"Observing" Your Voice

In the above diagram you can get a nice, uncomplicated view of what your voice box or larynx looks like. By varying degrees of relaxing or constricting the vocal muscles you are creating different tensions which will produce different pitches or notes in your voice tone. The more constricted you make them the higher the resulting tone as well, the more relaxed, the lower your tone or note will be. Like any muscle in the body a good vocal work out is the best way to develop and strengthen the voice muscles. Trying to sing too high before your voice is properly prepared is a good way to damage your voice and cause trouble for yourself in the long run. I don't recommend it. "But how do I get that nice high end range of So and So or Whosy Whats?" you ask? Well, I'll tell ya, as I mentioned before the voice is a muscle that needs to be trained to it's optimum capability, so start off with a range that is comfortable to you and does not make your voice tired too quickly. A good way to find this range is to simply hum a tune in your natural or speaking voice and focus a good portion of your attention on how your voice "feels" physically. Look at the diagram above and find other visual examples so that you can visualize what is happening in your body. This is what I mean by developing an ability to "observe" your voice. Once you establish where you are comfortable humming, slowly constrict your larynx in order to raise the pitch, not too much at once, maybe a note or two higher (using a musical instrument such as piano or guitar to find the notes will help you to maintain the note appropriately and to duplicate it in subsequent practices, this will also assist with air flow control which we will hit on later). Once you establish a comfortable spot in your upper range repeat the process only this time relax your voice muscles creating a lower pitch. Again, don't try to go too low all at once. Although you won't necessarily do any damage, you will see that this will tire out your voice just as quickly. All the while visualizing what your muscles are doing.
Now as I mentioned earlier I am not trying to teach you all the complicated ideas, theories, techniques and what have you of singing. I am merely sharing with you the method of self instruction that got me going in hopes that others will find it useful.
Now that you have found a comfortable singing range for your own voice open your mouth and make some noise. I found that using the vowels of the alphabet A,E,I,O,U to sing with useful because they incorporate the most used sounds which make up our words and each vowel works the voice muscles in a slightly different manner and will eventually strengthen these muscles to a point that you will have an easier go of it when you start to apply more volume.You can practice this anywhere you are comfortable really. The key is to DO IT!! How long should you do this each day? Well, everyone will be different but for a beginner I would start at around 15-20 minutes twice a day. Now here again is where you "observe" your voice and determine how long is best. When you begin to feel the fatigue of singing in your muscles that's a good time to stop. There is no need to push it. As you practice you will strengthen and develop your voice and will soon be singing all day. My practices sometimes go for 6 or 7 hours before I begin to feel fatigue but I have been singing (and practicing) for many many years.
Another useful and fun way to practice singing, once you have found a comfortable range to start with, is to find an vocal artist that you like or admire who sings in this range and sing along with them. It has been my experience that, if you choose properly, the singer you are singing with will not only help you with phrasing, timing and feeling but they will push your range just a little at an acceptable gradient which will help you to expand your own range easily over time. Experiment with different singers and remember to observe what your voice is doing to approximate the sounds. Remember, DON'T PUSH TOO HARD. Like all muscles your voice will need to recover so take it easy and stick within your current ability. Believe me your voice will get stronger if you are diligent.
There are a million different methods that you can learn regarding how to sing, I suggest that you seek out as much of an education as you can so that you have a good strong understanding of the principles of voice and it's capabilities . The amount of info is vast so a good analogy to keep in mind is that a whale will take in huge quantities of sea water and expel all but the tasty morsels which it needs to survive. This can be said of any knowledgeable pursuit and fosters independent thinking and originality.

