Lesson One
A major problem for students of singing is trying to figure out exactly what the jargon (terminology) of singing is all about. Words and vague ideas, as well as sung examples by the teacher often leave students really baffled.
I would like you to be able to understand the process of singing by giving you concrete exercises which will develop your "ear" and, at the same time, enable you to understand exactly what you are doing.
You will need a bottle (any plastic bottle is OK) partially filled with water (we are not allowed to use soft drinks or coffee because it spills and makes our rug in the classroom look more shabby that it does already!)
The first thing we are going to do is deal with air vibration (that which we call "sound") in the bottle when we blow across its top. Without going into great detail about the actual physics, we can see that different sized bottles will create differing pitches. (If you don't know what "pitch" means - look it up!) Subtracting some water from any sized bottle and then blowing across the top again will change the pitch - the less water - the lower the pitch.
O.K. - now..... take a breath: open your mouth as though you were going to say "AH." Hold your breath so that your vocal cords close. (You can feel air pressing up against the closed vocal cords) Now - tap or flick your finger against your throat (or "pat" it vigorously) - if you have done this and your vocal cords have stayed closed when you "tap," you will hear a pitch.
This is the first lesson in singing technique.
When you have mastered this (it shouldn't take but a few minutes) we shall explore something else about this technique. You will notice that, by tapping on your "closed" throat, you have "made" a pitch happen - and, if an entire room of students is doing this exercise together, you will also notice that almost everyone (with a few exceptions of those who haven't quite "got it" yet) is making the same pitch or very close to the same pitch. Both men and women. (Children who are not yet full grown will exhibit some pitch differences ) So if your are in your teens and almost "full-sized" your pitch will probably the same as the adults in your class.
Why is this?
It's because our vocal tracts, when we are grown, are pretty much the same size (both male and female). Yes, there are always variations - VERY BIG people and very small people will not "tap" the same pitch as you who are of "normal" size.
Now - lets try an experiment -
make the same preparation as above,( open mouth for "AH,"holding the breath with closed vocal cords ) but this time when you tap, VERY SLOWLY move your tongue towards an "EE" vowel while tapping - without closing your jaw very much!
What happened?
Now, drink some water out of your plastic bottle.
Did the same thing happen when you checked the pitch (blowing across the top)?
What you have learned by doing this exercise is (perhaps) one of the most important aspects of singing technique - AND you haven't even sung anything yet!

"Rubbing and Patting and The Trombone"
Your vocal tract contains air, just like your plastic bottle. One of the most time comsuming parts of vocal technique is learning how to "tune" the instrument itself. In the above exercises, you have just begun this process. You noticed as you moved from the vowel "AH" to the vowel "EE" that the pitch got lower.
Why? The pitch of the instrument (that is: the pitch of the air INSIDE OF THE VOCAL TRACT) is not the pitch you might be singing! The pitch of the instrument is dependant upon the amount of air INSIDE the instrument (i.e. your vocal tract)..... remember: when you tap your throat you get a pitch...you are NOT SINGING that pitch - it is the pitch of the instrument for the particular shape (the shape of the vowel) you are making.
What about the pitch you are singing?
The two pitches can be coordinated to make a more powerful and sonorous (look up the word sonorous if you don't know its meaning!) tone.
AND - this happens as the sung pitch and the resonant pitch are tuned together. They literally amplify each other without causing you to "sing harder" or more loudly - it's the acoustical effect of having both the sung note and the container the note is being sung into (your vobal tract) at the SAME PITCH that creates a resonance or "re-sounding" of the sung pitch inside the container before it leaves your mouth and gets into the room or wherever your are singing.
The best analogy to exemplify how this works is the trombone.
The trombone is a tube of brass with a slide. The position of the "slider" determines the pitch of the trombone. Its natural pitch (when the slider is not extended at all) is "C" - so, when the slide is extended the notes will lower as more air is added inside the instrument. This is the part that corresponds to our vocal tract - the instrument itself.
Now we add the mouthpiece - but we do NOT attach it to the instrument yet. What we do (as a trombonist) is to play the tune we are learning ON THE MOUTHPIECE..... not too pretty a sound.
Why?
Because we haven't added the resonator!
Remember: the trombone's resonator can be adjusted to create different pitches by moving the slide, just as we can change the resonnant pitches of our vocal tracts by "shaping" different vowel qualities.
This should make it clear that different vowels themselves correspond to specific (and identifyable ) pitches. THIS IS TERRIBLY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND!
Now you have a week to practice - you will be tested next week on your ability to do the "tapping exercises."
Now were are going to have some fun and sing a bit.
Lesson Two
Lesson Three
Lesson Four
Lesson Five
Lesson Six
Lesson Seven
Lesson Eight
Lesson Nine
Lesson Ten
Lesson Eleven
Lesson Twelve
Lesson Thirteen
Lesson Fourteen