This episode is, I have to admit, a little bit on the weird side! But if you bear with me, it is important, and every single vocalist out there who deals with loud volumes, headphones or especially in ears monitors, will have to deal it with at some point. I’m talking about earwax! Yuck, I know, but it is a reality. the way your body and your ears deal with constant loud volumes is by producing ear wax, and as you age, copious amounts of wax in an attempt to protect your hearing.
Unfortunately, I can tell you from experience the earwax doesn’t always help and if you experience loud volume on a constant basis unfortunately you will not only have to deal with ear wax but also with hearing loss as well. the hearing loss unfortunately I can’t help you with… but the earwax I can! One thing that you don’t wanna do is use Q-tips to try and dig the wax out of your ears. What that ends up doing is while yes, it does get some of it, it compacts the rest and compounds the problem with blockages. Even though it might feel good when you get that itchiness in there comma it’s not helping you at all.
At one point in time, I even tried something called candling… that one was a total bust and didn’t do anything at all. Sometimes soaking in a nice hot tub will loosen and melt the wax and it can drain naturally, which is the way that I dealt with it when I was younger. Unfortunately, as you age your ears produce more and more wax and that approach stops working. Another way of dealing with this is going to your doctor and having them “flush the ear canal”. what they do, is take a syringe with warm water and squirt the warm water into the ear canal and as the water comes back out it will bring chunks of wax with it. Yes, this does work, but the one thing that you do need to be careful of, is that the nurse or doctor knows exactly what they’re doing and doesn’t over pressurize the water in the syringe by trying to squirt it too hard. This did happen with me, and they did do damage to my eardrum! It didn’t puncture or permanently do damage to the ear drum, but my ear was quite sore for about a month afterwards before it returned to feeling normal. So I gave up that option. I then moved on to seeing an ENT who is a specialist in ear nose and throat of course. What she would do is stick this long metal rod way down my ear canal and somehow dig the stuff out! I have no idea how it worked, but she was able to dig quite a bit of wax out of each ear every visit. At the time I was seeing her for a different vocal cord issue that I was experiencing at the time, and my ears were a side issue that she took care of. After the vocal cord thing resolved itself, I ended up seeing her for three more years once a year, just as a check up and two clean up the ear canals.
On the last visit, she looked at me and said “you know, there is a much easier way for you to clean your own ears whenever you want and you don’t have to see me for it.” (I think she was getting tired of digging wax out of my head lol) she then went on to tell me about hydrogen peroxide. What you do is you get an eye dropper, some hydrogen peroxide and some Kleenex. You fill up the I dropper with hydrogen peroxide and lay down on your bed with one year facing towards the ceiling. You gently take the dropper and place it right at the opening of the ear canal, and then slowly, very slowly, fill your ear canal with hydrogen peroxide.
Now I have to warn you, this is kind of weird… It begins with a slow hissing sound and then builds up to a bubbling, popping kind of feeling and sound. This can tickle like mad! just move your finger around the outside of the ear and in behind the ear like you’re trying to scratch an itch inside the ear canal ’cause it will be very tickly! But what this does is it completely dissolves the ear wax in your ear! if you can stand it try to leave it in for at least 5 minutes, then put the Kleenex over the ear canal, sit up, and drain the hydrogen peroxide from your ear. The resulting drainage is not gross at all, and is basically clear. But, a majority of the earwax is dissolved! lie down on your other side with the other ear up an repeat. Job done!
Not only does it dissolve all the earwax, it also sterilizes the ear canal just in case there is any bacteria built up in the wax and will help prevent ear infections. I also use this after swimming, particularly in the ocean to ensure good ear health. I wish I would have known this along time ago. I did a gig in Mexico, and was swimming in the ocean. Unfortunately, I contracted an ear infection so bad that it actually closed my ear canal and I was advised by a doctor not to fly as there was a very strong possibility my eardrum would burst. I ended up having to stay an extra week on antibiotics in Mexico and arranging and paying for another flight to come home. Not a great ending to an incredible gig! So there you go, a solution to a problem that most musicians don’t even realize that they will have.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it and learn something! Hit that subscribe button and share. I’m Mitch Seekins the vocal coach and I will see you later!
