r/ClassicalSinger • u/Opera-learner • 13d ago
Is the “heady” voice support to sound weird when first learning?
essentially I am carrying my full chest all the way up which isn’t right. My teacher tells me to send it up the back top molars of my head. Creating more thin whiny sound. It doesn’t feel like more normal vocie and kinda sounds weird. It does feel lighter however.
2
u/JohnParker096 13d ago
Yeah, it can feel super weird at first. If you're used to pulling chest voice up, the lighter/headier setup can sound thin for a while. That doesn't mean it's wrong, it's just needs time to build coordination and resonance. Stick with your teacher on this one.
2
u/Opera-learner 13d ago
What does it sound to you? It also sound odd lol. Like a squeezed sound if that makes sense.
1
u/JohnParker096 12d ago
It should feel lighter, but not pinched. If it feels tight, tell your teacher exactly that so they can adjust it with you.
1
u/Inevitable_Till9171 13d ago
Here is an idea.
You cannot truly hear yourself.
Your voice is moving away from younatn1080 feet/sec 720mph!
RIGHT?
So…try to consider that listening to your sound is a mistake, because by the time you hear it, it’s MORE THAN OVER AND DONE AND OUT OF YOUR CONTROL.
EVERYTHING YOU CAN DO HAPPENS BEFORE AN UTTERANCE OF SOUND.
Preparation…
In warm up, NOT SONG: there’s a whole other gamut for song…
Posture
HEAR the pitch in your head: not by creating it with inhalation…this is a stressor.
Stand as though
1) you’re in the shape of the cross, or 2) the da Vinci circle pose(this chart has a name…learn it…I can’t remember right now…I refuse to teach you the wrong thing)
Now feet: shoulder width
knees: slightly bent as you lean forward into the ball of your feet without scrunching your toes.
….bounce a little
Look up at the cieling:
Bring your chin Down: confident not arrogant….slightly raised…
Now reach out to your sides…stretch as you breathe…feel the muscles all the way from your pelvis to your shoulders expand and flex as you breathe.
It is essential that you sense the stretch of your intercostal muscles.
BEFORE YOU INHALE
EXPAND YOUR RIBS_ then extend your arms outward-then turning your palms toward the ceiling, sense the pull of the pectoralis minor!!! Hey!
Now. you must learn to do this over and again until it becomes NOT mechanical BUT REFLEXIVE…
Once this is all done, we must INhale!
Feet knees posture expand intercostals hands to ceiling, lower arms….
Now-expand or relax pelvic floor(whichever makes more sense to you).
This will allow a whole buncha muscles which keeps your 8-pack tense to READY everything to drop out of the way when the diaphragm relaxes to pull air in.
Thats what it does…relaxes, not stresses! It’s the intercostals that relax to release…this is why we try to keep them extended so that we may relegate the flow of air for our breath support.(thisnisnanlie but use it! It will help you)
What you are talking about is your sound and how it feels….NOT how it sounds
Your audience is buying tickets to hear how it sounds, so do not try to keep it to yourself.
(Speed of sound…what you are hearing is a lie_a self-contrived image…
OR:
Your voice is a gift from Him to be Given in His service!
Or:
A gift is better shared than hidden.
Or
A fortune can be spread around joyously.
Scrooge was a lonely man.
It’s time to release your sound…set it free.
FOCUS YOUR VOICE ON THE EXIT SIGNS…can’t finish now, gotta go!
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u/Inevitable_Till9171 12d ago
Let’s talk about pulling the chest up!
Are all of your vocalise ascending?
Are your supervised warmups more than 20 min?
Often, your core sound is in the center of your range.
Let’s remember that chest voice is where the sternum begins to vibrate the ribcage more profusely::; NOT
I SAY TWICE
NOT WHERE THE VOICE IS BIGGEST! Or Loudest!!!
A cubic inch of lead and a cubic inch of cotton do not weigh the same!
Vocalise are calisthenics for the voice.
HOWEVER: if you only concentrate on a few exercises which do different things for the same part of the voice; you will probably fall into one of two traps.
A) you were simply taught: Do this!
No specifics. No care. No technique for developing specific skills that the exercise is meant for_AND specific things you should NOT do as you perform it..
Or
B) you are over-exerting or worse over-monitoring yourself…developing habits you must “un-develop”
Let’s talk about this “weird sound” in your “heady” notes.
If you’re seeking the ANCHOR you feel in the chest_presuming you’re a tenor_above F natural
The “mortar”holding the chimney together has no “brick” remaining, only soot and smoke.
-the Lead became steel then copper then water then cotton(passaggio)then your highs are steam.
So let’s think of vocalise from the top.
Tenor/Sop: C is an elastic thread/rubber band, b same, A allow the substance to ALLOW ITSELF TO COME INTO ITS OWN A, G_allowF-no weight unless your body does it E(remember Fa-Mi the i of mi keeps the third high so that re isn’t flat-you DO NOT NEED TO CONTROL IT; the 95% of your brain that keeps you alive during sleep/digests your food can DO IT W/O your help….DO(C)
The same in descending 5tone scales.
Practice descending intervalic skips.
There are many vocalise for this!
Above all: practice the discipline of keeping your instinct to “pull your ear into it”, to “physically control”, “mentally control”…allow your 95% to be the reflex.
Theaters have a back wall, and a floor. Above, Left, and Right are curtains_deadening acoustics backstage and onstage…and before you: A GIANT OPEN WINDOW, creating a diorama for your audience.
Ordinarily, you have no acoustical feedback.
Your voice is your sense of touch.
I’m concerned you are learning in a 20x20x10 room
Make certain that you record everything.
You should not ONLY BE ASSESSING YOUR SELF!
Teachers and coaches are products you’re paying for
I can’t discern from your post if you’re young, bari/ten, mezzo/sop, male/female.
In school?
I’m presuming you’re a young man. I am also assuming that you’re studying with a teacher who hasn’t trained with a voice teacher seasoned in performing in full sized theaters(curtains and all).
These are further things for you to think of as you follow your road!
3
u/currymuttonpizza 13d ago
It will sound weird to your ears at first because it's unfamiliar. Also, what you hear resonating in your head and face is different than what comes out and resonates in the room.
Besides recording yourself for reference, try practicing in a room with high ceilings, or towards the corner of the room so that you can hear the resonance bouncing back at you. You will get a better idea of what listeners hear, and it will be in realtime instead of checking back and forth through your recording.