Yesterday's Class Recap! Miss it? Want to take it again? Read on...

Our class yesterday was small, but wonderful! We focused on how to begin the sound healthily, support it all the way through and end it healthily. In case you'd like to play with some of our exercises at home, or take the class over again, here's a little recap of that section of class:

I like to describe the voice as a spinning top. If we begin a phrase unhealthily, it's like trying to get to top back on axis after it's already begun to fall. But if we get set it up beautifully balanced from the get go, it can spin and spin and spin with little to no energy to maintain that balance. To do this we focused on a couple of things: First we work on getting the air flowing steadily before we even began singing, so that the support is already there for it. Then we focused on simply allowing the chords to be swooped into phonation by that airflow, allowing all tension to fall away.

Once this was achieved (and it was - very quickly! Well done guys!) we worked on supporting the sound throughout the phrase. There's often a natural tendency for the voice to seemingly shrink and die away at the end of phrases, mainly because we're running out of air. So I like to liken the voice and airflow to a Playdough presser. Remember those things?! Imagine that you're pressing out a beautiful star shaped roll of Playdough, and you start running out of dough! What happens? It sort of crumples at the end, right? Well when we run out of air, the same thing happens to our voice. The shape of our throat and mouth is the cookie cutter that is funneling the dough (determining the shape, or color of the voice) And the airflow is the dough itself (what maintains that shape and color). So when we're running out of air - we don't want to change the shape of our instrument (or our "cookie cutter" if you will), we want to redouble our efforts to keep our airflow moving, and then STOP SINGING BEFORE the air runs out and our sound collapses. Practice this by simply singing "Ah" on one pitch, and as you feel yourself beginning to run out of air, bear into your  diaphram and (for those who have attended class) continue exhaling from the BOTTOM UP (like a toothpaste tube) to use every last bit of air. And before anything begins to collapse, just stop the sound.

Now... We arrive at stopping the sound healthily. The short and easy way to say this is: Inhale in order to stop the sound. But there's a little more to it than that. In order to get into it, we have to understand how the vocal cords work. The cords themselves are two little folds of flesh that come together, vibrate, and produce sound. Air moves through them, assisting in vibration. (For a video of vocal cords vibrating go to blog here.) What most people do to stop the sound (until training) is to simply let the cords collapse into each other. There are a couple of issues with this. One - it doesn't sound clean - there's a clicking or grinding sound. But the most important is that it exhausts the voice, and can eventually lead to vocal fatigue. Imagine one of those old fashioned triangular tents, with two flaps in the front (your vocal cords), and the wind is blowing lightly, and the edges of the tent are making a gentle humming noise as they brush each other in the wind. Then a gust of wind comes by, and gently blows the tent flaps open (inhalation) and the sound stops, because they're no longer touching. This is how inhaling to stop the sound works. Instead of grind the cords to a halt, which would eventually cause blisters, they simply separate, and all tension is lifted from them. Easy! So while singing that same "Ah", trick yourself into a gentle silent inhalation WHILE YOU'RE STILL SINGING. It will immediately and seamlessly stop the sound.

We got into many other things, such as releasing jaw tension, and evaluating which consonants and vowels were getting in the way of resonance for each individual, and how to begin to undo those habits. But I think I've bombarded you with enough information for one day!

Enjoy, and I hope to see you in class soon!


Mindy & the Vocal Forum staff

WEEK 2:

Topic:

"The cords themselves: Your vocal chords are to your body as a bow is to a violin."

Your vocal cords are actually incredibly tiny. Imagine a single choir boy in an enormous domed church. The tiny ping of his voice carries and resonates gloriously through the entire space with no amplification. That choir boy is to the church as your vocal cords are to your body. Each one of your delicate cords is about the size of the white tip on your pinky nail. If you've never seen a pair of vocal cords (or even if you have) take a look. This is a video of Dr. Christopher Chang performing a Stroboscopy. Skip to about 50 seconds in order to see the actual cords phonating.