Do you ever experience almost losing your voice or losing it altogether after a gig or a series of gigs? You are experiencing vocal fatigue. This video is all about how to enable healing as quickly as possible – Vocal Recovery. I hope this video helps!
Transcript:
Hello everyone I’m Mitch Seekins the Vocal Coach.
I’m way past due for a new singer survival tip video, but I’ve been working on some really crazy exciting stuff that I’ll be sharing with you in upcoming videos and social media posts. But I thought it was time to get another tip out to you. This singer survival tip video is all about vocal fatigue and vocal recovery
Its 2022 – for those of you watching this in the future – and I am very happy to have so many of my students finally back out on the road touring the world again. I have students in bands right now touring Europe, Australia, and North America… and the audiences are flocking back in great numbers to the shows! It’s all awesome!
As we head deeper into the late fall and winter one of the most serious issues singers are going to need to deal with is vocal fatigue and vocal recovery. As travel increases, and for those of us in North America and Europe, it gets colder and dryer….the vocal recovery after a show gets much more difficult.
Have you ever experienced this – you’re doing a show, it’s a great audience, so you’re giving it your all. After the show your voice is pretty tired (fatigue). That night you get whatever kind of sleep you can, (on the road that can be not very much) and in the morning the voice is pretty ragged. But you work a little bit during the day and gently wake up the voice and stretch it out, and you’re basically ready to go for the next show that night. Once again another great audience, great show and the voice is even more tired this time and showing more signs of vocal fatigue. Some of your range might be a little bit gone or unstable. Once again you try to get a good night’s sleep, and in the morning the voice is almost shot. There’s not a lot happening. You try your best to open things up, But the voice is definitely not great and you’ve still got another show to do that night. The voice is really ragged and this show is very difficult to get through and you feel very disappointed at your performance. But at least you have a day off before the next show and you are hoping 2 recover your voice with the extra rest. What ends up happening though is that even though you recover some of your voice you’re not back to square one even with the extra day of rest and therefore have to go into the next three or four day gig run, starting with vocal fatigue. It snowballs from there
This is what I’m talking about… the issue of vocal fatigue and recovery. It can be not only vocally damaging but also psychologically damaging as well. if you know what I’m talking about, this is when being a singer really becomes not very much fun at all! I help vocalists deal with this on a regular basis. Even though it’s hard, and there is no guarantee, there are things that you can do to drastically improve this situation.
Before I get to some of the solutions it’s a good time for me to ask that If you can relate to what I’m saying, give this a thumbs up and hit that subscribe button and maybe forward this onto someone you know who might need it. If you have a question or two, don’t be shy and leave it in the comments section… I’ll try to answer them as best I can!
OK!
Drink a lot more water than what you think you need! It really is imperative and if you haven’t seen my video on water, go to my website (link will be below), click on the singer survival tips button on the main page … and have a look. It explains how important it is. And by the way, even though you may not want to, stay away from alcohol when you’re in this situation…. it might make you feel better, but it really doesn’t help!
Sleep. somehow figure out to get as much as you possibly can. Rest is key.
Eat as healthy as you possibly can. The body needs energy to enable the healing process to be as efficient as possible. I used to take something called greens plus, or all greens on the road with me, mix it up with orange juice and water and it gave me a great start on a healthy diet as on the road eating healthy can be very difficult!
This is a big one… get a humidifier! I’m not talking about one of the facial steamers, while those have their place they won’t help that much in this situation. I did a whole video on the benefits of a humidifier and like above, go to my website and click on the singer survival tip button and watch the humidifier episode. I can’t stress this enough… this one is really important!
Structured warmups – there is a certain way 2 get the voice to respond as well as it can in this situation. This is too difficult to explain here but if you are interested, I suggest you reach out to me, book some sessions and we can go through the specifics.
