Ep. 84 “Vocal Embouchure – The Many Faces Of Singing”

You may have noticed that singers make all kinds of crazy faces when they sing. But, you may not have considered the many …

Ep. 84 “Vocal Embouchure – The Many Faces Of Singing”
0 ♬
0 Hi everybody!
0 My name is Justin Stoney
and I'm the founder of
0 New York Vocal Coaching
here in New York City.
0 Welcome to episode 84 of
Voice Lessons To The World.
0 The show where we want
to help you as singers
0 by answering your questions
from all over.
0 And I'll give you a chance
to ask questions later.
0 But our question for this
week comes
0 from Gabriel c. in
Sao Paulo, Brazil.
0 And Gabriel writes, "Dear Justin
what is vocal embouchure?"
0 Now that question is
great, Gabriel.
0 Because vocal embouchure
is the kind of thing
0 we need to stare
in the face and ask ourselves
0 what are all these crazy
faces that singers are always making
0 and how does that affect
their sound?
0 That's what we're going to
talk about today.
0 But first let's answer the
question, what is vocal embouchure?
0 "Embouchure" comes from
the French word "bouche"
0 which means "your mouth',
so, em-bouch-ure.
0 That's going to be the
shape of your mouth.
0 Now usually we think
of embouchure
0 as it applies to musical
instruments.
0 If I play a flute I've got
to have a small kind of embouchure.
0 If I play a brass instrument
I've got to have a tiny kind of embouchure.
0 But our voice is really a
musical instrument, too.
0 So how we shape the bouche,
how we shape the mouth,
0 is going to affect
the instrument.
0 Every instrument needs
a power source,
0 a vibratory source,
and a resonance source
0 With our voices-
the breath is the power,
0 the vocal cords are the vibration and
then the head is the resonance.
0 And all the different mouth shapes
that we can do as singers
0 are going to affect that
resonance and that sound so, so much.
0 So I know what you're thinking Justin you
gotta ferme la bouche,
0 shut your bouche
and tell us about the bouches
0 that are going to make us
better singers.
0 Okay well, bouche number one,
neutrality.
0 Now I promise,
I'm not holding out on you
0 but really before we can
make all the crazy bouches
0 we've got to be able to sing
our entire range with neutrality, alright.
0 ♪ Mum ♪
0 I want to be able to sing all
the way up and down
0 without making any drastic changes
to the embouchure.
0 Once that technique
is in place
0 then the embouchure is
going to have
0 a lot of stylistic and
resonance effects.
0 But neutrality is always
going to be king.
0 That being said,
okay, so now
0 bouche number two,
the smile.
0 Sometimes during a
voice lesson we think
0 why is my voice teacher
telling me to stay so neutral?
0 What if I need to smile?
0 Well of course you
can smile.
0 But we want that
smile to happen naturally.
0 If you're choosing to smile
for the sound,
0 we need to know this is going
to raise the f1 and f2 formants
0 (for all your format fans
out there).
0 Now, what that means is it's
going to increase
0 the strength and the
brightness.
0 The problem with this,
and we talked about this
0 in the episode on
spreading,
0 is that if you're getting your
strength and your brightness
0 from the front
you're not getting
0 your strength and
brightness from within.
0 And that's where we
really need it to be first.
0 Once you've got that
technique down,
0 you can color the sound
all you want
0 with the strength and
brightness of the embouchure.
0 And we use this in a lot of
different styles,
0 but rock is definitely
a style that we use it.
0 So check out "I'm Alive"
from Next To Normal.
0 ♪
0 ♪ I'm alive, I'm alive
I'm so alive ♪
0 ♪ And I'll tell you the truth
if you let me try ♪
0 Now if I try to do that with a
neutral embouchure
0 ♪ I'm alive I'm alive ♪
0 It's going to be really
tough to do.
0 So we want to get some
of that brightness and strength
0 from the embouchure,
it can make your life easier.
0 Now the next bouche
that we've got
0 is really a real bouche.
0 This is, the pucker.
0 Puckering is not just for
kissing anymore,
0 it's also for lowering
f1 and f2 formants.
0 Now what does that mean,
that means darkening the voice
0 and also giving it more
give and flexibility.
0 There's also vowels that
require some of that rounding
0 like the round O vowel.
0 We talked about that
in an episode.
0 Or the OO vowel,
a high note's best friend.
0 We talked about that
in an episode.
0 Those round shapes
and puckered shapes
0 give the voice more
of that flexibility.
0 Now classical singers use that
rounding more-so than other singers.
0 But again all of these
embouchure's
0 can be used for
virtually any style.
0 But let's check out "Lonely House"
from the opera, Street Scene.
