Singing and Choir Tips

 

Become a Better Singer

Singing is far from just opening your mouth and making a sound. Great singers work for years to create a perfect instrument. Here I'll give you a quick list of things you can do right now to improve your singing voice.

1. Warm up.

You wouldn't (or shouldn't) do any type of sports or exercises without first warming up. The same is true of your voice. Stretch your neck muscles by tipping your head from side-to-side; roll your shoulders; shake out your arms and shoulders, and open and shut your jaw to flex your mouth.

2. Breathe properly.

Remember: If your chest is moving up and down, you're doing it wrong.

a.. Stand with your feet slightly apart.

b. Place your hands on your sides at the bottom of your ribcage.

c. Quickly expand your ribcage and at the same time expand your diaphragm so that your lungs are immediately filled with a huge gulp of air. (This is the similar to the type of breath you'd spontaneously take if you were going to scream or yell.),

d. Learn breath control by repeating the above three steps, but slowly releasing the air in spurts on a "shhhh" sound. Make it last -- see how many "shhh"s you can get out of one breath.

i. You can also "sing" through a raspberry technique. (You know what a raspberry is ...you've blown raspberries on somebody's tummy in your lifetime!) The vibration of your lips while singing a raspberry will increase blood flow to your lips, face and neck, which will helps with good singing. See how long you can make that raspberry last for each breath.

3. Vocal Exercises.

a. "Hummahh". One of the best ways to teach yourself proper singing.

i. Pick a note in your head;
ii. Expand your ribcage/diaphragm to fill your lungs.
iii. Hum the note for three seconds;
iv. While humming, drop your jaw so that you're singing a nice, pure "Ahhh" sound.
V. Repeat the above steps up and down a scale.
vi. Repeat the above steps, but change from an "Ahh" to the other five vowel sounds: "Ay" "Ee" "Ooh" "Oo"

b. Here's my favorite for a quick choral warm-up in the early morning. It gets everyone's attention! It's the "Yawn" exercise.

i. In your head, target the highest note you can reach. As high as possible.
ii. Expand your ribcage/diaphragm to fill your lungs.
iii. In a yawn-like manner, open your mouth vocalizing your note and slide your voice down to the lowest it will go. Repeat four or five times until your larynx is relaxed and your nasal cavities are open.

c. The Mama exercise. Sing up and down a five-note scale with "Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma". Don't "bounce" off the M; let it resonate in your nasal cavities, then relax your jaw into a wide "Ahh". Repeat with the other four vowel sounds, giving them nice, round, full sounds.

4. Vocal Tone.

Always remember to sing with your nose, not your throat. (Remember your Hummahh exercise!) Pushing your vocal cords to make all the sound will give you a poor tone (wispy, shrieky and other unpleasantries), as well as possibly damage your vocal cords. Think UP when singing. Picture your vocal cords lodged smack between your eyes and send the sound there.

5. Drop the Jaw.

Tight lips sink operas. Not only can you not get good tone by not opening your mouth wide enough, you're not going to project sound either. If you're singing to someone sitting one foot away, that's fine. If you're singing to a large audience, what's the point? Push the sound out the top of your head and control the power with your diaphragm while totally dropping your jaw. As Maestro David Kyle taught me, "Sinnngggg to the islannnnds! Sinnnggg to the islannnnds!" Drop that jaw! Drop it more! Feel silly? Well, drop it even more until everybody knows how many filling reside in your mouth. See how Angela Gheorghiu does it while singing O Mio Babbino Caro:

 

Watch little 10-year-old Jackie Evancho singing O Mio Babbino Caro-- she knows how to do it! (And she'll take your breath away.)

 

Here's how it should all happen:

1. Stand comfortably and relaxed, head erect and not tilted..

2. Expand the ribs/diaphragm and DON'T release.

3. Think your first note. Your mouth and larynx will be ready before you make a sound.

4. Sing by sending the sound up into your nasal cavities -- imagine it going right out the top of your head.

5. Drop your jaw WIDE OPEN. You should look like a trumpet. Better yet, a tuba.

6. Sing powerfully and strong. Wimps not allowed. Even soft notes are sung with controlled power.

Practice Makes Perfect.

Don't expect to become an expert overnight. It takes practice and concentration. But if you keep at it, you'll have no choice but to improve.

Another great tip is to listen to trained professionals perform. Watch their posture, their breathing, their facial positions and most of all listen to their tone. Get recordings and sing along if you can. Like little Jackie Evancho, take it in and imitate it as best you can.

 

 

Video on Singing Basics

 

Reading Music

It doesn't just happen. It takes studying, interpreting, analyzing and practice. But, honestly!, it's not as hard as it looks! And if you've ever played an instrument, you're leagues ahead already. These links can help you:

 

Become a Better Choir

CHOIR NOTES:
Click here for tips and tricks for a better choir. (.pdf)

How important is Ward Choir?

The First Presidency has said, Every ward should have an active ward choir.

Why is it important?

  1. Inspirational music is an essential part of our church meetings. The hymns invite the Spirit of the Lord, create a feeling of reverence, unify us as members, and provide a way for us to offer praises to the Lord.

