- Lesson 15 Notes
- Master Your Voice Light Voice Workout - Male
- Master Your Voice Light Voice Workout - Female
What a Beautiful Name
© 2016 Hillsong Music Publishing (APRA) (adm. in the US and Canada at CapitolCMGPublishing.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Holy Spirit
© 2011 Jesus Culture Music (ASCAP) Capitol CMG Genesis (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Doxology
Public Domain. Written by Thomas Ken.
Holy Holy Holy, Lord God Almighty
Public Domain. Written by Reginald Heber.
’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
Public Domain. Written by Louisa M. R. Stead, William J. Kirkpatrick.
Saved the Day
© 2014 Jason & Charmaine Brown. All rights reserved.
Turn Your Eyes North
© 2016 Charmaine Brown. All rights reserved.
All other song examples written by Charmaine Brown.
Hey Charmaine! I’ve just gone through the lesson and am looking forward to diving in on the workout and application tomorrow. Say, I noticed that in the last couple/few lessons, you recommended only doing one or two song applications per day. Do you recommend the same here? Or is the light voice easier on the voice itself (though not easier to do!), so we’re good to do all three song applications?
Hey Ashley! The light voice stuff is definitely easier on the voice, so feel free to do all three song application exercises—however, the other part of the reason I only assign 1-2 is because quality is more important than quantity! It’s good to spend some time really focusing/honing in on an exercise, rather than trying to fit multiple into a day.
Gotcha! I am one with more time on my hands now than usual, so I will just see how each day presents itself. Thanks, Charmaine!
Totally! You’re welcome!
I enjoyed this lesson immensely. I’ve been so concentrating on getting a power mix that I hadn’t realized you must have moments in the song like these lighter tones to make a beautiful contrast. I found my voice much more expressive and smoother when doing a light voice (to my surprise)!
Wonderful! Yes, the light mix provides such a beautiful contrast!
Realised that singing in a light mix needs much focus as well! That singing lighter does not mean letting it all go, but being intentional about every word. Learnt too, that it makes so much of a difference if I could sing in different mixes which really adds layers and dynamics.
After this lesson, I think I kinda realised that I had incorrectly thought that a “power mix” = a loud “light mix”. It is not so! A power mix has to be wayyyy different, way more powerful, and using different parts of my voice than just a loud light mix (which was what I was doing…!). Really need to go back to the power mix lesson and exercises!
Is it ok to go in and out of connected tone and breathy in the light mix? I’m hearing quite a few worship artists doing this in their light head voices. I thought one should always try to stay connected and never breathy? I understand in the exercises one should stay connected but in songs are we allowed to do breathy for effect (as in the lullaby song)?
Absolutely—a bit of breathy texture here and there is totally fine (I talk about this in my lessons on texture). What we don’t want is to sing breathy all the time though!
For sure! Great revelations and so important to work on these things!
I’m really going to have to work on the sustained hum. I’m terrible at it right now. I’m just curious what aspect of the voice improves as I’m able to 20 seconds and longer?
Control and stamina!
WOW!!! The Sleeping Baby exercise was amazing! I hear peace, sweetness, contentment. I feel like I’ve struggled with ending phrases. For some reason, it felt easier with this exercise. And let’s be honest…who doesn’t love to picture themselves rocking a sleeping baby! 🙂
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed that exercise!
I’ve come to really love practicing the light voice exercises. It is Eyeopening for sure🙏🏼😊🎶 and it’s amazing to me how I’m discovering the clean head mix cry vs when it sounds breathy
Awesome, that’s fantastic!
For me I think the “Sleeping Baby Exercise” is a great one…Charmaine I bet you’ve been practicing this one a lot lately 😉 Combining this with the light “Vee” that Tyler Wysong tought in the “How To Sing The Verse” facebook lesson has been very helpful.
Haha, yes, daily practice with the sleeping baby exercise! 😀
Oh my goodness, the sleeping baby exercise completely makes sense to me and has been really helpful! I’m excited that I’m able to get a pure tone in the higher register without it having to be loud and a power mix!
Yay! Amazing — glad to hear it! 🙂
This exercises are soo good. But I’m still struggling to understand if in the high note I’m doing a mix or pure head. It’s hard to make the difference.
One big struggle I’m facing is to sing high or to do the high notes in the execises and keep it light because as soon as I keep it light the voice breaks and there is no more sound but just air.
I can sing high notes just if I do them with power.
The sustained hum is also very challenging, it’s hard to hold it for 20 sec.
Will the breathing exercises help To solve this problem?
Glad you’re enjoying the exercises, Noemi! As I said in the video, honestly, don’t worry too much about head vs head mix as you do these… the main thing to be listening for is to have as consistent as possible a tone as you move throughout your range (not clunking in and out of chest voice, not getting loud/soft, clear/breathy, etc.). Singing lightly is more difficult than singing with volume, so give yourself time and be patient as your voice builds! Aim for a clear (not breathy) sound, go as light as you can (without it disappearing into thin air!), and over time you will be able to sing lighter.
Yes, breathing exercises will help with the sustained hum for sure! But the issue is more likely that your vocal cords are leaking too much air (which is not a breathing issue, it’s a vocal cord/muscle issue), so aim for as clear/clean a sound as you can!
Thank you so much for putting so much time and effort into these lessons. I feel myself growing so much and have notcied that I can reach low notes that I never was able to before! You are a blessing! Thank you for using your power for good:)
Hey Susan! You’re very welcome! It always blesses me to hear of the breakthroughs that singers experience, so thanks for sharing! 😀
I LOVE doing both last week’s and this week’s workouts together. It really puts be a good place. bringing the sound into a neutral not too chesty not too heady place. I still have lots to work on, but I definitely can use this workout to remind me that loud isn’t better!
Awesome! Yes, they do work well together to develop and balance the voice!
i absolutely loooove the sleeping baby exercise. What a precious thing and a way to look at singing! It’s a big reminder to me that, Jesus hears my every vocal workout – and that I can bring this much of my heart and intentionality to every workout. I also loved how I could hear so much more softness, emotion and vulnerability, compared to when I was just doing the exercises.
I could totally hear my wombling in the sustained Hum exercise, but I’m so glad we have this exercise. I’ve often wondered how I can stop wobbling when I’m singing softer and I can tell this one is going to help a lot!
I found that my Wee descending scale sounds breathy to me, but I dont know how to get to sound less breathy. Do you have any advice? Thanks Charmaine!
Yes, it is amazing to realize that God’s ear is so inclined to our every cry (and word! and note of every song!). Glad you enjoyed the exercise!
Do you tend to have the same breathy issue on the GOO descending scale? If it’s just the WEE, perhaps try starting that one with a G (GEE) to help get more compression/grip for the vocal cords. Also, think a bit more whiny (but still quiet!) on the EE vowel sound. Hope that helps!