Sing Better with Close-Mouth Singing Exercises
You will soon be hearing me speak more and more about the miracles of closed-mouth vocal training. This is a very rich subject and there’s too much to cover in a short video. Consider this a brief introduction and continue to follow the site here or at Facebook and Youtube for more information.
Most voice coaches and singing students are familiar with the closed-mouth exercise called “humming”. No one would ever argue that this exercise is not useful. Nearly every coach will have you do a humming exercise for a couple of minutes at the start of a lesson before they quickly advance towards open-mouth exercises for the rest of the lesson.
The same applies to the new generation of in-home vocal training courses. 90% of all exercises are done with the mouth open and there is very little attention given to closed-mouth exercises other than a quick humming exercise in the beginning to “warm up the voice”.
My Biggest Vocal Training Breakthrough
About five months ago I began to shift more and more of my workout time toward closed-mouth and partially closed-mouth exercises. Partially-closed mouth exercises are sometimes called “fricatives”. I also call them semi-occluded variations, or SOV’s. The result have been miraculous.
By eliminating excess movement of the tongue, jaw and lips, I am better able to make sound up and down my full range without the onset of nasty vocal constriction. Further, when constriction does strike, I recognize it sooner and I’m better able to relax through it when my mouth is closed.
Some other benefits are that I sing in tune much easier, I have access to my full vocal range, I can FEEL the natural movement and placement of sound and resonation and my body begins to memorize this in the formation of new and better habits.
What I will be adding in the weeks and months to come, as well as in my first premium course, is to teach that, unlike a simple humming exercise, there are dozens of excellent variations you can do with your mouth closed to turbo charge your results and to help you improve your singing voice faster.
Be well and enjoy your day,
