The Music That I Can't Stomach..., A witty name for a dull questions Options

[Ionas]

Among all the technicians and electronic music makers here there ought to be a number of competent singers... And I know that the reply might very well be 'it has taken me 20 years to develop and there is no right way about it...', and I am painfully aware that this might be just the case. However, I am still gunning for any hints or good advice I might find.

What I'm wondering is: How do you learn to use your stomach properly when singing? And I don't except a full guide posted on this off-topic forum, but any hints, or even urls to online guides to singing, would be wonderful...

[Johnny Valium]

@Everybody
A warm hello! I'm actually not new in the forum but due to technical problems I could not participate for some time. This will change from now on.

@Webmaster
I was one of the unlucky guys with a pass of 3 characters. I sent you an email with my change request a month ago, but haven't received an answer so far. So I've now created a new user account. Sorry, I just couldn't wait any longer

@Ionas
Interesting post! I think I'll have to elaborate: While all of the above mentioned stuff is true I'm afraid it will not really help you so much. Therefore my advice: Take some lessons. In my opinion the voice is the one intrument that is hardest to learn autodidactically. Why? Because it uses a lot of muscles and tendons you cannot access directly and control visually. And an experienced teacher can help you so much more than some words written on a page. This is more true with the voice than with any other instrument.

When you decide to take lessons choose your teacher carefully. I would NOT recommend you to take classical lessons. My brother once took some lessons from a classical singer and was eventually told he "had no singing vioce"!!! Go to a jazz/pop teacher who has studied what in Germany is called "funktionale Stimmbildung". I am doing just that and almost every time is a revelation. My teacher virtually turned me into a singer within about 18 months.

The "sing high think low.." is supposed to suppress the larynx's tendency to go up when singing high reducing the precious space in your throat that is needed in order to develop tone. The muscle that makes the pitch actually expands towards the front so the upward motion is not needed at all. Do I make sense? There are books on the anatomy of singing. You might want to google around a little. Maybe my clumpsy attempt of an explanation has clarified why it's so hard to do this autodidactically. Anyway, good luck!

One more thing: Scream if you want to! Just listen to what your body tells you to find a way of sounding wicked without hurting yourself. It's possible.

Greets
Johnny