So, there is some information on how to deal with this awful situation and hopefully save you some pain. once again, don’t be afraid to use the comment section
I’m Mitch Seekins the vocal coach – thanks for watching
Welcome to my “Singers Survival Tips Series”! Feel free to ask questions and comment. Want to know more about doing a proper vocal warm up and why you should do it? Watch this Part 2 video on just that. Be sure to listen to the special offers. Links below…and if you haven’t watched part 1 yet…. go back and have a look!
Shortcuts: 0:00 Welcome and watch for special offers 0:19 Question – How long should I …. 1:14 Best practice 1:40 Crazy Comments 2:47 1st Special Offer 3:53 2nd Offer – personalized warm up file 4:30 What does Matt from 3 Days Grace say? 4:49 Stefan from PUP 6:00 Go to website (links above) 6:15 Stay tuned and thanks for watching
Transcript
Hi, I’m Mitch Seekins – The Vocal Coach welcome to my “Singers Survival Tip” series! Welcome to part 2 of warming up! Please be sure to watch to the end for the special offer!. If you find this video useful and that you have learned something….please share and hit that subscribe button…I have much more to come!
How long should I warm up for?
I have always viewed singing as an athletic event. If you imagine yourself as an athlete, you can often rationalize how to approach things. A top-level athlete will ALWAYS warm up before a competition. This ensures that the body’s muscles are warm, all the kinks are worked out and they are ready to perform. They would never warm up to the point where it becomes a “workout”. You should never waste the energy you need for peak performance. The goal is to get the muscles prepped for peak performance!
From a singer’s standpoint, it’s the same. Unless you’ve begun the process of getting everything moving how could you ever expect to perform at your peak? For a vocalist in today’s music business, being in top form and consistent is a must!
What I have found to work best, is a warmup lasting 10 to 15 min, that should end approx. 20 to 30 min prior to the show. Having a short rest after a vocal warm up is important as it allows the muscles to relax and if there is any residual phlegm left, time for it to clear. Like any pro athlete you need to work that into a pre-performance habit, so you always do it.
Sometimes I’ll hear a comment like:
Do I really need to do this? Usually, I just go out and scream my face off! Seems to work for me!
Or I warm up by screaming into a pillow before show time.
Ummm…yeeaahh… good luck with that. You can’t expect that to work for long. Firstly… That’s not really warming up, that’s just abusing the voice. You’re gonna fatigue those muscles out, using up energy, wasting it before you even hit the stage! And secondly Aging is a bitch… and there is no avoiding it. When it comes to vocal recovery after a show, (many of my students sing extremely aggressive shows in front of THOUSANDS of fans at a time) it simply takes time. And the older you get, the more time it takes! Think about the aging athlete. Warming up beforehand really helps in your ability to NOT hurt the voice during a performance, let alone completely abusing the voice before the performance! Successful artists take care of their instruments so they can enjoy long careers.
So, there is a basic overview of vocally warming up and why you need to do it! Here are 2 special offers for you. Stick around for both
The 1st – I’m going to give you is a free sample of my Lip Trill warmup that I use for my students. This is an arpeggio pattern that is “generic” in range, that you can either stream or download for you to use. Personally, I would download them as then you would never get caught if at a gig the internet signal is weak. Just put it on your phone, plug in one ear bud (use your other ear to hear yourself!) and go to work!
If you find the starting point too low or the top notes too high for your range just wait until the notes come around that work for you. The file I’m sharing is a common range file that should work for about 95% of you. There will be one file for the male voice and one for the female voice.
Throughout the file not only will I be playing the notes to trill to, I will also be “coaching” you on what to think or visualize while you run through the scales.
The 2nd is an offer to create a personal warm up regiment for you! Its very important that you understand how to do the exercises properly, so this does take a little bit of time. What happens is we get together for 3 sessions. the first two sessions I take you through everything, so you learn what you need to do with the technical prompts that I give you in your personalized warm up file. I have been producing these files for my students for many years and they have had great success with them.