"What singing means to me, I never did consider myself a singer, I just let people watch me feel music and how it comes through me. I've worked on it and practiced a lot. I mean, music, I dance to it, and singing is just one way of getting it out of me."
Erykah Badu

The Idea

I am sure it can be agreed to that most all of us at one time in our childhood either saw or heard someone singing a song and got that feeling deep down in our souls that that is exactly what we wanted to do for the rest of our lives (I saw an Elvis Presley movie and that was it for me). The emotion that was stirred in us hearing that song or seeing that performer was the seed of a desire to have the same effect on others when we opened our mouths and displayed our own special talent, or maybe you just like to make noise. Either way somehow we got the bug. So, how do we go about germinating this seed of desire. Well... you just start singing!! Even if you are no longer a child there is no better time to start singing than right now. Just open your mouth and start singing.
There are two things I recommend that you can do to get an idea of how well you sing with your untrained, natural ability; 1st you can pick a song to sing and perform it for a close friend whom you can trust to give you an honest, unbiased and fair evaluation without offering any unkind or harping or undue criticism. A brief word on asking another for an "evaluation": Remember that you are attempting to create something out of nothing, which is the highest form of creating a human being can possibly hope to attain to. There are people who will ,knowingly or not, attempt to thwart your desire to create by any number of means for any number of reasons. The old saying about "opinions" has never been so apptly applied as it is in the field of creating. Be strong enough to endure and even embrace constructive critisism and be temperate of those who offer the other kind for you are inevitably lookng at a person who has no ability to create within themselves and therefore finds it impossible to see the ability in others. Keep in mind that not everyone will like the particular sound of your voice, this is inevitable and more over relatively unimportant. It would be a fair exercise I believe to have you imagine what possible alternate career choice Bob Dylan may have been forced to had he succumbed to early beatings in regard to the quality of his singing voice. There is way more to being a great singer than the character of ones voice alone. Remember that good and bad are always relative terms.
My 2nd suggestion is, if you find your confidence in public performance still in it's premature stages, to get yourself a simple, inexpensive tape or digital recorder and capture your debut performance in this manner for your own scrutiny (or you may have your friend attend as well). This method, assuming you are not totally tone deaf, will allow you to get a good idea of how you sound to others which will be very useful to you in the future. Trust me, what you hear inside your head is generally a far cry from what is heard inside the heads of others and getting use to the external sound of your own voice early on will alleviate the shock of hearing it for the first time down the road. I am sure you have heard the exclamatory cry of "Oh my , is that what I sound like" emanate from someone hearing their own vocal DNA for the first time. Don't worry you will get use to it and soon it will simply be your own "other" voice.
Next time we are going to take a look at the voice from a physical viewpoint. Just like the reed or bell of a saxophone or the neck and strings of a guitar there are parts to your voice that you should be familiar with which will make it easier to observe and control your voice.
Remember to sing a little every day, if you are just getting started don't work yourself too hard. You will learn that the voice is a congress of muscles all working in unison and like any muscle must be gradually strengthened.
Never lose track of "why" you sing.

"I get the greatest feeling when I'm singing. It's other-worldly. Your feet are anchored into the Earth and into this energy force that comes up through your feet and goes up the top of your head and maybe you're holding hands with the angels or the stars, I have no idea."
Cyndi Lauper

In the Beginning

Most of us, on the day we were born, drew in our first, fresh, shaky breath of cold air and immediately did what? That's right, we let out a scream that would stifle the banshee's. So, in essence, we have all been singing since the day we were born (excepting those of you who came "quietly" to the world and who no doubt made remedy of silence at the first grumbling tummy or unchanged diaper).

You were born with a voice as unique as a fingerprint and whether or not you "believe" you can sing or not is irrelevant because I am here to tell you that you most certainly CAN and whether you do or not at this point is also of no interest because if you desire to sing....YOU WILL!! and let's face it, despite what you may feel about your voice if you like to sing you are already doing it even if it is only being heard by the bathroom walls.
I have never had any coaching, lessons or other instruct in the art of singing and am in no way trying to establish myself as a master of technique or even that I am that good of a singer (you may judge for yourself if you like by going to www.myspace.com/Fishfight to hear me sing). What I am going to attempt to offer is a philosophy of heart and soul mixed with a strong desire and add to that some practical, easily swallowed advice on how to observe your own body, mind and voice so that you can easily begin to sing and attain whatever joy you choose to receive from it.
I have never attempted to establish a philosophy of anything, nor have I ever "blogged" before, so I can assure you this will be unorthodox at best (which is how I prefer it), but I will try to remain consistent in my approach and viewpoints and have some fun on the way.
Stay tuned!