What Singers Get Wrong About Breath

What Singers Get Wrong About Breath

Lizzy Clarke

Breath is a frequently misunderstood and sometimes ignored element of vocal technique.

Breath is often misinterpreted as the spearhead of vocal sound, driving sound forward like an arrow cutting through the air. In fact, breath is not the arrow, but the bow. Like the bow creates and stores energy to send the arrow on its way, breath is the power source of the voice.

Breath for singing is complex. This little blog barely scratches the surface! However, I would like to use this platform to address a few common breath myths! Let’s dig in!

Why there are no 'Optimal' Vowels in Modern Vocal Technique: A Brief History

Why there are no 'Optimal' Vowels in Modern Vocal Technique: A Brief History

Lizzy Clarke

Have you ever wondered why operatic singing sounds so different from modern pop/rock and r&b singing? In part, the answer lies in different vowel shapes! However, that’s just one piece of the puzzle. There is a whole history – a musical revolution in fact – that defines modern vocal sounds. We have recorded and amplified sound, along with the intrepid artists who were brave enough to sing authentically to thank for the gorgeous, musical and timbral diversity in modern singing!

Vocal/Performance Anxiety and How to Cope

Vocal/Performance Anxiety and How to Cope

Lizzy Clarke

To express yourself is to be vulnerable. To express fully or engage vocally in front of another person can be terrifying. An explosion of self-doubt can erupt in a singer when they are put into the exposed position of expression. “What if my way of expressing is wrong, or silly, or embarrassing. What if I’m rebuked, what if I’m turned away?”

Your feelings and emotions belong in musical expression (or anywhere else you feel the need to express them!). In fact, having an emotional connection to what you’re singing will make your performance more authentic. If you are honest in your performance, the audience will react to it. Honesty is authenticity. Authenticity is always appreciated and celebrated.

Transposition: Finding the Right Key for You Song

Transposition: Finding the Right Key for You Song

Lizzy Clarke

There is a misconception that each singer will have one key that is ‘theirs’ and will work for every song that they sing. This is not true. For any song, the key that works best for you will be entirely dependent on how the melody of that song fits within your range. Sometimes, when covering a song, the original key will work perfectly for you! If so, great! Often though, it may be a bit too high, or too low, in which case you can transpose the song, meaning to make it higher or lower by changing the key!

The Chest/Head/Mixed Voices Explained

The Chest/Head/Mixed Voices Explained

Lizzy Clarke

The ridiculous history of registration: The registers have gone by many names over the years, the most commonplace terms are chest voice (the lower register), head voice (the higher register) and mixed voice (the blending of the other two). This has – believe it or not – been a source of contention in the vocal community for centuries.

The Pop Singer’s Dilemma 

The Pop Singer’s Dilemma 

Lizzy Clarke

All singers, in every genre, from shower divas to stadium rock gods, balance their voice in a way that works for them.

I want you to understand that learning vocal technique is not about memorizing vocal terms, and continuously vocalizing arpeggios till the cows come home...it's about getting to know your own voice better. It’s about practicing in a way that works for you and is actually good for you.

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter

Lizzy Clarke

As an educator and as an artist, I want to express my wholehearted commitment to the Black Lives Matter movement and to supporting artists and singers of colour in my studio and in my life.

I’ve assigned myself the task of researching, learning and listening. I’ve taken some time over the last few weeks to really, truly consider my own unconscious racism and bias. Where did I learn if from? How did I perpetuate it? What does it look like now? How can I unlearn it?

Case Study #2: The Yeller

Case Study #2: The Yeller

Lizzy Clarke

His anxiety over his perceived inability to hit the higher pitches in his range got the best of him sometimes. He would get angry and yell at himself. This anxiety would sometimes snowball to the point where we would have to cut the lesson short because he was incapable – in those moments – of producing sound without strain. His shoulders lifted, his back tightened and his face scrunched up and he could not consciously get out of this posture without walking away from the situation.

Case Study #1: The Belter

Case Study #1: The Belter

Lizzy Clarke

Vocal balance became more than just about the registers – the head and the chest voices. It became how she understood her own musicality. It became the relationship between passion and vulnerability. Balance was the acceptance that her whole range was valuable and that she was more than just a powerhouse singer, she was an artist with a gentle, strong, emotional and powerful outlet.

Going Remote

Going Remote

Lizzy Clarke

Let’s use this time to meditate, grow, slow down and stay healthy! I’m here if you need that musical pick-me-up, or even just for a chat. We’ve got to stay together – not so much physically, but emotionally. because we are all we have. We rely on each other and that should be a point of pride.

3 Steps for New Singers

3 Steps for New Singers

Lizzy Clarke

Here is the greatest truth in all this, singing is the most naked and vulnerable exploration of music. We have no buttons to press or strings to pluck. We can only sing out and that can feel exposing and scary. Whatever your experience, cherish it! Pat yourself on the back for doing the work you’ve done, celebrate where you are now as well as where you’re going. 

The Canoe and the Singer

The Canoe and the Singer

Lizzy Clarke

Singers must learn how to balance before they can project, ‘belt’ or access what is often referred to as ‘vocal power’. Singers must gain control, not by tightening or over-exerting their muscles, but with a strong kind of looseness that keeps the abdominal and the thoracic muscles working while maintaining a relaxed neck, throat and back. While singing, your body is your instrument, your voice should flow easily, without strain or tension. You need enough power, (accessed through breath management and body mapping…more on these topics later) to sing out and feel confident, but enough looseness and ease to feel relaxed and flexible throughout your body.