Voice Lessons For ChildrenVoice lessons for children through the adolescent years is taught differently than lessons for adults. The reason for this is that childern learn differently. I usually use a playful and imagination-based approach to vocal exercises. Concepts of good voice production can be abstract. Because children think in a less abstract way than adults I use fun and interactive vocal games to make learning easy to remember and fun. I use images of popuar cartoon characters, for example, (such as "Patrick" from "Sponge-Bob") for constrictor relaxation exercises. I also use animal sounds and imaginative play (example: a relaxed "elephant" breath), to help the child discover the different healthy sounds he or she can create. Children seem to benefit from simple ear-training exercises so that they can develop excellent ear-larynx coordination as well as learn to hear, identify and sing different musical intervals. I strongly believe that every child can sing in tune with practice.We also offer a large selection of karaoke music which can be adjusted for key and tempo. We have Broadway, Jewish, Gospel, pop, standards, country, classical and children's music.Voice lessons are fun, playful and creative for most children. They learn excellent vocal habits that they can take into adulthood for healthy and beautiful voice production. --How Does the Voice Work?The human voice is a very mysterious entity because it cannot be directly seen as it is used. It is also impossible to "hear" your own voice as others do. Therefore, it is helpful for the student of voice, whether they be a speaker or a singer to increase their understanding of exactly how this mysterious entity known as their "voice" actually works.The voice is a complicated phenomenon, and therefore, I would like to break the voice down into the simplest components as possible. I will discuss what the voice is physically made up of, what variables it uses, and how the singer or speaker can manipulate these variables and physical components in order to have a healthy, free, and pleasant vocal quality.What is the human voice made of? Very simply- muscle/mucous, air, and space. That's it! These components interact with each other to produce your unique vocal sound. Voice lessons, if taught by a competent teacher, should address each of these components through various exercises and concepts. The muscle/mucous part of the voice is the vocal folds (aka vocal cords), which are a tiny paired muscle found in the larynx or voice box in your throat. The vocal cords are covered with a very important layer of mucous which basically has the consistency of jello. Other tiny muscles within the larynx control the space between the cords as well as the length of the cords. The vocal cords need to be brought together in order to produce sound. If they are too tightly brought together or not taut enough the vocal quality suffers. Once they are brought together airflow makes them vibrate through the mucous layer that sits on them. If you are not getting enough water or are consuming products that dehydrate yourself, the mucous gets very thick and dry and you will not perform at your best. A symptom of this is a frequent need to clear your throat. I suggest 8 glasses of pure water or decaffeinated herbal tea per day. You should limit alcohol and caffeine consumption.The voice is also made up of air. The air is the voice's energy source that you control with each breath that you take while singing or speaking. The air sets the vocal cords vibrating and oscillating through the mucous covering. Singing/speaking without a healthy air supply is like trying to drive a car without gas! Your breath is your fuel and it is vitally important. There are two major ways to take a breath- a high "clavicular" breath where you suck your stomach in and raise your chest with in the inhalation, and the abdominal/ribcage (intercostal) breath where your stomach and ribs move out and down with the inhalation while the shoulders stay relaxed. The first method is what most of us are used to in our daily habits. Unfortunately, it creates a smaller throat space and lack of breath control. Vocalizing requires a sustained breath. When we inhale clavicularly, the exhalation cannot be sustained or controlled easily and actually tires the tiny throat muscles used for singing/speaking, producing vocal fatigue, tension and often, an airy sound. On the other hand, learning how to take an abdominal/intercostal breath gives the vocalist ease and control over the voice once this technique is learned. One important fact that is almost always over-looked by voice teachers is how to prepare the body before taking a breath. It is almost impossible to take a healthy abdominal/ribcage