If you have a little weak spot on the low end of head voice, today’s exercise will use glottal onsets help you to strengthen and brighten it.
You’ve probably had the experience of singing down through the strongest part of head voice and then finding yourself wallowing in the area above chest.
It’s the Zone of Flimsiness – a little weak, a little murky, definitely not your favorite place to hang out.
Don’t despair! There’s a solution, and it doesn’t involve pushing chest way up beyond its breaking point.
An easy way to coordinate firmer closure of the vocal cords and a more present, bright sound is to practice some glottal onsets through this area.
How to use the Glottal Onsets exercise:
- First, find out what glottal onsets feel like. Say, “I eat eight apples” and feel that clear start of vibration at the beginning of each word.
- Now we’re going to make three gentle glottal attacks in singing: sing two short “ah” syllables and then a longer downward scale (sol/sol/sol-fa-mi-re-do)
- Move around that flimsy “just above chest” area.
If you’re a classical singer and haven’t used a lot of glottal onsets, rest assured, you can do so safely, without ruining your technique or damaging your voice. After all, if you’re a speaker of English, you’re using glottals all the time!
And you don’t have to then use glottal attacks in your repertoire to get the benefit. This exercise will help you coordinate firmer closure in the vocal folds and its benefits last well into your practice. Give it a try!
Today’s exercise was inspired by Maddie Tarbox’s recent IG Reel. Be sure to check out everything she has to teach you over at https://www.instagram.com/maddietarboxvocalstudio/
Her wisdom is not just for MT singers – you’ll learn a ton whatever your singing style!
One Response
After doing your exercises, I now have hope that the scratchy spot in my middle range can be smoothed over.
Thanks to Emily Tsai for recommending you.