"Texas Wants You Anyway"

[J.G.]

Hello, All, :)

I have a singer-pal who lives in Abilene, Texas, (hold the cow-pie jokes please :Razz: ), and she is looking to expand her upper range after noticing a marked decrease in it after an extended illness some years ago.

She's back in the vox-saddle now, and wants to return to her soprano-roots.

If any of you know of some happenin' vocal coaches in that area, (I'm guessing she won't mind driving a ways to get to a potent source), please list them here.

TIA,

[J.G.]

WOW, Guys, one at-a-time PLEASE! :Razz:

Mmmkay, how 'bout any good CD/DVD tutorials that anyone's had some good results with?

TIA encore,

: J

[Tim Armstrong]

I'm gonna be in Austin visiting next week, and I'm legendary for the whiny shrillness of my voice! She won't even WANT to go upstairs vocally, after hearing it.

Anything I can do to help the friend of a friend...(is she a hot momma?). :very happy:

Cheers, Tim

[J.G.]

TIM! "hot mama"...

To be honest, I know her only online, and I've seen some pics, (they've only been headshots), and yes, she's pretty---pretty married too, ya dirty dowg! :Razz:

Thanks for the offer, but I don't think the timing is optimal with her present scheduale, (she's one busy bee after just recording a 10 song Country demo, and now onto the next batch of tunes from her sizable vault, more than a hundred waiting in the wings, I believe).

I'll ring her bell, and if she's got some free time, I'll ring yours.

: J

[jerryskid]

Ring it baby !!!!!.....(pant pant)






sorry...need to get out more..........

[Tim Armstrong]

I'll ring her bell, and if she's got some free time, I'll ring yours.

: J

:lol:

JG, no pressure from this end (now that I know she's MARRIED:icon_eek: :lol: ), I have quite a social whirl scheduled already!

And Abilene is quite a long drive! Damn, Texas is BIG!

But thanks!!!

Cheers, Tim

[saxplayerz]

Country ?


Well no need to work on vocals for that genre. She just needs to to learn to say " Y'all ! " and dress like Dolly. :grin:

[gabby garcia]

oh - that reminds me of a joke I think y'all might enjoy:


a girl from Texas and a girl from New York were seated next to each other on an airplane. The girl from Texas being friendly and all, said "so, where y'all from?"

the girl from New York said "from a place where they know better than to use a preposition at the end of a sentence."

the girl from Texas sat quietly for a few moments and then replied "so, where y'all from, BITCH?"


:grin:
gg

[J.G.]

:grin:

*snorts*

Likin' it, gabby...

[sqkychair]

Sorry JG,

I asked a couple of folks who MIGHT know about that area, but came up empty. Abilene is actually a long way from me.

Best of Luck.

[J.G.]

Thanks, sqky,

Seeing as I don't practice perse, I really had no advice for my friend, nor am I in the know as far as tutorial CD's or DVD's on voice training.

All I could offer her was, 'lay off the smokes and--well--SING higher notes"... :Roll eyes:

Whaaaddayagannadoooo...

:Razz:

[Tim Armstrong]

A friend of mine, a woman singer with an amazing voice who has a degree from Berklee, tells me that the one single most important thing to do as a singer is to learn to breathe properly, so you have enough air to support the notes. And damn, once I started making sure I was breathing in deeply before singing, and "breathing from the diaphragm" (or, as it feels like, breathing from the belly), sure enough I found a significant increase in power, range and pitch control...


















...not enough to make me a GOOD singer, mind you, but still an improvement!

Cheers, Tim

[J.G.]

Punto, Tim.

Amazing how many facets there are to a good vox delivery.

When one stops to analyze them, it's quite astounding. I learned this once when a novis-singer-friend of mine asked me for a "lesson", and I had to pick apart the how of the sounds I emit and try to 'splain 'em to her.

I've never put much concious thought into breathing before a session, and I never have trouble with having enough air--but then maybe I just have big lungs..? :Razz: Plus, it's not like I'm singing opera fer god's sake.

[Bob Olhsson]

What I've seen work over and over is just relaxing and singing like you speak. Most people are capable of way more range than they realize.

A lot of "scientific techniques" of teaching voice and music were developed during the early part of the 20th century that turned out to be utterly useless however they live on with teachers who don't know better. (I learned about this the hard way when I had to give up violin due to too many bad habits I had been taught.)

Somebody who teaches the Seth Riggs "speech level" method would be good although it always feels like there's some kind of a religious cult built around his method. http://www.sethriggs.com/

[J.G.]

What I've seen work over and over is just relaxing and singing like you speak. Most people are capable of way more range than they realize.

Indeed, and that's a great point, Bob--as there's no limit to the damage stressing out can do, no matter what the task may be.

I've always been so grateful for the monster that lives inside me, and just kinda takes over when any potentially freak-out-ish performance moments present themselves.

Perhaps the best place to start on any vox coaching is in the personal dept., the confidence-levels.

Thanks for that link, I'll pass it on to my pal.

: J

[st robert]

as a side note, it should be said that me and a mexican friend i work with are negotiating the return of texas to mexico in exchange for tequila rights, beach access and, well, just to get them off our backs for a while.

sorry about the property values.

rob

[nobby]

Thanks, sqky,

Seeing as I don't practice perse, I really had no advice for my friend, nor am I in the know as far as tutorial CD's or DVD's on voice training.

All I could offer her was, 'lay off the smokes and--well--SING higher notes"... :Roll eyes:

Whaaaddayagannadoooo...

:Razz:

Regular vox excercises should help if she's recovering from an illness.

As previously mentioned proper breathing. I actually did breathing excercises for a while, but... botheration.

I did quit smoking (pot) which made a huge improvement in range.

Then you get on a slippery slope.

Ideally: Quit drinking alcohol* because it dries out the tissues and irritates the vocal mechanism.

Quit drinking coffee* because it's a diuretic and dries out the tissues.

Quit or cut way back on dairy products* because they cause mucus to form.















*things I haven't done and can't envision doing in the near future. What am I, a fokkin saint!

Do as I say, not as I do.

[nobby]

That kinda explains why a prime donne is known for being bitchy.

She had to quit smoking and drinking to get the job. That would make anyone bitchy.

[J.G.]

^^AMEN eh?

[Bob Olhsson]

...She had to quit smoking and drinking to get the job...I would never advocate that somebody start smoking or drinking however I can't think of very many people I've worked with who were really good that didn't smoke or drink.

[J.G.]

True; those puritans are rare indeed, and I can think of but a handful that I know personally...

Brings to mind a saying that I can't remember the source of,"Never trust a person without a vice." Or is that a, "workshop"? :Razz:

[bunnerabb]

Country ?


Well no need to work on vocals for that genre. She just needs to to learn to say " Y'all ! " and dress like Dolly. :grin:

--

[blackieC]

[Quote:]
Originally Posted by saxplayerz
Country ?


Well no need to work on vocals for that genre. She just needs to to learn to say " Y'all ! " and dress like Dolly.[Quote:/]


Well fuck a bunch of getting the code right.