井上愛の日記

QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL HABITS

Q. Will one drink hurt?
A. Definitely not

Q. How does alcohol hurt your voice?
A. Alcohol dries your vocal folds which need to be wet so the two don't mix well.

Q. Why do I sing better when I drink?
A. That's what you think. Actually it's true that liquor will relax muscles and reduce inhibitions; the trouble has always been discovering you drank too much, too late. There is an easier way......

Q. Can I drink after I sing?
A. That depends on your schedule. Remember the drying qualities of alcohol won't take effect until you're asleep. When you wake, you'll have to work to regain the voice.

Q. Are cigarettes harmful to my larynx?
A. Yes

Q. What about occasional smoking?
A. Less harmful because you allow for recovery. Your body appreciates moderation.

A. Yes, it doesn't provide the lasting energy necessary to sing. Sugar eats up vitamins and leaves you depleted after the initial charge

Q. Does eating on the run hurt my voice?
A. Your body needs to focus energy to digest efficiently. The stress of rushing around while cramming food creates mucus because the system is over-taxed. If the dashboard and floor of your car is littered with McDonald's bags, it's time to re-think your schedule

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DIET

Q. Are milk and other dairy products bad for my voice?
A. Yes, they coat the throat and produce excess mucous in your system.

Q. Do the things I eat matter to my voice?
A. Yes, you are the instrument.

Q. Are coffee and tea good to drink before singing?
A. No, heat expands and swells the throat.

Q. What is good to drink?
A. Room temperature water.

Q. Is honey soothing to your throat?
A. It coats the throat, but never touches the vocal folds, where the stress is located.

Q. Is it good to coat my throat when it feels sore?
A. First decide if the soreness is an infection or tense muscles. Coating the throat offers not help for tension because the soreness comes from the muscle.

Q. Should I be a vegetarian?
A. That's your personal choice. A lighter diet works better for singers, which doesn't leave much room for red meat.

Q. Is it bad to eat just before I sing?
A. This is best answered by experience. Some people relax their bodies after eating which is good for singing, but digestive juices can coat the throat. Others feel they don't have room to breath when they're full, but singing requires lots of strength. You should be sensitive to your metabolism. The timing is your responsibility.

Q. Should I drink lots of water during the day?
A. Yes, the larynx needs to be constantly lubricated. However, don't drink with meals and plain water is taxing on an empty stomach. Foods that have a high water content are the best source.

Copyright © Mark Baxter. All rights reserved worldwide.

Learning New Songs in 6 Simple Steps
Copyright © 2004 by Yvonne DeBandi

Why is it that some students can easily learn numerous songs in a short amount of time, but others struggle to make improvement on a small number of tunes after many tiring practice sessions? When students seem to be on the slow side of this process we always revisit how they are spending their practice time.

Keep in mind that while it would be great if singing students sang their assignments every day, the real world says that more practice time gets accomplished in the car when singing to the radio and simply singing the songs they love. Let's face it, when you love a song and you listen to music regularly, you listen to that song over and over again. So we place a lot of concentration on how to apply good singing skills to ANY song they want to sing.

Learning a Song in 6 Easy Steps

1. Listen to the song without making a sound. If you can anticipate what is coming next (including lyrics) then you are ready to move on to the next step.

This is probably the hardest step for most singers. If a song moves you, you want to wail it not LISTEN to it, right? If you are one of those singers that just has to go for it, be smart about it. Follow good boundaries and recognize those sections that don't come easily to you. Remember, muscles have memories. If you consistently sing a song with poor vocal skills, the memory of the involved muscles will include those poor skills. Breaking a bad habit in singing is much more difficult than creating a good habit from the get go.

2. Hum the song. Make sure that you feel the buzzing sensation in the front of your face; moving up and down your face as your pitch changes. Your goal is to make that buzzing very specific with each note -- just as if you were playing specific notes on a piano.
(If you need more information on Tone Placement, see Singing is Easy, Lesson #6).

If you are new to this process, you may need to repeat this step many times. Be sure to monitor your airflow. TIP: Your notes need to be connected on an airflow river, not resembling someone standing on the shore skipping stones.

When you can hum the song completely with ease, connecting the notes on your airflow and feeling very specific about the buzzing sensations on your face, you are ready to move to the next step.

