July 18, 2025 • 69 mins
Rachel’s a trained singer with years of experience—but when it came to high notes, she was still working too hard. Her volume would creep from 30% to 90% before the chorus even hit, leaving her voice tired and out of room to grow.
We focused on lowering effort, reducing breath pressure, and unlocking her mix with targeted “puffer fish” and “Sisi” exercises. Once she stopped over-squeezing, her voice became clearer, mixier, yet still plenty powerful—even at 80% volume.
The big shift? Less tension, more airflow, and no “yelly” tone.
📍Mentioned Resource: follow Rachel @beasley_rachel
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Episode Transcript
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(00:16):
would love to see what happens
if we sing this chorus on that CC OK
but make it in a breathy chest voice
now let's add the lyrics back in and see what happens
(00:36):
OK same concept
now it's just with words OK
(01:12):
at home oh my God
I have so many goosebumps right now I'm gonna cry
hey Vox star and welcome to from singer to artist
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
(01:33):
at Vox App Studios
we help singers from all over the world
level up their voices
by teaching them the 3 fundamental skills
all singers need technique
awareness and artistry whether you're looking to go pro
or just develop your voice for fun
my team and I are here to help
check the link in the description
to book your first session
or grab some of our other resources
(01:53):
Alrighty are you ready
let's get started
it is time for another in person lesson
we are in the studio in my basement
hahaha together with Rachel Beasley welcome
hi thank you for having me
thank you so much for being here
of course I always love working with a fellow singer
artist and vocal coach too
yes
you have a huge background
(02:14):
you have a lot of experience
can you tell us just real quick
a little bit more about your singing experience
yeah so I I always like to make this joke that um
when I was born
I came out of the womb singing and not crying
yeah
I love it um
so I feel like I've been singing all my life
but I have more of a background in like musical theater
show choir you know
we do live in Indiana
so that's kind of a thing around the Midwest
(02:36):
yeah um
but then I went to college
um I did two years of music education
so I had a classical background
and then when I left
I started working for a music school that uh
taught a lot of rock and pop and like secular music
so I made that shift and then I joined um
a band here in town
and I started doing more rock and pop and um
(02:56):
I also joined a gospel group
so I did R&B as well cool
um just a little bit of everything
I think I think that's healthy for a singer
um yeah
just to get a little taste of everything
makes you more marketable
yeah oh
for sure well
especially
cause right before we started rolling the cameras
you were telling me that the next step
like something you'd like to explore is some
maybe some background vocals
(03:17):
yes studio vocals
session singer that kind of absolutely
that's like one of my favorite things to do
like I do love singing the covers
and getting into the spotlight every once in a while
that's super fun showing my chops
but what I really love to do is um
layer background vocal harmonies and be in the studio
and also sing background for um
touring artists
and that's something that I really wanna do more of um
(03:39):
and I'm just not quite sure what the next step is
because I live in Indianapolis
I've kind of been locked into this scene
yeah so I'm trying to break out a little bit
so if anybody
out there is looking for a background singer
hahaha willing to relocate yeah
OK there you go perfect
I love that I love that
well you know
being versatile having a bigger background with like
different genres
(03:59):
and all these different things that you did
is gonna be a really big asset for you
yes right
cause you don't have to go for just a certain kind of
background vocalist
or session singer you can kind of adapt to whatever
whatever you need to do and like I told you before
Coach Bree on our team is our versatility specialist
because she has also done background vocals
(04:20):
she knows how important it is to be versatile
for this kind of gig so I am super excited
we did a session together
this was over zoom though
yes that was a while ago too
I know wasn't like what
a year and a half ago yeah
maybe I think so
something like that I'd have to pull up my notes to
to know exactly but it's been a
minute and and now we get to work together in person
(04:41):
so I'm excited yeah
and I'd also like to add
it was only an hour long session
and she taught me things that stuck with me
and transformed the way that I sang
just in that hour
so thank you so much for that by the way
you're so very welcome
I'm so glad to hear that you know
I'm here to help so glad to hear it was helpful
absolutely awesome
(05:01):
so today we're gonna be working on in the kitchen
Renee rap you said earlier
that she's kind of like your final boss
in a video game that you just can't beat yes
absolutely every time I try to do one of her songs
I either like
I don't think I've ever 100% nailed one of her songs
I've been like 90 maybe 95%
but every single time I go to do one of her songs
(05:23):
there's always like
a sliver or a portion where I'm just like ugh
like I cannot get that into my muscle memory
I do not know where that placement is like
how does she do this so effortlessly
I feel like I'm trying so hard yeah
and I just I wanna make it a little bit effortless okay
yeah yeah
well let's make it happen
let's see what we got let's see what we got
(05:44):
let's see it
also we're in the height of allergy season
you just got a steroid shot for it
yes so that is something we want to keep in mind right
like
the voice is never 100% consistent and always spot on
because it's a
like your instrument is a part of your body
so things like allergies do affect your voice
so you know
be gentle with yourself you're delicate
(06:06):
yes yes yes yes yes
but um
I would say let's just stick right in
we'll go through maybe first person course
okay and then stop there and talk about it
yeah absolutely
see what we wanna do alright
yeah let's do it
(07:45):
all right oh
nice oh my gosh
that's great how do you feel scary
I don't know why it's scary
yeah I haven't done that song in a while
okay um
so I think going into it I
I like started to get those like oh
like my body was starting to have that like a
oh remember this song is hard reaction
(08:05):
and I was like like my breast support
I always tell my students
breast
support is the first thing to go when you're nervous
and boy did I feel it hahaha
um fair enough
but yeah and then obviously like the cracking
the trying to stay in that like
fair and jiggle placement
it was just really difficult for me
um and again
it sounds like
I require a lot of force to keep it there too
(08:25):
yeah I mean it's
yes I mean it's
it's so high and it stays there
yes that's the hard part right
it's not just like one note where you're going up
and then you're back down
yeah it like no
it just and it stays there
yeah and it stays there forever
and then you get to the second verse
and then you're back up there forever right
(08:47):
so this is really really hard to sing
um the big
the big thing that I noticed was
you know your verses
kind of like that pre chorus situation there
into your chorus was like
we went from like 30% volume to 90 or 95
right so it's like okay
(09:07):
how can we sing that chorus
with maybe just a little bit less volume
and also a little bit less effort
but that's the hardest part about it
yes when it's like yeah
you don't need to tell me that that's what we wanna do
I know
but I don't know how right
that's the that's the hardest
well that's why I'm here exactly
exactly that's why I wanna
we can work on this are you familiar with Jessie J
(09:27):
I am oh yo
yes hahaha Queen right
yes exactly
that's another one where I'm like
how I know oh
I'm in the same boat I'm absolutely in the same boat
there's this video of her where she is singing uh
bang bang da da da yeah
with a closed mouth have you ever seen that
no I haven't
hmm
yeah kind of like on the kind of like a pufferfish too
(09:50):
like yeah yeah
so uh
that's actually exactly what I wanna try with you
in this chorus yes
perfect just to remove all of the volume right
so basically
what we wanna do here is teach the vocal folds
how to hit these notes
without all of the force behind it right
right right
(10:11):
now there's a lot of volume
a lot of air a lot of compression in your vocal folds
right
your vocal folds are really coming together tightly
to make that sound so powerful
yes uh
and so a lot of times people say like
just reduce your breath which I'm like
yes and no um
no in the sense of
if there's not enough breath coming through
(10:31):
sometimes the vocal folds pinch together even more
and you get even more compression
and we want actually less compression
so instead of just thinking less breath
I like to think less compression
less vocal fold closure
essentially what it comes down to
right so we still have the flow
we still have the flow but we don't have the squeeze
(10:52):
mm hmm and that's why I wanna try it on this pufferfish
which absolutely you would love
I heard so haha
um my students
if you're watching pufferfish
you see where I got it from
yeah I love the pufferfish
for me personally I prefer it over lip troll
but you know whatever you like best is fine with me
(11:12):
so uh
before we do it in the song
let's just quickly turn it into an exercise absolutely
um let's try um
exactly yeah
it's just a
exactly yep one more time
(11:37):
nice yeah
alright we're just gonna go up by half step with this
(12:01):
great let's do that one more time yeah
okay this is your break right there
do you feel it yeah
so let's try just again one more time right
sometimes it takes like
a hot minute for the voice to get used to it
and be like how can I get this note out without force
right right
still flow but no force
flow but no force
(12:25):
yeah you found it on that last one let's do it again
(12:46):
good one more time
great
yeah do you hear slight vocal fry coming through there
when you're reattacking it
vocal fry happens when there's a lack of breath flow
okay so what we wanna focus on is more flow
get the breath out um
and just I was kind of stopping myself
(13:06):
I see it I see it
yep yep yep uh
and if you're if you're like
oh there's gonna be like
too much air coming out of my mouth
you can just put a little bit more quote on
quote tension on your lips right
not tension in the sense of like
I'm squeezing anything
but just making sure that the opening is really
really really quite small so that you feel more of
this back pressure
more of that s o v t effect semi occluded vocal tract
(13:28):
alright where are we here
that was not bad yeah
I kept the flow yeah
is it feeling okay in your throat
yeah it is and um
I noticed that I like when I
when we were at my break
and I started having that vocal fry
or that lack of um flow um
(13:50):
I just remembered to relax my larynx
kind of gave it a little bit more of a open sense
versus like
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
just making sure it doesn't get stuck up there
yes exactly yeah okay
open it up and relax
that is really great feedback for me
thank you for telling me that
cause now we can adjust the exercise based on that
to make sure that it's not gonna get stuck up there
(14:12):
so I love working with vocal coaches
like this is so fun for me
I do too because you can tell me what you're
what you're adjusting and what you're feeling
and then I'm like okay
let's make that happen I'm like this is so much fun
yes and when you're working with more beginner singers
they don't really know what it is they're doing
so it's it makes my job a little bit harder
but either way we can all learn right
(14:33):
exactly so when it comes to larynx right
like you feel like it's kind of getting stuck up there
and I just want to make sure it's like
huh huh
giving myself the space obviously
when you go up in pitch your layrings will go up
right as when you're singing contemporary stuff right
that is normal
we just want to make sure that it doesn't get stuck
that that's the important part
so to practice that doing interval jumps is great
(14:55):
so instead of BA BA BA reattacking the same note
we're gonna jump back and forth between different notes
alright so actually
we're gonna go down just a little bit
to make that adjustment so you're gonna go um
(15:18):
great feel free to add like those boop boop boop
so you're basically stopping your breath a little bit
not stopping it your breath in the sense of it
like you're always exhaling
but your lips completely stop it for like a millisecond
OK right
so yeah oh here boop boop boop boop
(15:41):
this one's hard yes
I know I'm like
I'm like trying to keep the air flow
but also like stop I don't know
it's a weird like mind trick but I'mma try again
I feel like I'm doing too much right here like okay
yeah
yeah just make it a little littler OK
(16:06):
yeah
that's it that's it
what was the adjustment you made
um I just stopped
I was doing a lot of like
like of the abrupt stopping
yep and I kind of put less force behind it
and I was trying to let the
the flow happen but like instead of boom
boom boom
like move my entire face yeah
(16:27):