  2. Some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of hymns. Hymns move us to repentance and good works, build testimony and faith, comfort the weary, console the mourning, and inspire us to endure to the end.

(First Presidency Preface to Hymns)
See also Dallin H. Oaks, “Worship through Music,” Ensign, Nov 1994, 9

How much talent do I need to participate in Ward Choir?

In July of 1830, just three months after the church was organized, Emma Smith was directed to collect hymns appropriate for worship services.  The Lord instructed her: “And it shall be given thee, also, to make a selection of sacred hymns, as it shall be given thee, which is pleasing unto me, to be had in my church. For my soul delighteth in the song of the HEART; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.” (D&C 25:11-12, emphasis added)Note that the Lord said absolutely nothing of vocal talent or sight reading abilities.  Singing comes from the heart.  It is a form of righteous rejoicing.  The talent will come when the heart is receptive to the gift.

How can we increase our enthusiasm, our knowledge and our talents?

D&C 9:7 - Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.  But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out…

D&C 88:78, 80 - Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand; That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you.

The Lord and His Church have always encouraged [learning] to increase our ability to serve Him and our Heavenly Father’s children. For each of us, whatever our talents, He has service for us to give. And to do it well always involves learning, not once or for a limited time, but continually. In the scripture above, the Master is clear about the process. Through prayer, fasting, and hard work, with a motive to serve Him, we can expect His grace to attend us. I can assure you from my own experience, that does not mean we will always be on the high end of the grading curve. It means that we will learn more rapidly and grow in skill beyond what we could do only with our unaided natural abilities. The Lord knows both what He will need you to do and what you will need to know to do it. You can with confidence expect that He has prepared opportunities for you to learn. You will not recognize those opportunities perfectly... But when you put the spiritual things first in your life, you will be blessed to feel directed toward certain learning, and you will be motivated to work harder. You will recognize later that your power to serve was increased, and you will be grateful. Your service may not be in what the world would recognize as a lofty calling. But remember that when the real value of service becomes clear in the judgment of God, some people who worked in quiet anonymity will be the real heroes.” (Henry B. Eyring, “Real-Life Education,” NewEra, Apr 2009, 2–8)

Having faith in your talents

I first heard the wonderful story of The Little Engine That Could when I was about 10 years old. As a child, I was interested in the story because the train cars were filled with toy animals, toy clowns, jackknives, puzzles, and books as well as delicious things to eat. However, the engine that was pulling the train over the mountain broke down. The story relates that a big passenger engine came by and was asked to pull the cars over the mountain, but he wouldn't condescend to pull the little train. Another engine came by, but he wouldn’t stoop to help the little train over the mountain because he was a freight engine. An old engine came by, but he would not help because, he said, “I am so tired. … I can not. I can not. I can not.”

Then a little blue engine came down the track, and she was asked to pull the cars over the mountain to the children on the other side. The little engine responded, “I’m not very big. … They use me only for switching in the yard. I have never been over the mountain.” But she was concerned about disappointing the children on the other side of the mountain if they didn’t get all of the goodies in the cars. So she said, “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.” And she hooked herself to the little train. “Puff, puff, chug, chug, went the Little Blue Engine. ‘I think I can—I think I can—I think I can—I think I can—I think I can—I think I can—I think I can.’ ” With this attitude, the little engine reached the top of the mountain and went down the other side, saying, “I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could.”

At times all of us are called upon to stretch ourselves and do more than we think we can. I’m reminded of President Theodore Roosevelt’s quip, “I am only an average man but, by George, I work harder at it than the average man.” We develop our talents first by thinking we can. We are all familiar with the parable of the talents. The Master gave one five talents, another two, and another one, “every man according to his several ability. …

"Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

"And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

"But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

After a long time the Master asked for an accounting. The one who had received five talents reported that he had gained an additional five talents and received the commendation, “Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.” He that received two talents gained two other talents and also received the promise of a greater dominion. But the one who had received the one talent returned with his single talent, saying, “Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

“And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth.”

In accounting for his stewardship, this slothful servant imputed to his master his own character flaws.He could have at least put the money in circulation and received interest on it instead of burying it in the ground. His talent was taken from him and given to the man who had 10 talents. Then the Lord tells us, “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”

We may wonder whether it was fair to take the talent from the one who had the least and to give it to the one who had the most. From the outset, however, the Lord explains that each man had ability.

Some of us are too content with what we may already be doing. We stand back in the “eat, drink, and be merry” mode when opportunities for growth and development abound. We miss opportunities to build up the kingdom of God because we have the passive notion that someone else will take care of it. The Lord tells us that He will give more to those who are willing. They will be magnified in their efforts, like the little blue engine as it pulled the train up the mountain. But to those who say, “We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.”

The Lord entrusts all of His servants…with…talents. The Lord, who endows us with these talents, tells us: “I believe you can. I believe you can.” While we are not all equal in experience, aptitude, and strength, we have different opportunities to employ these…gifts, and we will all be accountable for the use of the gifts and opportunities given to us. (James E. Faust, “I Believe I Can, I Knew I Could,” Liahona, Nov 2002, 49–52 )

 

 

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