Hear With Your Brain

Have you ever heard anyone say that they are tone deaf? Our ear is just the vehicle with which we process sound. It's the brain that does that interpreting.

I have had students that have had pitch processing problems. I realized how powerful the brain is when I had them use visualizations to correct their pitch. It's a deeper level of focus and concentration.

I had a student come to me who couldn't sing on pitch to save his soul. He would sing a song, correctly going higher when the lyrics were supposed to go higer, and go lower when the lyrics were supposed to get lower. The problem was he never matched the notes.

So in addition to doing pitch comparison exercises, we focused on brain function relative to processing pitch. One of the things he did that worked was using the bricks on my fireplace while singing a scale. The distance between each brick was the same. Looking at the bricks this way helped his brain process the note progression in equal steps. By the time we were done, he was able to sing a whole do-re-mi...etc. on pitch. I was absolutely ecstatic, and he was happy and surprised at the same time.

When I work with pitch with my students, it's from the standpoint of manually engaging the brain to do what we want it to do. The brain can usually correct issues with pitch. Until it's engaged in this new way, it doesn't realize it can do this. It is truly an amazing process.

A Testimonial

I'm always happy when a client emails me with something positive to say about taking voice lessons with me. Here's the latest from Nancy D...

Jennifer, you make voice lessons fun with the right balance of drills and real songs. Your large library of karaoke tracks to apply exercises to singing is very helpful. I think you appreciate the learning process, and you do a good job of articulating what is needed. I also think you have a great voice, so I have respect for how you teach. I have a 30 minute drive in the midst of a busy day, but I always look forward to my lessons.

Thanks, Nancy D., Metuchen, NJ

More testimonials can be found on my website: www.asharpvoice.net/testimonials

Enunciation and Speech in Singing

Singing isn't just about staying on pitch, proper breathing, etc. Believe it or not, the way we pronounce and enunciate syllables can have a huge impact on the way we sound singing.

It's as simple as this: whatever shapes you make with your mouth muscles, tongue, and teeth will determine not only what comes out, but how it comes out. Making these adjustments drastically changes a person's performance.

I once had a student who had a VERY strong and loud voice. But she tended to go off pitch. We did exercises to get her to use the muscles in her face and mouth working to reshape these notes as they came out. Believe it or not, this corrected her pitch. It was as if someone took a knob and tuned it properly with her moving her muscles in this new way.

I teach that it's much more than the vocals themselves. There's much more surrounding them that can make or break the sound. Of course I teach in such a way that it always sounds great :)