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How is your progress coming along? Are you practicing everyday on the new techiques that you are learning? I hope so, that is the only way you will see any improvement. It takes dedication and hard work but it will pay off in quality singing. Soon everyone will begin to notice the improvement in your voice and that is our goal.

This month we are going to talk about a common problem that you hear in singing. Singing with a nasal sound, I know that you have heard some singers sing with a nasal sound as though they were singing from the front of their nose. The tone that is based in the nose is one that may sound biting and shrill or it can cause a stuffy or muffled sound. Nasality affects the projection of the sound and does not allow good resonance to take place. The tone quality is substandard and it makes it very difficult to understand the words the singer is singing. This nasal sound can be traced back to a lazy soft palate. If the soft palate remains relaxed, or in a down position, any tone passing from the larynx to the resonating cavities will be directed upward toward the opening of the nose at the back of the throat. To change this the singer has to work on corrective exercises to eliminate this unpleasant tone quality.

The muscles that are used to lift the soft palate are small; you should practice these exercises only a few minutes a day. The development of strenght in this area will be slow but over time you will see the difference. Now for the exercise, try this; with the jaw relaxed and swung gently downward, look in a mirror and on a higher pitch than you would normally sing, sing "AH" three or four times on one breath.It should come out sounding like an audible sigh. When you look in the mirror you should see the soft palate arch upward as the "AH" is made. Practicing this excerise three or four times a day will help give the soft palate the flexibity it needs to lift on command. If the soft palate does not respond to these exercises in a few weeks you should see a laryngologist to determine if there is a physical problem that may be hindering your progress. There are several conditions that can cause the soft palate not to be responsive and a specialist will be able to determine the cause.

Once you start to lift the soft palate then you want to make sure that you are opening the mouth wide enough to get the sound out of the mouth. If the mouth is not opened wide enough while singing it will cause the soft palate and the tongue to be to close together and this will cause the sound to be forced out the nose. Make sure that your diction is clear and that you are singing your vowels. We will talk more about that very soon.

Next month we will cover vibrato and what that is and how to control it.

Until then keep singing his praises!

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