I was just trying to close my lips just in the lips
very very slightly very
very slightly perfect alright
um one more time here
boom boom boom
(17:01):
one more boom boom
okay how's it feeling
good good good good
that was pretty good that was pretty good
nice and smooth yes
um obviously
it's incredibly difficult to stay in like
a chest dominant sound up on that sound um
yeah it wasn't very chesty
which is where I was like
kind of trying to keep it before
(17:22):
but I think it was easier for me just to flip into that
like mixy head voice range um
is there a way to make that chest dominant
is it just trying like yeah
just keep trying um
it's it's mostly a mental thing right
if you're like ah
I wanna make sure I'm not getting too heady uh
or too mixy you wanna make it more chest dominant
(17:43):
then it's really just a mental note of like alright
I'm gonna try and make it more chest dominant
because you're gonna change it at a vocal fold level
uh huh and that's what I like about this exercise yeah
you can't use your resonance and like
all this other stuff that happens after your
sound gets produced uh huh
to modify the sound right right
yeah you mean we're basically training the vocal folds
(18:05):
right
not everything else that goes into singing here too
okay
and that's something
that I don't really hear a lot about
so that's interesting yeah
I mean a lot of times we do like symptom treatment
right in the sense of like
open your mouth more or open your mouth less
or whatever we seen the TikToks
we see the TikToks hahaha
(18:27):
um you know
you know what I'm talking about
I'm glad I'm not the only one
uh but uh
I with singers
like you and me'cause we're very much the same
I mean not the same
but very similar yes
uh we need to make sure that down here is already
not happening too much stuff right
um and closing the mouth helps
(18:51):
focus the energy on your throat
on your vocal folds right
and not everything else then too
right cause you don't need more power right
we need to control the power
so when
and I know you've had vocal nodules in the past too
when the way that I fixed
putting that pressure on my vocal cords was
I was putting a lot of emphasis on um
placement and where things are resonating okay
(19:12):
um but I've never thought of it as like
training
the actual vocal folds to do what you want them to do
I always just kind of
assumed that they were going to do whatever
and you had to be the manufacturer of yeah
where that sound was coming from
so yeah
well it's a little bit of both yeah right
it's there's always a million things that are happening
(19:33):
at the same time in singing
it's like patting your head
rubbing your tummy
and doing a cartwheel at the same time
yes oh my god
learning how to sing is like good luck
yes pretty much
pretty much um
but at the same time
we don't want to overcomplicate it either right
but placement obviously goes into it
but I think with you
it's more the vocal fold level that we need to train
right now cause you have the other stuff figured out
(19:54):
talking about figuring it out at a vocal fold level
another thing we can practice too is breathy singing
did we did we do that in our session
yeah yeah
um that again is just gonna help decompress
the first verse was kind of like right
like when I was singing yeah
oh okay
so that was actually something I was gonna mention
(20:14):
but I wanted to focus on the
on the chorus first but now that you're bringing it up
I might as well say it uh
I actually think you can make the verse
a whole lot breathier than you did really
okay sometimes I lose my support when I do that okay
is there talk to me
what's your definition for support
um I run out of air really fast
you run out of breath yes OK
I would say I feel like I'm singing through a breath
(20:35):
and because I'm doing that
it's kind of like the consonant H where you have to ha
like release a lot of air just to make it happen
is there a way to not do that
absolutely
listen to Billie Eilish
she is a master class on this stuff
her phrases are incredibly long
and she's singing in a breathy voice
and it's like girl
how are you not running out of breath
(20:56):
how is this possible uh
so yes there is absolutely a way to make that happen
you all
you need to do is train your vocal folds to not
over open right
right cause when you're singing in a breathy voice
your vocal folds are shaped like a V
they vibrate against each other
when you're singing with a breathy voice
they don't close completely
there's a little bit of a gap
so more air is leaking through right
and so all we need to do is make that gap
(21:18):
only as big as we have to make it
to still sound breathy OK
right yeah
and we also don't have to like
go like sound incredibly super breathy
just a little bit is enough to give you that
I call it like a broken quality
right and broken in the best sense
no I like that emotional broken
(21:38):
exactly exactly exactly
and um
and so I actually think that in the verse
we could explore that even more
and do even less in the verse okay
uh and then in the chorus
when you're practicing a breathy voice uh
it's gonna help you again to like
decompress your vocal fold
so they're not squeezing together so tightly okay
(21:59):
and um
and then all we need to do is figure out
how can we keep that same feeling of flow again
the vocal folds are letting the air come through
but they're closing completely and there's no gap
no right
yeah but again
we're still using the breath okay right
um anyways
going back to the boom boom boom yeah
boom that part um
(22:21):
you wanna make it chestier
okay let's try it on a pop
a pop uh huh okay
what were you gonna say
oh I was just gonna ask if it was like a mental thing
but but now yeah
but now I'm like oh
there's another thing for this
see this is why I love vocal pedagogy hahaha
there's always something for it
yeah there's always something
yes and if you don't know it
(22:42):
somebody else does yeah
yeah oh
so I mean with
with if you want to stay on a pufferfish
it really mostly is just a mental thing okay
um but we can use like a pop exercise
like a pop pop pop
for example um
I just chose a fifth you can do something else
it really doesn't matter what you do um
but uh
(23:03):
that is gonna give you a little bit more
of that power that you're looking for um
but we just need to make
hmm actually in your case
we might want to modify that to a
we're gonna do CC
C C C
C C and we're gonna do it twice in a row
(23:24):
yes the compared to the sound
the compared to the gives you more flow
more breath flow right
the
can sometimes be a little bit of a pressure launch pad
and then we're what exactly
then we're working too hard again
then we're working too hard again
so let's let's try it on a CC instead also
I changed it to E instead of ah
(23:45):
like pop versus C OK
because ah is very open and the more open it is
the more force you're gonna use to push the notes out
see you can't really do that
so I want you to stay small in your mouth on purpose
just again so we can train the vocal folds down there
right alright
we're doing twice in a row C
C C C actually three times C
(24:07):
C C C C C C C alright
C C C C C C C C nice
and we're just gonna do it nice and quick one more time
C C
(24:28):
don't slow down OK
C C C C C C C C OK see see
see see
see see
see great OK
see see uh
can you relax your mouth a little more
yes one more time maybe I can
I don't know I'm like
I'm a terrible I'm like
I'm such a smiley person I'm like
I need to stop I'm serious
(24:49):
it's not that serious I promise no
now it's never gonna be relaxed
sorry sorry
no you're good
you're good I'm sorry
see C
C C C C
C C
there you go right
we're just trying to do as little as possible right
Alrighty one more time
C C
C C C
C C
(25:10):
C C C C C C
C C C
see see see
see see
see see alright
it's getting mixier up here
do you feel it mm hmm
alright
see see see
see he
he
OK see
see see
see see see see great
OK now split the difference OK
(25:33):
C C C C C
C C
that was better OK
yes there's less push behind it
do you feel that yes
yeah yes
yes yes
yes one more time
5% less C
C C C
C C C great
I want you to treat the top note
the same as you do the bottom note
so it's not C C
C C
like punching that top note
but more even throughout got you
C see
see see
(25:54):
see see see
that's hard I'm finding it
I'm like I'm like
it's there I'm finding it
you are you are you are you doing it
this is where practice practice
practice comes into play yes baby
I'm finding it I'm finding it alright
see see
see see
see yes yeah yeah
can you shake your head while you're doing it
(26:14):
yeah see
see see see see
see see see
oh you ate with that hahaha
so the reason why I asked you to do it is
because I'm seeing some veins
and some muscles popping out here
in the side of your neck
and I saw that while you were singing too
and doing this is a symptom treatment again
okay right
so it's again it's always a little bit of both
(26:36):
we always got to do a little bit of everything
but that's great
so now we're combining the symptom treatment and the um
like right
finding the root cause of it and working on that too
and you know what um
I like recently lost a bunch of weight
and I never noticed you
I could never see the veins popping out of my neck
but in my recent videos I would see that and I'm like
(26:58):
oh I wonder if that's bad
haha it's pressure
yes exactly
which is what I don't want
and that's what I'm like ooh
like I'm hitting the notes and it's sounding good
but I look like I'm really trying for it
yeah I'm like okay
well and
but it's also different from person to person uh
like
I remember I had a check in session with one of Coach
(27:20):
Emily's students and she was like
just a heads up
she looks like she has a lot of neck tension
she doesn't
that's just her neck exactly
and so it just really kind of depends on the person
but yeah veins
uh usually are a sign of like that
there's a lot of pressure right
and where is that pressure coming from
(27:42):
the vocal folds right
so when you're picking up something really heavy
what do you do huh
that is a lot of pressure that's building up internally
so that you can lift this heavy thing right
it's a natural bodily function that we perform
same when you go to the bathroom right huh
yeah so maybe not like that
but you know you know what I mean
I'm with you I'm with you OK
(28:04):
OK thank you
thank you and so it's uh
it's that kind of pressure
it's the same thing
and we do that by closing the vocal folds really firmly
really tightly and so there's no breath coming through
there's no leak right
that's how you get more strength
and so in singing it's a similar issue
or actually pretty much exactly the same thing
(28:24):
which is also why
make sure that you're not squeezing your ABS
when you sing
I struggle with that a lot hahaha
so that is interesting yeah
so if you're working with a head dominant singer
like more like a songbird kind of singer
somebody who's
struggling with getting enough power into it
I'm all for it because that's gonna help them
get more vocal full closure
(28:45):
good to know
but in your case and my case
no no no no no
no no squeezing the ABS
no squeezing the ABS it might be helpful in the moment
but it ain't sustainable that's why I kind of like
looked at you like a deer in headlights
cause I was like
I've definitely told and it was like my singer song
songbird everything in head voice type of students yeah
I've definitely told my students squeeze their ABS oh
(29:06):
I have too I'm like
wait no no no
I have two I have two
and that's what makes yeah
that's what makes vocal coaching so difficult
because we're all different
and what's gonna work for one person is not gonna
work for another
and so you have to kind of know who's in front of you
yeah hahaha
um but because you and I are very similar singer
it's very easy for me to know what's gonna work for you
(29:28):
and what's not gonna work for you
because it's what worked for me looking in the mirror
yeah exactly exactly um so we're doing the CCC
yeah just make sure you're not squeezing your ABS okay
and uh
focus on flow and can I do that head shake
the head shake exactly wherever we were
(29:49):
maybe here I think we were here
see see
see see see
see see
I'm still flipping over that break though
yep yeah
exactly so just think 5% chestier okay
see see
see see
see alright
we're gonna go down a little bit
it's hard to start start right up there
so we're gonna just go down a little bit
(30:10):
and when you think think chest voice but quiet OK
right like we wanna make it 5% chestier
but we don't wanna be loud right
OK alright
see see see
see
great and make sure you're not going see see
see see
like smiling on the top note
keep the mouth shape the same see
(30:47):
see great one more time see
see that's actually pretty good
start adding the head shake though
see
(31:12):
see okay
okay okay okay
I'm like I'm getting up there hahaha
I'm like starting to smile a little bit
I was like hmm
I am I was very impressed with what you just did oh
thank you just saying how did it feel
better than it has in the past for sure okay um
there was one of the things um
that I realized was not only am I squeezing my ABS
(31:35):
but I'm also like tightening my butt yeah
yeah and once I like once I relaxed my butt
it became easier
like everything kind of opened up on that
in that like pelvic floor region
where I didn't have to
it wasn't just my ABS that were squeezing
it was everything
