SINGING IN 10 SIMPLE STEPS...WITH THE HEART METHOD !

Our belief is that singing should be as easy as breathing, and just like for speaking, everyone's body is programmed at birth to be able to sing! What a concept uh?! lol..So we won't even need to teach you how to sing, but rather provide you the right tools for you to teach yourself how to sing. Besides we're not even qualified as voice teachers whatesoever to pretend to do that! And we don't claim to replace the need of a good local teacher to give you specific advice either. But for that vast number of amateur singers who have interiozed the idea that voice teachers are for an elite, we feel we might be in good position to understand where you come from ! - As you read our lessons you'll notice that you immediately feel right at home, because we speak your language and are never talk down to you.

The Singing at Heart Method

Our method was created after we spent months reviewing amateurs singers just like you on karaoke sites and witnessed how they were progressing by leaps and bounds just by getting the right word of encouragement that spoke directly to who they were as people. (We refer it as the "right stimulation of the heart").

Within weeks, those singers, whose hearts we dared speak to, were getting more and more daring themselves when reaching into their hearts and started turning out performances that defied any expectations anyone could have had of them! On occasion a few even achieved pure artistic greatness. Something we were telling them was making them want to surpass themselves day after day.

This incredible finding not only shattered what we had long thought about the so-called "gift of singing", but it also led us to conclude that to help any singer learn we should always consider the wholeness of their being (mind, body & spirit) and understand that their level of performance -good or bad- should never be reduced to the mere physical and technical functioning of their vocal box. In other words, speaking to the singer's heart is the way to help them free their voice.

We specifically use the term "free the voice" because the other important discovery we made is that there are powerful and toxic mind-blockers that stand in the way of singers releasing their naturally-given voice and achieve vocal greatness. And those blockers should always be considered when trying to determine why some students have a greater difficulty learning how to sing than others. These may include :

• Family-taught values saying that singing is ridiculous and loving the arts in general is shameful.
• "Vocal self-hate", a new concept we're championing and which we believe affects a vast number of male and female singers who are being taught by radio that the only voices worth adoring are the high, belting diva-type of voices.
• The beliefs reinforced by some music teachers that some children are "born to sing" and therefore worth the investment and encouragement, while others will never learn simply because they don't have the so-called gift of singing.
• The myths vehiculated by the music industry and popular tv singing competitions that a voice is a "commercial product" that exists solely through and for a cd record, and that the quality of a voice is measured by how many cds and concert tickets it can potentially sell to the market.
• And many others myths we'll discuss..

The Heart method is different to others in that it acknowledges those mind-blockers as being real (no you're not too dumb to learn nor tone deaf !) and it recognizes the importance of speaking to the "heart" of the singer first & foremost, in order to make sure that they're feeling like they should, and are in the right disposition of mind to open up and let their true authentic beauty come out...

This first part of our method is crucial and skipping it to go directly into technic would do no good for the amateur singer who is not aware of deeper issues that may affect their perception of singing. This process might get emotional or even spiritual for some, and if this is against your vision of things then this method might understandably not be for you.

Only after this part do we start to get into discussing the technical things, like natural breathing, voice registers, range, power, interpretation..but we always keep it extremely simple and accessible for all..and even funny when possible :) We also use a lot of mental images to help you picture exactely what we mean. Another unique thing to our method is we take full advantage of technology by including audio and video extracts that illustrate what we're trying to help you learn. One key phrase you'll be hearing again and again is trust your own body to do what you tell it to...trust, trust, trust!! because yes, we believe your body is already programmed to sing and there is absolutely no secret to it, except that maybe you'll discover just what an amazing gift of a voice you have inside you that has been waiting to be freed.

So HAPPY LEARNING...and oh, if you feel like it we invite you to participate in our Before & After Voice Hall of Fame. That's our own little voice make-over album for the singers at heart students :) - The way it works is you record a song before and after taking the lessons, then you email both mp3s to us at the end with a bit of info about yourself. We'll put them up on the site so other visitors can see just how you quickly you got better!