Matt Walst – 3 Days Grace- “Before every show… I do about 15 minutes of your warm-up, every time.”
As this is a personalized warm up file it will be the exercises you should and can do for the range you should be working at.
Stefan Babcock – PUP- “I’ve been doing warm-ups for maybe like before shows for maybe a year or so before we started working together yeah but the warm-ups that we do uh are a bit different they’re much more gentle. It’s like about kind of really it’s not a it’s not five minutes like let’s go it’s like really gentle ease back into it spend 20 minutes half an hour to get yourself going … i will not miss a warm-up under any circumstances there’s there’s no circumstances that i’ll go on stage without warming up because i know that that could lead to really big issues. So yeah that means like it’s a bit different now like now that we you know always have like uh decent green rooms and stuff like that but there was a point four or five years ago where we were playing really small shows like uh that we didn’t have a backstage and it was just like well i guess i’m it’s you know it’s negative 20. i’m still gonna sit in the car or go for a walk and do this because i won’t get on stage without doing the warm-ups.
If you go to my website, click on the vocal lesson packages tab on the home page, and it will take you to the details. If you are a pro or not, having a file like this makes things incredibly easy, and goes a long way to save your voice long term!
As I stated in part one of this warm up series, I will post another video showing you how to successfully perform the lip trills, so keep an eye out for that. It will be coming shortly.
Thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed it and learn something! Hit that subscribe button, share and I will see you later!
Why is water so important especially for a vocalist? Kind of a silly question….but then why do so many singers NOT drink nearly enough?! Watch my video and then you’ll know why its so necessary, it will motivate you to actually drink more water and take your vocals to the next level!
0:00 Intro
0:16 Why?
0:36 Cord Hydration
1:44 Dealing with Phlegm
2:37 Brain Fog
2:45 Physical Show
3:14 Vocal Recovery
4:28 Immune System
6:15 How Much?
6:30 Matt Walst – 3 Days Grace, Stefan Babcock – PUP, Luna Li
6:59 Coffee? Beer? Energy Drinks?
7:25 Water and Lemon
8:03 Ice
8:43 The Goal – Every Day!
9:44 Age
9:55 Singers Issues can Disappear
10:14 Chug!
Transcription
hi I’m Mitch Seekins the vocal coach welcome to my singer survival tips Series this episode is all about water oh and if you like this and learn something hit that subscribe button and forward this on to your friends I got a lot more stuff to come.
Why is water so important ….and particularly for a vocalist? I know this may sound like a ridiculous question…but there are numerous reasons beyond just a parched throat. And if you understand why it’s so important to drink way more than you think, you will be much more inclined to actually do it!
Some of the benefits of drinking water are:
Vocal Cord Hydration – the one major point you need to understand, is that anything you drink, takes at least 20 minutes to actually benefit your vocal cords. Anatomy wise, in the esophagus there is a flap of tissue that covers the larynx and the vocal cords when you drink or eat.
So, it is really only an illusion that you have water flowing through the cords soothing and clearing them. Yes, it does feel good in the moment and does help, but the benefit isn’t quite what you think. As far as the brain is concerned, the voice is a nonessential part of the body and if you start from an even slightly dehydrated state, when you finally provide your body water, your brain will make sure that the water is distributed where it’s needed most. Getting water to the kidneys, liver or stomach, to flush out toxins from your system or aid digestion is far more important than making sure that your vocal cords are well hydrated. If you are a vocalist or speaker, your brain doesn’t really care! So, the goal is to keep your entire system hydrated at all times, not just when you sing or speak.
Another benefit of good hydration is that it will keep any phlegm build up, thin and runny as opposed to thick and cement like (at least that’s what it feels like!). This is one of the reasons why they say, when you have a cold, get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids. With good hydration, the phlegm stays thin, and it’s moved fairly easily out of the sinus cavities and lungs and off the vocal cords. As a result, you have a much better chance of completing the session or gig.
