V60 Vocal System is the most comprehensive vocal program there is to dramatically improve your singing voice. Over 1000 tracks and 30 hours of instruction and exercises cover every major area of vocal technique including: power, runs, high notes, expression, breathing, tuning and more.
It comes in an easy-to-follow daily format, so every day you have a new guided vocal routine. Since it's not a static routine, V60 evolves right along with you. As you improve over the course of the program, V60 introduces new techniques, concepts and challenges, exponentially ramping up your singing ability.
The techniques and exercises contained in V60 are cutting-edge, having been tested over thousands of sessions with singers from beginners to professional vocalists. On top of being powerful and effective, V60 is fun! It's filled with expressive exercises where you can apply what you've learned in a musical context.
If you want soaring high notes, lightning fast riffs, pitch-perfect precision and dream of giving incredible, expressive performances, then V60 is for you. Beyond developing your singing voice, V60 can even improve the tone, brilliance and engaging quality of your speaking voice.
It is the most thorough, complete and powerful vocal program there is. For an introduction to V60 and to begin training right now, start with this video:
Then pick up the full V60 Vocal System here: https://www.galtmusic.com/lessons/downloads/v60-vocal-system/
How to Sing in Tune!
If you're wondering how to sing in tune, let's start by getting this out the way first: out of tune or "pitchy" singing is probably the top reason why amateur singers sound less than ideal. But many singers don't even know they're singing out of tune simply because their pitch perception is undeveloped, meaning they're not familiar enough with the fine gradations in pitch necessary to recognize notes when they've gone off pitch or they don't have the tools to understand in enough detail the melody they're attempting to sing. And it's hard to fix what you can't hear!
Clearly, training to sing in tune should be a top priority for every singer so to start down this road of perfection. And singing in tune is something that can be trained. So what does it take to sing perfectly in tune? For a start, it involves training pitch perception and musical memory as well as coordinating the vocal apparatus to be precise. Sing in Tune, my latest singing lesson download, has a battery of exercises to do all that and more.
Here's my latest video to introduce you to the idea:
Then drop by my website and pick up Sing in Tune for the complete regimen of exercises designed to perfect your ability to sing in tune: https://www.galtmusic.com/lessons/products/
Until next time... :)
Clearly, training to sing in tune should be a top priority for every singer so to start down this road of perfection. And singing in tune is something that can be trained. So what does it take to sing perfectly in tune? For a start, it involves training pitch perception and musical memory as well as coordinating the vocal apparatus to be precise. Sing in Tune, my latest singing lesson download, has a battery of exercises to do all that and more.
Here's my latest video to introduce you to the idea:
Then drop by my website and pick up Sing in Tune for the complete regimen of exercises designed to perfect your ability to sing in tune: https://www.galtmusic.com/lessons/products/
Until next time... :)
Can anyone become a good singer?
"Can anyone become a good singer?" It's a question I get asked by aspiring singers all the time. The answer is yes. Barring physical anomalies, anyone can be a good singer.
Singing is a skill and, like any other, it can learned and improved. Imagine training to become a gymnast: one exercises to strengthen the necessary muscles, develops flexibility for the freedom to move in new ways, and practices the maneuvers until they can be executed with precision. And voila, a gymnast is made!
The voice is the same: if it is strong, flexible and coordinated, you can sing! The trick, of course, is developing those qualities in the voice; without direction, you can work for a long time and make no progress at all. You're rudderless. Worse, you can swiftly head down a path to developing bad habits and end up with a poorer voice than when you started. And bad vocal coaching is just as dangerous an obstruction to your goals.
So to become a great singer, you need to work with the right vocal exercises. You need to develop proper singing technique. The Super Bundle + Vocal Breakthroughs is a collection of all the exercises and technique instruction you need; it has worked for thousands of singers around the world--from beginners just starting out to pros wanting to take their voices to the next level.
And, if you're willing to put the effort in to practice with it, it'll work for you, too. :)
Singing is a skill and, like any other, it can learned and improved. Imagine training to become a gymnast: one exercises to strengthen the necessary muscles, develops flexibility for the freedom to move in new ways, and practices the maneuvers until they can be executed with precision. And voila, a gymnast is made!
The voice is the same: if it is strong, flexible and coordinated, you can sing! The trick, of course, is developing those qualities in the voice; without direction, you can work for a long time and make no progress at all. You're rudderless. Worse, you can swiftly head down a path to developing bad habits and end up with a poorer voice than when you started. And bad vocal coaching is just as dangerous an obstruction to your goals.