I call it when I'm teaching my students
I call it the inner tube
it was everything in my inner tube was
(31:56):
was getting squeezed up and I was like
I had to relax the full inner tube not just the ABS
yeah I mean you can always add like a little
a little shake or some sort of movement
movement helps relax yeah
the body um
that was really good though
anything else you noticed um
I'm trying to think now I know how my students feel
(32:19):
yeah I know it's hard to be in the reverse roles
how'd that feel good
and I just stare at them like
no thanks that's helpful okay
what was good about it use your singing words
yes yes
no it's
it's hard it's hard
I struggle with it too like yeah
when when my voice teacher asked me how was that
I'm like good like
oh damn it that was not very helpful feedback
we went all the way up to E wonderful 5
(32:41):
which is higher than what you have to do in the song
yes OK
we only have to go to d right
so that's a good thing um
you did not like it to me
it didn't sound yellie shouty
anything like that on these top notes right
sounded more controlled I looked at your mouth too
you did not start opening your mouth a lot more
which again it's like alright
(33:01):
now we're making sure that this down here
is getting figured out that's something you taught me
yeah and that lesson a while ago
is that to not give the big open mouth all the time
yeah exactly to help that works for some singers
does not work for everybody
if you do this with singers like you and me
we just start yelling right
yup
it's true it's true
it absolutely is but again
(33:22):
songbird singers who should squeeze their
not should but
sometimes it's helpful
when they squeeze their apps a little bit
it can also be helpful to open the mouth more
it's really kind of depends on the person um when
let's before we do breathy stuff
let's just see where we're at now for the chorus
and see what happens alright um
we're gonna do the entire chorus in CC okay
(33:44):
okay yeah
where does the chorus start
do you know I don't even know
somewhere here oh yeah
right here okay
love it am I still
yeah love it
love it love it
you're doing great you're doing great
cool 20% less volume
cool
a little bit for the back
yeah oh sorry
(34:05):
hold on
I think
see see
see see
I just feel like I like I know I'm like
if I give that less volume
my voice automatically wants to go into that head range
I know this is the hard part yes
this is the hard part so see
see see
(34:27):
oh it's a B flat too
it's the worst note I hate the B flat
I hate it isn't it funny how like
B flat and B
are harder to sing than like d and E up there
it's like what
yes but yeah
no I know yeah see
(34:48):
see see
I'm trying to like find that space
shake their head see see
ooh
c c
uh huh uh huh
c c
I didn't get a good breath
can you can you
can you can you just quickly give me a sigh
huh huh
great reset the lyrics
(35:09):
yes and flow
huh huh
okay no
no I'm yawning
yeah hey
good luck
you're gonna be yawning for the next 15 minutes exactly
uh can you give me a C
C C
C C C
make it super breathy C
C C
(35:30):
there it is one more time
c c c great
c C
C C
CC
can you make the note 10% breathier
yeah CC
great now do it in a breathy chest voice
(35:53):
CC
OK OK OK
we're doing something we're getting somewhere
that was actually quite good
oh I like teaching while standing
I start doing like weird I do weird hops
usually I sit when I teach
it's like oh
this is fun movement I love it uh
that was good how did that feel better
OK better
um
I still feel like I want to slip into that head voice
(36:15):
reason region but I am starting to find that placement
where it's like nope
keep it there like yes
yes yes
yes c
c c C
and now I'm opening my mouth CC
that's pretty good that's pretty good
I uh
would love to see what happens
if we sing this chorus on that CC OK
(36:36):
but make it in a breathy chest voice as much as
as much as possible OK
you're probably gonna crack yeah
probably yeah
and that's okay yes okay
we're practicing it is you're right
you're right uh
and so yeah that see
see that kind of sound right
(37:13):
holy shit okay hahaha
how was that good
good good
good feels very mixy
but I that's good I think yeah
yes that's good
yes baby yes baby
that we have problem with that Passaggio range
is that I want to either pull out that chest voice
and give it the force or I need to just like mix
you just turned it from a yelling belt
(37:33):
e sound into a mixed belt congratulations
thank you ah
that sounded so good good
good hahaha I love that
how did it feel physically good good
oh my gosh so much less force okay
so much less force
can you hear how that is still powerful
yes
yes I can yes
yes yes
(37:54):
I know I know
I had to think about it for a second
but I'm like yes
especially cause I was thinking about it
within the context of the song
I was like
when you first asked that question
I was like no
because of how I was used to singing it
but then when I was thinking it
within the full context of the song with those like
softer verses and stuff I'm like
oh yes never mind yes
no 100%
I see it
if you compare it to what you were doing before yes
(38:17):
this is a lot less powerful right
but if we don't look at that
if we pretend like that never happened
mm hmm and you're just objectively looking at
or listening to what that just sounded like
uh huh like yeah no
that's plenty powerful
I don't know why you would want to do more than that
right'cause everything more from here
more power
more volume is just gonna cost you more effort
(38:40):
and it's not gonna get you a better result actually
quite the contrary it's gonna sound less good
you're gonna have to pay the vocal fairy
have you ever heard that
the vocal fairy have you ever heard that analogy
oh my gosh like I I use like vocal dollars yes
but I never heard about the vocal fairy
the
the vocal fairy comes down and gives you those dollars
okay
and then you then once you when you're pushing too hard
(39:01):
you go into vocal debt
and you have to pay the vocal fairy
by going on vocal rest or
oh my God that's cute I'm stealing that yes
please I am so stealing that that was so good though
that's where we wanna live
so talk to me
what were you thinking about when you were doing it um
I definitely oddly enough
(39:23):
I was focusing less on placement and more on that
like having the vocal folds hit evenly um
through that breathiness
and I think because I was less focused on okay
I'm gonna place it in chest
and now I'm gonna mix it here
and now I'm gonna do this and now I'm gonna do that
it happened effortlessly and seamlessly um
(39:44):
in a way that I'm not used to
so we
I love it I love it
and the thing is like you didn't even sound breathy
right and
and that's the goal like we
we think about singing in a breathy voice
so that we can focus on the flow of it right
the seamlessness of it the smoothness of it uh
but it doesn't actually sound breathy right oh
(40:08):
let's do that again
(40:46):
yeah yeah
I was like gonna do it haha
it felt good haha
good good good good good
good wonderful
and especially for the first chorus
this is plenty OK right
like yes
we could we could maybe say like
alright for the second chorus
we maybe add 5% more right
yes but I'd rather go exactly
I'd rather have you do just a little bit less now
(41:07):
like what you were doing just now
yes that's perfect OK
doing that
because as soon as you start adding the lyrics
what's gonna happen
we start doing more again right
so I'd rather have you practice it in this mixy
place like you called it it's a very chest dominant
mixy place where you're at right now
um and then
now let's add the lyrics back in and see what happens
(41:29):
okay same concept now it's just with words okay
(42:05):
oh my God I have so many goosebumps right now
I'm gonna cry
I feel like I was completely dead face
cause I was like focusing very hard
I'm like stay here
stay here I wish I could show you my legs right now
I have so many goosebumps on my legs
I usually get goosebumps on my legs instead of my arms
I don't know why but holy
oh and oh my God
and that feels sustainable too
(42:26):
no shit Sherlock
oh that was spicy
that was good how do you feel good
good sustainable
like I mean
I mean
I feel like I could sing a three hour set like that
and usually for like
the sets that I do that have those harder songs
usually by the end of three hours I'm like
yeah of course
gotta pay the vocal fairy
(42:46):
yeah yeah
and then shut up for the next three days right
literally oh my God
that was so good
that was no really literally
that was amazing oh
I'm so excited and I loved watching your mouth too
cause you went from this to
(43:09):
it's just like whatever right
yeah um
you know how like this chorus is kind of
has kind of like two parts yes
kind of like almost like repeats
yes yes
um the second part
you started working a little bit harder
with your mouth uh huh
you had just like yeah
it was just more stuff happening in your mouth
did you notice the difference
I didn't notice the difference in my mouth
but I noticed that
(43:30):
I started feeling tension in that inner tube spot
and I started relaxing it
and then
but I didn't realize that I was doing it with my mouth
too
no but you caught like you
like when that second half of the chorus started
that's when your mouth started doing more again
and then it stopped again towards the end of it
so that's probably when you started relaxing
(43:52):
this down here
interesting right
so the mouth was trying to compensate
for what was happening yes
in your ABS slash butt region
yeah in your inner tube
it's cool to have somebody who knows
like with eyes on me tell me that
cause I'm like
I didn't even notice my mouth was doing that
I felt it down here yeah yeah
oh crazy
I love the voice I know
(44:14):
that was so good thank you
honestly I wish I could sing that like that
that was awesome that was
that was really really
really really
really good if you tell me you like that
I'm happy with that I do like that
yes I do like that for sure
(44:52):
I don't remember the words
and I'm also losing that placement
yep yep yep yep yep yep
you started seeing the panic on your face a little bit
yeah I was like oh wait
how do I transition this yes
so that part mm hmm
do you want to build more there or no
I would like to build more there
yes OK
(45:18):
okay
so that part
let's just try it on CCC and see what happens
maybe that is already enough maybe not
let's see
I think it's like not so much finding the placement
but finding the placement coming out of that chest
like asking me where the hell you've been
(45:41):
cause like I said I was a placement queen
and now I'm like
trying to transition from less from that
and now I'm like finding it hard to find that place
yeah without being like
now I'm transitioning to fair and Gill yeah
yeah
and now I'm squeezing and now oh my gosh
everything is falling apart
yes yes yes
(46:02):
um I usually say like the more similar we can keep it
like in placement and in registration and all of that
the easier it's gonna get to sing it yes
cause you are not hopping all over the place OK
um but yeah
the CC might help with it yeah
let's let's just see what happens with that
(46:33):
yeah I already saw it yeah
I'm also seeing you do this a little bit
yeah
and that's the inner tube and that's the butt squeezing
yeah sure is um
can you just get a little bit more into your knees
and just do a little bit of a shake
while you're doing it yeah exactly
(47:02):
okay there's
this is these are long phrases yes yeah
I'm like um
how was that good better than
better than the last time okay
which is the name of the game
so yes
yeah and did you want to make that more powerful
or are we happy with this I
I think I'm happy with that yeah
(47:23):
I don't think it needs it yeah
I was gonna say cause then it's gonna build from there
on top of it already and it's already building
so exactly I don't wanna give it
don't work harder than you have to
90% and then have to go back to 70 yeah
exactly yes
yes yes yes
um
cool let's just do that again yeah
but on the words this time yeah okay
(47:44):
focus on flow Ben
when you play
(48:06):
great can we just for artistry's sake
yes can we try and sing a tell me you love me yeah
like do that in a breathy voice
yeah first of all
it's gonna be easier to sing love
second of all it creates more contrast
so it is more interesting to listen to cool
so whenever you sing that two weeks in
(48:29):
or however exactly goes the high note
yeah in a brassy voice
let's try that acapella just real quick told me
I'm doing a lot of mouth work
yeah yeah
and there's a lot of breath
when you're doing it in a breathy voice right
yeah can we keep the same feeling of flow
(48:50):
and reduce the breathiness on that
a little bit yes
yes and then can we do all over
over
(49:11):
yeah right
so that not all of them are up in a breathy head voice
slash falsetto over and over I did it again over
okay uh
we're gonna open up a little bit more on that
cause otherwise the vowels sounds a little over yeah
yeah oh over
(49:39):
cool one more time
great is that note sustained a little bit
like you were just doing it
no okay
so over and over oh
it is actually just like a teeny bit over and cool
now the top note 10% less volume just on the top note
(50:00):
what is that note oh
I'm not gonna tell you
I was gonna say is that is that a B flat
that's why I was like
sometimes it's better when we don't know what it is
you are so right you are so right um