3. Sing the song with the lyrics at a very natural volume, don't push and don't hold back...find the balance. Your goal is to place the words in exactly the same place that you felt the buzzing sensation when you were humming. Sometimes creating words makes us move the articulation arbitrarily around our mouth and makes singing much harder than it needs to be. Keep the words focused where you felt the buzzing and you will have more success. When you can sing the song easily at a comfortable natural volume with good vocal tone, you are ready to move to the next step.

4. Review the lyrics for performance purposes. With each stanza assign a one word adjective that best describes how you want the audience to feel during your song delivery. This adjective is the emotion you put on your face, in your vocal tone and in your body language during your performance of that song portion. So if you believe the main adjective for a stanza is "hopeful", it is much easier to perform hopeful than all the many words included in the lyrics. Try it, it really works. For those students that have never had acting training and feel a bit self conscious, this usually does this trick and helps them perform very moving performances...very quickly.

The only rule is you cannot use the same adjective twice. Remember, how do you want your audience to feel? Perception is everything.

5. Now you are ready to perform your song at a comfortable natural volume using everything you have practiced so far: good tone placement, good airflow, etc., AND add the emotional performance to the mix. I usually recommend sitting down for this step. In fact, to make the most progress I recommend that part of the performance practice be confined to the face. If you can move your audience with just your voice and your facial expressions, that's an accomplishment. Use your body and movement as an embellishment, not something that your performance relies on for success.

The comfortable, natural volume is very important. If you are using poor vocal mechanics you will be unable to create some notes without "belting them" and that needs to be addressed. Keep in mind that although it is a natural comfortable volume, you should not sacrifice your vocal tone. Think of it like when you turn the radio down. You still hear the peaks and valleys of the song, still crystal clear, just at a lower volume. This is your goal as you perform this step.

6. Perform with full movement and voice, adding stylistic nuances where appropriate. Be sure to use a mirror to help you make good choices. If you have followed the other steps correctly, by this step you will naturally begin to sing with more power as you become more comfortable with the song, the power properly reflecting the emotional peaks and valleys.

Again, if you are new to this process you might have to repeat each step several times. Singers that use this technique regularly will find that it gets easier and easier, and that songs are learned more completely with great speed.

GETTING PAST THE FIRST 30 SECONDS
in an audition or interview.
By Coach Yvonne DeBandi

During an audition or performance situation it is some times necessary to introduce yourself. Be sure to get started on the right foot because sometimes you only have thirty seconds to make an impression. Practice introducing yourself in front of the mirror and analyze your first impression-no matter how silly you feel. Learn from opinions, but do what feels right.

TIP #1 - State your name, don't ask it. Have you ever heard those introductions that make you wonder - is that their name or are they asking me? Practice your delivery tone and make sure your inflection does not rise at the end of the sentence making it sound like an inquiry.

TIP #2 - Slow down. Nerves can often cause you to speed up your speech pattern without you even knowing it. Before you begin speaking, take a deep breath and then speak slowly and clearly with good articulation.

TIP #3 - Mind your body language. Don't fidget. Stand comfortably with one foot slightly in front of the other, with the weight on the balls of your feet. Your arms and hands should remain relaxed by your side unless effective hand motions are being done.

TIP #4 - Eye contact. Look confident, even if you don't feel quite that way underneath. Make good eye contact with your audience. If you are not comfortable with making eye contact, try looking just over the audience's head. When using this technique they will often think you are talking/singing directly to them.

You've watched the show, you've seen the competition, and you think you're ready to come face-to-face with Simon Cowell. The first step is to blow everyone away at the initial American Idol audition. The rules and audition format for each city where American Idol auditions are held keep changing each year, so be sure to check the American Idol site and prepare exactly what they specify for the city where you plan to audition. Here's a checklist to help you prepare:

1. Find a Good Audition Song

For most auditions you will want to sing just a chorus of a song, so make sure it's a great chorus that really shows you off. This is not a time for subtlety, you want songs that hit people over the head like "I Will Always Love You", "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and "If I Ain't Got You." However, all of these songs I've mentioned will probably be sung by many other singers. Do your homework and find a song that's not as popular but just as showy. Recent hits are in everyone's ear, so go back a way and find something older and great. Try singing songs originally made famous by a singer of the opposite gender to make it fresh. Also try jumping genres: "I Will Always Love You" was originally a country song until Whitney reinvented it. A fresh approach to a killer song will get attention.

