Q1: Open throat?

When doing the scales should I be concerned about keeping the back of my throat open?
Or do i just keep my tongue on the base of mouth and not think about keeping my throat open?
Do we need to constantly look at ourselves in the mirror while doing the scales to check if our throats are opening or uvulas raising?

Answer 1:
keeping the throat open is the key to working the scales.  when i am going through the workout i do watch the back of my throat in a mirror.  I also practise without in order to get the “feel” in the back of the throat.  It’s all about muscle memory.  When i began the series, i focused more on the vowel mods, because they really seemed to free me up immediately.  The tongue position was not a huge concern, just keep it to the base of the mouth.  I have been working series 3 for a few months, and have brought my focus back to the tongue position, experimenting with dropping it slightly as i sing higher.  It does open up the sound even more.  i hope this helps.  Keep on rockin.

Answer 2:
Yes, be concerned. The tongue on the base of the mouth is part of keeping the throat open, just like opening the mouth really wide, not moving the jaw and keeping a bright sound through the whole scale.

Most definately, use the mirror, specially if you’re new to the technique! Gradually, as you get used to the feeling of the open throat, you won’t need it anymore. I feel pretty confident about it now, but once in a while I still use the mirror, just in case.

Followup 1:
Tnx a lot you guys
Awesomely quick response and pretty darn dead on my question
That will be a really big help thank you!

Followup 2:
Not a problem.  we’re all learning, and helping each other out.  Ken is one of the best instructors/singers that i’ve seen.  Just do what he says, and you’ll be fine!:)  good luck on your singing adventure

Q2: Allergy Tricks?
Hi Ken (Happy Easter!), I always dread allergy season (April through June for me) as I get congestion, nasal drip, mucus etc.  I have historically had to make set lists easier during this time, and with the pollens now unleashed I am taking longer to warm up with some initial “gravel” around the vowel mods.  By the end of workout I am usually very close to or at “normal”, it’s just taking longer.  Would you have any suggestions/ exercises to help clean off the chords, etc.?  Thanks!

Answer by Ken Tamplin:
I wish I could give you an easy answer to this but the very best thing you can do is take longer and warm up lighter prior to singing. Post nasal causes the cords to get “thick”.
You DON’T want to continuously “clear” your throat as this will create a viscious cycle of the cords allowing more mucous (to protect themselves thinking they need to stay moist) and you clearing out the Gack.
Warm up gently and easily.
Unfortunately sometimes your warm-ups can take up to twice as long (because you find you need to wait for a couple seconds between certain scales) but the good news is that you will find when you do this you will be at 90+ percent.
I know it sounds crazy to tell someone singing longer is better, but it actually is in this situation.

The Ken Tamplin Singing Method is a very unique blend of advanced Bel Canto (Operatic style modified for pop and rock) with the Ron Anderson method (premier vocal coach to American Idol and personal touring coach to Chris Cornell, Alicia Keys, Adam Lambert, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Beyonce, Christian Aguilera, Joss Stone, Barbara Streisand and more).  Ken combines this with years of live touring and recording experience to streamline you onto the fast track toward great singing.

Ken Tamplin’s (almost) complete bio can be found here and Ken Tamplin on IMDb can be found here.

Ken Tamplin demonstrates how to sing like Bruce Dickinson in this video.

Please note that Bruce Dickinson is an extremely advanced vocalists and if you are serious about wanting to achieve this degree of power and range, you have to really work at it PROPERLY, IN THE RIGHT ORDER and ON A VERY REGULAR BASIS.

Enjoy!

Enjoy your metal!

Here is part 4.

10 Facts About the Voice, Part 4:

1.  The oldest known recording of singing was an “ethereal” 10 second clip of a woman singing a French folk song. The recording of “Au Clair de la Lune”, recorded in 1860, is thought to be the oldest known recorded human voice. A phonograph of Thomas Edison singing a children’s song in 1877 was previously thought to be the oldest record.