over okay
so we're kind of going over and down yeah
(50:20):
that that was more Yellie than what you were doing
but there's a a lot of push on that top note okay
over and
did you feel that yeah right
yeah huh
(50:42):
huh
over and Nova I feel like that was a lot
that was a lot it sounded great
but it was a lot yes
exactly and that's not the name of the game
so try just assign one time
huh yeah huh
over and over over and over
(51:03):
one more time over and over
there it is over and over
don't start doing more than you have to
one more time over and
yes yes
okay that's really quite beautiful
how does it feel better okay over and done
(51:26):
yeah you're doing that over right
like you're
you're singing two notes on it versus over and
do you want it to be what
I think it's two notes in the track
but do you want it to be one note
I liked what you just did
okay cool
um and if that
if you like that and it feels good
I'm happy with it
(51:47):
I just sometimes like to point things out that you do
not necessarily yeah
to change it but just to make sure you're aware
of what it is you're doing cool
but yeah that was good I'm told
no no
no no no
I'll do whatever you ask
thank you you can just keep me in this basement
lock you in exactly
(52:07):
I'll throw you scraps down every so often
no as long as I get a lesson here and there
I'm cool well hey
we have our indoor garden right over there
you can feed yourself I'm self sustained
yeah
I love it um
let's try that again with the lyrics
oh you look yeah
you're good you're good
tell me you love me right this
(52:28):
oh tell me you love me
love don't switch to love
okay told me you love me
there we go you ain't with that
okay that's good alright
(52:58):
and over oh
I did this look again that's OK
you were focused on something else
yes exactly
but that was pretty good OK
um the two weeks in
mm hmm um
I like the hold on
I like the Tommy breathy then the two
(53:21):
uh can you make that just heady uh
instead of breathy yes
because it's a really long phrase
and I don't want you to run out of breath
and that's how I feel every time I'm saying this phrase
I'm like I'm trying to be breathy
but so basically the first high note is breathy OK
the second high note is just in a head voice
like soft head voice but not breathy because of breath
(53:42):
haha um
because it's a long phrase
and then that last note over the last high note
um we're more mixy okay right
so every high note gets a little more intense
okay as we go through it gotcha
(54:07):
that was actually not bad
yeah I was like
I liked it I just didn't do what I wanted to do
you know what I mean yeah
I was like okay
that one was good that one was good
that one was good and I flipped again
Dang it yeah
yeah yeah
um when you're getting up to that note um
focus on creating space in the back
so okay
the last breath that you can take before the
over and over yeah inhale through a yawn
(54:30):
ah yes okay
so it's gonna give you the space
so you don't feel the need to flip as much let's try it
(54:55):
sorry I distracted you but yes
no no
it's okay I needed to look at the words no
but beautifully adjusted okay
and wonderful uh
what's the word I'm looking for
yeah adjusted and yeah
executed uh
thank you yeah
I saw you going like right
so really inhale through that yawn
but it was so good and it solved the problem right
(55:17):
and it gave me the breath of life
because that's like a quick inhale right
but like when you inhale through a yawn
you can get so much more in
it's still it's still a quality breath
I always say like quality over quantity um
it like gives me the quantity that I need
while still keeping it quality
and it also opens me in a good open place
so exactly
exactly just gives you a little bit more space
(55:38):
your larynx is not stuck up high
and then you don't feel the need as much to flip right
a lot of let's keep going
(56:09):
in the living room yes yes
so we got it back into back into the chorus
before we get back into that
the rest feeling good
good good good
yeah feeling good okay
so I'll dance C
C C
C
C C C
a little breath here C
C C
(56:30):
there it is I can you
I like know that I
I know that I have it cause I can like feel it
I don't know if I have a deviated septum or what
but I can feel it like vibrating in my right nostril
like right OK
I'm like I love it yeah
I love that C
C C
C C
see now there it is yeah
I'm like okay
uh huh uh huh
whatever works so like yeah
(56:51):
let's see if we can get that transitiony okay
(57:32):
OK OK OK
OK how was that better good
better than I was doing it when I first walked in
still finding that space
um and holding it there
yeah um
and I think I started to lose a little bit of artistry
because I was so focused on
of course yeah
yeah there's only so many things we can focus on
at the same time exactly
I feel like every time that I'm like
(57:53):
very focused while I'm practicing
I'm always like so dead face
and people are like she's a stage performer
I'm like no
this is not how I perform
I'm just oh
of course not yes
of course I'm just focusing hahaha
no 100% focus face yes
um it uh
it sounded nicely balanced
cool to me I
I believe this was
maybe 10% less chesty than what we were doing before
(58:15):
yeah I felt very mixy
do you agree that this is less than where we were at
in the first chorus yes
yes OK
yes good
I just wanna make sure I'm not making this up
uh but yeah
so and I don't wanna like keep uh
keep pushing your voice cause this
like this kind of work is like a lot
yeah uh
and it's the same thing here
as we did in the first course
(58:35):
so we don't need to like
do it again and again and again
something I can go home and do exactly tomorrow
yes not today
oh no
no tomorrow you have a gig
not tomorrow whenever you don't have a gig
okay cause I'll practice it on stage
yeah I'll be very mindful
and then I'll be dead face at this wedding
okay I love it
I mean don't but
um I mean
stage is not for practicing
(58:55):
no it's not
do as I say not as I do hahaha
me literally me
but okay uh
but yeah so uh
yeah you have the right tools now to
to get back into it
so I'll let you practice that on your own
thank you we were able to achieve that uh
and I know you can do it again
mm hmm I just
(59:15):
I just don't want to keep pushing
because we were already singing a lot
yeah uh
um the ending
how does the ending go
is there a lot more crazy stuff happening
no not really
um it's uh
there's like this head voice bridge that's like
alright show me
I wanna see yeah I wanna hear the week
(59:40):
Whoo
(01:00:09):
wow and it's like very soft ending ain't it funny how
(01:00:31):
oh yeah haha
I don't know how those OOS go
I make them up every single time
that was
I'll find something in a scaleular pattern here like
haha I mean
it worked whatever you did
it worked thank you
it was pretty it was very pretty
how did it feel good
good good good
you you were saying like
we've done so much singing
I want you to give you a break
and I'm like
this is probably the healthiest I've ever felt
(01:00:52):
like after like of a vocally taxing
OK hahaha
I'm like oh
we can keep going I feel great
but that's like
something that you have to pay the vocal fairy for
tomorrow so yes
you
you don't usually feel it right in the moment when done
right going to bed at night and you're like
oh my voice feels hot
do you do vocal cool downs sometimes yeah
not always
it depends on how vocally taxed I'm feeling at the end
(01:01:15):
okay I would recommend doing it every time
yeah every time
it doesn't hurt right
I usually do like a like a fifth like a
yeah nice
I used to have to carry a straw with me and do the yeah
the straw as obts um
with cup and water and stuff yeah
but love that that's good one
like yeah cool
yeah pretty much um
(01:01:37):
you can also like mostly head voice stuff too yeah
that's uh that feels nice
maybe like um
or a fifth or yeah
you could also do something like the
the scale itself like really doesn't matter
it's just the wee wee trying to reduce the inflammation
(01:02:02):
wee wee
yeah
and it's really not at all about controlling it right
like if there's cracks that's fine I like that
yeah yeah
yeah yeah yeah
(01:02:23):
wee wee great when you get down there easy
wee wee
do you hear how you're gonna wee
yeah like settle into it
yeah
wee wee
there it is yeah
keep your lyrics more neutral
gotcha alright
wee wee
(01:02:43):
yeah it's more speech like yes
keep it in speech like qualities and then the
what did you do wee yeah the
yeah
I love that
(01:03:11):
and I like doing this too because I can like feel
I'm like why like
why are you having tension during your cool down
you are literally cooling down like yeah
like yeah
the hard part's over girl relax
yes yes relax okay
these are the little Pep talks I give myself internally
yes do it
do it do it in my brain
(01:03:50):
that's plenty you don't need to go lower than that
yeah um
and you could also like to really finish it off
you could do some humming
yeah hmm
great
do you feel a difference at all between that one
and your V
um just I feel a little bit more open
(01:04:10):
a little more open I think
yeah and like the V's kind of resonate more in my
like pharynx area okay
where um
where the hmm is more like
it's still in that pharynx area
but it's lower it's like that more like upper larynx
yeah hmm
yeah it's
it's quite far yep
(01:04:31):
I was just gonna say it's quite far back
it sounds quite yawning
can you make it more speech like hmm
hmm ya
hmm
hmm hmm
yeah and you really don't have to go lower than that
(01:04:51):
on your cooldowns yeah
hmm just whatever feels speech like hmm okay
I like that
cause usually I'm doing like full game at like
to like the bottom of my brain yeah
yeah yeah
I don't need to do all that nope
nope not for a cool down
definitely not for a cool down yeah
okay speechless amazing
do you have any questions
I
I know that I'm gonna go home and ponder on all of this
(01:05:12):
for yeah
for a very very long time
thank you so much
you always teach me so much every time I'm here and I'm
I'm just like you're so welcome
I love it you're so welcome
obviously nerd out with you about vocal pedagogy
so yeah I know it's so much fun
obviously you know your stuff like
you know it's a
I try to
but I always tell my students I don't know everything
like sometimes neither do I
yeah exactly
I'm like nobody knows everything
(01:05:33):
so no yeah
um they always
I always it's always because like
I'll be like out one week because I'll be gigging
and they'll be like oh
I don't want a fill in instructor
I'm like take it from a fill in instructor anyways
you'll never know what you'll learn from somebody else
that you never Learned from me
and like I still take voice lessons
here's my proof you guys
I still take voice lessons
yeah I'm like
(01:05:53):
and nobody is the best either
like that's another thing
is that
the people who I see not go far in the industry
are the people who think well
this is my voice and this is what I have to work with
and I'm just gonna keep using it
I'm like no no
you are never at your final stage
you're never at that final level
so thank you so much for helping me
of course maybe not get to my final level
(01:06:14):
cause that means that I'm dead
but oh yeah
and we don't want that yeah
exactly but I would say
we are getting a lot closer to beating that final boss
in your video game ah
thank you like that was really
really really good
we found a really nice uh
mix spell t place there in that first course
now it's just a matter of practicing this again
(01:06:35):
and again and again so you can find it right
like that right
but that takes practice
we can't just expect to get it once and then always
that's just not how it works
no never
I wish it was but I mean
compared to you know
like when you first like
sang it the first time around to that first chorus
when we when we found that sweet spot
(01:06:56):
it's like oh my God
like this is miles different like right
so so
so good the way that I was singing it before
I would sing it like through twice and I'd be like
oh okay
now I'm now I gotta pay the vocal fairy
yeah exactly
and we don't want that so I would um
you know love to encourage you when you're practicing
that you're not just pushing through
and be like I just want to get the power
(01:07:17):
like stop yourself from doing that
as much as you possibly can
because every time you do it
it gets harder to find the right place again
right right
um or no
I don't love using the word right place
because who am I to say what's right and what's wrong
but the more sustainable place
yes right
so uh yeah
try and keep yourself from just pushing through anyways
(01:07:38):
right as much as you can right
so as soon as you feel yourself getting into that
if you are in a position where you can stop yourself
right stop yourself and try again instead of contain
containing
continuing through the rest of the chorus right
obviously when you're performing
it's a little different
we don't have that luxury but
but you did teach me some performing trick
performing tips like
(01:07:58):
when I start to feel like
that larynx is getting creeped up
like when you go to breathe yawn
yeah inhale through a yawn
that has helped me out so much
like anytime I feel like I'm just pushing and I like
don't know where my voice is going to go
it's yeah
and I know I'm about to crack
and I know I'm not gonna make these notes
it's a easy reset that you can do in 2 seconds
that completely can transform
(01:08:20):