So to become a great singer, you need to work with the right vocal exercises. You need to develop proper singing technique. The Super Bundle + Vocal Breakthroughs is a collection of all the exercises and technique instruction you need; it has worked for thousands of singers around the world--from beginners just starting out to pros wanting to take their voices to the next level.
And, if you're willing to put the effort in to practice with it, it'll work for you, too. :)
How Do I Sing from my diaphragm?
It's easy to get buried under the mountain of clichés about singing. Many of them are complete nonsense, others are downright dangerous, and a few have a shred of truth hidden behind absurd language. Undeniably, the most common cliché is "sing from the diaphragm." This monster takes a few other forms like "sing from the stomach" and "don't sing from the throat."
To figure out whether this particular cliché is actually helpful advice or complete nonsense, let's start with what the diaphragm isn't. It definitely isn't your stomach. It doesn't produce pitch and won't hold air; you can't sing from it nor can you breathe into it.
What it is: a sheet of muscle that divides your chest cavity from your abdominal cavity. It's convex (like a dome) when relaxed and, when you breath in, it contracts and flattens out allowing more space for the lungs to expand and fill with air. When you exhale, the diaphragm returns to its normal state underneath the lungs. Pretty simple really.
But I hate to say it: some of the people out there slinging vocal tips don't understand even this much. They talk about using the diaphragm like you're supposed to "squeeze" it to push the air out as you sing. If a voice instructor talks like this to you -- run. The diaphragm does not contract to expel air; when the diaphragm contracts, that's when it flattens out to allow a greater volume of air to be inhaled.
Slightly more educated vocal instructors make the claim that by keeping the diaphragm contracted during singing, you can (and must!) consciously resist breath from being exhaled all at once. (Though if that were true, why is it that non-singers don't seem to exhale all their breath at once when talking? Hm.) Or that you must do this to keep the pressure from building up at the vocal cords. Or they emphatically insist that you must 'support' your tone with the diaphragm; like the air in your lungs is going to fizzle out uselessly if you don't do something magical with the diaphragm. And, I kid you not, these same instructors will ask you to bear down and squeeze in an effort to help keep the diaphragm contracted while singing. Yikes.
Whether that is even scientifically sound (questionable) and viable as a technique (useless) is one thing, but I can't imagine many things more destructive to developing freedom and beauty in the singing voice than bearing down and squeezing.
Rest assured you can throw that advice out the window; don't even bother to look in the rear-view.
So now that we know the "sing from the diaphragm" stuff is nonsense at best, and very bad advice at worst, is there any shred of truth in it? Well, no, there's no shred of truth there: singing from the diaphragm is entirely mumbo-jumbo; but while we're talking indirectly about the breathing mechanism, I may as well mention that it is important to get a good breath before you sing. The voice is driven by air, after all. And while the physical action there is driven by the intercostals, abdominals, the aforementioned action of the diaphragm and the basic physics of pressure difference, breathing for singing is really not much more complicated than this: Take a good breath before you sing, a deep one, a relaxed one (don't hyperventilate on me!). And that's pretty much it.
Further, it is important to understand that you need extraordinary breath control to be an artful singer; to deliver ethereal pianissimo phrases or blustering forte passages, you need to be able to control how much breath pressure you exert in a phrase. This has nothing to do with "singing from the diaphragm", mind you, but fine breath control is indeed a learned and practiced skill. And for this, breath control exercises are great!
In my Vibrato Workshop you'll find some of my favorite breathing exercises that will help you learn to maximize your control over breath, helping you deliver brilliantly sculpted dynamics on your phrases, sing the longest and loudest passages you'll come across, ensuring a strong, unwavering tone. That's the kind of work that's worth the time.
And the final word on obsessing about trying to control a muscle you don't actually have direct control over? There are many, many important things to develop in the pursuit of becoming a great singer, but "singing from the diaphragm" is not one of them.
Have you ever read or been given singing advice and can't figure out whether it's true? Comment below and I'll sort it out for you.
 |
| the diaphragm during inhaling and exhaling |
What it is: a sheet of muscle that divides your chest cavity from your abdominal cavity. It's convex (like a dome) when relaxed and, when you breath in, it contracts and flattens out allowing more space for the lungs to expand and fill with air. When you exhale, the diaphragm returns to its normal state underneath the lungs. Pretty simple really.