2.  The amount of air pressure used and needed for rock singing is almost 3 times that of pop and country singing and 5 times that of jazz and most R&B.

3.  You lose up to 30% of your breath support while sitting compared to standing when you sing.

4.  Good technique is good technique whether it is applied to Rock, Country Opera, Pop, or R&B.

5.  Often, it is best to work up difficult songs without the use of consonant sounds. When consonant sounds are present they cause “jaw shifting” which generally closes off the air passage way in the back of the throat constricting the air supply.

6.  Many people think that the “high range” songs are the most difficult to master, but in fact the songs that have a lot of range are harder to master.

7.  Many times the terms falsetto, head voice, head register and so-on are quite misunderstood. They have become so watered down now that the terms are practically interchangeable.  Often when someone says “head voice” or “Falsetto” they mean the same thing.

8.  The over-use of caffeine and or alcohol can shrink the blood capillaries in your body and make it more difficult to access the oxygen needed to perform at maximum.

9.  Women generally have easier access to the upper registers, particularly head voice compared to men. In contrast, men have a much stronger command of their lower registers because of the size and shape of their vocal folds (cords).

10.  In the long run, it is best to think of the voice in terms of; as a whole (like your leg) – instead of breaking it up into chest voice, register break and falsetto (like your quad, knee and calf). The reason for this is over time you will get them to all function together as a whole, like the leg, instead of the confusion of compartmentalizing and individualizing them.

I have seen so much bizarre information on various forums that I am glad to answer this.

If you are a KTVA program user, you would remember that I said “Vibrato” is the last in the “food chain” or “Release Valves” (the vowel modifications I have you do in the volumes to relieve and release tension).

Once the correct vowel modification is achieved (with correct support), it “pings” to that little sweet spot (amphitheater in the back of the throat with good vowel placement) that sounds like the note is easy and soaking in reverb.  This is only truly achieved by open throat technique.  It’s at this point, vibrato is released, so as to “relax” the note and allow “resonance” to take over.  Remember I said it was “resonance” that grow the voice?   Not “powering” through the sound.

Once this “resonant vibrato” starts to oscillate, it gets more robust and fills up the room without the tension of what it would take to “power” out a note like that without proper technique.  AND it is this sound that GROWS the voice instead of tearing it down like when we “power” through a note.

So now the question was raised:

“So, from the note being held, does vibrato oscillate upwards or downwards?”

Think about this guys.  If Vibrato is the last in line for relieving tension, wouldn’t common sense tell you it oscillates downward (usually 1/8 to 1/4 tone.  Some people have a very wide vibrato and oscillate a 1/2 tone or even more like Bruce Dickinson).   If, when you are learning to develop vibrato, you try to oscillate “upwards”, you will actually create tension (of course…the note is going up).  If you oscillate downward, you are relieving tension and is more natural.  This is not to say that people like Freddie Mercury have a vibrato that oscillates upward. Sometimes it sounds like it does and sometimes it doesn’t.  But in candor, I am not a fan of his vibrato.  I prefer, Aretha, Sam Cook, Nat King Cole, Dio, Mariah, Mickey Thomas, Pavarotti,  and many others.  I would consider those as standards for healthy vibrato. So in my professional opinion, in order to maximize you final release valve, vibrato should oscillate downward approximately 1/8 to 1/4 tone below the root note.