the way that the rest of the song is gonna shake out
absolutely it's nice
absolutely so thank you
thank you so much anytime
anytime uh
let us know where can we find your stuff so
cause we can yeah absolutely
um I'm on TikTok
Rachel Beasley music um
I'm on Instagram at Beasley underscore Rachel um
and you can find the Indigos
(01:08:40):
that's my band at the Indigos music um
their latest single stand up
I wrote and sang lead on um
so yeah I'm super excited about that and very cool
and really just anywhere I'm like
maybe if you see me out in Indianapolis
singing at a wedding or singing with the endago
somewhere I'm I'm around
come say hi yeah
come say hi yeah
I love it awesome
(01:09:01):
I'll be sure to link to everything too
so they can find it easily anytime anytime
thank you for sharing your beautiful instrument with us
thank you and I appreciate it
of course anytime
and hopefully we'll be able to have you back soon
yeah that would be wonderful
Yay Awesome
Alrighty thanks for joining
thanks for tuning in everybody
and we'll catch you in the next episode bye
would love to see what happens
if we sing this chorus on that CC OK
but make it in a breathy chest voice
now let's add the lyrics back in and see what happens
(00:36):
OK same concept
now it's just with words OK
(01:12):
at home oh my God
I have so many goosebumps right now I'm gonna cry
hey Vox star and welcome to from singer to artist
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
(01:33):
at Vox App Studios
we help singers from all over the world
level up their voices
by teaching them the 3 fundamental skills
all singers need technique
awareness and artistry whether you're looking to go pro
or just develop your voice for fun
my team and I are here to help
check the link in the description
to book your first session
or grab some of our other resources
(01:53):
Alrighty are you ready
let's get started
it is time for another in person lesson
we are in the studio in my basement
hahaha together with Rachel Beasley welcome
hi thank you for having me
thank you so much for being here
of course I always love working with a fellow singer
artist and vocal coach too
yes
you have a huge background
(02:14):
you have a lot of experience
can you tell us just real quick
a little bit more about your singing experience
yeah so I I always like to make this joke that um
when I was born
I came out of the womb singing and not crying
yeah
I love it um
so I feel like I've been singing all my life
but I have more of a background in like musical theater
show choir you know
we do live in Indiana
so that's kind of a thing around the Midwest
(02:36):
yeah um
but then I went to college
um I did two years of music education
so I had a classical background
and then when I left
I started working for a music school that uh
taught a lot of rock and pop and like secular music
so I made that shift and then I joined um
a band here in town
and I started doing more rock and pop and um
(02:56):
I also joined a gospel group
so I did R&B as well cool
um just a little bit of everything
I think I think that's healthy for a singer
um yeah
just to get a little taste of everything
makes you more marketable
yeah oh
for sure well
especially
cause right before we started rolling the cameras
you were telling me that the next step
like something you'd like to explore is some
maybe some background vocals
(03:17):
yes studio vocals
session singer that kind of absolutely
that's like one of my favorite things to do
like I do love singing the covers
and getting into the spotlight every once in a while
that's super fun showing my chops
but what I really love to do is um
layer background vocal harmonies and be in the studio
and also sing background for um
touring artists
and that's something that I really wanna do more of um
(03:39):
and I'm just not quite sure what the next step is
because I live in Indianapolis
I've kind of been locked into this scene
yeah so I'm trying to break out a little bit
so if anybody
out there is looking for a background singer
hahaha willing to relocate yeah
OK there you go perfect
I love that I love that
well you know
being versatile having a bigger background with like
different genres
(03:59):
and all these different things that you did
is gonna be a really big asset for you
yes right
cause you don't have to go for just a certain kind of
background vocalist
or session singer you can kind of adapt to whatever
whatever you need to do and like I told you before
Coach Bree on our team is our versatility specialist
because she has also done background vocals
(04:20):
she knows how important it is to be versatile
for this kind of gig so I am super excited
we did a session together
this was over zoom though
yes that was a while ago too
I know wasn't like what
a year and a half ago yeah
maybe I think so
something like that I'd have to pull up my notes to
to know exactly but it's been a
minute and and now we get to work together in person
(04:41):
so I'm excited yeah
and I'd also like to add
it was only an hour long session
and she taught me things that stuck with me
and transformed the way that I sang
just in that hour
so thank you so much for that by the way
you're so very welcome
I'm so glad to hear that you know
I'm here to help so glad to hear it was helpful
absolutely awesome
(05:01):
so today we're gonna be working on in the kitchen
Renee rap you said earlier
that she's kind of like your final boss
in a video game that you just can't beat yes
absolutely every time I try to do one of her songs
I either like
I don't think I've ever 100% nailed one of her songs
I've been like 90 maybe 95%
but every single time I go to do one of her songs
(05:23):
there's always like
a sliver or a portion where I'm just like ugh
like I cannot get that into my muscle memory
I do not know where that placement is like
how does she do this so effortlessly
I feel like I'm trying so hard yeah
and I just I wanna make it a little bit effortless okay
yeah yeah
well let's make it happen
let's see what we got let's see what we got
(05:44):
let's see it
also we're in the height of allergy season
you just got a steroid shot for it
yes so that is something we want to keep in mind right
like
the voice is never 100% consistent and always spot on
because it's a
like your instrument is a part of your body
so things like allergies do affect your voice
so you know
be gentle with yourself you're delicate
(06:06):
yes yes yes yes yes
but um
I would say let's just stick right in
we'll go through maybe first person course
okay and then stop there and talk about it
yeah absolutely
see what we wanna do alright
yeah let's do it
(07:45):
all right oh
nice oh my gosh
that's great how do you feel scary
I don't know why it's scary
yeah I haven't done that song in a while
okay um
so I think going into it I
I like started to get those like oh
like my body was starting to have that like a
oh remember this song is hard reaction
(08:05):
and I was like like my breast support
I always tell my students
breast
support is the first thing to go when you're nervous
and boy did I feel it hahaha
um fair enough
but yeah and then obviously like the cracking
the trying to stay in that like
fair and jiggle placement
it was just really difficult for me
um and again
it sounds like
I require a lot of force to keep it there too
(08:25):
yeah I mean it's
yes I mean it's
it's so high and it stays there
yes that's the hard part right
it's not just like one note where you're going up
and then you're back down
yeah it like no
it just and it stays there
yeah and it stays there forever
and then you get to the second verse
and then you're back up there forever right
(08:47):
so this is really really hard to sing
um the big
the big thing that I noticed was
you know your verses
kind of like that pre chorus situation there
into your chorus was like
we went from like 30% volume to 90 or 95
right so it's like okay
(09:07):
how can we sing that chorus
with maybe just a little bit less volume
and also a little bit less effort
but that's the hardest part about it
yes when it's like yeah
you don't need to tell me that that's what we wanna do
I know
but I don't know how right
that's the that's the hardest
well that's why I'm here exactly
exactly that's why I wanna
we can work on this are you familiar with Jessie J
(09:27):
I am oh yo
yes hahaha Queen right
yes exactly
that's another one where I'm like
how I know oh
I'm in the same boat I'm absolutely in the same boat
there's this video of her where she is singing uh
bang bang da da da yeah
with a closed mouth have you ever seen that
no I haven't
hmm
yeah kind of like on the kind of like a pufferfish too
(09:50):
like yeah yeah
so uh
that's actually exactly what I wanna try with you
in this chorus yes
perfect just to remove all of the volume right
so basically
what we wanna do here is teach the vocal folds
how to hit these notes
without all of the force behind it right
right right
(10:11):
now there's a lot of volume
a lot of air a lot of compression in your vocal folds
right
your vocal folds are really coming together tightly
to make that sound so powerful
yes uh
and so a lot of times people say like
just reduce your breath which I'm like
yes and no um
no in the sense of
if there's not enough breath coming through
(10:31):
sometimes the vocal folds pinch together even more
and you get even more compression
and we want actually less compression
so instead of just thinking less breath
I like to think less compression
less vocal fold closure
essentially what it comes down to
right so we still have the flow
we still have the flow but we don't have the squeeze
(10:52):
mm hmm and that's why I wanna try it on this pufferfish
which absolutely you would love
I heard so haha
um my students
if you're watching pufferfish
you see where I got it from
yeah I love the pufferfish
for me personally I prefer it over lip troll
but you know whatever you like best is fine with me
(11:12):
so uh
before we do it in the song
let's just quickly turn it into an exercise absolutely
um let's try um
exactly yeah
it's just a
exactly yep one more time
(11:37):
nice yeah
alright we're just gonna go up by half step with this
(12:01):
great let's do that one more time yeah
okay this is your break right there
do you feel it yeah
so let's try just again one more time right
sometimes it takes like
a hot minute for the voice to get used to it
and be like how can I get this note out without force
right right
still flow but no force
flow but no force
(12:25):
yeah you found it on that last one let's do it again
(12:46):
good one more time
great
yeah do you hear slight vocal fry coming through there
when you're reattacking it
vocal fry happens when there's a lack of breath flow
okay so what we wanna focus on is more flow
get the breath out um
and just I was kind of stopping myself
(13:06):
I see it I see it
yep yep yep uh
and if you're if you're like
oh there's gonna be like
too much air coming out of my mouth
you can just put a little bit more quote on
quote tension on your lips right
not tension in the sense of like
I'm squeezing anything
but just making sure that the opening is really
really really quite small so that you feel more of
this back pressure
more of that s o v t effect semi occluded vocal tract
(13:28):
alright where are we here
that was not bad yeah
I kept the flow yeah
is it feeling okay in your throat
yeah it is and um
I noticed that I like when I
when we were at my break
and I started having that vocal fry
or that lack of um flow um
(13:50):
I just remembered to relax my larynx
kind of gave it a little bit more of a open sense
versus like
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
just making sure it doesn't get stuck up there
yes exactly yeah okay
open it up and relax
that is really great feedback for me
thank you for telling me that
cause now we can adjust the exercise based on that
to make sure that it's not gonna get stuck up there
(14:12):
so I love working with vocal coaches
like this is so fun for me
I do too because you can tell me what you're
what you're adjusting and what you're feeling
and then I'm like okay
let's make that happen I'm like this is so much fun
yes and when you're working with more beginner singers
they don't really know what it is they're doing
so it's it makes my job a little bit harder
but either way we can all learn right
(14:33):
exactly so when it comes to larynx right
like you feel like it's kind of getting stuck up there
and I just want to make sure it's like
huh huh
giving myself the space obviously
when you go up in pitch your layrings will go up
right as when you're singing contemporary stuff right
that is normal
we just want to make sure that it doesn't get stuck
that that's the important part
so to practice that doing interval jumps is great
(14:55):
so instead of BA BA BA reattacking the same note
we're gonna jump back and forth between different notes
alright so actually
we're gonna go down just a little bit
to make that adjustment so you're gonna go um
(15:18):
great feel free to add like those boop boop boop
so you're basically stopping your breath a little bit
not stopping it your breath in the sense of it
like you're always exhaling
but your lips completely stop it for like a millisecond
OK right
so yeah oh here boop boop boop boop
(15:41):
this one's hard yes
I know I'm like
I'm like trying to keep the air flow
but also like stop I don't know
it's a weird like mind trick but I'mma try again
I feel like I'm doing too much right here like okay
yeah
