new exercises that will challenge you at your current vocal development, rather than see you doing the same thing over and over. In the beginning, regular lessons are more productive and get you headed in the right direction. After a good vocal foundation has been established, lessons can be less consistent and you will just need to be tuned up.

It is good to release tension in your singing muscles, jaw, face, and singing voice. You can massage these areas to release tension, practice yoga to release tension in the body, etc. You can get a massage to get rid of tension, or even self massage, or stretch the body to release tension.



Closing

We hope you have found this information useful. We have found these practices to be good for maintaining a high quality vocal performance many nights per week. Please feel free to visit us online at

http://trueconnectedvoice.com. We are always open to feedback, comments and suggestions. You may also email us at [email protected].

Useful Links

Our Website

True Connected Voice- http://trueconnectedvoice.com

Facebook Page

TwitterThis e-book was written by Joe Genuardi and John Kenney. Edited and published in ebook format by John Kenney. July 2012©2012 True Connected Voice.All Rights Reserved.ISBN: 978-1-56592-479 54495





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Disclaimer: The authors, publishers, contributors and creators of this material are not responsible in any manner for any potential or actual loss resulting in the use of the information presented. The content of this publication is for informational purposes only. No promise or guarantee of results is implied or suggested.





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Sing Better 10 Secrets to help You Sing Better Nowtrueconnectedvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Sing-Better.pdf · Introduction Sing Better! 10 Secrets to help You Sing Better