Explore the Michelle Ostrove Blog
Part of getting the most out of your singing voice is to understand your own voice type. When you have a better understanding of your own anatomy, you are more able to know what to expect from your voice. So make sure you read the last blog about “Unlocking The Key To Your Voice”. Knowing your voice type is really handy if you want to sing in a community choir, audition for a music theatre production or join a vocal…
When you sing, articulation shapes your tone, the formation of a clear and distinct sound while singing and vowel articulation forms your vowel sounds and makes a huge impact on how you sound when you sing. If you are not forming them properly you will not sound your best. You can change the way you sound instantly through articulation. Articulation also deals with the clarity of playing piano or any other instrument. For a singer, articulation deals with the clarity,…
Do you want to get the most out of your singing voice? Are you trying to make your voice stand out from the rest? There are a few techniques you can use to make your singing stand out from the rest. How you begin to sing a note or initiate pitch is key. Today we will talk about one of the techniques. A hard vocal onset or glottal attack when singing a note. There is a gap between the two…
The vocal tract is made up of four parts: the oral cavity (which is the inside of your mouth from the lips to the front two-thirds of you tongue), the nasal cavity (inside the nose), the larynx (voice box which houses the vocal folds – cords), and the pharynx (hollow tube that starts behind the nose and goes down the back of the neck). Each of these four components of your vocal tract used to produce sound. You can think…
Technique is a skillful way of executing a song, whether it is singing or playing the piano. Technique deals with the concept of tone, musicality and expression in your performance. These techniques will improve your voice and help extend your vocal range as well as sharpen your ability to play piano. Proper vocal technique allows singers to produce a warm, rich sound that is conducive to achieving a good vocal performance. Your posture (standing tall – no slouching), breathing (from…
The best way to sing is with a balanced voice! The balanced voice is airflow & vocal folds are brought together at the same time. This will give a singer a well-balanced connection and a natural singing voice, which creates a smooth sound. The best thing you can ever do as a singer is really build a solid foundation when you sing. It kind of like building a house, you have to have a solid foundation of cement. As a…
Breathing is so natural and automatic to us; it’s hard to believe that we could be doing it wrong. Breath exercises for singing can dramatically improve the caliber of vocal performance. Each note and phrase are improved by breath control, which is a source of air being exhaled in steady stream, holding the notes in place. Proper breathing for a singer is crucial! Great singers learn how to control their air flow on the exhale. When you exhale the diaphragm…
Singing in a mixed voice will produce a fuller sound in your head register. The middle voice feels like a lighter version of chest voice and a fuller version of head voice. Mixed voice combines the beautiful highs of head voice with the deep and strong lows of chest voice. It produces a fuller, powerful tone with richness in your head voice when you hit those higher notes. You will feel chest (lower register) and head (head register) vibrations at…
The aspirate onset is the soft vocal onset; it is the breathy singing voice like Marilyn Monroe. This is a fancy way of saying that you start with an “h” sound. The aspirate vocal onset happens when the vocal folds (cords) come together after the airflow has started to pass through. Let’s do a little exercise, if you sing “Hey Jude” from the Beatles song; start with Hey, notice the vocal folds (cords) opening as you sing the H and…
All types of music can be broken down into different techniques and stylistic choices. Contemporary music singers use a few different techniques to create their unique sound. What kind of music is contemporary music? The genres would include: pop, soul, r&b, rock, jazz, blues, electronic/dance, hip-hop, funk and country. Each genre uses the following four techniques to create their own unique sound. The first technique is vocal fry; this technique is used to create a sultry, raspy sound. You can…