Q & A with a mailing list member and a great singer!!

Hi Singers!

Thought you might enjoy this exchange between me and one of our members. When I ask you for questions and comments, I mean to answer them, and this singer took me up on it.

I can do the same for all you singers out there.

Enjoy...

I have some other questions but please only answer them when you have time. I don't want to monopolize your kind availability. Feel free to take as long as you need. It's just that sometimes I have seasons where I have a lot of questions when practicing it and then I simmer down.

Here are the questions:

Well, I have some time today, so here goes:

Re: . 1) I've been singing and I'me keeping a feel for the relaxation. My shoulders, knees, legs, arms are all relaxed. So is my mouth and face. My neck isn't stiff either. They are all relaxed even on long or high notes. I feel some diaphragm use but at the same time the throat still gets slightly sore. After I'm finished the show I can get back to it within 30 minutes but my throat shouldn't feel sore at all right? My doubt continues to be how much of the diaphragm am I using. It's different showing you as opposed to doing a show.

This is where daily practicing come into play....not hours of it, but maybe 2-5 minutes every day, you need to practice the diaphragm drills to put the diaphragm on auto pilot. Takes about 30 days and after that you never need to "practice" again! You're a pro now so you should NOT be worrying about what your diaphragm is doing during a performance, and I can tell by listening to you that you normally don't. You are there to entertain and you do it exceptionally well. Practicing for a few short minutes every day for 30-45 days will get you to stop thinking about your diaphragm forever, cause you'll know that it's always working and that all your notes are being struck right in the middle where they should be struck.

Re: 2. Aren't there notes, sometimes in quick fast phrasing songs where you won't use the diaphragm so much? I mean, depending on the song it's really a combination of belly, throat and head/nasal passages right?

Actually, NO! The diaphragm should be working every moment you are singing. Mine is working even when I speak, although I don't even notice it anymore. I've been singing for 62 years, and for the last 40 of those years my diaphragm has been on automatic, so its second nature for me to be using it. I sing in the same registers that I sang in in my 20's. Tone placement in the nose, belly and throat etc, is separate from supporting the sound with the diaphragm. Using the diaphragm totally frees up everything from the chest UP and gives you the option and flexibility to PLACE your tone in any of the vibration chambers of your instrument...(Chest, throat, nose, head, etc.). But you should never let go of the diaphragm until you are totally out of air...then let go and your body takes the next breath FOR you...(like it does when you come up for air in the swimming pool).

Re: . Phrasing and softness. I've been trying the be more conscious of the diaphragm and it has had good results but some of the notes sound a bit coarse. They sound a bit like the "grunt" (now I see why they call it the "attack"). I learned over years to start a high long note softly and then bring the power up as I keep singing that note. It seems that with the diaphragm it is difficult to be conscious of phrasing and the delivery sometimes is not as pretty.

Yeah, this is a tough one. I get questions about this all the time. It's tough to sing softly without letting go of the diaphragm altogether, right? Here's what I think. When you're singing "live" to an audience, THEY DON'T CARE if its not pretty. It doesn't have to be pretty to be dynamic, dramatic, exciting, uplifting, etc. Audiences just want to have the "live" experience with an artist they admire. The performance is everything! On a recording, okay that's different. It should be more exactly correct on a recording because you are not actually there to mitigate any mistakes, see?

But listen! Practicing using the diaphragm on soft phrases will actually give you MORE control than letting go if it. When you let go, it all comes into your throat immediately and then getting it back into the belly is hard to do. Spend 1 minute or 2 every day to singing short bursts of loud and soft notes with the diaphragm as your foundation and support, and it'll become second nature in no time. Sometimes soft singing can sound kinda sleepy without the support of the diaphragm, while using it will not necessarily make the sound loud and harsh, intense or edgy, or sweet or warm, whatever you choose while still remaining soft. Listen to Vic Damone singing "A Love Affair to Remember", or Johnny Mathis singing "The 12th of Never". On the last phrase they each end on a falsetto note that is pure and simple yet sweet and warm.They could never do that without using their diaphragm. It is absolutely the key to flexibility, vocal strength and endurance.

4. I read somewhere you saying that you couldn't damage your voice by singing too high but you could damage it by singing too low. Whether you're tlking about pitch or volume I didn't get that. Coz the throat feels the strain when notes are high right?

Okay, there's a lot of misunderstanding about this one, so glad you raised this question. Let me clear that up for ya.

Mostly for females singers but also true for male singers...the human body determines how low you can sing, (by LOW meaning how far down the register you can reach comfortably and still sing with power.)

My lowest comfortable note is the Eb below Middle C. Any lower than that and I have either whisper it or "say" it cause trying to SING it with power can actually result in tearing some some very delicate tissue right between the collar bones where it feels like a U-shape. So that's why it's dangerous.

