♪ Did you ever know that you're my hero? ♪ - For many of you, the idea of being heard
to sing out of tune is akin to the
embarrassment you might feel if you had to do a nudie run
around the neighborhood block. It's just a little unthinkable. Fret no more, I've got
a few singing activities that will help you to tune up that voice for more accurate notes. No more singing flat, which
means no more nudie runs. - [Woman] Sound check. Check one, check two. (upbeat music) - Hello everyone, my name is Dr. Dan. Thanks for clicking on my video. I hope you find our next
few minutes together to be productive and fruitful. Singing flat. No one chooses to sing
notes that don't quite hit the center of the target. But alas, every voice does it. I've said it before, but
it's worth stating again. Because your voice is human,
it's brilliantly imperfect, and therefore, incapable of
singing each and every note with perfection. In my humble opinion, that's what makes human singing so wonderful. It's flawed. Our inability to sing
accurately a hundred percent of the time is what gives
us the capacity to express raw, human emotion. This all being said, it is important that we work on our intonation. The reality is, people don't
want to listen to a singer who can't hit the majority of their notes with some level of precision. So in this video, we're gonna
take a look at flat notes, what causes them, and
how we can lift them up to where they belong. - [Woman] Sound check. - So, firstly, what is a flat note? Well, the term flat is
taken from musical notation. A flat sign, usually found
to the left of the note, indicates that a note
should be lowered in pitch by one semi-tone. So when we talk about
a sung note being flat, we're suggesting that the sound
is under the desired pitch. Not necessarily a semi-tone, just under what we're aiming for. Have a listen. If I sing an A4 note
accurately, it sounds like this. (piano note) (sings) But if my voice aims to sing
the same note, but misses it by a fraction, singing it
flat, it sounds like this. (piano note) (sings) Many people can sing a
single note accurately, the big challenge comes
when we string a whole lot of notes together to form a melody. The movement between two
pitches is called intonation. Accurate intonation can be
difficult for the human voice because the singer has to coordinate a whole range of actions. Intonation, tone, articulation. Things can get really
demanding when the voice has to navigate quickly through
notes over fast-moving text. And it's not only the speed
of a phrase, or a song, that can cause your notes to sound flat. Did you know that vocal
fatigue and vocal fold swelling can also cause your voice
to produce flat notes? You see, when we have a tired
voice, or our vocal folds have swollen due to illness or overuse, our vocal folds retain
higher levels of fluid in the vocal fold tissue. Fatter vocal folds means
harder work for the singer, typically resulting in a
desire to push more air up through the larynx. And when we push too much air pressure up through the larynx, the
mechanism typically responds by bracing against the pressure. A braced larynx is
characteristically a tight, constricted larynx. And tight, constricted
larynges, especially in the lower register, will
often create flat notes. So, that's how flat notes occur. So, let's get to the important stuff. How do we fix them? - [Woman] Sound check. I want to give you three simple exercises that will really help to
improve your flat notes. But before I do, let me
state that learning to sing with higher levels of
accuracy really does come down to drilling the voice with
scales of varying difficulty. Using a singing exercise
program, like the one on Dr. Dan's Voice Essentials,
will provide your voice with the variety of scales
needed to train your voice for pitch accuracy. So, too, will the
following three activities. The first exercise is
a single note exercise. Now, you'll need an external
sound source, like a guitar, or a keyboard, or even an
app on your phone will do. Start by hitting a note. In my case, I'm gonna use a
keyboard, that corresponds with a comfortable,
middle of your range note. And again, I'm gonna
use A, right smack-bang in the middle of my voice. Now, sing the note and sustain
it for six to eight beats. As your sung note is nearing
completion, hit the external sound source again to check
your sustained accuracy. Have a listen. (piano note) (sings) The aim, of course, is
to commence and sustain the note's pitch accurately. When you've mastered one note,
move on to a different note and see how you go doing the activity across your complete range. The second exercise requires
a voice to slide up to a note. Landing accurately in the
center of the target note. Again, my first target
note will be A4 again. (piano note) (sings) If you get one note
right, move up a semi-tone and repeat the activity. This challenges your ear
as well as your larynx. I've got one more exercise
to give you, but before I do, take a quick moment to
hit the thumbs-up button if you're really enjoying the video. - [Woman] Sound check. The first activities focused
on single note pitches. Our third activity is a
little more challenging because it requires the
voice to move through a range of notes correctly. Now, for the purpose of
showing you the exercise, I'm gonna use the melody
from Happy Birthday. I'll do the exercise and then
I'll explain what's going on. (hums Happy Birthday song) The first thing you'll probably notice is I'm using a short stirring
straw and I'm only humming the melody through the straw. Importantly, there's no air
traveling through my nose. All of the sound is coming
through the small opening at the end of the straw. Now, if you don't have
a straw, you can always do the activity using puffy cheeks. (hums Happy Birthday song) And so on. So, how is singing through
a straw going to help you to not sing flat? Well, remember earlier when
I said that the flat singing often comes from too much air pressure? Well, when we use the
straw or puffy cheeks, we create what is called a
semi-occluded vocal tract. This narrowing of the vocal pathway forms a flow resistant mode,
which in turn teaches us to use far less breath
pressure to create our notes. But to start with, some
of you may find that your pitch accuracy gets
worse before it gets better. That's because your voice
has learned to use pressure and the resulting muscle
tension to stabilize the larynx to get a better pitch. When we remove the pressure,
your larynx and your voice can feel a little lost to start. But if you stick with it,
your flat notes will shape up and sing true more often. Now, I used Happy Birthday as
an example, but you can use this activity on any melody. The key to success is
learning to create your tone with less pressure. And of course, when you're
singing your chosen tune, aim to sing each and every
note as accurately as possible. I'm gonna be keen to
hear how you've gone with the three exercises, so
leave your comments below outlining your experiences. And, if this is your first
time watching one of my videos, Hi there, I hope you've
enjoyed today's instruction. If you've learned something, why not head over to my channel,
Dr. Dan's Voice Essentials, for hundreds more videos
just like this one. I've tailored each video to workshop a particular area of your voice, so that you can be the very
best singer you can possibly be. So hopefully I'll see you in the next Voice Essentials video. I'm Dr. Dan, sing well. (audience cheering)
