“Well, Kathleen, here’s the thing. I need to sound like Robert Plant.”, he said.
“WHAT?!”
“Our big annual fundraiser is coming up and I need to sound like Robert Plant.”
She tilted her head down and gazed at the floor, closed her eyes and sighed, then lifted her head up, looked into his eyes and said, “It’s gonna be a lot of work for you. We’re just starting. You’ve been abusing your voice by screaming. You’re hoarse almost all the time.”
Their eyes held. He was determined. So was she. Then she smiled, lifted an eyebrow and said, “Let’s do it!”
Belting… Screaming… Popular Voice Effects…
What many fail to realize is that belting is as much a controlled type of singing as any other singing. Most think belting is just singing louder.
There is a difference between applying good vocal technique to “belt” out a tune and screaming at the top of your lungs while music plays in the background.
I work with a lot of different types of singers in my voice strategy practice. There are youngsters and “tweens” whose vocal apparatus has yet to mature. There are older teens, who are still growing, There are 20 somethings who want to be rock stars, 30 somethings that want to sing show tunes, 40 somethings who wants to sing opera, and the 50, 60, and beyond somethings, who just wanna kill it at their next audition.
One thing I stress to every student/client is that proper voice technique applies to all ages and all styles of music. If you want to sing throughout your life, you need to do it right. Once a good, solid foundation is built, the singing student can learn to adapt to stylistic differences.
How well one sounds in each genre depends on individual physiology. I, for instance, am not at my best singing hard rock. My vocal apparatus is better suited for American Standards, Musical Theater, Pop and Opera. But, again, these are all styles of singing.
The underlying fundamentals of sound production are the same;
it’s the delivery that’s different.
The most important thing to remember is that singing (or speaking) should not be painful. If singing (or speaking) is painful, you are doing something wrong and will, most likely, end up visiting an ear, nose and throat doctor for surgery.
I have had the joy of working with a young gentleman for the past 2 years. He came to see me because he heard me sing at his grandmother’s funeral and thought I had the voice of an angel. He trusted me to know my stuff. He’s the lead singer with a classic rock band and while it’s a hobby, not a living, he was in pain and knew he needed help.
He had some pitch problems. He spent most of his gigs truly screaming which rendered him unable to speak afterward. His posture was terrible for singing. His vocal focus was in his head and throat. He had to use the very top of his range to imitate Robert Plant for the band’s Led Zeppelin set, and not knowing any other way, squeezing his vocal bands and neck muscles were his closest attempt at imitation.
He was smart. He was hurting and wanted help before he did any permanent damage. He was willing to work hard. He was open-minded and worked on every vocal exercise I gave him. He learned to sing other styles of music as a stepping stone. He was already very athletic with great core strength; which is essential. On my advice, he changed his gym routine to add more cardio for breath control and yoga to correct some muscle imbalances caused by lifting heavy weights.
Together, we worked on learning to read music and the basics of sight-singing, we reviewed many of the classic vocal warm-ups and exercises that have stood the test of time. We worked on repertoire that I picked out by asking what other styles of music he liked… Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sam Cooke, Christmas songs so he could sing “O Holy Night” for his Mom and then…
…we’d spend time analyzing the voice of Robert Plant.
The hardest thing for my student to ‘get’ was that while Plant sounds like he’s screaming; he’s not. Plant’s voice flies on pitch and can be created in a controlled, aka “safe”, way.
Fast forward a year, my student has a big show coming up. He’s had many breakthroughs. This is where it will all come together or fall apart. Had we established enough of a foundation to carry him through a performance?
He sang 2 hour long sets, all classic rock but mostly Zeppelin. He used the vocal siren technique to get into his high range, was able to complete the passages with ease, and at times, able to recover and pull some notes back from what might have been, for me as the teacher, disaster, without the audience knowing. Best of all, his diction was perfect!
At the end of the show, he came over to me and said he felt good. He was able to talk to his friends and family without any hoarseness. He wasn’t guzzling water, and, most importantly, he wasn’t in pain at any time during or after the show.
This was his triumph.
I am happy to have been there to help him achieve his goal.
My job as your voice teacher, voice strategist and vocal coach, is to teach you how to land the role, get the job, have the difficult talks, and speak from the heart with power and presence, while instructing you in proper technique that will preserve your voice for a lifetime.
Your voice is a primary communication tool. Invest in its care. It will pay dividends you never imagined!
Bad Technique can lead to surgery! Good Technique Saves Voices!
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Well, I am a fan of Robert Plant’s voice, so I am thrilled that this man learned how to sound like him for his concert (without destroying his voice). Fun story!
I love Robert Plant’s voice too, Jill! He’s incredible! Yes, my client and I were so happy!!! He worked very hard! Glad you enjoyed reading!
Kathleen, I truly enjoy reading your blogs. They are truly inspiring and make me think–hmm, I COULD be a rock star!!! 🙂
Thank you, Crystal! You never know, you COULD be!!! 🙂
I never truly appreciated all that goes in to voice coaching. Very interesting blog post.
