Comments on: Why You Should NOT Sing From Your Diaphragm

By: Judy Rodman

Judy Rodman — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 01:50:01 +0000

I appreciate your comment but you misunderstood what I'm saying here. Please allow me to clarify. I'm not saying we don't breathe in from the diaphragm, we do. What I'm suggesting is not to sense powering the voice from there. It causes a loss of breath control and therefore vocal control as I've described in this post. Changing the sensing of where you power your voice from your chest area to your pelvic floor has made a huge difference in all of my singers and speakers voices. Please consider rereading with this in mind. It could help you.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 01:28:10 +0000

Judy, you are so often right, so please do not destroy your credibility by claiming that you can not consciously breathe in using your diaphragm.

By: Judy Rodman

Judy Rodman — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 00:11:22 +0000

Deborah, that's great… because your head voice, aka 'head register' is important to the long-term health of your chest voice, especially on higher notes, which I like to call mixed voice. When you strengthen your head voice, you should be able to have a better mix in the middle of your range, and protect your voice from strain. If you'd ever like even one 1/2 hour lesson with me to personalize this with you, let me know! Thanks for your feedback here and please keep in touch.

By: Deborah J

Deborah J — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 00:08:22 +0000

I have a strong chest voice and have for decades. It's from a background in R&B. The problem is I recently became aware of another part of the voice I DONT seem to have much of. This airy head voice, I cannot seem to tap into. It's like once I move from my power voice I start crackling in attempts to soften up top. There are times it comes, but I like much vocal training, so what I've learned has been online. I am enjoying even beginning to work it into my warm ups and venturing a little past my chest voice to incorporate those sounds.

By: Judy Rodman

Judy Rodman — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 10:29:48 +0000

So good to hear from you Ron, and you inspired me to 'youtube' search for Boerling. I'm listening, with chills, almost in tears, to him singing 'Nessun Dorma' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUbA5y1hnFg OH my gosh that last high note is just stunning!

You are so right… that lift in his voice stays constant. It's the same reason I've always loved Andre Bochelli. One of my pet peeves is the sound (and feel!) of pushed singing. Singers like this just resonate and pull the house down!!!

And I totally agree with your thoughts… "The most accurate indication everything is working well is the amount of excess breath you have at the end of a line."

Also the idea of 'always being on top' of a note, in a placement sense, unlocks all kinds of vocal beauty and ability. An interesting exercise for this which this I gleaned from a teacher named Melissa Cross is to have the student hold a pencil or pen crossways in the teeth. Then they are instructed to 'sing from above the pencil'. It works for all notes, yes, including the low ones. Thanks again sharing for your insights!

By: Ronald Calabrese

Ronald Calabrese — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 09:21:27 +0000

Great advice, Judy. The most accurate indication everything is working well is the amount of excess breath you have at the end of a line. Singing Mozart is really helpful in gaining breath control because he requires long legato lines without a breath, i.e Il Mio Tesoro from Don Giovanni. If you force out excess air on any notes in the run, you'll surely run out before the end of the phrase, a very embarrassing development!

Teachers frequently use descriptions of the proper sensation when trying to explain good production. Some of these descriptions are confusing when you've NEVER experienced the proper sensation. When I first started with operatic tenor music, I had considerable difficulty transitioning down smoothly from a high note to a lower note close to the middle of my range.My teacher told me to place the lower note in the same 'place' as the high note. I would frequently attack the high note with proper head voice and then drop the position sounding like a foggy voiced baritone on the lower note. Until I experienced "being on top of the high note" I didn't understand the meaning of the sensation. Listening to great singers in your voice range is very helpful. Jussi Boerling, the iconic Swedish tenor, was a master at keeping the lift in his voice as he transitioned down from a high note. All budding young tenors should listen to him daily!