yeah just make it a little littler OK
(16:06):
yeah
that's it that's it
what was the adjustment you made
um I just stopped
I was doing a lot of like
like of the abrupt stopping
yep and I kind of put less force behind it
and I was trying to let the
the flow happen but like instead of boom
boom boom
like move my entire face yeah
(16:27):
I was just trying to close my lips just in the lips
very very slightly very
very slightly perfect alright
um one more time here
boom boom boom
(17:01):
one more boom boom
okay how's it feeling
good good good good
that was pretty good that was pretty good
nice and smooth yes
um obviously
it's incredibly difficult to stay in like
a chest dominant sound up on that sound um
yeah it wasn't very chesty
which is where I was like
kind of trying to keep it before
(17:22):
but I think it was easier for me just to flip into that
like mixy head voice range um
is there a way to make that chest dominant
is it just trying like yeah
just keep trying um
it's it's mostly a mental thing right
if you're like ah
I wanna make sure I'm not getting too heady uh
or too mixy you wanna make it more chest dominant
(17:43):
then it's really just a mental note of like alright
I'm gonna try and make it more chest dominant
because you're gonna change it at a vocal fold level
uh huh and that's what I like about this exercise yeah
you can't use your resonance and like
all this other stuff that happens after your
sound gets produced uh huh
to modify the sound right right
yeah you mean we're basically training the vocal folds
(18:05):
right
not everything else that goes into singing here too
okay
and that's something
that I don't really hear a lot about
so that's interesting yeah
I mean a lot of times we do like symptom treatment
right in the sense of like
open your mouth more or open your mouth less
or whatever we seen the TikToks
we see the TikToks hahaha
(18:27):
um you know
you know what I'm talking about
I'm glad I'm not the only one
uh but uh
I with singers
like you and me'cause we're very much the same
I mean not the same
but very similar yes
uh we need to make sure that down here is already
not happening too much stuff right
um and closing the mouth helps
(18:51):
focus the energy on your throat
on your vocal folds right
and not everything else then too
right cause you don't need more power right
we need to control the power
so when
and I know you've had vocal nodules in the past too
when the way that I fixed
putting that pressure on my vocal cords was
I was putting a lot of emphasis on um
placement and where things are resonating okay
(19:12):
um but I've never thought of it as like
training
the actual vocal folds to do what you want them to do
I always just kind of
assumed that they were going to do whatever
and you had to be the manufacturer of yeah
where that sound was coming from
so yeah
well it's a little bit of both yeah right
it's there's always a million things that are happening
(19:33):
at the same time in singing
it's like patting your head
rubbing your tummy
and doing a cartwheel at the same time
yes oh my god
learning how to sing is like good luck
yes pretty much
pretty much um
but at the same time
we don't want to overcomplicate it either right
but placement obviously goes into it
but I think with you
it's more the vocal fold level that we need to train
right now cause you have the other stuff figured out
(19:54):
talking about figuring it out at a vocal fold level
another thing we can practice too is breathy singing
did we did we do that in our session
yeah yeah
um that again is just gonna help decompress
the first verse was kind of like right
like when I was singing yeah
oh okay
so that was actually something I was gonna mention
(20:14):
but I wanted to focus on the
on the chorus first but now that you're bringing it up
I might as well say it uh
I actually think you can make the verse
a whole lot breathier than you did really
okay sometimes I lose my support when I do that okay
is there talk to me
what's your definition for support
um I run out of air really fast
you run out of breath yes OK
I would say I feel like I'm singing through a breath
(20:35):
and because I'm doing that
it's kind of like the consonant H where you have to ha
like release a lot of air just to make it happen
is there a way to not do that
absolutely
listen to Billie Eilish
she is a master class on this stuff
her phrases are incredibly long
and she's singing in a breathy voice
and it's like girl
how are you not running out of breath
(20:56):
how is this possible uh
so yes there is absolutely a way to make that happen
you all
you need to do is train your vocal folds to not
over open right
right cause when you're singing in a breathy voice
your vocal folds are shaped like a V
they vibrate against each other
when you're singing with a breathy voice
they don't close completely
there's a little bit of a gap
so more air is leaking through right
and so all we need to do is make that gap
(21:18):
only as big as we have to make it
to still sound breathy OK
right yeah
and we also don't have to like
go like sound incredibly super breathy
just a little bit is enough to give you that
I call it like a broken quality
right and broken in the best sense
no I like that emotional broken
(21:38):
exactly exactly exactly
and um
and so I actually think that in the verse
we could explore that even more
and do even less in the verse okay
uh and then in the chorus
when you're practicing a breathy voice uh
it's gonna help you again to like
decompress your vocal fold
so they're not squeezing together so tightly okay
(21:59):
and um
and then all we need to do is figure out
how can we keep that same feeling of flow again
the vocal folds are letting the air come through
but they're closing completely and there's no gap
no right
yeah but again
we're still using the breath okay right
um anyways
going back to the boom boom boom yeah
boom that part um
(22:21):
you wanna make it chestier
okay let's try it on a pop
a pop uh huh okay
what were you gonna say
oh I was just gonna ask if it was like a mental thing
but but now yeah
but now I'm like oh
there's another thing for this
see this is why I love vocal pedagogy hahaha
there's always something for it
yeah there's always something
yes and if you don't know it
(22:42):
somebody else does yeah
yeah oh
so I mean with
with if you want to stay on a pufferfish
it really mostly is just a mental thing okay
um but we can use like a pop exercise
like a pop pop pop
for example um
I just chose a fifth you can do something else
it really doesn't matter what you do um
but uh
(23:03):
that is gonna give you a little bit more
of that power that you're looking for um
but we just need to make
hmm actually in your case
we might want to modify that to a
we're gonna do CC
C C C
C C and we're gonna do it twice in a row
(23:24):
yes the compared to the sound
the compared to the gives you more flow
more breath flow right
the
can sometimes be a little bit of a pressure launch pad
and then we're what exactly
then we're working too hard again
then we're working too hard again
so let's let's try it on a CC instead also
I changed it to E instead of ah
(23:45):
like pop versus C OK
because ah is very open and the more open it is
the more force you're gonna use to push the notes out
see you can't really do that
so I want you to stay small in your mouth on purpose
just again so we can train the vocal folds down there
right alright
we're doing twice in a row C
C C C actually three times C
(24:07):
C C C C C C C alright
C C C C C C C C nice
and we're just gonna do it nice and quick one more time
C C
(24:28):
don't slow down OK
C C C C C C C C OK see see
see see
see see
see great OK
see see uh
can you relax your mouth a little more
yes one more time maybe I can
I don't know I'm like
I'm a terrible I'm like
I'm such a smiley person I'm like
I need to stop I'm serious
(24:49):
it's not that serious I promise no
now it's never gonna be relaxed
sorry sorry
no you're good
you're good I'm sorry
see C
C C C C
C C
there you go right
we're just trying to do as little as possible right
Alrighty one more time
C C
C C C
C C
(25:10):
C C C C C C
C C C
see see see
see see
see see alright
it's getting mixier up here
do you feel it mm hmm
alright
see see see
see he
he
OK see
see see
see see see see great
OK now split the difference OK
(25:33):
C C C C C
C C
that was better OK
yes there's less push behind it
do you feel that yes
yeah yes
yes yes
yes one more time
5% less C
C C C
C C C great
I want you to treat the top note
the same as you do the bottom note
so it's not C C
C C
like punching that top note
but more even throughout got you
C see
see see
(25:54):
see see see
that's hard I'm finding it
I'm like I'm like
it's there I'm finding it
you are you are you are you doing it
this is where practice practice
practice comes into play yes baby
I'm finding it I'm finding it alright
see see
see see
see yes yeah yeah
can you shake your head while you're doing it
(26:14):
yeah see
see see see see
see see see
oh you ate with that hahaha
so the reason why I asked you to do it is
because I'm seeing some veins
and some muscles popping out here
in the side of your neck
and I saw that while you were singing too
and doing this is a symptom treatment again
okay right
so it's again it's always a little bit of both
(26:36):
we always got to do a little bit of everything
but that's great
so now we're combining the symptom treatment and the um
like right
finding the root cause of it and working on that too
and you know what um
I like recently lost a bunch of weight
and I never noticed you
I could never see the veins popping out of my neck
but in my recent videos I would see that and I'm like
(26:58):
oh I wonder if that's bad
haha it's pressure
yes exactly
which is what I don't want
and that's what I'm like ooh
like I'm hitting the notes and it's sounding good
but I look like I'm really trying for it
yeah I'm like okay
well and
but it's also different from person to person uh
like
I remember I had a check in session with one of Coach
(27:20):
Emily's students and she was like
just a heads up
she looks like she has a lot of neck tension
she doesn't
that's just her neck exactly
and so it just really kind of depends on the person
but yeah veins
uh usually are a sign of like that
there's a lot of pressure right
and where is that pressure coming from
(27:42):
the vocal folds right
so when you're picking up something really heavy
what do you do huh
that is a lot of pressure that's building up internally
so that you can lift this heavy thing right
it's a natural bodily function that we perform
same when you go to the bathroom right huh
yeah so maybe not like that
but you know you know what I mean
I'm with you I'm with you OK
(28:04):
OK thank you
thank you and so it's uh
it's that kind of pressure
it's the same thing
and we do that by closing the vocal folds really firmly
really tightly and so there's no breath coming through
there's no leak right
that's how you get more strength
and so in singing it's a similar issue
or actually pretty much exactly the same thing
(28:24):
which is also why
make sure that you're not squeezing your ABS
when you sing
I struggle with that a lot hahaha
so that is interesting yeah
so if you're working with a head dominant singer
like more like a songbird kind of singer
somebody who's
struggling with getting enough power into it
I'm all for it because that's gonna help them
get more vocal full closure
(28:45):
good to know
but in your case and my case
no no no no no
no no squeezing the ABS
no squeezing the ABS it might be helpful in the moment
but it ain't sustainable that's why I kind of like
looked at you like a deer in headlights
cause I was like
I've definitely told and it was like my singer song
songbird everything in head voice type of students yeah
I've definitely told my students squeeze their ABS oh
(29:06):
I have too I'm like
wait no no no
I have two I have two
and that's what makes yeah
that's what makes vocal coaching so difficult
because we're all different
and what's gonna work for one person is not gonna
work for another
and so you have to kind of know who's in front of you
yeah hahaha
um but because you and I are very similar singer
it's very easy for me to know what's gonna work for you
(29:28):
and what's not gonna work for you
because it's what worked for me looking in the mirror
yeah exactly exactly um so we're doing the CCC
yeah just make sure you're not squeezing your ABS okay
and uh
focus on flow and can I do that head shake
the head shake exactly wherever we were
(29:49):
maybe here I think we were here
see see
see see see
see see
I'm still flipping over that break though
yep yeah
exactly so just think 5% chestier okay
see see
see see
see alright
we're gonna go down a little bit
it's hard to start start right up there
so we're gonna just go down a little bit
(30:10):
and when you think think chest voice but quiet OK
right like we wanna make it 5% chestier
but we don't wanna be loud right
OK alright
see see see
see
great and make sure you're not going see see
see see
like smiling on the top note
keep the mouth shape the same see
(30:47):
see great one more time see
see that's actually pretty good
start adding the head shake though
see
(31:12):
see okay
okay okay okay
I'm like I'm getting up there hahaha
I'm like starting to smile a little bit
I was like hmm
I am I was very impressed with what you just did oh
thank you just saying how did it feel
better than it has in the past for sure okay um
there was one of the things um