However, with CORRECT practicing using the diaphragm, I can go to High C if necessary without hurting myself and without putting any strain on my throat. Its called the "One-Voice" method and is accomplished with practice. While I can sing up to the 5th space Eb in the treble clef in my natural voice, (2 octaves from my lowest note), I still have 9 more 1/2 steps in my head voice I can sing without cracking or straining,

Male singers have 2 actual "falsettos", the first being at the very top of their full voice where they feel a strain in their throat, (which can be totally eliminated by NOT singing in the throat), and this first falsetto, or "passagio" as the classical teachers call it only consists of 2-4 half steps. Once you pass from that into the 2nd passagio or falsetto, you can sing all the way up the scale to the place only dogs can hear if you wish without hurting your voice at all. But you gotta sing correctly which again...is using the diaphragm properly.

5. Music ear. Why is it hard to know flatness when we're actually singing but we can hear it more clearly when we listen to the recording?

Well, this actually happens to me all the time. I get wrapped up in the song and the performance and every now and then I go under the pitch. So what??? It happens. When you're out there performing every night, its bound to happen, and most of the time, it makes no difference to your audience. It DOES matter in the studio however, when like I said earlier it should be more exact. So "take 2, or 3, or 33, to get it as close as you can.

(Notice I didn't use the word, "perfect" because I hate that word, and it is NOT possible to sing perfectly anyway.)

It's the striving toward perfection that gives us artists the drive to keep going, but no, we are never perfect, and therefore never satisfied. Isn't it wonderful???

6. Range. I usually have a range similar to singers like Harry Connick Jr., Nat King Cole, Dean Martin and Sinatra. However. In the nearly 1000 different recordings that I heard of Sinatra (and I'm not talking about the 40s when his voice was young) there are only about 3 instances where his ranges goes high out of my range. It's strange because other singers like Bubble, Bobby Darin, who have a higher range than me, you can clearly see this through most or many of their songs. So why does Sinatra seem to reserve his high range 99% of the time and uses it only 1%. Is that what I should be doing?

When I choose a key for a singer to sing a particular song, I try to choose the one that is centered in the "sweet spot" of the singer's range. In other words, if you have a range of 2+ octaves that you are capable of singing, there may be just a few notes somewhere within those octaves where your voice is the strongest, sweetest, and most expressive. THAT'S where you should sing most of the notes of any song. Never NEVER try to sound like anyone else but you, and sing in only the keys that express YOU best.

Sinatra smoked and drank JD for most of his adult life...and also slept very little... and you can hear it in his voice. By 40, at the top of his Capitol years, it was already losing some of the purity of his youth, but it had character that he didn't have at 20, so people, (including me) went bananas over his ability to express the lyrics. By 50, he was ready to retire because it became an effort to sing the same way he used to, and by 65, his voice was pretty much worn out. He still performed non-stop, no sleep, lotsa booze, and still had the "magic" until he could no longer hold a note longer than one beat. and was singing thru every diphthong as in "Myeeeee Wayeeeeee" rather than, Maaah-ey Waaaa-ey. Do you see this? These words have one syllable but 2 vowels sounds. using the first vowel sound opens the throat and makes the sound come out easily, effortlessly. It's only when your throat doesn't work anymore that you go instantly to the 2nd vowel sound. And that's how Frankie sang for about the last 10 years of his career.

When you sing using your throat alone you WILL wear it out, eventually. If you use the diaphragm, your voice will last forever. Ask Tony Bennett.

7. Do you think my choice of range is too high (such as in Yellow Ribbon)? Should I be singing lower keys?

As I previously mentioned, find the sweet spot of your voice and place the key of the song where most of its notes are in your sweet spot. Some of your songs DO seem high to me, but some of them sound great like on "You're Nobody". How does it FEEL to you...that's the measuring device to use when choosing a key.

8. Earnings. I need to make more money. Do you recommend I go in at the rate I want and see which clients I get or that I bend and go in lower and then raise the rates later?

I've never been very good at business decisions. Fortunately I had a piano player/partner who handled all of the financial matters, but, as a teacher, I've had to take care of those issues, so here's my take...for what it's worth.

In LA I was bringing in $75-$100 per lesson. When I moved to Texas, I had to go in at a lot less than that to establish myself and then raised my prices to the top of what THAT market could handle. I've had to do that again since moving to New Mexico.

But in all 3 markets, the price for singing gigs is pretty much the same.

Pricing yourself too low leads to exhaustion and perhaps even leaving the biz, so you gotta ask for what you know you're worth. The key is to work as many high-paying and high quality gigs as possible while sprinkling in the NH gigs that may not pay as well. In other words look for ways to work less hours but for more $$$, if that's possible.

So, don't devalue yourself, but don't put yourself out of the market altogether. Maybe check around at what the country clubs and restaurants will pay. I would also look into private functions, even house parties.

Some of my most lucrative gigs were in homes for about 25-50 guests. The atmosphere is relaxed the guests can really enjoy you...and tip you outrageously well.

Hope that helps, Doll! Just one

opinion from an

old lounge singer/vocal coach.

Thanks Chrys. This is the most exhaustive answers I ever got from any teacher on any subject. You are an awesome teacher. I'm practicing every day now and may have a couple of SHORt question in a few days. I'm very confident and boosted by your challenges and encouragements.

Love you.