breath if your stomach muscles (the abdominals) are tense. The first step to proper breathing for voice, then, is to relax the abdominal area. The voice is also most importantly made up of space. Space? Let me explain. When you play any other musical instrument (and yes, even good speaking can be musical), that instrument is already built. You just simply learn to play it. The human voice is unique in that it is an instrument that is built as it is "played". The shape or space of this instrument is created by the size of your throat. This is determined by how you take your breath, and the ability to relax those muscles that close the throat, one of which is the tongue. The shape of the voice is what makes it so mysterious, as it cannot be seen, only heard. When your throat is made smaller by the "wrong " group of muscles, your larynx is elevated and the voice feels tight and strained. When I refer to the "wrong" group, I mean the swallowing muscles. These muscles constrict or close the throat. The sound produced is far from your best. If you employ the back of your tongue to push your larynx down in order to sing or speak, your voice will most likely sound and feel good to you. Unfortunately, no one but you will hear this pleasant sound. Your voice will not resonate to others as your primary resonator, your throat, will be filled up with your tongue! The goal of the vocalist then is to open the throat (as in a yawn) while relaxing the tongue.What are the variables that a voice can work with? Pitch, head and chest registers, volume, sounds (vowels and consonants), and vocal quality, such as throaty, ringing, airy or efficient. Voice lessons will help you to become aware of these qualities and how to balance and manipulate them within your voice. Let's review the important "Key Points" about voice: The goal of voice lessons is to freely use your voice through it's available range (usually 3 octaves) with all the major vowel sounds with complete control over the muscles of the larynx which control head and chest registers, airy or efficient quality at soft, medium and loud volumes. This is achieved through creating throat space, producing sounds with the small muscles of the larynx, a healthy and controlled air supply and relaxation of constrictor or swallowing muscles. One thing to remember is that learning to improve your voice is a gradual process. You are teaching your muscles new "tricks" or ways of responding. The process will become automatic, but it takes daily practice and often several years of study, depending on the student. Typically, at first you will be able to produce healthy changes during voice lessons. Gradually these improvements will carry-over into practice at home. The next step is getting so used to the new way of using your vocal and breathing muscles (while relaxing the constrictors) that this will become second nature to you during performances or in public speaking. Practice, dedication and good communication with a trusted voice teacher are the ingredients for success. You will get out of voice training exactly what you put into it. It's a wonderful journey of self-growth, exploration and exciting possibilitiesBasic Breathing Exercises 1. Bend over at the hips, not waist, so that your spine is straight. Be sure not to lock your knees straight, but instead let them soften with a slight bend. Feel your face, arms and body relax. Inhale so that you feel an expansion low in your body, even into the thigh area. 2. Now stand up place your hands criss-crossed in front of you on opposite shoulders as in the picture below. Be careful not to tense up and lock your knees. Relax your stomach and pelvic muscles. Breathe in, feeling that same lower body expansion, but no movement in the shoulders. Repeat slowly, 10 times. 3. Sit towards the edge of your chair and cup your chin in your hands as you place your elbows on each knee (see image below) Feel your lower body, especially your waist expand as you inhale. 4. Stand with relaxed stomach (or abdominals) and relaxed shoulders with sternum (chest) high and ribs gently expanded. Place your hands on your upper stomach below the sternum. Gently take a low breath so that you feel an expansion of your ribcage/stomach area. Now exhale slowly on an "ssss" sound feeling your stomach tighten a little and gently expand underneath your hands, for a silent count of ten. See if you can maintain a feeling of rib cage expansion as you do this. If this is easy try to a count of twenty.5.Now do this with 5 short broken sounds on one breath "ssss" , "ssss", "ssss", "ssss", "ssss".6. Same as # 3 and #4 but, now make a "ZZZ" sound. This uses your vocal cords. Try to do this with no tension in the throat area. Do it with a sustained "zzzz" and 5 short broken zzzz's". Be sure to feel your stomach muscles and ribcage muscles becoming involved in sound production, maintaining the posture of inhalation (or gentle expansion) as you make these sounds. The throat should feel free and easy. Constrictor / Tongue Relaxation Exercises And Tips 1. Monitor your daily voice habits to keep vocal stress at a minimum.