Thanks Barb! I’m glad you enjoyed it. That’s part of what I love about it, that there are so many different aspects, physical health and wellness, mental, emotional, and even spiritual development. It’s fascinating to me, trying to convince others is tough, especially non music people who don’t realize it can work for them, all can benefit, whether one uses it for music or speaking. I’m glad you took a look and found it interesting. 🙂
Eye opening! I never realised it entailed this much work😊
Wow thank for sharing Kathleen!
Hi Leila! Most people think the voice is just something they are born with and nothing can be done to make it more pleasing. That’s not true at all, most voices can be improved and many voices have problems due to habit more than genetics. Thank you for reading!
Coming from a music industry background, I can really relate to this Kathleen and thank you for sharing how important it is to sing correctly and the damage not doing so can do to someone’s voice! In fact my ex-husband was a ‘screamer’ with a high tenor voice and did ultimately have to have a node removed from his vocal chord.
One of my own anecdotal stories from back-in-the-day, was when we had a chance to jam with a not too well known guy from Buffalo…Rick James. He later went on to become incredibly famous. During the jam we were doing the Chaka Kahn/Rufus song “Tell Me Something Good” and he kept yelling “sing it like Chaka, sing it like Chaka. The fact is I sounded more like Karen Carpenter than like Chaka Kahn, but did my best to ‘sing it like Chaka’. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your story!!! Rick James! Wow!!! Yes, I know that song! I’m sure it was fantastic! Personally, no matter how much I want to, I will never sound like Chaka! I have tried! Sadly, I do a lot of work with people who suffer from vocal abuse. Those bad habits that can end up as nodes, like your ex-husband.The thing is to realize the characteristics of one’s natural instrument. We don’t ask a violin to sound like a double bass and certainly not a trumpet. Why do we ask vocalists to attempt this when our human instrument is much more fragile?
On a connected topic, I always advise parents of very young children to have them learn an instrument first and then work on singing once they get a little older, I try to stick by my age guidelines. Every once in a while there will be a parent that wants to push for singing, and we have a long talk about what they can expect developmentally at that age and what we can safely accomplish. Years ago, my teacher impressed upon me not to turn away those very young ones for fear that the parent would find someone else to teach, because there is always someone else, and that the other teacher might harm the child’s voice for life. Better to take the child on yourself, he said, that risk that. It’s been true. I have spent a lot of time undoing others people’s work. Luckily, none of it has resulted in lasting damage. 🙂
Loved your story, thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Heather! That means a lot to me. I’m glad you enjoyed it! <3
Interesting timing… Last year I took a vocal variety course from one of our local theatre coaches. It was great fun and nobody in the back of the house complained of not being able to hear me! (I’ve had a lifetime of “Huh? Would you repeat that?”)
It took me a long time to figure out that exploring my physical voice is as important as getting it right in my written work. Thanks!
Andrea, YES!!!! Fantastic! I am so happy for you!!! Thank you for sharing part of your story. I was inspired by reading it! 🙂
Thank you! This is well written and your clients must benefit greatly from your wisdom and experience.
Thank you very much for your kind words, Meghan! It is truly my way to be of service. I’m glad you enjoyed reading it. <3
Well written, Kathleen! This was the first blog that I’ve read of yours and you didn’t disappoint. Clearly, you LOVE what you do. I wish we’d connected when professional speaking was one-third of my business. And now I’m thinking of returning as I’m told I’m “charismatic.” We’ll see. Meanwhile, I’m doing much of what you’re doing–helping women find their authentic stories and secrets–just with pen and paper on the page.
Thank you so much, Lore! Yes, I do LOVE it! <3 Charismatic, such a wonderful word! It is a touch point for me. I take it as sign. You see years ago, I took up belly dancing as a form of physical therapy for some very bad injuries and I began to love it! My teacher, Sasha, gave us all stage names. Mine was "Charisma" sometimes spelled Karisma. It means grace of the mother/grace of the goddess. Clearly, the speaking portion of your business was a blessing to many and I'm sure it will be again should you choose to return to the stage. I am so glad we have been able to connect now and I look forward to learning more about your work.
Thank you so much, Lore! Yes, I do LOVE it! <3 Charismatic, such a wonderful word! It is a touch point for me. I take it as sign. You see years ago, I took up belly dancing as a form of physical therapy for some very bad injuries and I began to love it! My teacher, Sasha, gave us all stage names. Mine was "Charisma" sometimes spelled Karisma. It means grace of the mother/grace of the goddess. Clearly, the speaking portion of your business was a blessing to many and I'm sure it will be again should you choose to return to the stage. I am so glad we have been able to connect now and I look forward to learning more about your work.
I loved reading your blog Kathleen and learning from you! I sing with a women’s singing group, most of who were professionally trained and I am not. It has been an incredibly powerful learning experience in so many ways and I am so grateful that I can see my growth in the past five + years. Your blog reminds me of all I still have to learn and of the importance of a good foundation. Thank you so much!
Thank you, Kelley! I am very grateful for your support and encouragement! <3 I am so glad you are singing with a fantastic group of women and loving it! Yes, a solid foundation is key. Group singing is an incredible experience, nothing compares. The camaraderie, the joy of sharing, the beauty of voice and music together, it's unlike anything I've ever experienced even in dance or sports. I was at my church's choir rehearsal tonight and it was one of those nights when everything just fell into place and the singers came together as one voice. We are a very small group, but it was magical!