Karaoke Forums

I tend to run out of gas when I'm singing long notes.

I'm sure some of you have take voice lessons over the years. Can you share some techniques or practice drills I can use?

thanks!

Tom

hi Tom...you tube is just full of film clips about vocal lessons and vocal technique...all you need do is go www.youtube.com and type in vocal lessons, vocal exercises or what ever and it will bring up a list of whats available. Hope this helps

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

I recommend you take voice lessons. They are usually quite reasonable in price. If you don't want to do that, go to voicelesson.com and use Mark's free lessons, and buy books and DVDs with lessons there and elsewhere.

Really, it is just practice, practice, and more practice. I am constantly finding notes I couldn't hold two years ago that I can handle now. I remember one note at the end of "I Know Where Love Lives" that seemed unattainable when I began. Three years later, I hold it with no problem.


P.S. Do you smoke? If you do, quitting will help eventually. If you don't quit, I wouldn't have much hope for getting very far. (I quit 3.5 years ago and started singing as a substitute.)

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I just found this page. Looks useful and very applicable:

http://www.your-personal-singing-guide. ... cises.html

Just being more aware at what parts of songs I take breaths and where I'm "wasting air" has helped me a bit. It also helps if you have a mic that's properly amplified so you don't have to fill the room yourself. Your Wildest Dreams by the Moody Blues as a section that takes good breath control...I think I'm getting better at it!

Hmmm, that's an easy question but the answer may take some getting used to. Most folks only use the top half of their lungs in normal life activities. The trick is to fill your lungs completely and then never fully exhale so if you need to hit those long notes you have some extra air in reserve. You have to watch out for hyperventilation. During the song watch for places to take a breath and do so even if you don't think you need to breathe. It takes practice to balance the oxygen you need to live with with the gas volume that you need to sing but with practice it will become second nature.

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Okay, who took my pants?

I feel you man, I just started doing " Hey there Deliah " by Plain White T's and it is a bit** to get some of the verses in on one breath like the way they are in the song. I generally inhale through my nose when singing but I have found that by taking in a deep breath through my mouth that I get a better reserve of air. Just be careful with choking on spit that can get sucked down on that big inhale, also sometimes with a big breath the first word sung can be a bit loud or harsh sounding.

I do about 7 songs that require me to really pay attention to my breathing so that I don't fade out on the last few words. Truthfully though when I do find that I have to take a quick gasp to finish a verse and I stray from exactly how the song goes no one really notices. I do understand if you want to do it exactly the way the song goes, that's how I am. Rudy.

Shakira has some songs in the "Hey There Delilah" mode. Had to study videos of her to see when she took her breaths and then that took practice because the breaths were near the end of the line instead of at the end as you might expect. But that gave the hint that you do have to practice WHERE to breathe and how much, as others have mentioned.

The other weird thing I have done is jog while practicing or practice while on the rowing machine and see how long I can last by concentrating on efficient breathing. It actually helped to hold notes but as I am not known for hitting the correct ones, maybe that isn't such a good thing.

Ironically, Breathe (2 a.m.) is one of the most difficult breathing songs for me. Really have to focus on getting a good deep breath at the beginning of the verse to go all the way to the end. Diaphragm, diaphragm, diaphragm!

I would have wanted "that one tip" to help, too. But there isn't one. If there was, everyone would be sharing it.

A couple of weeks ago I finally figured out what people meant by "singing to the mask" and asked my teacher why she didn't tell me before. She said, "You think you would have understood before you had proper breath support?" And it was completely obvious that she had a point. If you are a beginning singer like I was to start, it just takes time to get your feet under you. Once you practice a few thousand hours, some of those things click into place.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

The best basic exercise I know of for this is to take a deep breath, then , exhale while closing your mouth as if to whistle, but tighter, like trying to force air through the world's smalles straw.
The resistance should never come from the throat, just the lips.
Slowly exhale until you can't exhale any more...then force yourself to exhale more anyway....as a bonus, this helps with diaphram/breath control in general.

Another exercise is to sing/sustain notes while imagining that you have a candle flame in front of your mouth and you don't want to blow the flame out...helps with projecting your voice without using excess air flow.

Also helpful is to raise your arms out to the side...feel your ribcage rise? That is the position you want it to stay for singing for maximum breathing. If you make the back of your neck/spine as 'long' as possible,(look up and slowly lower your chin, but not the back of your neck) it helps as well.



Hope this helps.

takes awhile to learn to breath and sing from the diaphram vs the throat. Diaprham is where all the musical POWER and long susstained notes come from. you may end up haveing to take lessons to learn it.

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT