Stop Straining on your Lower Notes
Are you straining on your lower notes? Here’s why and what you can do about it.
Read MoreIntroduction to Scale Patterns for Singers
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In my years of teaching, I have seen how being unfamiliar with scale and arpeggio patterns can get in the way of making the most of a lesson. They might be intimidating at first, but don’t worry, I’m here to ease the worry and prepare you for what’s to come.
These patterns will feel easy in no time!
Below you’ll find practice recordings of the 3 most commonly used scale patterns for you to listen to right here, or download to your device so you can practice them on-the-go.
Let’s start with this video to see what these patterns are all about.
The 3 Most Used Scale Patterns for voice lessons
What are The scale patterns?
Scale and arpeggio patterns are a specific order of pitches and intervals that form a repeated melodic sequence.
5 Tone - uses the scale degrees 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1. We will use this for your vocal assessment and other exercises.
Octave Repeat - uses the scale degrees 1 - 3 - 5 - 8 - 8 - 8 - 8 - 5 - 3 - 1. This one gets used a lot for a variety of exercises.
Octave and a Half - uses the scale degrees 1 - 3 - 5 - 1 - 3 - 5 - 4 - 2 - 7 - 5 - 4 - 2 - 1. This one is usually the trickiest, but just keep listening and either humming or lip trilling along like I demonstrated in the video. I would not attempt this one with numbers.
Scale Pattern Practice Recordings for Singers
How to use the practice recordings
For each pattern there are two versions, one set for higher voices, and one set for lower voices. Use what feels most comfortable for your voice.
When you practice the patterns, just focus on getting the pitches, so that you’ll be free to explore your voice and technique once you get to your lesson.
As I demonstrate in the video, you can sing along, hum along, use numbers, or even a lip trill while you get familiar with these patterns.
If ever it feels too high or too low, just drop out, no big deal!
Higher Voices
Lower Voices
Singing Pop After Classical Training
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Let’s See Some Tools In Action During A Live Lesson
Meet Lisa. Lisa was classically trained and had a wonderful opera career on the big stage in Europe for 20 years. She currently teaches classical singing, and some contemporary styles, so we focused on finding a more contemporary “pop” sound using Adele’s song “Skyfall”.
Lisa is a Mezzo soprano, so she naturally had more depth in her lower register and her chest voice has a little more weight in it.
Watch me demonstrate some acoustic strategies, vowel adjustments and tools that helped her even out her range, keep more resistance in her mix, and find a more divergent vocal tract shape.
Lisa’s Lesson
0:55 - Lisa’s singing background
2:00 - Beginning of live lesson
3:10 - Adding a "cry" to the high notes
4:15 - Using the Pharyngeal or Twang sound
4:55 - Using a straw to even the range and balance airflow
6:05 - Describing chest voice and where you feel it
6:35 - Why talking the lyrics helps connect chest voice to the high notes
7:20 - Using the Pharyngeal to "NUH" and "NO"
10:10 - Optimizing vowels
13:45 - Final take!
14:25 - Lisa's thoughts
Tools I used with Lisa
Twang or pharyngeal
You can find this by making witchy, bratty or nasty sound. Often times it’s used in vocalizes by using a bratty NAY.
Tends to be on a bit of a raised larynx or at least neutral
Thins out the folds
Thickens falsetto
Assists in moderate adduction to smooth out the connection
Ring
In a mezzo soprano it can be common to use an acoustic “Ring” to cut through the orchestra. This is also called “squilo” in Italian.
On a physical level the root of the tongue is pulled back slightly which narrows the opening of the space right above the glottis or vocal folds. By making this space slightly smaller it resonates higher frequencies and can really carry the sound.
This same strategy can be used in pop, but we want to make sure it’s not too much or it can start to sound classical or manipulated.
Cry
This is just what it sounds like. You add a little cry or pout while you sing.
Tends to lower the larynx without imposing it and it thins the folds
Maintains adduction while allowing the larynx to rest
Thins out too much weight
Thickens up lighter/breathier vocal production
Reduce airflow and air “push”
Straw Exercises
I used the straw to thin Lisa out at the vocal fold level and also find a more consistent vowel, so she would feel more connection between her lower and upper registers.
Would love to hear from you. Please feel free to comment if you have any questions or thoughts you’d like to share!
Top Tips for Successful Online "Skype" Lessons
THIS BLOG HAS BEEN UPDATED AND MOVED TO OUR NEW WEBSITE. GO READ IT HERE.
DO ONLINE VOICE LESSONS REALLY WORK? THE SHORT ANSWER: ABSOLUTELY.
We are so lucky in this day and age to be able to learn a huge variety of skills via the internet, and singing is one of them.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, singers often had the choice of whether they wanted to go to an in-person lesson or take it online. Now, many teachers don’t yet even have in-person lessons as an option, and some have said they aren’t going back to in-person lessons.
Before the pandemic, I insisted on driving an hour each way to go have an in-person lesson, and I did it despite the issues I would often have.
I’ll admit, at first, I was skeptical of online voice lessons.
Finally, there was a day when I just didn’t have the time to make the drive, and I was blown away at how good my online lesson was.
In many ways, it felt even more effective than being in person. I was more focused, not frazzled from traffic, I had all of my materials organized and ready, and it was all in the comfort of my own home. It felt easy.
Currently, I teach ALL of my students online. Most of them I’ve never even met in person.
Online voice lessons give people access to the kind of teachers they seek no matter where they live. They have the opportunity to study with the best and most highly skilled teachers in the world.
online lesson downsides (and solutions)
The only real downside I have find with online lessons (aside from the occasional unstable internet connection), is that there is a bit of lag time with the sound of the piano and the student singing, so as a teacher, I’m unable to accompany you because of that.