0 ♪
0 ♪ Lonely house, lonely me ♪
0 ♪ Funny, with so many neighbors
how lonely it can be ♪
0 Now you hear how that
helps get a
0 rounder, richer,
deeper tone to the voice.
0 We certainly wouldn't want
to do…
0 ♪ Lonely house, lonely ♪
0 That would kind of lose
the effect.
0 So we're seeing that
rounding has a lot to do
0 with what we're doing
from the bouche.
0 Now the next bouche is
going to be, the snarl.
0 You'd think that the
snarl would be an
0 angry or kind of
aggressive sound
0 but actually it causes
lighter qualities to the voice
0 by raising f3 and bringing
nasal resonance to the sound.
0 Now you've still got to drop your
soft palate to a certain extent
0 but this gesture
encourages that.
0 Don't get it
confused with the smile.
0 It's the snarl.
0 And this is going to
cause lighter and more
0 radio-friendly sounds
for pop and R&B, things like that.
0 So let's check in with our good old
friend Michael, God rest his soul,
0 with "You Are Not Alone".
0 ♪
0 ♪ You are not alone ♪
0 ♪ I am here with you ♪
0 ♪ Though we're far away
you'll always hear me say ♪
0 ♪ That you are not alone ♪
0 And it brings it into a spot
that helps you to sing
0 in a sweeter and
lighter voice.
0 Now we're going to check in
with a crazy bouche.
0 This is going to be,
belt face.
0 Belt face is kind of
frightening because
0 it looks like you're about to
bite somebody.
0 However it's one of the
coolest embouchures
0 because we've got
the open mouth,
0 that brings up the
strength.
0 The wideness, that brings up the
strength and the brightness.
0 And then the
forward tongue
0 that brings up the
brightness as well.
0 Now we talked about
all this in the belt trilogy
0 and we really don't
want to do this until we're
0 way up in the stratosphere
in our range.
0 Because if you do this
too early in the voice
0 you tire out your belt and you
don't become that great of a belter.
0 But for the stratospheric
stuff way, way up there
0 this becomes
very necessary.
0 Let's look at one of the
best at it, which is Jessie J.
0 How about the song
"Mama Knows Best".
0 ♪
0 ♪ We'll there is somethin'
goin' down ♪
0 ♪ Like the storm
in the sky, oh ♪
0 And you see that
opening the top like that
0 just encourages that
brightness and strength.
0 It's actually not all that much
pressure.
0 But the resonance is taking
over up there in the stratosphere.
0 Taking the pressure
off the voice
0 and making the
sky high belting easier to do.
0 So that's been a lot of
bouches, a lot of embouchures.
0 Let's take a recap of
vocal embouchure.
0 I suppose our last
embouchure of the day is a pout.
0 Because sadly I'm not going
to give you
0 a vocal exercise like
I usually do.
0 [sad music]
0 And the reason why is you
can tell that vocal embouchure
0 is too vast of a subject to
cover in one vocal exercise,
0 let alone one episode
of the show.
0 But what I want you to know
is that in your technique,
0 go for that neutrality.
0 You don't have to be
making any crazy shapes
0 in order to hit
the notes.
0 You should be able to keep
your embouchure
0 the same across
your range.
0 That being said,
for your style,
0 now you know the
full range of embouchure.
0 Opening increases the strength,
closing decreases the strength.
0 Widening increases the strength
and brightness.
0 Narrowing decreases the strength,
increases the darkness.
0 And that snarl encourages
nasal resonance.
0 So work with that neutrality
in your technique
0 and then work with all these
embouchures in your style.
0 And Gabriel and all,
I hope and trust that
0 that takes everything to
the next level for you.
0 So if you've got
questions that you'd like
0 to see us answer on the show
you can send an email to
0 [email protected].
0 So I encourage you,
don't lose that joy
0 don't lose that passion,
don't let people tell you
0 that you can't sing
you and I both know it's not true.
0 Get with a great
voice teacher near you
0 or if you'd like to Skype
with one of our staff
0 or you happen to be
in the New York City area
0 check us out at
NewYorkVocalCoaching.com.
[♪]
0 If you'd like a vocal course
that you can do
[♪]
0 in the comfort of
your own home,
[♪]
0 you might be interested in the
Voice Lessons To The World Vocal Course.
[♪]
0 A 12-part course that takes
you on a journey
[♪]
0 from beginner to master
level vocal exercises.
[♪]
0 You can find that at
VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com.
[♪]
0 And if you'd like free
daily vocal tips sent to you every day
[♪]
0 sign up at
DailyVocalTips.com.
[♪]
0 I'm Justin Stoney.
[♪]
0 Until next time,
make a joyful noise.
[♪]
0 ♫
0 Ferme la bouche and feed-ay le cat.