VOCALS
[ WHEN YOU SING DOES IT RING? | Sheri Gould ]
Spring is here and I thought I’d take the multiple areas of resonance in the face area. find that you can accomplish many of your
opportunity to talk about tone quality. What When you hum on an “M” you will feel a vocal goals more easily. The vocal cords stay
does that have to do with a ‘ring’ you ask? Let’s strong buzz in your lips and vibrations in your adducted more easily in this register making it
explore… cheeks and up through your nose. But I would easier to deal with that pesky “break” in your
like you to try something different. I want you voice more effectively. Try doing your usual
Resonance is what makes your tone sound to hum on an “N” instead. The “N hum” will warm-ups on just this “N hum” and you may
“pretty”…or not. When you sing, the vibrations place the vibration much higher and isolated it find that you don’t break at all!
from the vocal folds find their way to various strictly in the nasal area/nose. In fact, if you are parts of your body and bounce around there. doing this hum correctly, the tone should stop Next try to open the hum up into an “Ahhh”
The resulting sound is what we call resonance. completely if you pinch your nostrils closed with (by gently lowering the back of your tongue)
The type of resonance we end up with is largely your fingers. You should feel a strong buzz in but keep the tone placed in the same area.
related to where we send those vibrations to your nose while you are humming on an “N” Deliberately keep the tone a bit on the nasal
‘bounce around’ and believe it or not, you can especially in your mid to lower registers. side (you can improve the sound later) to make
actually make a conscious choice as to how/ sure it stays placed in the right area. Once
where you’d like to resonate! Although the you’re confident that you have the tone placed
shape of your resonators is largely a matter of
inheritance you can choose which ones you
prefer to utilize at any given time.. Learning to
place your tone where you want it is a wonderful
skill to acquire. It will give you flexibility as a
singer and enable you to blend more effectively
with others. I want to tell you about a special
way to resonate that can help make any tone
quality sound better, stronger, safer and have a
lovely ring to it.
HOW TO FIND “THE RING”
I would like to try and help you find this very
useful area of resonance. This area, when
added to other areas or even at times sung
by itself, can be very effective. I like to call it
“the ring”. This “ring” will bring out the best in
the other resonating areas by adding focus.
This “ring”... can and secure, you can make slight adjustments
be used as a very ways of affecting the tone slightly while keeping
small sound or placed it should be relatively easy to keep it
once mastered,
can be added to
other areas to help
to the sound. Experiment with multiple different
it placed high-in your nose. Once the tone is
there. What I’m looking for is a ‘ring’ that stems
from the original N hum to continue on into
your tone. This ring will help to keep your tone
focused, pretty and strong.
A perfect illustration of this sound would be
make a big sound. Aretha Franklin’s original version of “Respect”
What’s even better register!) and see if you can imitate the “nasal”
is that it’s simple
to find!
(1967). Try singing along (men in your own
placement she uses. Make it very nasal to start
with until you are confident that you placed
correctly. Try to sing almost as a caricature of
her voice in the beginning. Eventually you can
try softening the tone in various ways to give
It can be used as a very small sound or once
you options. The more you practice this the
mastered, can be added to other areas to help
make a big sound. What’s even better is that it’s HOW TO USE “THE RING” better you will get and the more uses you will
simple to find! There are multiple ways to use this area of find for this amazing little “ring”!
resonating to your advantage. First of all, by
Most of us are very familiar with humming on resonating so high, you take away some of
an “M”. An “M hum” is very useful for bringing the stress from the throat area. This is always
the mask area into focus. The mask utilizes a good thing. In fact, because of this, you will
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May 2018
Sheri Gould
An internationally acclaimed vocal coach. She’s
been helping artists ad worshippers find their voice
for over 40 years. For help and resources visit...
www.SheriGould.com
WorshipMusician.com