Vocal Course Lesson 6

Overview"what this lesson is about"

Vibratto

Most great singers use vibrato regardless of what style of music they’re singing. The development of a healthy vibrato is extremely helpful for your voice for technical reasons: it will balance your voice, reduce tension, and weave together all the different parts of your vocal technique. You don’t have to use vibrato in songs, but it’s important to use it in your vocal workout routines.

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Control Your Vocal Cords with Air

Our idea of the Balance Point can be expanded to say that air controls the vocal cords. Vibrato is the effect that occurs when we control pitch with changes in air pressure from your diaphragm. Here are some more tips for developing Vibratto:

• Start the vibrato with a deep wave of your hands
• Experiment with poking your stomach
• Start the vibrato with a tremolo sound

Advanced Air Control

You’ll be controlling your vibrato with very small changes in air pressure. Practice panting (breathing in and out with small even breaths) along with a metronome. Start at 120 bpm on quarter notes, (one exhale or inhale per click), then go to eighth notes (two breaths per click). If you get good, you can do sixteenth notes (four breaths per click).

Practice Routine

Practice Time : 7 days, 15 – 30 minutes

Practice Vibratto with all five vowels on Scale 8

• Ah (father)
• Eh (let)
• Ee (feet)
• Oh (no)
• Oo (boot

Apply these principles as you practice:

• Engage your vocal cords
• Breathe in stomach out
• Mouth open and relaxed
• Larynx low and stable

Practice using a tremolo with these vowels on Scale 8

• Ah (father)
• Eh (let)
• Ee (feet)
• Oh (no)
• Oo (boot)

Practice panting along with a metronome up to 120 bpm

Begin working on Song 3 and see if you can find vibrato on your sustains.