In part 2 of the Vibrato series, we’ll do an exercise that keeps airflow and placement high, the Yeah Yeah Yeah.
We’ve all heard the advice to place our singing “high”. High placement tends to trigger the most resonance, so you get more volume for less effort, and when it comes to vibrato, a high placement keeps vibrato out of the neck, where it can become wobbly and irregular.
But finding “high placement” and putting it into practice can be tricky.
For many singers, the sound that feels like it’s resonating “up high” is too far back to resonate effectively.
Also, where exactly is the high spot we’re aiming for? Roof of the mouth? In the brain? Roots of the hair?
Rather than wasting our time wondering what high placement feels like and then trying to create it, let’s use a sound that is very familiar to English speakers, the word Yeah. By creating the mechanical elements of the desired sound with a word we already feel comfortable saying, we can experience how high placement feels in action.
When we say, “Yeah,” we tend to create a mouth shape that is firm and wide in the palate and soft and released in the tongue. The initial Y creates airflow through the nose and along the upper palate right from the start, and the [æ] (short a) sound stays open without either closing or dropping.
In terms of vibrato, this combination of firmness and flow along the palate are terrific for relocating the vibrato out of the neck and up behind the nose, where it will be more regular, and less distracting.
How to do the Yeah Yeah Yeah:
- The pitches for this exercise are simply Sol-Mi-Do
- Begin in upper middle voice, and sing, “Yeah-Yeah-Yeah”
- Feel how the palate is firm, the sound and air flow are riding right along the roof of the mouth, and the tongue and jaw are released.
- Modulate upward by half steps (not into the extremes of high register), and then back downward over the register break
- You may also add a breath and then a long sliding “Ah” from Sol to Do after each set of Yeahs, so you can carry the benefits of Yeah into other vowels. Try to make Ah feel as much like Yeah as possible – same place in the mouth, same movement of air.
Tips:
Be sure you’re really pronouncing the word Yeah as you would speak it, NOT like, “Yah Yah.”
Don’t consciously to try to “sing straight” while you do this exercise. You will likely notice that vibrato is minimized, or that it comes in more on the last notes.
The key is to feel where vibrato is occurring, physically – can you keep it happening up behind the nose instead of in the neck? Don’t let it fall into the neck as you descend in pitch or come to the end of the phrase!
Be sure to check out the other videos in the Vibrato series:
Series Introduction and Doobie Doo: https://youtu.be/7GQjWvt_JzM
And come back next week for the third video in the series!
Thanks for practicing!