But I hate to say it: some of the people out there slinging vocal tips don't understand even this much. They talk about using the diaphragm like you're supposed to "squeeze" it to push the air out as you sing. If a voice instructor talks like this to you -- run. The diaphragm does not contract to expel air; when the diaphragm contracts, that's when it flattens out to allow a greater volume of air to be inhaled.
Slightly more educated vocal instructors make the claim that by keeping the diaphragm contracted during singing, you can (and must!) consciously resist breath from being exhaled all at once. (Though if that were true, why is it that non-singers don't seem to exhale all their breath at once when talking? Hm.) Or that you must do this to keep the pressure from building up at the vocal cords. Or they emphatically insist that you must 'support' your tone with the diaphragm; like the air in your lungs is going to fizzle out uselessly if you don't do something magical with the diaphragm. And, I kid you not, these same instructors will ask you to bear down and squeeze in an effort to help keep the diaphragm contracted while singing. Yikes.
Whether that is even scientifically sound (questionable) and viable as a technique (useless) is one thing, but I can't imagine many things more destructive to developing freedom and beauty in the singing voice than bearing down and squeezing.
Rest assured you can throw that advice out the window; don't even bother to look in the rear-view.
So now that we know the "sing from the diaphragm" stuff is nonsense at best, and very bad advice at worst, is there any shred of truth in it? Well, no, there's no shred of truth there: singing from the diaphragm is entirely mumbo-jumbo; but while we're talking indirectly about the breathing mechanism, I may as well mention that it is important to get a good breath before you sing. The voice is driven by air, after all. And while the physical action there is driven by the intercostals, abdominals, the aforementioned action of the diaphragm and the basic physics of pressure difference, breathing for singing is really not much more complicated than this: Take a good breath before you sing, a deep one, a relaxed one (don't hyperventilate on me!). And that's pretty much it.
Further, it is important to understand that you need extraordinary breath control to be an artful singer; to deliver ethereal pianissimo phrases or blustering forte passages, you need to be able to control how much breath pressure you exert in a phrase. This has nothing to do with "singing from the diaphragm", mind you, but fine breath control is indeed a learned and practiced skill. And for this, breath control exercises are great!
In my Vibrato Workshop you'll find some of my favorite breathing exercises that will help you learn to maximize your control over breath, helping you deliver brilliantly sculpted dynamics on your phrases, sing the longest and loudest passages you'll come across, ensuring a strong, unwavering tone. That's the kind of work that's worth the time.
And the final word on obsessing about trying to control a muscle you don't actually have direct control over? There are many, many important things to develop in the pursuit of becoming a great singer, but "singing from the diaphragm" is not one of them.
Have you ever read or been given singing advice and can't figure out whether it's true? Comment below and I'll sort it out for you.
How Do I Sing with power?
I hear this question all the time. "How do I sing loud?" Singers want the kind of powerful voice that rattles your bones and makes your chest feel tight. Sadly, though, in the pursuit of getting loud, singers very easily land in the pitfall of trying to push the notes out through muscular strain and end up in a much worse place than they started!
In developing power, the first thing to realize is that the voice is not an instrument of force. It's an instrument of finesse. If you try to blast out notes through force, you'll work against yourself in important areas of your voice (you'll lock out your high notes, for a start). But you'll also actually work against reaching your highest volume levels, too.
Think about a wind instrument: a clarinet, for example. You never see a clarinetist bearing down with excruciating force on the instrument. Why? Because it isn't necessary -- the instrument can get very loud on the merit of its own design. In fact, if you do try to blast air through a clarinet, you'll get a terrible squeal. Not so different from your voice cracking under the pressure of a forced note.
And like the clarinet, your voice, too, can get very loud on the merit of its own mechanics, but first you need to understand how the voice works and where to focus your attention in developing power.
Not big on long explanations? Skip this paragraph and read the simple formula for power below. ;) In all instruments, tone starts at a vibrating medium -- something that vibrates to create a sound-wave in the air. On a guitar, it's the strings. In your voice? It's your vocal folds. So it can do its job, that vibrating medium needs to be set into motion. On a guitar, you set the strings into motion by strumming with your fingers. For singing, you set your vocal folds vibrating with air from your lungs as you adduct (bring together) your vocal folds to resist that air pressure. Then the sound wave generated by this vibrating medium needs to be amplified. On an acoustic guitar, that's what the big hollow body is all about. The body of the guitar sympathetically vibrates with the strings, and makes a much bigger sound by moving a larger volume of air than would be possible by the strings alone (ever heard an electric guitar that's not plugged in -- pretty quiet). Your voice also has an amplifier, or rather a series of amplifiers, that magnify the sound generated by your vocal folds. Your chest, head, nasal cavities, teeth and pharynx all perform this function for your voice, taking the sound started by your vocal folds and making it bigger, fuller, louder.