Start out slowly to get the feel of it.  Then gradually speed up the vibrato until it feels more natural.  This will take some practice. But it will be worth it in the end.  Also: Do not “over-use” vibrato. This can be a crutch for bad pitch and vowel placement issues.  Use it sparingly so that its beauty stands on its own

Each week we will be publishing 10 Facts About the Voice, here is part 1:

10 Facts about the Voice

1. The voice is a muscle, and like any muscle in the body can grow and get stronger even into your 70′s when trained correctly.
2. People that are diagnosed with “nodes” or “polyps” can in many cases avoid surgery with proper vocal techniques and vocal exercises.
3. Most singers have no idea what their “true” vocal range is. Many resign themselves to “lower” vocal registers because they do not know how to access their upper register.
4. Many female singers “flip” into their head voice registers too early which inhibits power in the mid voice.
5. The over-use of air is one of the biggest “enemies” of the voice.
6. When experiencing cold or flu, it is better to continue to “exercise” the voice with proper training which will maintain more consistent vocal health and lessen “down time” from singing.
7. The voice has a biological clock and likes to be warmed up at the same time every day.
8. Most singers have a much higher range than they realize but due to “panicking” they quickly “squeeze off the air in the throat” which seriously impedes and inhibits range.
9. A tenor can actually sing well into the soprano range when trained correctly.
10. A baritone can actually “stretch” his chest voice well into the tenor range safely.

Browse KTVA Singing Lessons

Most people compress air in their throat and literally “squeeze” off the air choking their way up into their notes.

At Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy, I teach the proper way to “hold back the breath” and compress the air to not allow too much air to pass across the chord and not let it dry out, while keeping the throat open so you DO NOT CHOKE your way to higher notes.

This is my Open Throat Technique.

Until you keep the throat open (like a cross between yawning and drinking a glass of water), while you sing, you cannot obtain safe healthy compression.

Build the open throat mechanism FIRST. Then start adding compression.

I will be doing a LIVE webinar session for my KTVA subscribers on this and you will be able to ask questions while I do it.

I will demonstrate different kinds of compression so you will see and hear the difference.

Compression is not just for “distorting” the voice. It is THEE way to control breath.

You can do it with less pressure (for pop singing) and it will give more power, control and range, OR you can really “lean” into the sound (over time, not right away) and add “safe” distorted compression (which rock singing is harder than pop singing btw ..it is the same compression….it’s just that rock singing takes more support and stamina. But the concept is EXACTLY the same).

This is an old very mis-understood bel canto (operatic technique) concept, I have just pushed it too its limits by combining mask, pillars, rib cage expansion and other forms of support to sustain “belting” singing.

I want to improve my voice and improve my tone and all, but I don’t want to change my voice to like a rock singer or something. I want to have a pop/R&B vocal. I guess John Mayer, The Killers, Bruno Mars, Ne-Yo, Elliot Yasmin kind of thing…somewhere between all those.
So is open throat singing for pop and r&b or just rock? I also want to increase my flexibility, pitch accuracy and speed I can do runs. (the poppy thing)

I noticed in a lot of student videos they are just belting and really powering out notes, which for 80s rock and stuff I guess is good but I want to have a smooth connection with everything.
Right now I can sing through my bridge but I have to immensely increase support around an E (above mid C).

Can I ask what you mean by saving breath? I breathe from my diaphragm but maybe I’m not doing it the best way…

Anyways, I hope through my videos and messages you can see what sort of thing I’m going for. Sorry bout all the questions, I just want to be the best vocalist I can be.

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Ken Tamplin:

Here’s the thing.

Good singing technique is good singing technique regardless the genre or style.

Aretha Franklin is one of my all time favorite singers,

The people you mention (Bruno Mars, Ne-Yo, Elliot Yasmin ) are just wimpy versions of those singers.

Mariah is more in that vein as far as power and strength are concerned.

To sing rock a “heavy soul” (like Aretha) requires 3 times the amount of diaphragmatic support.

Singers like John Mayer, The Killers, Bruno Mars, Ne-Yo, Elliot Yasmin etc. only need 1/3 of that support.

It’s still the same technique and support, you just don’t need to be a ”buff” so to speak.

Good vowel modifications, release valves, mask, pitch and all that still apply.

The approach is exactly the same.

To sing like Bruno Mars is much easier than singing like Lou Gramm.

Lou Gramm could singing Bruno Mars, but Bruno Mars could not sing Lou Gramm..

Good technique is good technique, regardless of the style you apply it to.