You may have asked your self” “which vocal techniques produces a consistently superior sounding vocal and is vocally healthy and sustainable over years of singing?  , or, “what techniques do the best singers use.”

You’ve probably run accross much debate on this.  You’ll hear from coaches who would never admit what they teach is not the best technique or even bad for your voice.  You’ll hear from singers who are marginal at best or have ingrained bad habits and refuse to train the right way. 

You’ll even hear from people who have an opinion and don’t even sing, they will say things like, “There’s lots of singing techniques. None are the best it depends on the singer and the style. Use what works for you.”  I can tell you right now the last opinion is full on BS.   In the real world there is ALWAYS  a better way of doing things that will produce a superior result.  It’s only that most people have a habit of mucking through things half assed or acting on bad information from an uninformed source.

There are really only three schools of singing:

1.  Diaphramatic  (push from the belly, divide the voice into registers and try to bridge them)

2.  Glottal  ( concentrate on the throat)

3.  Singing from the mask

The first two are what most amateur singers are taught either from awful vocal coaches or from a book or from friends, or they just kind of wing it.     Consequently this is why these singers rarely go beyond the status of, “amatuer singer,” or even have a voice that sounds good.

The best sounding singers ALL sing from the mask.   Singing from the mask produces the best vocal tone in ANY voice, in ANY style of music.   It produces the widest range, extreme loudness if wanted and greatest ease of use.

So, do not listen to anyone who tells you there is no, “best way to sing.”  I can tell you from using just about every vocal technique taught or developed that, “singing from the mask,” trumps them all.

If you want to know more about singing from the mask visit:  www.vocalrelease.com

This, very simply, is a voice that is produced all wrong.  The jaw should never be flexed and be full of tension while singing.   It should be very relaxed and able to move up and down and fly open as easily as when you talk.

Tension and flex in the jaw translates down into the throat and larynx and will really make it hard to sing.

You’ll often see jaw flexing in heavier types of music where the vocalist is more or less screaming as harshly as they know how.  Even in this type of music it’s simply not needed.  

Putting flex in the jaw is like putting the brakes on your voice.

While the voice needs to resonante in the mouth and head to have full and released tone, flexing the jaw in no way facilitates this.

What should you do if you’ve developed this bad habit.   Very simply concentrate on your jaw when you sing and let it relax.  If you’ve sang this way so long that you can’t stop then you’ll have to reprogram your voice. Here’s a couple of things you can try.

1. Sing very lightly at about a talking level something that you perform.  Concentrate on keeping the jaw relaxed.   Repeat the same phrase over and over until you’ve convinced your nervous system that clenching the jaw is not needed for singing.  Then try singing at your normal volume.

2. Don’t use your jaw or tongue at all.  Sing as if you simply had no jaw or tongue.  Let the jaw simply fall open and sing some phrases.  You of course will sound like a drunk because you won’t be able to pronounce any words.  When you’ve sung some tones for a while this way, slowly reintroduce the jaw and toungue and letting them move freely, but only enough to help with pronunciation.

That said, it’s important to note that a jaw or tongue clenching is sure sign that you are not using the, “attack of the mask,” for singing.  The attack of the mask is the greatest singing technique ever divised, as it is how a singing voice should work.   When you learn the attack of the mask most problems with a singing voice dissappear as a side benefit.

To learn the attack of the mask check out   www.vocalrelease.com

The larynx, when singing should sit about where it is when you are silent.   If it moves a little when singing that is alright.  But, a larynx that rises drastically is a sure sign that your vocal technique is very bad and strained and will cause you damage….and very likely doesn’t sound so hot.

What causes a larynx to rise when singing is a voice that isn’t approached like humming, but with the mouth open, and a voice with no mask placement.  This results in the singer trying to push or shout the tone out.  Singing can be done this way, but it is very hard to do and simply doesn’t sound very good.  Singing this way always causes the singer to be hoarse after even a half hour performance.

A voice placed in the mask flows out as easily as humming.  Placement in the mask causes the larynx to stabiliaze and breath support to happen, both by reflex.

If you would like to learn to sing with this amount of ease, power and range buy a copy of www.vocalrelease.com    I’ve used it and it made a huge difference in my singing voice.

This is the absolute worst technique to control your breath or support your voice. The action of the diaphragm is a reflex to a voice well placed in the mask.    Pushing with the diaphgram overpowers the voice, is unnatural, uneeded and over time will actually hurt your voice.

Here is how you should breath for singing:

1. stand straight, head up straight.

2. Relax the shoulders and the arms, let them hang and not bunch up.

3. Push your sternum forward, this will expand the ribs and make room for air.

4. Breath in to the upper chest and let the ribs expand. DO NOT expand the belly or diaphgram abnormally. The diaphgram will work on it’s own without you thinking about it, it does not need extra control or to be built up.

5. As you sing out concentrate on keeping your chest up and your ribs expanded. The diaphgram will move naturally.

6. As you sing out think of a sob.  This is called, “breath pop.” and the voice should be rooted in it.   When you perform the breath pop you will notice your voice resonantes like a hum, is felt both in the chest and head cavities and your diaphgram wavers/ compresses without you thinking about it.

This is a very basic explanation.  If you want to find very detailed instruction on how to breath for singing and how to greatly improve your voice I recommend www.vocalrelease.com    The instruction you find in this course is simply the best.