So power is a simple formula.
1) Make sure that you're bringing your vocal folds together properly. When you sing, do you hear a breathy tone? Put your hand up in front of your mouth when you sing: do you feel lots of air against your hand? If so, you're not resisting the air pressure from your lungs properly -- your vocal folds are leaking air -- and so the resulting sound you produce will be much weaker than it should be. Singing in this way is also tremendously destructive to your voice. But if we can fix the leak in the voice, all the breath pressure can be transformed into sound energy. That's what we want!
Do this: Exhale. Soundless, right? That's because your vocal folds didn't adduct. Now grumble lightly, like you're thinking about a complicated problem or about to interrupt someone else. You'll make a kind of rumbly sound and, if you do this right, it'll be a breathless tone (albeit a quiet one because you haven't used much breath pressure). You've just vocalized with proper vocal fold adduction which is the foundation of the breathless tone--once you can attack a note without wasted breath and achieving proper vocal fold adduction, you can apply breath pressure and then grow the sound to the maximum dynamic level of which you're capable.
2) Use your resonators. Resonance is a big topic in singing, and rightly so. It's what gives your tone definition and beauty, but it's also a big component of power. Without resonance, you won't be half as loud as you could be: the electric guitar plugged into a broken amp when you want to be the wall of amplifiers at an arena rock show.
To give you an idea of what one resonant space sound like: imitate the sound of a mosquito buzzing. "Eeeiiiii." Are you getting an intense buzzing in your sinuses? Great! You've found a resonant space. Now, you won't want to sound like a mosquito when you sing -- and you won't, after you fully understand resonance. It's a big topic on which you'll find instruction and exercises in my Vocal Breakthroughs singing lesson download.
3) Practice. As your voice develops, your vocal folds will be able to resist greater breath pressure which will allow you to make a bigger sound wave to start with as you can exert greater breath pressure without cracking. What's extremely important here, is that we need your practice to be focused on developing proper technique -- because you're a biological instrument. If you practice improperly, your voice will develop improperly! And sometimes, the damage done from bad vocal practice is very hard to fix. That means your practice session needs to be designed by an expert of the voice. To that end, I've created a comprehensive and balanced vocal workout to help ensure proper vocal development. I can't recommend it enough (and will continue to recommend it until you get it and become the great singer I know you can be!): The Super Bundle plus Vocal Breakthroughs.
Stay tuned. More to come! :)
In developing power, the first thing to realize is that the voice is not an instrument of force. It's an instrument of finesse. If you try to blast out notes through force, you'll work against yourself in important areas of your voice (you'll lock out your high notes, for a start). But you'll also actually work against reaching your highest volume levels, too.
Think about a wind instrument: a clarinet, for example. You never see a clarinetist bearing down with excruciating force on the instrument. Why? Because it isn't necessary -- the instrument can get very loud on the merit of its own design. In fact, if you do try to blast air through a clarinet, you'll get a terrible squeal. Not so different from your voice cracking under the pressure of a forced note.
And like the clarinet, your voice, too, can get very loud on the merit of its own mechanics, but first you need to understand how the voice works and where to focus your attention in developing power.
Not big on long explanations? Skip this paragraph and read the simple formula for power below. ;) In all instruments, tone starts at a vibrating medium -- something that vibrates to create a sound-wave in the air. On a guitar, it's the strings. In your voice? It's your vocal folds. So it can do its job, that vibrating medium needs to be set into motion. On a guitar, you set the strings into motion by strumming with your fingers. For singing, you set your vocal folds vibrating with air from your lungs as you adduct (bring together) your vocal folds to resist that air pressure. Then the sound wave generated by this vibrating medium needs to be amplified. On an acoustic guitar, that's what the big hollow body is all about. The body of the guitar sympathetically vibrates with the strings, and makes a much bigger sound by moving a larger volume of air than would be possible by the strings alone (ever heard an electric guitar that's not plugged in -- pretty quiet). Your voice also has an amplifier, or rather a series of amplifiers, that magnify the sound generated by your vocal folds. Your chest, head, nasal cavities, teeth and pharynx all perform this function for your voice, taking the sound started by your vocal folds and making it bigger, fuller, louder.
So power is a simple formula.
