Holding a note?

epictring

Hi, I want to give vocals a shot.

I don't have an amazing voice, but I'd like to see to where I can push it.
I can hit the notes in my range, but sometimes I struggle holding them for longer periods of time - any advice on how I can practice this effectively?

I've read online that the best way to practice is simply.. well spending time focusing on choosing a note and try and hold it as long as possible, is this the most effective method?

I'll probably be going for vocal lessons from next year, but I want to push myself a bit.

ZarK

I think having a voice coach is invaluable. Even if you only take a few lessons to get the basics down... (Before you start developing bad singing/breathing habits on your own or damage them vocal cords.)

kitaarpeer

Vocals is a tricky thing! Its not like an instrument someone can sit with you and show you how to do something right. The other "problem" is that different coaches follows different approaches. I had vox training for almost a year and it didnt really do much tbh :-\

Anyways, to me it sounds like you are targeting something called the diaphragm (is that how u spell it? Windows says so). In afrikaans it "diafragma". Fancy way of saying sing out of your stomach instead of your chest. This all comes down to breathing excercises. You know that feeling just as you would throw up, that contraction just under where your ribs meet in the middle, that is what you want to use to sustain your notes.

I can try to go into it in more detail, but hope that helps for now / was what you were having trouble with ?

DonRoos

Both correct, you must learn proper technique or you will do some damage.

Singing uses your whole body as your instrument. So start by doing some exercises to get your breathing more controlled and strengthen your stomach muscles. Even if you don't get to sing, a bit of exercise won't go amis. Always warm up your vocal chords and do stretches before singing. A good teacher will teach you how to warm up your vocal chords properly but a low pitch hum will get them vibrating and warm them up without doing any damage

Holding a note is all about having enough breath to start with (breath control) and then controlling how you release it. Don't strain ANYTHING!

kitaarpeer

DonRoos wrote: Holding a note is all about having enough breath to start with (breath control) and then controlling how you release it. Don't strain ANYTHING!

Yup! If it hurts, you're doing it wrong! That also applies to screaming (yes, screaming is also a musical technique that can be learnt to do correctly!)

singemonkey

Yeah. As DonRoos says, it's about controlling the rate of release of breath. You don't need to expel a lot of air to get a lot of volume. So practise taking a note in the middle of your range. Take a deep breath and then sing that note for different lengths of time, concentrating on how much air you're letting out. For a long note you'll feel almost as if you're just letting the air *drift* out - even if you're belting it at volume.