that I realized was not only am I squeezing my ABS
(31:35):
but I'm also like tightening my butt yeah
yeah and once I like once I relaxed my butt
it became easier
like everything kind of opened up on that
in that like pelvic floor region
where I didn't have to
it wasn't just my ABS that were squeezing
it was everything
I call it when I'm teaching my students
I call it the inner tube
it was everything in my inner tube was
(31:56):
was getting squeezed up and I was like
I had to relax the full inner tube not just the ABS
yeah I mean you can always add like a little
a little shake or some sort of movement
movement helps relax yeah
the body um
that was really good though
anything else you noticed um
I'm trying to think now I know how my students feel
(32:19):
yeah I know it's hard to be in the reverse roles
how'd that feel good
and I just stare at them like
no thanks that's helpful okay
what was good about it use your singing words
yes yes
no it's
it's hard it's hard
I struggle with it too like yeah
when when my voice teacher asked me how was that
I'm like good like
oh damn it that was not very helpful feedback
we went all the way up to E wonderful 5
(32:41):
which is higher than what you have to do in the song
yes OK
we only have to go to d right
so that's a good thing um
you did not like it to me
it didn't sound yellie shouty
anything like that on these top notes right
sounded more controlled I looked at your mouth too
you did not start opening your mouth a lot more
which again it's like alright
(33:01):
now we're making sure that this down here
is getting figured out that's something you taught me
yeah and that lesson a while ago
is that to not give the big open mouth all the time
yeah exactly to help that works for some singers
does not work for everybody
if you do this with singers like you and me
we just start yelling right
yup
it's true it's true
it absolutely is but again
(33:22):
songbird singers who should squeeze their
not should but
sometimes it's helpful
when they squeeze their apps a little bit
it can also be helpful to open the mouth more
it's really kind of depends on the person um when
let's before we do breathy stuff
let's just see where we're at now for the chorus
and see what happens alright um
we're gonna do the entire chorus in CC okay
(33:44):
okay yeah
where does the chorus start
do you know I don't even know
somewhere here oh yeah
right here okay
love it am I still
yeah love it
love it love it
you're doing great you're doing great
cool 20% less volume
cool
a little bit for the back
yeah oh sorry
(34:05):
hold on
I think
see see
see see
I just feel like I like I know I'm like
if I give that less volume
my voice automatically wants to go into that head range
I know this is the hard part yes
this is the hard part so see
see see
(34:27):
oh it's a B flat too
it's the worst note I hate the B flat
I hate it isn't it funny how like
B flat and B
are harder to sing than like d and E up there
it's like what
yes but yeah
no I know yeah see
(34:48):
see see
I'm trying to like find that space
shake their head see see
ooh
c c
uh huh uh huh
c c
I didn't get a good breath
can you can you
can you can you just quickly give me a sigh
huh huh
great reset the lyrics
(35:09):
yes and flow
huh huh
okay no
no I'm yawning
yeah hey
good luck
you're gonna be yawning for the next 15 minutes exactly
uh can you give me a C
C C
C C C
make it super breathy C
C C
(35:30):
there it is one more time
c c c great
c C
C C
CC
can you make the note 10% breathier
yeah CC
great now do it in a breathy chest voice
(35:53):
CC
OK OK OK
we're doing something we're getting somewhere
that was actually quite good
oh I like teaching while standing
I start doing like weird I do weird hops
usually I sit when I teach
it's like oh
this is fun movement I love it uh
that was good how did that feel better
OK better
um
I still feel like I want to slip into that head voice
(36:15):
reason region but I am starting to find that placement
where it's like nope
keep it there like yes
yes yes
yes c
c c C
and now I'm opening my mouth CC
that's pretty good that's pretty good
I uh
would love to see what happens
if we sing this chorus on that CC OK
(36:36):
but make it in a breathy chest voice as much as
as much as possible OK
you're probably gonna crack yeah
probably yeah
and that's okay yes okay
we're practicing it is you're right
you're right uh
and so yeah that see
see that kind of sound right
(37:13):
holy shit okay hahaha
how was that good
good good
good feels very mixy
but I that's good I think yeah
yes that's good
yes baby yes baby
that we have problem with that Passaggio range
is that I want to either pull out that chest voice
and give it the force or I need to just like mix
you just turned it from a yelling belt
(37:33):
e sound into a mixed belt congratulations
thank you ah
that sounded so good good
good hahaha I love that
how did it feel physically good good
oh my gosh so much less force okay
so much less force
can you hear how that is still powerful
yes
yes I can yes
yes yes
(37:54):
I know I know
I had to think about it for a second
but I'm like yes
especially cause I was thinking about it
within the context of the song
I was like
when you first asked that question
I was like no
because of how I was used to singing it
but then when I was thinking it
within the full context of the song with those like
softer verses and stuff I'm like
oh yes never mind yes
no 100%
I see it
if you compare it to what you were doing before yes
(38:17):
this is a lot less powerful right
but if we don't look at that
if we pretend like that never happened
mm hmm and you're just objectively looking at
or listening to what that just sounded like
uh huh like yeah no
that's plenty powerful
I don't know why you would want to do more than that
right'cause everything more from here
more power
more volume is just gonna cost you more effort
(38:40):
and it's not gonna get you a better result actually
quite the contrary it's gonna sound less good
you're gonna have to pay the vocal fairy
have you ever heard that
the vocal fairy have you ever heard that analogy
oh my gosh like I I use like vocal dollars yes
but I never heard about the vocal fairy
the
the vocal fairy comes down and gives you those dollars
okay
and then you then once you when you're pushing too hard
(39:01):
you go into vocal debt
and you have to pay the vocal fairy
by going on vocal rest or
oh my God that's cute I'm stealing that yes
please I am so stealing that that was so good though
that's where we wanna live
so talk to me
what were you thinking about when you were doing it um
I definitely oddly enough
(39:23):
I was focusing less on placement and more on that
like having the vocal folds hit evenly um
through that breathiness
and I think because I was less focused on okay
I'm gonna place it in chest
and now I'm gonna mix it here
and now I'm gonna do this and now I'm gonna do that
it happened effortlessly and seamlessly um
(39:44):
in a way that I'm not used to
so we
I love it I love it
and the thing is like you didn't even sound breathy
right and
and that's the goal like we
we think about singing in a breathy voice
so that we can focus on the flow of it right
the seamlessness of it the smoothness of it uh
but it doesn't actually sound breathy right oh
(40:08):
let's do that again
(40:46):
yeah yeah
I was like gonna do it haha
it felt good haha
good good good good good
good wonderful
and especially for the first chorus
this is plenty OK right
like yes
we could we could maybe say like
alright for the second chorus
we maybe add 5% more right
yes but I'd rather go exactly
I'd rather have you do just a little bit less now
(41:07):
like what you were doing just now
yes that's perfect OK
doing that
because as soon as you start adding the lyrics
what's gonna happen
we start doing more again right
so I'd rather have you practice it in this mixy
place like you called it it's a very chest dominant
mixy place where you're at right now
um and then
now let's add the lyrics back in and see what happens
(41:29):
okay same concept now it's just with words okay
(42:05):
oh my God I have so many goosebumps right now
I'm gonna cry
I feel like I was completely dead face
cause I was like focusing very hard
I'm like stay here
stay here I wish I could show you my legs right now
I have so many goosebumps on my legs
I usually get goosebumps on my legs instead of my arms
I don't know why but holy
oh and oh my God
and that feels sustainable too
(42:26):
no shit Sherlock
oh that was spicy
that was good how do you feel good
good sustainable
like I mean
I mean
I feel like I could sing a three hour set like that
and usually for like
the sets that I do that have those harder songs
usually by the end of three hours I'm like
yeah of course
gotta pay the vocal fairy
(42:46):
yeah yeah
and then shut up for the next three days right
literally oh my God
that was so good
that was no really literally
that was amazing oh
I'm so excited and I loved watching your mouth too
cause you went from this to
(43:09):
it's just like whatever right
yeah um
you know how like this chorus is kind of
has kind of like two parts yes
kind of like almost like repeats
yes yes
um the second part
you started working a little bit harder
with your mouth uh huh
you had just like yeah
it was just more stuff happening in your mouth
did you notice the difference
I didn't notice the difference in my mouth
but I noticed that
(43:30):
I started feeling tension in that inner tube spot
and I started relaxing it
and then
but I didn't realize that I was doing it with my mouth
too
no but you caught like you
like when that second half of the chorus started
that's when your mouth started doing more again
and then it stopped again towards the end of it
so that's probably when you started relaxing
(43:52):
this down here
interesting right
so the mouth was trying to compensate
for what was happening yes
in your ABS slash butt region
yeah in your inner tube
it's cool to have somebody who knows
like with eyes on me tell me that
cause I'm like
I didn't even notice my mouth was doing that
I felt it down here yeah yeah
oh crazy
I love the voice I know
(44:14):
that was so good thank you
honestly I wish I could sing that like that
that was awesome that was
that was really really
really really
really good if you tell me you like that
I'm happy with that I do like that
yes I do like that for sure
(44:52):
I don't remember the words
and I'm also losing that placement
yep yep yep yep yep yep
you started seeing the panic on your face a little bit
yeah I was like oh wait
how do I transition this yes
so that part mm hmm
do you want to build more there or no
I would like to build more there
yes OK
(45:18):
okay
so that part
let's just try it on CCC and see what happens
maybe that is already enough maybe not
let's see
I think it's like not so much finding the placement
but finding the placement coming out of that chest
like asking me where the hell you've been
(45:41):
cause like I said I was a placement queen
and now I'm like
trying to transition from less from that
and now I'm like finding it hard to find that place
yeah without being like
now I'm transitioning to fair and Gill yeah
yeah
and now I'm squeezing and now oh my gosh
everything is falling apart
yes yes yes
(46:02):
um I usually say like the more similar we can keep it
like in placement and in registration and all of that
the easier it's gonna get to sing it yes
cause you are not hopping all over the place OK
um but yeah
the CC might help with it yeah
let's let's just see what happens with that
(46:33):
yeah I already saw it yeah
I'm also seeing you do this a little bit
yeah
and that's the inner tube and that's the butt squeezing
yeah sure is um
can you just get a little bit more into your knees
and just do a little bit of a shake
while you're doing it yeah exactly
(47:02):
okay there's
this is these are long phrases yes yeah
I'm like um
how was that good better than
better than the last time okay
which is the name of the game
so yes
yeah and did you want to make that more powerful
or are we happy with this I
I think I'm happy with that yeah
(47:23):
I don't think it needs it yeah
I was gonna say cause then it's gonna build from there
on top of it already and it's already building
so exactly I don't wanna give it
don't work harder than you have to
90% and then have to go back to 70 yeah
exactly yes
yes yes yes
um
cool let's just do that again yeah
but on the words this time yeah okay
(47:44):
focus on flow Ben
when you play
(48:06):
great can we just for artistry's sake
yes can we try and sing a tell me you love me yeah
like do that in a breathy voice
yeah first of all
it's gonna be easier to sing love
second of all it creates more contrast
so it is more interesting to listen to cool
so whenever you sing that two weeks in
(48:29):
or however exactly goes the high note
yeah in a brassy voice
let's try that acapella just real quick told me
I'm doing a lot of mouth work
yeah yeah
and there's a lot of breath
when you're doing it in a breathy voice right
yeah can we keep the same feeling of flow
(48:50):
and reduce the breathiness on that
a little bit yes
yes and then can we do all over
over
(49:11):
yeah right
so that not all of them are up in a breathy head voice
slash falsetto over and over I did it again over
okay uh
we're gonna open up a little bit more on that
cause otherwise the vowels sounds a little over yeah
yeah oh over
(49:39):
cool one more time
great is that note sustained a little bit
like you were just doing it