Find a song that shows off your full range without going beyond it. You don't want to be straining for any high notes, but you don't want to bore them with a song that's too easy. The key of the original song may be too high or low for you, but when you sing it a cappella you can put it in your key. Put it in the highest possible key where you still sound good. If the low notes are still too low you need a different song, you won't be able to magically sing them at the audition. See my article about singing low notes for more on that.

If possible, get a version in your key to practice with. That can be a karaoke version in the right key, or if you have a karaoke player you can change the key. Or, you may need to go to a vocal coach or accompanist for one lesson to get a piano version of the song for practice purposes. If you do this, make sure to get a version with and without the melody played, and while you're at it get one where just the bass notes of the accompaniment are played. I'll explain why in the next section.

2. Practice Your Song With Accompaniment

You will be auditioning without accompaniment, but too many singers forget to really learn the song before doing this. Then a cappella they go off-key. I had a singer come in last year right before an audition who managed to sing one chorus in five different keys! You'll want to develop your own version of the song, but learn the melody first. That means get that melody down. Record yourself singing along with the singer or piano accompaniment with melody and make sure your voice matches, especially on high notes, low notes, fast phrases and runs.

When you are comfortable singing your song with the singer or melody, practice with a version where the melody isn't played or sung. Focus on listening to the accompaniment while you sing, that will help keep you in tune. Record yourself again and listen for any pitch problems. Remember that sometimes singers go out of tune because they just need more practice, and sometimes they go out of tune for technical problems like too much throat tension. You may need to work more with the melody version of the song, but if you keep practicing and you're still out of tune, go see a vocal coach.

3. Practice Your Song Without Accompaniment

Now you want to see if you can keep it together singing a cappella. If you have a version where just the bass notes are played try singing with that first. Or start singing with the recorded accompaniment, turn off the track and sing a cappella, then check the track when you're done to see if you're still in tune. If you play an instrument you can use the same method, just play the first and last chord and sing a cappella in-between.

Once again, record yourself. If you're drifting to another key, go back and work with the accompaniment some more. If you sound good, get ruthless with yourself: evaluate your singing as if you were Simon Cowell. Listen for pitch accuracy, tone quality, expressiveness, articulation, and control. Polish your performance until it's a sparkling diamond.

4. Practice Your Song In Front of the Mirror

Now that your singing sounds good it's time to make sure you look good. Get in front of the mirror and sing to yourself. Make sure you aren't bouncing around too much, or that you aren't a statue. You should look relaxed, but still have good posture. Your face should look interested as you sing, not like you're in pain. As you sing to yourself in the mirror try to focus on your forehead, which will keep your eyes from flitting around.

5. Practice Your Song In Front of a Camcorder

The camera doesn't lie: tape yourself and then check for all of the already discussed visual, vocal and performance points. Taping yourself might kick up some nerves, too.

6. Practice Your Song In Front of an Audience

Many singers are good at working their song feverishly up to this point, but forget to practice in front of people. Live performances have an energy that is hard to recreate at home, so the only way to prepare is to do practice performances. Sing at karaoke clubs as much as possible. Even though your American Idol audition will probably be off-mic and a cappella, this is still a good way to prepare. You could have a friend videotape your performance. Also, gather family and friends and perform your song for them. You could even tell them to act bored or tired, since that may be the emotional state of the people you sing for at the audition! Whenever a friend can spare thirty seconds to be your audience, sing for them. Singing in as many different places to as many different people as possible will prepare you for the craziness of the actual audition.

7. Practice Your Song In Your Sleep

Well, this is a joke, of course, but I do have a point to make. If your audition is like many of them, you will have been waiting a long time, perhaps even camping overnight, before you finally get to sing. You'll be tired, impatient, hungry or otherwise not at your best. Then when you finally get to sing, adrenaline will hit you like a lightning bolt. You want to be able to give a fantastic performance even if you're exhausted, nervous, hungry, angry, whatever. If you've practiced and fine-tuned your performance enough, you can transcend any physical or emotional state and still deliver the kind of knockout audition that will get you noticed.