They're soooo tiny. So how can something so small make such a large noise? And moreover, how can we produce those sounds without causing damage to our delicate instrument? There are a lot of things we could talk about on this topic, but we're only going to focus on a few here.

Very simply put, our voice is essentially a reed instrument. Our chords come together, we send air through them, and this causes vibration, also known as sound. That sound is then amplified by the surrounding cavities and body parts.

What is most exciting about this (at least for people like us who like to geek out on vocal technique) is that volume is not created by sheer force of will or extra effort. It is caused by the natural amplification of the body. And when it's done properly, the cords exert no more effort for a huge belt or operatic high note than a quietly sung lullaby in the evening.

So how do we produce this effect? We learn where our resonance chambers are, and then we learn how to direct sound to them. Have you noticed that when you touch something that's vibrating you begin to vibrate with it? And have you noticed that when you open a door to a room where music is playing, that it gets louder? This is precisely what we're going for in your voice. We want to open the doors to your resonance chambers and align them in such a way that your entire body begins to vibrate. It's not as daunting as it sounds.

Try flaring your nostrils while inhaling through your nose. You may look pretty funny the first few times you try this, but you've just opened up some of your frontal sinuses. If you can continue to stretch this open while singing your resonance is going to change. Now... whether it will change for the better or not is completely dependent upon the sound you currently have, and what muscles you're using to flare your nostrils. Either way, you've accessed a resonance chamber.

Each chamber adds a different quality and color to your sound, and this is where the artistry comes in. You get to pick and choose which colors you paint your voice with. Now imagine what it would sounds like if you had about a dozen of these vibrating at the same time. Some people feel vibration all the way to their extremities when they sing. Imagine what that might sound like...

Now... The other major point I want to talk about. How do you take care of your vocal cords in order to make sure that they stay healthy? How do you mind such a delicate part of the body? Much of it has to do with using resonance for volume instead of shoving your cords together, but there's more to it than that.

The vocal cords are just another part of your body; one part of the greater whole. So simple things like hydration, sleep, eating well, smoking (or not) directly affect your sound quality. If your chords are dry they're going to vibrate differently. If they're burnt to a crisp they're going to vibrate differently. One of the most important things in our experience is that the health of your cords is consistent. You'll be tuning your air flow and many other things to the way that your cords vibrate, and if you don't take care of yourself, and wake up one day to a different instrument, everything may suddenly feel unfamiliar. So take care of you body - consistently!

Also: Coughing. This is a bit of a pet peeve. Wikipedia states that air is expelled at a rate of about 100mph every time you cough, and that the cords come together to block the air, and then it bursts through them. Ouch. Can you imagine such a delicate bit of tissue being busted aside by 100mph winds? Even clearing your throat sounds painful when you think of it that way. And you might say "but clearing my throat doesn't hurt". It affects the quality of your sound. Think back to last week when we talked about developing calluses on your cords... Even if it's subtle, it makes a difference in the equilibrium and resonance of your instrument. So if you have to cough, see if swallowing or sipping on tea helps. Granted, if you're really sick and you're coughing things out of your lungs there's probably not much to be done except cough less often. But this is one of the best ways to protect your voice. Avoid coughing and clearing your throat. Simple as pie.

Well... We're getting off of our soap box for today. But as always, feel free to ask question and start a conversation on here. That's what we're here for!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Vocal Forum NY

The Forum - Vocal Health & Beyond

INTRODUCTION:

Welcome to the first week of our open forum!

Every week will be focusing on a new topic inside of the vast umbrella that is vocal health. We'll be asking questions, offering up facts, techniques, and answering any questions that you might have. Question and comments are more than welcome, and in fact are vital to getting this forum to thrive. So please jump in! Tell your friends and get the conversation going.

This week, being our first week, we're asking the enormous question of: What is vocal health, and why is it important?

Vocal health is a huge topic, and really, over the following weeks we'll get a more in depth look at aspects. But for now, when you think of maintaining vocal health what comes to mind? We'll throw some things out there. But there is SO much to this, that we're surely not going to think of everything, so please jump in!

WEEK ONE:

"What is vocal health, and why is it important?"

