The Five Steps Necessary to Produce Quality Tone

by Bud Miller, Music VP, Cherry Hills NJ -- part 3 of 5
submitted by Milt Weisman, editor/publisher, Cherry Hill NJ Tru-Notes

The third in a series of five lessons on producing good tone deals with starting the tone or what voice teachers refer to as "attack".

Talking about breathing is often a dull subject and even mastery of it will not insure good singing. Athletes who frequently have enlarged their vital breathing capacity to a maximum can hold their breath longer than most singers, but still sing poorly. Likewise, good singers can be found whose technique is unorthodox, even poor. The most important aspect is the attack.

The challenge to the singer is to create the most efficient balance between the contraction of the muscles of breathing and the tensions of the muscles in the valve (the two muscles that are stretched over the top of the larynx to retain air as long as is needed) which provide the correct kind of resistance to the breath pressure made possible by the contraction of those breathing muscles. When this balance is correct the voice has a focused, ringing quality. You should attempt to find this balance as soon as possible when learning to sing. The two extremes of incorrect balance which must be moderated are breathiness and tightness. If the valve is too loose and allows a waste of breath, either before or during the tone, the tone will lack intensity and brilliance. A rustling sound that creates no vibration of the folds but uses air rapidly will be heard. If it comes just before phonation it is recognizable as the letter "H". Many of you have accomplished this correct balance without instruction simply by listening to good singers and trying to imitate the tone you hear. Some of you have achieved excellent coordination (balance) in comfortable singing range of your voice, but haven't come to grips with it in the extreme upper and lower parts of your range. This is the main reason many individuals study voice with a private teacher. Unfortunately, the muscles which control the valve are involuntary and we therefore have no physical control over them. We must learn to identify the proper sound and feel when it is correct. If it sounds right and feels right, the valve adjustment must be right.

SINGING ON THE BREATH

The attack which develops freedom in the voice is the one in which the flow of breath begins first and then the sound appears. The result is truly "singing on the breath". Using an exaggerated "H" usually insures a relaxed valve which you must have if the voice is to be free. Once there is a clear, crisp initiating of the vowel, the amount of time and breath that is wasted in the "H" should be reduced until finally there is only an "Imaginary H".

The result of good execution of this technique is that whenever the first word in a phrase (after a breath) begins with a vowel, the singer starts the tone with an imperceptible amount of breath ahead of the vowel. It is not enough air to be heard in performance, but it has to be there. This is the concept of the "Imaginary H". Remember, whenever you are uptight and the voice starts to tighten up, use a little more breath flow to loosen the valve.

Here is a drill to help you understand how to sing "on the breath" with the "oo" vowel:

  1. Sing the word "who" with a generous flow of breath through the letter "H".

  2. Reduce the amount of breath used in the "H" by one half and sing the word again.

  3. Reduce the amount of breath used in the "H" by one half once again and sing the word "who".

  4. Now, try to sing the vowel "oo" instead of the word "who". There would be an imperceptible amount of breath which precedes the sound and relaxes the valve.

With practice you can learn to correctly attack any word sound you may ever encounter and it will be well worth the time spent.

HR

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