So, the workaround is that I will play the exercise pattern for you, and then you’ll sing it back a’cappella (that’s Italian for “without instrumental accompaniment”).
For song application, you’ll have a device on your end to play your accompaniment track so that you have something to sing along to during that portion of the lesson.
I also have recordings of the scale patterns so you can practice and learn them before your lesson. This makes singing the scales a’cappella much easier during your lessons.
tips to help you get the most out of your online lessons!
Make sure you have a GOOD internet connection. I like to plug directly into my modem via an ethernet connection so that there won’t be any wifi interference, but with a good fast connection, even if you don’t plug straight in, you should be okay. A public connection is not going to be as fast as your connection at home, so keep that in mind.
Find a quiet, safe space to have your lesson. You don’t want people walking through to get a snack from the kitchen while you’re in your lesson. Finding a bedroom or office where you can close the door is most ideal and it will also help with external noise.
Turn off your phone or place it on “do not disturb” mode. Ringing, dings and buzzing are quite distracting during a lesson. Close any other apps and silence notifications incoming calls so you don’t get disturbed. They’ll still be there after your lesson :)
Prepare your sheet music, lyrics, and tracks. I recommend having them printed out on paper and organized in a binder so that you can make notes of vowel adjustments, breaths, or dynamics. Have them out and ready so you aren’t taking valuable lesson time to get them set up.
Use a separate device for lyrics and music. Please DON’T try to read your lyrics or music off the same device you are using for our lesson. If you do, especially if you’re using a phone or tablet, then I usually can’t see you anymore.
Use a different device for your song tracks. If you are using a laptop or computer for your lesson, then you could have a phone or ipad to play your tracks. This way it doesn’t interfere with the sound of your voice going into the device.
Check your device power before you start. Make sure your device or computer is plugged into power or starting with a full battery. Nothing worse than your phone or computer dying in the middle of a lesson and missing part of it to run off and get a charger.
Have your water ready! Have water within reaching distance, so you don’t have to run off for that either! Bonus points if you also have a straw we can use during your lesson :)
Check your angles. Make sure I can see you clearly and from a good angle. Prop your phone up on a bookshelf if need be. If you’re using your computer and can’t get your head in frame without angling the screen way up, then just step back slightly so there is a bit more distance between you and the lens. Keep in mind what else in your room might be visible in the frame too.
Sitting is an option. You can choose to sit for your lesson, but imagine that you are standing from your “sit bones”. That lifted posture will help keep you breathing optimally for your singing.
Prepare your mindset to sing. Just like you would for an in person lesson, make sure you are fully present when your lesson starts. Because you are in the comfort of your own home instead of someone else’s studio it can be easy to come less prepared or in the mindset to work. Remember, you only get as much out of your lesson as you put into it.
which platform to use as a teacher/Student:
There are many online video chat platforms out there, but the most common for voice lessons seem to be Zoom and Skype. I used Zoom for a very long time, but have recently switched to Skype for convenience. Ultimately it’s up to you. Here are the pros and cons for both platforms.
SKYPE
Skype Pros:
You can use a free account.
You don’t need any special audio settings, and it sounds good.
You can record the lesson as a video and it can be downloaded from the chat window for 30 days.
Skype Cons:
You can’t pause the recording. If you stop it, Skype will create a new separate video file.
Skype does not create a separate video file. Scroll down to Pro Tips to learn how to extract the audio.
ZOOM
Zoom Pros:
It’s free to sign up.
It’s easy to record your lesson or enable recording for the student on their end.
It gives both a video and a separate audio file. That way neither the teacher or the student has to horse around with extracting audio from video if the student wants to save the audio file on their phone.
Zoom Cons:
I had the free version, so I used to save it into a Dropbox folder, which I would then share with the student, so that they would have access to all of their lessons. This created more steps for me as the teacher.
You have to have the student set their audio settings so that Zoom isn’t trying to “suppress background noise”. Otherwise it will mute the singer on sustained notes or semi-occluded exercises.
If the student is on an iPad, they CANNOT change the audio settings, so they will sometimes sound muted. I have tried to do it from the iPad settings and from Zoom, and I have yet to figure it out. Have the student get closer to the mic.
Pro Tips
Creating an audio file from your Skype video recording:
Download the video file from the chat window to your computer.
For Mac users:
Open the file in Quicktime.
Go to File > Export > Audio
For Windows users: Use a media player like VLC Media Player (free, open source).
Open VLC.
Go to Media > Convert/Save.
When you click Convert/Save, it opens a dialog box where in you can select the video file which you need to convert to MP3.
Optimizing Audio for Zoom:
This is important! If you are running Zoom from a desktop or a laptop, follow these steps before your lesson.
Go to Zoom preferences and find “Audio”
Scroll down to
In Advance settings DISABLE (or set to the lowest setting) both of these options:
Suppress Persistent Background Noise
Suppress Intermittent Background Noise
You can check the box where it says “Show in-meeting options to “Enable Original Sound” from microphone”. You’ll leave that ON.
See video below for an example.
optional Purchase:
If you really want your teacher to hear all the tiny nuances in your voice, any microphone will be an improvement to sound going straight into your phone or computer.
Here are a couple of reasonably priced USB mics:
For more equipment recommendations, visit my Recommendation Page!
Let me know if you have any questions about any of this! I want to help you have the most successful online voice lessons possible. Also, if you have your own tips that I haven’t included here, I’d love to hear about them. Share in the comments or send me an email!
Big thank you to Alida of Alida Vocal Studio in Vancouver, CANADA for helping me with my online demo video!