Tone way to dissect this is to look at the health of the vocal cords themselves, and then to look at vocal technique that will maintain the health of the cords. So how do you know if your vocal cords are healthy? Good question. For someone who has plenty of vocal training under their belt, this is a fairly easy question to answer. We know what our voice sounds like at it's best, and we know what it sounds like when it's tired, overworked, inflamed from illness, etc. But for those who don't - how do we tell?

Let's make some broad strokes. You went to a sporting event and shouted all day, you conducted meetings and were horse by the time you got home, etc. At the beginning of the day projecting was easy. But by they end of the day it may have felt like you were yelling through layers of blankets just to make yourself heard. During the course of this day, quite understandably, you wore on your vocal cords until they were inflamed. So they were in better vocal health in the morning than you were in the evening. Even if you're feeling just a little raspy after singing through a show or a concert, you're putting unnecessary wear and tear on your voice. The best sign of vocal health is that the more you sing in a day, the easier and healthier it gets. Again, very broad strokes. But for those who've never thought about vocal health it's important to look at, and here's why:

On the extreme side of things, if we batter our vocal chords repeatedly and often the cords themselves can develop calluses and blisters known as nodules. Nodules affect the quality of sound. Imagine gluing beads to the strings of a violin, and you'll get a picture of how the sound might change. The only way to get rid of them is complete vocal rest (silence) for months on end along with speech therapy and myriad lifestyle changes delineated by your doctors. Many brilliant performers have stopped their careers in their tracks because of nodules. But if you learn some simple steps to maintain your vocal health (self care and technique) you can avoid this all together, as well as preventing vocal exhaustion.

On the less extreme side, vocal exhaustion simply makes us unreliable as performers. I think we'd all love to be able to show up to every gig knowing that we're going to be at our best. We want to show up in peak form and knock it out of the park every time. AND WE CAN. We just have to know our instrument. And what about double show days? Want that second show to sounds just as effortless as the first? IT CAN.

So what contributes to vocal health? How do we maintain it? We're going throw some topics out here, and we hope you will too. Every week we'll pick one of these and discuss it together in depth. So if you want something talk about, tell us! Ready? Set! Go!

Hydration

Breath Support

Resonance

Laryngeal position

Singing while sick

Soft palate

Pressing - and how do I stop?

Overall body health - how does this affect my voice?

Natural voice type

Inflammation

Legit vs Belt - do I have to pick ONE?

What else have you got? Cause there are a LOT more...

Opera Tea

[For information on our classes click here.]

Many of you have asked me for this recipe over the years, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it publicly.

For those of you who don't know about Opera Tea, it's my stand by, get-me-through-every-sickness beverage. It helps heal the chords and clear phlegm and was passed down to me from my voice teacher, and his before him. I've tried variations (and everyone has their own), but I simply haven't been able to improve upon it. Basically, it's the master cleanse, but hot. The difference is this: On the master cleanse, you drink this beverage and ONLY this beverage. I use it for a completely different purpose, which has nothing to do with cleansing. Drink this slowly throughout the day when your chords are tired, or you have any kind of post nasal drip, and it will get you through with flying colors. Unlike the master cleanse, the point is not to ingest it. The point is to coat your chords and throat with it. So sip slowly and continuously through the day.

Recipe:

To make the concentrate for this tea mix:

3 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice

3 oz pure maple syrup

1/8th - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, depending on your tolerance & taste

To make the tea:

Mix 1 part concentrate to 4 equal parts hot water. (i.e. 1/5th of your tea should consist of the concentrate. The rest is hot water.)

How it works:

The maple syrup has all sorts of nutrients and enzymes that other soothers (such as honey and sugar) don't. Think about where it comes from and how it's made. It doesn't have to be processed to get the final product, only reduced. So all that goodess is still in there. The lemon juice cuts through phlegm. (Other people love apple cider vinegar, which works just as well. I just hate the taste of it. And most things acidic will produce a similar result.) Finally the cayenne pepper rushes blood to your throat and chords helping to heal them more quickly.

