Description:
The next element of healthy singing with vibrato is your cord compression. Cord compression is another term for vocal fold closure. To produce sound, your vocal folds vibrate. If they are coming together fully, we have a stronger sound and aren’t wasting air. That’s strong cord compression. If there is space between the folds, it’s a weaker, breathy sound. You can hear the air that’s leaking through, which also means I’m going to run out of air quicker.
To feel and hear the closure of your vocal folds, try this with me. Say: “uh-oh”. [“uh-oh”] Try it again a few more times. [“uh-oh”, “uh-oh”] Pay attention to the sensation in your throat. You should feel a little bit of air pressure building up before each syllable. One more time: [“uh-oh”]. Now, we don’t want to be singing with that much closure; if we do, we call that a glottal stop or a glottal attack. It’s a harsh sound and furthermore, it can damage your cords if you’re constantly slamming them together.
So, our goal is firm cord compression with a balanced onset.
To help us achieve this, we’re going to employ a few consonants within our cord compression exercises. We’ll use the same pattern and just change the consonant.
First up: the syllable GUH on a 1-3-5-3-1 pattern It’ll sound like this: [sing]. Notice we’re sustaining the highest pitch to allow time for vibrato. See if you can get some vibrato going by letting go or releasing up - not by adding pressure. If you’re producing straight tone for now, that’s fine! The point of this exercise is to bring the cords together. Try it with me, and don’t be afraid to dig into that “g”. For most students, cord compression isn’t as much of a concern in their chest voice. It becomes an issue in head voice, which is naturally lighter and can be airy. That’s where this consonant is really helpful.
Ready? Let’s sing!
[Exercise: 1-3-5-3-1 on GUH]
Now - the only thing we’ll change is the consonant. We’re going to exchange the “g” for a “b”. So now, we’re singing. It’s still helpful, but not quite as easy as the “g” to maintain firm cord compression. Take this challenge with me! We’re training those cords to come together, even without a helpful consonant.
Here we go, same pattern on “buh”.
[Exercise: 1-3-5-3-1 on BUH]
Awesome job!
Lessons:
Instructor: Abram Poliakoff
Abram Poliakoff is a singer, guitarist, pianist, teacher, conductor, and composer. He received a Bachelors of Music in Vocal Arts from USC’s Thornton School of Music and has been teaching music for 8 years. He is currently both the Associate Artistic Director and a tenor in the L.A. Choral Lab, which recently released its first studio album Sonic Visions in the fall of 2019. Abram teaches and performs a wide range of genres including Classical, Jazz, Folk and Popular music in the Los Angeles area. He has also sung with the San Francisco Opera and Pocket Opera in the Bay Area. His teaching mission is to help his students utilize vocal technique to find their authentic and healthy voice while maximizing genre flexibility and a naturalness of expression.