But if you don’t stay hydrated, the phlegm begins to thicken and becomes heavy. Once that happens, it’s very difficult for the phlegm to be moved… And if you’re a singer and the phlegm is on the vocal cords, this limits your range and endurance. Which makes your job VERY difficult to do.
So drinking lots of water gives a much better chance of performing while you are sick or suffering from allergies.
It’s really important for brain function and there’s nothing worse than being on stage in somewhat of a fog.
If you are in a show that’s very physical, in terms of dancing or stage movement (e.g. being in a metal, punk or rock band), that means you’re going to be using a lot more water than usual through sweat, coupled with rapid breathing and of course, using your voice.You will need to replenish that water as quick as you can. And if you hit the stage in a dehydrated state already, there’s a good chance that things won’t work well for you… or at least limit the level you could be performing at.
It’s also essential for vocal recovery. I will be doing another, more complete, video all about vocal recovery, but essentially it’s all about getting your vocal cords back to a healthy state after a solid vocal workout, which happens when you perform. The muscles get tired and dry and if you are not well hydrated, recovery is much slower and can take days. Not a good thing if you are on tour. On top of that after the show, if you go and rest in a very dry room which is heated by forced air gas or cooled by air conditioning, or get into a car to travel, the air that you are breathing is extremely dry… And the way the body responds to this, is to produce mucus in order to protect the areas in your sinuses and your vocal cords. (If you have a chance, please watch my episode on humidifiers) So if that’s what happens, after you finish a gig, it really, really hampers the vocal recovery. Which means that you might be going into the next gig in a vocally fatigued state. Then you use the cords again and they get hammered even more, which makes you even more fatigued. This becomes a vicious cycle that requires more and more time to fully recover or heal… and in the worst case scenarios, over time, can lead to vocal damage.
Another very important fact is, that it also helps the immune system work effectively, to fight off colds and flues, etc. In order to be a successful, consistent artist you need to have a robust immune system, and it’s not just all about the shows. It’s the travel and the people that you interact with. As you work, you are constantly being exposed to different micro ecosystems. The germs that are in Toronto, are not the same germs in New York, which are not the same germs that are in LA…and if you’re flying, the planes themselves are full of germs from all over the world! If you’re doing gigs in different locations, that are even just an hour apart, you could be looking at slight variations on germs that are going around…and it’s not just the shows. Meet and greets, interviews, different production companies whose people, at every gig, are touching your mic and equipment. I realize I totally sound like a germaphobe (which I am not) but it is important to understand the scope of the issue particularly, as a vocalist. Any other musician can suffer through a cold or sickness and not have it affect their instrument. It’s not going to be fun but they can get by. As a vocalist it can be quite devastating.
This means your immune system is constantly being challenged. In order to be a successful, consistent artist, you need to have a very healthy immune system in order to deal with it all…and water plays an essential role in keeping your immune system as robust as possible.
So to perform at a consistent level whether it’s professionally or not, you want to maintain a high level of hydration at all times… for all of those reasons!
How much should you drink? Of course, this can depend on body size. But why not listen to some of the pros that I teach, who travel the world and do huge gigs night after night have to say about how much water they drink? Matt Walst (Three Days Grace), Stephen Babcock (PUP), Ali Gatie, Ian Thornley (Big Wreck) and Luna Li, all drink at least 3 to 4 liters of water a day.
Drinking coffee or alcohol is not hydration! Even though it might feel like you’re getting the same benefits at the time, unfortunately, it’s not true. Same is true for energy drinks. Water is the best thing. I toured for 37 years in total and I always had water on stage with me to stay as hydrated as I could. Of course it’s a lot easier to say than it is to do. What I found is that I didn’t like just plain water. So, what I did to compensate for this was take a little slice, and I mean, little slice of lemon and just couple ice cubes to keep the water cool but not cold. It just seemed to be something a little more substantial than just water. The added benefit beyond a little flavor, is that the citrus from the lemon keeps the saliva glands going as well as helps cut phlegm and gunk off the cords. So doing that is beneficial in other ways as well. Avoid heavy flavoring laced with sugar or sweeteners. Your body will use excess water to flush those toxins. As much pure water is the key. Honestly I just can’t stress it enough.