Feel better!

With love,

Mindy & all her teachers.

Donation Based Classes

Mindy Lym & Vocal Forum NY are offering a new set of donation based classes. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

These are group classes for artists from all walks of life and at any point in their career. This is a place where you and your peers will be lifting each other up instead of competing with each other. Students are encouraged to question the whats, whys and hows of every exercise and concept. These 90 minute classes are a rigorous vocal workout, and you should expect your body (but not your voice!) to be tired when you walk out the door. In these vocal gym sessions you'll have the opportunity to:

• Discover your natural voice type and go beyond it — Undo the myth of "that's just the way my voice is".

• Understand and practice reliable techniques and receive individual adjustments and feedback.

• Bring specific vocal goals or issues to the group, and have them discussed and incorporated in the lesson plan.

• Breakdown how your favorite artists are creating their sounds, and how your body can reproduce or integrate them.

• Meet like minded artists in a nurturing and supportive community designed to propel you to achieving your goals.

Our classes are based in a wide range of techniques including Bel Canto, Speech Therapy, Garcia-Marchessi and SFAPA's Breath & Resonance Charts. Our student's vocal styles range from Classical to Broadway Belt, and from Pop/Rock and Folk to Jazz. All styles and experience levels are welcome. The more questions we ask, the more we uncover and learn.

Class info:

Mondays & Fridays 12 pm - 1:30 pm

Ripley Grier

520 8th Ave, NY

Drop-Ins welcome, RSVP appreciated

Recommended donation $5 - $40. Or a bunch of strawberries. Seriously. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Please contact us at VocalForumNY@gmail.com, or call 646-397-0523.

Student Testimonials

"Mindy Lym was able to do more for my voice in the first month of our work together than any other vocal instructor has done throughout the course of my career. Her exemplary technical knowledge is coupled with a keen understanding of differing musical styles and an insurmountable ability to articulate the integration of the two. The crystal clear manner with which Ms. Lym is able to dissect the myriad components of the voice in order to deliver achievable, actionable goals is what has allowed my vocal performance to soar over the last two years that I have been working with her. I cannot strongly enough recommend this masterful, kind, and passionate instructor."

-Daniel J. Self, Actor, Currently playing Munkustrap in the Broadway National Tour of CATS

"From the moment I began taking voice lessons with Mindy, I knew I would learn an incredible amount. She personalizes my lessons to exactly what I need and focuses not only healthy vocal technique, but also on the importance of the breath system, which is helping me a great deal. She uses wonderful analogies and she makes it great fun! I love going to my voice lessons! I highly recommend Mindy to any voice student who is looking to improve his or her instrument in a healthy and fun environment. She is an excellent teacher."

-Courtney Iventosch, Currently in the National Tour of Wicked

"Mindy is not only a brilliant performer, she is also a gifted and extremely generous teacher with an innate ability to see and to provide exactly what each student needs from her to help us learn. Her store of images and analogies explaining the mechanics of singing seems endless. Through her warmth, humor, and passion she creates a safe, caring learning environment that has allowed me to explore well beyond what I thought were the limitations of my ability. Simply put, Mindy Lym is amazing."

- Beth Deitchman, 2010 Bay Area Theatre Critic's Circle Award Winner, Best Supporting Actress

"With Mindy's vast array of experience and intuitive hands on approach, I have learned to support my voice, find depth in the lower range and a release and relaxation in my singing technique. I highly recommend her to new and experience singers alike."

-Carolyn Power Co-Founder of Essential Action Productions

"Mindy Lym has been the perfect vocal instructor for me over the past 14 months. She is patient and attentive and will draw as many pictures as she needs until I have an new technique “ah ha.” I wanted to learn how to belt sing, and was recommended to her. I have a belt today, and it is still young, but I'm getting what I was aiming for with a grounded teacher. She wears her wisdom very well, teaching the basics and beyond about breath work and relaxation awareness for singing. It is just the physical therapy I need to help me rectify some of my aches in pain in everyday life. It's up to me to practice."

- Sandra Rubay