Hey guys, welcome back again to Ken Tamplin
Vocal Academy, where the proof is in the singing! Why do I say that all the time? I say that,
guys, because there is so much confusing information going around, particularly on
YouTube, and guys, I had to spend 30 years studying the voice, and understanding what
really works and what doesn’t. What’s legit, and what isn’t. How do you determine
what’s legitimate, and what isn’t? Einstein said it best when he said “Example isn’t
"A way" to teach, it’s the ONLY way to teach.” Here at Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy we believe
the PROOF is in the SINGING. So if you’re looking for a vocal coach, make absolutely
certain that that vocal coach truly: shows themself singing, and singing WELL, demonstrating
and displaying that what they teach is true, and that they have students demonstrating
and displaying that their technique actually works. We have over 300 videos here on YouTube, with several dozen students displaying just that.
Today we’re going to be discussing how not to choke off the cord, or how not to gag on your
vowels, or choke off the sound as it goes into ascending passages, or singing high.
So, how to sing high without choking off the cord. How we do this is, now everyone has different styles, and there’s different types of singing,
so I would have to break down a lot of different styles and I’m not going to take all the
time to do that now. What I’m going to take time to do is, we’re going to talk about
a simple “AH”vowel. And within this vowel itself, and you may have seen my other videos. We’re just going to go for a straight triad of “AH”. We’re going to start a little
higher than what we’ve been doing. I’m going to start with the guys, and ladies,
will get to you in a second. We’re going to start on the ah vowel. Now, we’re going
to open the throat just like the Doctor wants to see our tonsils, with the ah! Lah! AH!!
I’ve coined the phrase. It’s called “It’s the Lah! Ah!” “It’s the Lah! Ah!”
And we’re going to have the tongue to the base of the jaw… Like this: Now as we go a little higher, there’s something
called vowel modifications. We actually have to modify the vowel sound, because if we don’t,
it gets too broad, or too wide, and it splats, or it becomes top heavy. So in other words,
if I didn’t, when I get here… The higher up I go, the more unmanageable
that sound is. I have to corral it, or “lasso” it, or pare that sound down, in order for that
vowel to be manageable. So we have something called vowel modifications. Now, this is really
important, because first we start with our diaphragm, and the diaphragm actually is what
is the engine that drives our car for singing. I’m going to cover that in the section called
diaphragmatic support later, but that’s actually the key and the cornerstone to great
singing, and a relaxation response between the chest, the neck, and the throat.
But as we go up the scale, what we want is: “Lah, ah, ah, ahhhhhhhh, ah, ah, ahhhh.”
Did you hear me go a little towards “aw”? Like loft? I closed down that sound a little
bit, so that it’s not so big that it doesn’t splat and get away from me. I’ll do another
one: “Lah, ah, ah, ahhhhhhhh, ah, ah, ahhhh.” I’m not going: I’m going towards “aw”, like loft, as
I go up the scale. Now, as we go up the scale, there’s a lot of these different vowel modifications.
I cover this in my course. It’s called How To Sing Better Than Anyone Else. There’s
a lot of different kinds of things like this that we must do in order to get control of
those scales. So ladies, I promised I would help you out,
too. So, with you, same thing. We’ll start a little higher... Do you hear me go towards aw, like loft, again?
Okay, so there’s a series of these different kind of vowel modifications that we use to
go up and down the scale, in order to maintain good vocal health, and freedom and relaxation
response in the throat. Guys, it’s how you see me, when you see
me go up really high: Heeeeeyyyyy! Go up and down the scale with these crazy notes? It’s
cause I know how to control my vowels, and though it may sound like I’m singing really
big, I’m actually governing my sound, and getting really good control within the vocal
tract, of what it is that I’m singing. So, if you guys like what you’re hearing,
would you please LIKE on my videos, and subscribe, that would be super awesome, and we have more
videos coming your way. Until next time. Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy.
Peace. Out.