Some people will fill their glass with ice, but if you look at that from an athletic standpoint (I have always thought of singing as an athletic event, as it is a very complex coordination between muscles) no athlete would ever, in the middle of a competition, jump into an ice cold bath. It is not beneficial or helpful to your muscles whatsoever! If you think of it from that angle, cooling the muscles down just a little bit is okay but not so cold that they could possibly stiffen up on you! Room temperature water is absolutely the best, but I always preferred just a couple of small ice cubes to cool it.
So the goal is to maintain a constant high level of hydration. Thinking that you can just drink a couple liters of water the day of a show, although helpful, is not the right approach. The best method is just to stay hydrated all the time…and that means constantly drinking water every single day, even when you are not doing shows or sessions or practicing. Your body will thank you immensely and you will stay much more vocally consistent and healthy.
One thing to note is that it does take a little bit of practice to get into that hydrated state. When you begin this process, just be aware that you may feel overfull on water. But you can ramp up and if you keep at it, that feeling will go away and your natural thirst will kick back in. When you are dehydrated the natural thirst seriously decreases, which doesn’t really make sense, but that is the way that it works.
Age plays a role as well. Thirst can decline with age making it harder to stay hydrated. You just forget to drink! It takes effort and determination to stay hydrated.
So once again, staying healthy is the goal and keeping the vocal cords hydrated. It’s amazing how many vocalists begin doing this and then report back to me that issues that may have been consistent with them are minimized or just simply disappear! It really is something you need to do at all times.
I will be shooting a video version of this shortly and I will post it as well once it is done. In the meantime grab your water bottles and glasses and start chugging!!
Welcome to my “Singers Survival Tips Series”! Want to know more about doing a proper vocal warm up and why you should do it? Watch this Part 1 video on why and how to do it right! Shortcuts! 0:00 – Welcome 0:37 – Why? 1:03 – What Matt Walst (3 Days Grace) Does! 1:11 – The Key Factor 2:15 – What Stefan Babcock (PUP) Knows! 3:25 – Important! 3:43 – Questions I get asked #1 4:03 – #2 – Best Warmup Exercise? 4:32 – Why Lip Trills Are So Effective 5:57 – #3 – Can You Do Them Wrong? 6:19 – How To?
Transcript:
Hi, I’m Mitch Seekins – The Vocal Coach. Welcome to my “Singer Survival Tips Series! Want to learn more about how to warm up the voice? This video is the first in a series on the importance of warming up and I’ll answer some questions about how and why you should warm up before a gig a rehearsal or a recording session. If you understand the reasons why you need to warm up, you’ll be much more motivated to do it… oh and if you find this video useful and that you’ve learned something please share and hit that subscribe button. I have much more to come.
I’ve been teaching recording artists, touring artists, and regular people how to sing maintain and even repair damaged voices so they can look forward to a less stressful, way more enjoyable and a much longer career. I performed and toured myself singing many different genres of music for 37 years, so I was able to develop and test all kinds of warm-up methods and this is what I teach my students.
Matt Walst (3 Days Grace) – “Vocally well, I do your warm-up, every… before every show. I do about 15 minutes of your warm-up every time.”
Warming up is a key factor for a vocalist before any kind of a performance. I have always viewed singing like an athletic event. Any athlete who is serious about what they do warms up before a practice or a competition. In terms of singing, getting the muscles moving and the warmth flowing into the area and knocking the phlegm and gunk off the cords is the best way to ensure your top performance and lessen the chance of hurting the voice. As a vocal coach I guide singers how not only to develop and strengthen their voices, but also how to maximize what they have at any given time. This includes being at the top of their game and healthy, as well as… not being at the top of their game and dealing with vocal fatigue or swollen cords or just being plain sick! I do get questions regarding how to warm up properly. As a student of mine, once the fundamentals are established, I create warm-up files for each individual student. This includes warm-up exercises that pertain to the level that they’re at, as well as their specific vocal range and abilities.