--Never yell or scream, especially in noisy places. Even trying to speak loudly over noise can cause hoarseness. If you must raise your voice try to project using your lower body support muscles, without any pressure in the throat. -- Try to speak in your "optimal pitch" several times a day, first when alone, and then when speaking to others. This speaking pitch usually differs from your usual or habitual pitch and is found this way:Agree to something sincerely with an "um-hmm!" with your mouth closed. You should use a slight inflection (slightly higher than normal pitch). When you make this "agreeing" sound see if you can feel a gentle vibration in your nose and mouth area. Now say something in a pitch close to this, again looking for that sensation in the nose and mouth area (the "mask"). When practising at home:Say this: "um-hummm, Right!" "um-hmmm-- of course!" "um-hmmm-one" "um-hummm-two" and so on.2. Relax your shoulders. With head held back comfortably (avoid this exercise if your have neck problems) let your jaw relax and drop open, your mouth open. Feel your tongue completely relax. Pretend you are sleeping on a couch with your mouth concat(see illustration below). Now pick your head back up and keep your mouth in this relaxed and open position for a few seconds, noting how relaxed it feels. In singing or speaking the jaw should always open back and down in this relaxed way, never force it down with your jaw muscles as this causes tension in the jaw and tongue. Instead when you open your jaw, think of releasing it.3. Now with good posture place your hand on your chin and say "Yah, Yah, Yah", gently pulling your chin down with each syllable. Your tongue will relax and pull forward a bit. Practice saying "Yah-Yah" like this in different, yet comfortable speaking pitches, noticing how relaxed your jaw feels.4. In front of a mirror relax and let your tongue stick out. Now on a sustained "ah" slide up and down in pitch a few notes like a siren sound. Do not do this in a very loud voice. At first your tongue may tighten on the way up. Try to practice until you can see and feel it relaxing. Next wag the tongue (still outside of your mouth) gently side to side while sliding up and down in pitch. Never force these exercises. 5. In front of a mirror say "ee-ah" several times with an open and relaxed jaw. Do this so that you only see your tongue move up and down inside of your mouth while the jaw does nothing. Speak or sing this exercise in low, medium and high pitch levels. You can start this by holding the jaw a bit with one hand.6. Practice swallowing (constrictor muscles) and yawning to feel the difference. Good vocalizing occurs by using the yawning muscles with a relaxed tongue.8. Try holding your nose and breathing in through your mouth. You should feel cool air slide over the back of your tongue if your throat is open. If your breath feels shallow it means that the root of your tongue is most likely blocking the air. Relax and try again. Voice LessonsI am pleased to offer private voice lessons. I teach both voice improvement for speakers as well as singing lessons. I teach singing to any age (I recommend that most children should start at around age 12), all styles and levels of ability. Rates for adults are $55.00 for one hour.Half hour sessions are available for $30.00. Rates for children are $25.00 for a half hour and $45.00 for an hour lesson.I sincerely recommend that children (up to age 20) schedule half-hour lessons and Adults schedule one-hour lessons.Voice WorkshopsFocal Focus has developed a fun, informative and interactive voice workshop, exploring the mind-body connections with voice. Perfect for school teachers, acting classes, public speakers and anyone who wants to free up and use their voice more productively and with less strain. The workshop lasts one hour. Vocal Focus is located in Rockland County, New York. Ms. Lederman is a member of both the Rockland County Music Teacher's Guild, and the New York State Teachers of Singing. To schedule a lesson, workshop, or if you have any questions please call: (845) 548-9308, 9 AM - 9 PM EST. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Site Links:Home page Vocal Anatomy Basic Breathing Exercises Relaxation of the Constrictor Muscles How the Voice Works Voice Teachers- A Guide Voice Lessons for Children About Vocal Focus Voice-related Links