1) Make sure that you're bringing your vocal folds together properly. When you sing, do you hear a breathy tone? Put your hand up in front of your mouth when you sing: do you feel lots of air against your hand? If so, you're not resisting the air pressure from your lungs properly -- your vocal folds are leaking air -- and so the resulting sound you produce will be much weaker than it should be. Singing in this way is also tremendously destructive to your voice. But if we can fix the leak in the voice, all the breath pressure can be transformed into sound energy. That's what we want!
Do this: Exhale. Soundless, right? That's because your vocal folds didn't adduct. Now grumble lightly, like you're thinking about a complicated problem or about to interrupt someone else. You'll make a kind of rumbly sound and, if you do this right, it'll be a breathless tone (albeit a quiet one because you haven't used much breath pressure). You've just vocalized with proper vocal fold adduction which is the foundation of the breathless tone--once you can attack a note without wasted breath and achieving proper vocal fold adduction, you can apply breath pressure and then grow the sound to the maximum dynamic level of which you're capable.
2) Use your resonators. Resonance is a big topic in singing, and rightly so. It's what gives your tone definition and beauty, but it's also a big component of power. Without resonance, you won't be half as loud as you could be: the electric guitar plugged into a broken amp when you want to be the wall of amplifiers at an arena rock show.
To give you an idea of what one resonant space sound like: imitate the sound of a mosquito buzzing. "Eeeiiiii." Are you getting an intense buzzing in your sinuses? Great! You've found a resonant space. Now, you won't want to sound like a mosquito when you sing -- and you won't, after you fully understand resonance. It's a big topic on which you'll find instruction and exercises in my Vocal Breakthroughs singing lesson download.
3) Practice. As your voice develops, your vocal folds will be able to resist greater breath pressure which will allow you to make a bigger sound wave to start with as you can exert greater breath pressure without cracking. What's extremely important here, is that we need your practice to be focused on developing proper technique -- because you're a biological instrument. If you practice improperly, your voice will develop improperly! And sometimes, the damage done from bad vocal practice is very hard to fix. That means your practice session needs to be designed by an expert of the voice. To that end, I've created a comprehensive and balanced vocal workout to help ensure proper vocal development. I can't recommend it enough (and will continue to recommend it until you get it and become the great singer I know you can be!): The Super Bundle plus Vocal Breakthroughs.
Stay tuned. More to come! :)
How Do I Sing?!
How Do I Sing is all about how to become a singer! You'll find vocal tips and singing exercises from a professional singer and vocal coach famous for helping singers reach their highest potential.
Did you know that singing is a skill just like any other? It's not something you're born with -- it's learned. That means with the right direction and some practice, anyone can develop an incredible singing voice.
If you really want to learn how to sing better, then you're right where you need to be.
Here, you'll learn to unlock the full expanse of your range. You'll hit the high notes (without strain). You'll sing perfectly in tune. You'll have access to power. And you will have the kind of tone that everyone falls in love with. Remember, all of these things are learned.
So, first things first: bookmark this site and follow the blog. Wouldn't it be tragic if you couldn't find your way back? ;)
Also, if you're really serious about singing, you'll want my sbGALT Singing Lesson program, a massive collection of exercises and instruction to help you go from a beginner to a great singer. You can also book a private voice lesson with me and we'll work together via Skype
If you've ever wondered, "How Do I Sing?" -- you're about to find out. Until next time, check out my interactive practice video to start improving your voice right now...
Part Two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ExlDNioX_I
Part Three: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhc6ihFcyuo
Part Four: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu7VzCQkE-Q
Did you know that singing is a skill just like any other? It's not something you're born with -- it's learned. That means with the right direction and some practice, anyone can develop an incredible singing voice.
If you really want to learn how to sing better, then you're right where you need to be.
Here, you'll learn to unlock the full expanse of your range. You'll hit the high notes (without strain). You'll sing perfectly in tune. You'll have access to power. And you will have the kind of tone that everyone falls in love with. Remember, all of these things are learned.
So, first things first: bookmark this site and follow the blog. Wouldn't it be tragic if you couldn't find your way back? ;)
Also, if you're really serious about singing, you'll want my sbGALT Singing Lesson program, a massive collection of exercises and instruction to help you go from a beginner to a great singer. You can also book a private voice lesson with me and we'll work together via Skype
If you've ever wondered, "How Do I Sing?" -- you're about to find out. Until next time, check out my interactive practice video to start improving your voice right now...
Part Two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ExlDNioX_I
Part Three: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhc6ihFcyuo
Part Four: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu7VzCQkE-Q
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