Stefan Babcock (PUP) – “I’d been doing warm-ups for maybe like, before shows, for maybe a year or so, before we started working together. you know like the warm ups that we do, uh, are a bit different. They’re much more gentle. It’s like about kind of really.. it’s not a it’s not five minutes like let’s go… it’s like really gentle, ease back into it. Spend 20 minutes or half an hour to get yourself going. I will not miss a warm up under any circumstances! There’s no circumstances that I’ll go on stage without warming up, because I know that that could lead to really big issues! So, yeah that means like it’s a bit different now like now that we, you know, always have like uh decent green rooms and stuff like that but there was a point four or five years ago where we were playing really small shows and we didn’t have a backstage and it was just like, well, I guess i’m.. it’s you know it’s negative 20.. I’m still gonna sit in the car or go for a walk and do this, because I won’t get on stage without doing the warm-ups!”
It is important that you do these exercises properly to get the most bang for your buck so to speak and obviously I can’t exactly monitor that here for you but I will be sharing in an upcoming video, some simple exercises for common ranges and at least get you started on the right track.
An example of some of the questions I get are:
What do I need to warm up? Chest voice, Head voice or Falsetto…. or all of it?
All of it.
All parts of the voice are used in producing a good quality sound for a show or a session. Therefore, you need to stretch all aspects of your voice out!
Is there one exercise that does it all for me?
No.
But there is one that comes close! It’s called “Lip Trills”. These exercises have been around for a VERY long time. I have the very first book ever written on vocal technique by Pier Francesco Tosi…in 1743! He talks about them in the book… but who knows how long they were around before that? He doesn’t claim to have invented them, he just says that they are an integral part to a vocal warm up for any voice type.
Lip Trills are a fantastic exercise that works through all the registers of the voice (chest and head or falsetto), and it forces you to relax while doing it… because if you get any tongue, jaw, throat or torso tension, the exercise stops working!
It begins to move any phlegm or gunk off of the vocal cords
It begins the process of learning to properly negotiate the passagio, or that “crack” we all have between the chest voice and the head voice. It’s not the be all and end all of learning how to do that, but it a great way to start.
It stretches out all the registers (Chest and Head) from the very bottom to the very top of your range, working the muscles and getting the blood and warmth to flow.
It begins the process, over time, of strengthening whichever register is weakest. One of the things I teach is something called blending which is all about mixing or blending the 2 registers together and learning to stretch through the passagio or “crack” that we all have. As opposed to flipping or cracking through it. It’s how you can increase your range and have full control of your sound without killing your voice! It’s a very important part to ANY voice but in order to do it you have to have an equal amount of strength in each register. Lip trills are a great way to begin this.
It establishes good vocal placement, as you can’t do them in the back of the throat
Overall they are a great way to start a warmup!
Can you do them wrong?
Yes.
However, they are very easy to learn to do right…to the point that afterwards, it’s difficult to do them wrong! If you don’t get them right immediately, have no fear. It’s only a matter of a little time for the chords to shift into the proper position… and in the meanwhile, as a warmup, they still work great!
I will be filming and posting examples of how to approach them shortly…so stay tuned!
So once again if you found this video useful and you have learned something…. please share and hit that subscribe button…I have much more to come!
Letting everyone know about the upcoming Singers Survival Tips episode due to be posted shortly! This one is all about the importance of drinking water and keeping hydrated. Plus there is lots of new content coming…
Transcript:
“Singers Survival Tips” New episode -Water, Water, Water coming soon!
How important is it really for a vocalist to drink water? And how much? Check out what some of the pro’s, who tour the world have to say
Hi, Im Mitch Seekins The Vocal Coach
It is so nice to see everyone finally heading back out on tour and doing shows. I doing a series of Singer survival tips to help out! The next upcoming singer’s survival tip is on the importance of drinking water and staying hydrated …there is a link in my bio to my blog where everything is posted. Oh, and if you find this series helpful share and follow me… I’ll let you know when each episode is uploaded!