1. First You Need To Say: "I Can Sing" !
   (what is singing, why everyone can sing, vocal-self hate, ridding yourself of mind-blockers)
2. Sing Like Your Breathe
   (anatomy basics, understanding breathing, diaphragmic support, breath placement)
3. What Is Your Range
   (type of voices, octaves, range, tone, tessitura or comfortable range)
4. You Can Sing "High" and "Low"
   (head & chest voice, mixed voice, falsetto, other registers, increasing your range)
5. Sing Your Ass Off
   (resonance, volume, power, belting, vibrato, stamina, holding notes)
6. Never Be Pitchy Again
   (placing the voice, intonation, pitch, note precision, melody)
7. Phrase With Style
   (diction, vowels, consonants, personalizing your phrasing)
8. Sing Like You Mean It
   (emotion, connecting to a lyric)
9. Become a Master of Interpretation
   (building the song, context the song, stage presence, connecting with an audience, style versatility)
10. Sing With The Pros
    (singing as a tool to impact yours and other people's life, achieve your dreams, connect with an audience).

7 PHILOSOPHICAL VOCAL TIPS TO BEGIN...By David

1. Singing should be easy as breathing...so when you sing think "breath": Do you tense, or brace your neck to breathe? no! do you hurt, or bend out of shape? no! Before singing place yourself in a position that will free your voice, and remember that singing is all about the natural flow of sound through and within you.

2. Be aware of mind-blockers that may prevent you from "freeing" your voice...ie shyness, vocal self-hate, cultural and commercial stereotypes in music...The voice you have is special and unique and it should be offered unaldutered to the world to do what it's supposed to. Being less than yourself vocally is cheating yourself and others of something authentic. So self-love for the singer definitively starts with vocal self-love.

3. Know your voice type...when learning how to sing get some basic information on voice types so you'll understand what your "comfortable range" (or tessitura) is. That's the range you need to strenghten and build on before worrying about expanding your range...Here are the main voices types from highest to lowest ranges (Females: soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto - Males: tenor, baritone, bass). Essentially this means that if you're a female you won't sing a song by Barry White without raising the key, and if you're a guy you wouldn't sing a Mariah Carey song in the same key as the original.

4. If you want to sing high start singing low first!...people neglect the lower register as popular radio teaches us that the voices worth adoring we the high belting voices, but you can't access high notes healthily without a well developped lower range. Think as your instrument as a "tower" : you don't start building a tower by the top floor right?! You first lay the foundation, and ensure that it's solid and able to support each floor that you put on top of it. So strenghten your instrument by starting with the lower register.

5.  Being powerful isn't being loud...yelling at someone across the street is being loud, being powerful is focusing your message has "impact"...Power comes within, whereas loudness is all show and pretence. Unfortunately most pop singers confuse the two..If as a singer you want to be powerful learn how to focus, control and own your energy. The minute you want to impress others, try too hard, or lose faith you cease being in control of your energy!! and you lose power. Power is confidence and the certainty that with the mere use of your voice you can create, transform, change, and even heal.

6. Remember to be melodic... You probably say your voice is an "instrument", which is true: your voice can create and reproduce the most beautiful and melodically complex pieces any instrument can. But for that you need to pay attention!! if your focus is on being loud, ad-libing, you'll forget that your voice has to create an agreable and melodic sound. So always think melody, and always think movement.

7. Furthermore for your voice to have movement be aware of space and time...Here's the truth: sound is not a static or linear thing; it floats, moves, twirls, circles and creates forms in a 3-dimensional space that can mimic the movement of a leaf suspended in the air. Or the tides in the ocean. As a singer, you want to think of yourself as a painter who is using their voice as a blush wandering on a blank canvas; Each step and turn of your voice guided by your imagination, till you end up with a fully painted toile that makes sense somehow... So remember you're not just singing "notes", you're agencing those notes in space and time in a way that will never again be reproduced by anyone.