We all have singing voices, and of course we all think we sound great when singing in the shower or belting out a tune along with radio while driving.
In fact we all have a unique voice. But just because we think we sound great and maybe you do, this doesn't mean you can't make it better. With the access to the internet you now have the ability to pick from great vocal coaches and singing programs and make a vast improvement in your singing voice.
There are some very basic ways to improve your singing voice that you can concentrate on. A very important area is breath control. Without proper breath control your singing will be very shaky and you will not be able to hit notes properly.
All breath is controlled from you diaphragm when singing. Most people will take deep breaths into their chest, you have to break this habit and only breathe from your diaphragm.
To do this you have to pull air in through your nose and only your stomach should move in and out while your chest stays still. Learning this technique of breath control helps a singer breathe easier, have more breath for a performance, and push out notes with more control.
Another problem area for singers is their pitch. A big issue for a singer is not being perfect on their pitch. When trying to hit a note they end up falling on the lower half of the pitch as they come up to the note. What you want to do if you continually find yourself in this position, is to come from above the note and landing on perfect pitch. Finding yourself on the bottom of a note often just means you need to put in more intensity to sing the pitch.
Sounding a proper vowel sound is critical. It can make the difference between sounding smooth or like you are screeching. Having an understanding of the production position of vowels will make sure you are coming through clear.
It will also make sure you are consistent in your diction so your audience will have a better experience. This becomes even more important for group singing. Not everyone will pronounce vowel sounds the same. Just think of the word mom some might pronounce it "Mahm" while others use "Mawm"
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The Significance of the Bass Clef
The bass clef on the piano usually sounds deeper in tone and is typically played with your left hand while the treble clef plays higher pitched notes. So if you wanted to be a minimal one man band, your left hand would typically be the bass guitar while your right hand is lead guitar.
When you look at the bass clef, your bottom line on your staff is a G. As you climb up, the notes follow in the same order:
G A B C D E F G A....
This pattern can go on as much as you like. You can find the bottom line G on the piano by locating middle C and moving an octave down to the next C and then moving down again to G. As you go up on the staff, you will climb up on the piano. While you can go and play all the notes on the piano on the bass clef as much as you want, there are more practical ways to play higher pitched notes.
Here are some examples of how a composer can achieve this:
Sometimes when musicians need to reach higher notes, they will change to treble clef and notate that it is to play with the left hand (usually by annotating with L.H.). Once they have hit all the high notes, they can change back to the bass clef.
Another way to hit high notes on this clef is to notate to your players to move an octave up which is an italicized 8va with dashed lines along the top. The dashed lines will keep going as long as the composer wants you to go with the higher octave. Likewise, musicians can notate to move an octave down.
Now don't think that you will always be playing the deeper notes on the bass clef. If you listen to the vast variety of piano music (and I don't mean just classical), you will find that there are plenty of songs are soft in tones and sometimes you won't even go past the bottom G. And on the flip side, you will find songs that are deeper in tone.
If you check out Schubert's Serenade, you will see that most of the song is like a whisper with just deep notes here and there which are played softly as to not dominate the other notes in the song. It's a very expressive piece of music and I highly recommend you check it out.
When you look at the bass clef, your bottom line on your staff is a G. As you climb up, the notes follow in the same order:
G A B C D E F G A....
This pattern can go on as much as you like. You can find the bottom line G on the piano by locating middle C and moving an octave down to the next C and then moving down again to G. As you go up on the staff, you will climb up on the piano. While you can go and play all the notes on the piano on the bass clef as much as you want, there are more practical ways to play higher pitched notes.
Here are some examples of how a composer can achieve this:
Sometimes when musicians need to reach higher notes, they will change to treble clef and notate that it is to play with the left hand (usually by annotating with L.H.). Once they have hit all the high notes, they can change back to the bass clef.
Another way to hit high notes on this clef is to notate to your players to move an octave up which is an italicized 8va with dashed lines along the top. The dashed lines will keep going as long as the composer wants you to go with the higher octave. Likewise, musicians can notate to move an octave down.
Now don't think that you will always be playing the deeper notes on the bass clef. If you listen to the vast variety of piano music (and I don't mean just classical), you will find that there are plenty of songs are soft in tones and sometimes you won't even go past the bottom G. And on the flip side, you will find songs that are deeper in tone.
If you check out Schubert's Serenade, you will see that most of the song is like a whisper with just deep notes here and there which are played softly as to not dominate the other notes in the song. It's a very expressive piece of music and I highly recommend you check it out.
Augmented Vs Diminished Chords
There are more kinds of chords than minor and major. Today, I want to discuss augmented versus diminished. I have already discussed minor and major chords on my blog. Augmented and versus diminished can follow the same strategy.
To find a major, you know that you begin with your root, move 4 half steps up to your mediant and then move 3 steps up to your dominant.
The interval for augmented chords would be 4 - 4 which means 4 1/2 steps from the root, and then 4 from the mediant. Another way to look at it is to find your augmented chord is to begin with your major chord and then move your dominant chord a half step up.
Let's take a look at the D augmented chord. You can either count 4 1/2 steps from D and then get F(sharp) and then count 4 up from F sharp and land on A sharp. However, if you just look at the major chord which is D, F sharp, A, you can see that moving A one half step up will give you your augmented chord.
Now let's take a look at diminished chords.
Diminished are similar to augmented except that you look at the minor instead of a major chord. A minor chord is 3 half steps up from the root, and then 4 up from the mediant. When you want your diminished triad, the chord interval would be 3 - 3. Now if you want to start with your minor chord, you would move your dominant a half step down instead of up.
Let's do an example using the A diminished. You can follow the same two methods that are stated above which either is counting steps or starting with your minor chord and making it a diminished.
With an A minor chord, you have the notes A, C, and E. The chord interval here is 3 - 4. Now you can take your minor chord and move your dominant note down a half step to get A, C, and E(flat). Or you can use the alternative method and start with A, move up 3 half steps to C, and then move 3 to E flat.
To find a major, you know that you begin with your root, move 4 half steps up to your mediant and then move 3 steps up to your dominant.
The interval for augmented chords would be 4 - 4 which means 4 1/2 steps from the root, and then 4 from the mediant. Another way to look at it is to find your augmented chord is to begin with your major chord and then move your dominant chord a half step up.
Let's take a look at the D augmented chord. You can either count 4 1/2 steps from D and then get F(sharp) and then count 4 up from F sharp and land on A sharp. However, if you just look at the major chord which is D, F sharp, A, you can see that moving A one half step up will give you your augmented chord.
Now let's take a look at diminished chords.
Diminished are similar to augmented except that you look at the minor instead of a major chord. A minor chord is 3 half steps up from the root, and then 4 up from the mediant. When you want your diminished triad, the chord interval would be 3 - 3. Now if you want to start with your minor chord, you would move your dominant a half step down instead of up.
Let's do an example using the A diminished. You can follow the same two methods that are stated above which either is counting steps or starting with your minor chord and making it a diminished.
With an A minor chord, you have the notes A, C, and E. The chord interval here is 3 - 4. Now you can take your minor chord and move your dominant note down a half step to get A, C, and E(flat). Or you can use the alternative method and start with A, move up 3 half steps to C, and then move 3 to E flat.
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