no okay
so over and over oh
it is actually just like a teeny bit over and cool
now the top note 10% less volume just on the top note
(50:00):
what is that note oh
I'm not gonna tell you
I was gonna say is that is that a B flat
that's why I was like
sometimes it's better when we don't know what it is
you are so right you are so right um
over okay
so we're kind of going over and down yeah
(50:20):
that that was more Yellie than what you were doing
but there's a a lot of push on that top note okay
over and
did you feel that yeah right
yeah huh
(50:42):
huh
over and Nova I feel like that was a lot
that was a lot it sounded great
but it was a lot yes
exactly and that's not the name of the game
so try just assign one time
huh yeah huh
over and over over and over
(51:03):
one more time over and over
there it is over and over
don't start doing more than you have to
one more time over and
yes yes
okay that's really quite beautiful
how does it feel better okay over and done
(51:26):
yeah you're doing that over right
like you're
you're singing two notes on it versus over and
do you want it to be what
I think it's two notes in the track
but do you want it to be one note
I liked what you just did
okay cool
um and if that
if you like that and it feels good
I'm happy with it
(51:47):
I just sometimes like to point things out that you do
not necessarily yeah
to change it but just to make sure you're aware
of what it is you're doing cool
but yeah that was good I'm told
no no
no no no
I'll do whatever you ask
thank you you can just keep me in this basement
lock you in exactly
(52:07):
I'll throw you scraps down every so often
no as long as I get a lesson here and there
I'm cool well hey
we have our indoor garden right over there
you can feed yourself I'm self sustained
yeah
I love it um
let's try that again with the lyrics
oh you look yeah
you're good you're good
tell me you love me right this
(52:28):
oh tell me you love me
love don't switch to love
okay told me you love me
there we go you ain't with that
okay that's good alright
(52:58):
and over oh
I did this look again that's OK
you were focused on something else
yes exactly
but that was pretty good OK
um the two weeks in
mm hmm um
I like the hold on
I like the Tommy breathy then the two
(53:21):
uh can you make that just heady uh
instead of breathy yes
because it's a really long phrase
and I don't want you to run out of breath
and that's how I feel every time I'm saying this phrase
I'm like I'm trying to be breathy
but so basically the first high note is breathy OK
the second high note is just in a head voice
like soft head voice but not breathy because of breath
(53:42):
haha um
because it's a long phrase
and then that last note over the last high note
um we're more mixy okay right
so every high note gets a little more intense
okay as we go through it gotcha
(54:07):
that was actually not bad
yeah I was like
I liked it I just didn't do what I wanted to do
you know what I mean yeah
I was like okay
that one was good that one was good
that one was good and I flipped again
Dang it yeah
yeah yeah
um when you're getting up to that note um
focus on creating space in the back
so okay
the last breath that you can take before the
over and over yeah inhale through a yawn
(54:30):
ah yes okay
so it's gonna give you the space
so you don't feel the need to flip as much let's try it
(54:55):
sorry I distracted you but yes
no no
it's okay I needed to look at the words no
but beautifully adjusted okay
and wonderful uh
what's the word I'm looking for
yeah adjusted and yeah
executed uh
thank you yeah
I saw you going like right
so really inhale through that yawn
but it was so good and it solved the problem right
(55:17):
and it gave me the breath of life
because that's like a quick inhale right
but like when you inhale through a yawn
you can get so much more in
it's still it's still a quality breath
I always say like quality over quantity um
it like gives me the quantity that I need
while still keeping it quality
and it also opens me in a good open place
so exactly
exactly just gives you a little bit more space
(55:38):
your larynx is not stuck up high
and then you don't feel the need as much to flip right
a lot of let's keep going
(56:09):
in the living room yes yes
so we got it back into back into the chorus
before we get back into that
the rest feeling good
good good good
yeah feeling good okay
so I'll dance C
C C
C
C C C
a little breath here C
C C
(56:30):
there it is I can you
I like know that I
I know that I have it cause I can like feel it
I don't know if I have a deviated septum or what
but I can feel it like vibrating in my right nostril
like right OK
I'm like I love it yeah
I love that C
C C
C C
see now there it is yeah
I'm like okay
uh huh uh huh
whatever works so like yeah
(56:51):
let's see if we can get that transitiony okay
(57:32):
OK OK OK
OK how was that better good
better than I was doing it when I first walked in
still finding that space
um and holding it there
yeah um
and I think I started to lose a little bit of artistry
because I was so focused on
of course yeah
yeah there's only so many things we can focus on
at the same time exactly
I feel like every time that I'm like
(57:53):
very focused while I'm practicing
I'm always like so dead face
and people are like she's a stage performer
I'm like no
this is not how I perform
I'm just oh
of course not yes
of course I'm just focusing hahaha
no 100% focus face yes
um it uh
it sounded nicely balanced
cool to me I
I believe this was
maybe 10% less chesty than what we were doing before
(58:15):
yeah I felt very mixy
do you agree that this is less than where we were at
in the first chorus yes
yes OK
yes good
I just wanna make sure I'm not making this up
uh but yeah
so and I don't wanna like keep uh
keep pushing your voice cause this
like this kind of work is like a lot
yeah uh
and it's the same thing here
as we did in the first course
(58:35):
so we don't need to like
do it again and again and again
something I can go home and do exactly tomorrow
yes not today
oh no
no tomorrow you have a gig
not tomorrow whenever you don't have a gig
okay cause I'll practice it on stage
yeah I'll be very mindful
and then I'll be dead face at this wedding
okay I love it
I mean don't but
um I mean
stage is not for practicing
(58:55):
no it's not
do as I say not as I do hahaha
me literally me
but okay uh
but yeah so uh
yeah you have the right tools now to
to get back into it
so I'll let you practice that on your own
thank you we were able to achieve that uh
and I know you can do it again
mm hmm I just
(59:15):
I just don't want to keep pushing
because we were already singing a lot
yeah uh
um the ending
how does the ending go
is there a lot more crazy stuff happening
no not really
um it's uh
there's like this head voice bridge that's like
alright show me
I wanna see yeah I wanna hear the week
(59:40):
Whoo
(01:00:09):
wow and it's like very soft ending ain't it funny how
(01:00:31):
oh yeah haha
I don't know how those OOS go
I make them up every single time
that was
I'll find something in a scaleular pattern here like
haha I mean
it worked whatever you did
it worked thank you
it was pretty it was very pretty
how did it feel good
good good good
you you were saying like
we've done so much singing
I want you to give you a break
and I'm like
this is probably the healthiest I've ever felt
(01:00:52):
like after like of a vocally taxing
OK hahaha
I'm like oh
we can keep going I feel great
but that's like
something that you have to pay the vocal fairy for
tomorrow so yes
you
you don't usually feel it right in the moment when done
right going to bed at night and you're like
oh my voice feels hot
do you do vocal cool downs sometimes yeah
not always
it depends on how vocally taxed I'm feeling at the end
(01:01:15):
okay I would recommend doing it every time
yeah every time
it doesn't hurt right
I usually do like a like a fifth like a
yeah nice
I used to have to carry a straw with me and do the yeah
the straw as obts um
with cup and water and stuff yeah
but love that that's good one
like yeah cool
yeah pretty much um
(01:01:37):
you can also like mostly head voice stuff too yeah
that's uh that feels nice
maybe like um
or a fifth or yeah
you could also do something like the
the scale itself like really doesn't matter
it's just the wee wee trying to reduce the inflammation
(01:02:02):
wee wee
yeah
and it's really not at all about controlling it right
like if there's cracks that's fine I like that
yeah yeah
yeah yeah yeah
(01:02:23):
wee wee great when you get down there easy
wee wee
do you hear how you're gonna wee
yeah like settle into it
yeah
wee wee
there it is yeah
keep your lyrics more neutral
gotcha alright
wee wee
(01:02:43):
yeah it's more speech like yes
keep it in speech like qualities and then the
what did you do wee yeah the
yeah
I love that
(01:03:11):
and I like doing this too because I can like feel
I'm like why like
why are you having tension during your cool down
you are literally cooling down like yeah
like yeah
the hard part's over girl relax
yes yes relax okay
these are the little Pep talks I give myself internally
yes do it
do it do it in my brain
(01:03:50):
that's plenty you don't need to go lower than that
yeah um
and you could also like to really finish it off
you could do some humming
yeah hmm
great
do you feel a difference at all between that one
and your V
um just I feel a little bit more open
(01:04:10):
a little more open I think
yeah and like the V's kind of resonate more in my
like pharynx area okay
where um
where the hmm is more like
it's still in that pharynx area
but it's lower it's like that more like upper larynx
yeah hmm
yeah it's
it's quite far yep
(01:04:31):
I was just gonna say it's quite far back
it sounds quite yawning
can you make it more speech like hmm
hmm ya
hmm
hmm hmm
yeah and you really don't have to go lower than that
(01:04:51):
on your cooldowns yeah
hmm just whatever feels speech like hmm okay
I like that
cause usually I'm doing like full game at like
to like the bottom of my brain yeah
yeah yeah
I don't need to do all that nope
nope not for a cool down
definitely not for a cool down yeah
okay speechless amazing
do you have any questions
I
I know that I'm gonna go home and ponder on all of this
(01:05:12):
for yeah
for a very very long time
thank you so much
you always teach me so much every time I'm here and I'm
I'm just like you're so welcome
I love it you're so welcome
obviously nerd out with you about vocal pedagogy
so yeah I know it's so much fun
obviously you know your stuff like
you know it's a
I try to
but I always tell my students I don't know everything
like sometimes neither do I
yeah exactly
I'm like nobody knows everything
(01:05:33):
so no yeah
um they always
I always it's always because like
I'll be like out one week because I'll be gigging
and they'll be like oh
I don't want a fill in instructor
I'm like take it from a fill in instructor anyways
you'll never know what you'll learn from somebody else
that you never Learned from me
and like I still take voice lessons
here's my proof you guys
I still take voice lessons
yeah I'm like
(01:05:53):
and nobody is the best either
like that's another thing
is that
the people who I see not go far in the industry
are the people who think well
this is my voice and this is what I have to work with
and I'm just gonna keep using it
I'm like no no
you are never at your final stage
you're never at that final level
so thank you so much for helping me
of course maybe not get to my final level
(01:06:14):
cause that means that I'm dead
but oh yeah
and we don't want that yeah
exactly but I would say
we are getting a lot closer to beating that final boss
in your video game ah
thank you like that was really
really really good
we found a really nice uh
mix spell t place there in that first course
now it's just a matter of practicing this again
(01:06:35):
and again and again so you can find it right
like that right
but that takes practice
we can't just expect to get it once and then always
that's just not how it works
no never
I wish it was but I mean
compared to you know
like when you first like
sang it the first time around to that first chorus
when we when we found that sweet spot
(01:06:56):
it's like oh my God
like this is miles different like right
so so
so good the way that I was singing it before
I would sing it like through twice and I'd be like
oh okay
now I'm now I gotta pay the vocal fairy
yeah exactly
and we don't want that so I would um
you know love to encourage you when you're practicing
that you're not just pushing through
and be like I just want to get the power
(01:07:17):
like stop yourself from doing that
as much as you possibly can
because every time you do it
it gets harder to find the right place again
right right
um or no
I don't love using the word right place
because who am I to say what's right and what's wrong
but the more sustainable place
yes right
so uh yeah
try and keep yourself from just pushing through anyways
(01:07:38):
right as much as you can right
so as soon as you feel yourself getting into that
if you are in a position where you can stop yourself
right stop yourself and try again instead of contain
containing
continuing through the rest of the chorus right
obviously when you're performing
it's a little different
we don't have that luxury but
but you did teach me some performing trick
performing tips like
(01:07:58):
when I start to feel like
that larynx is getting creeped up
like when you go to breathe yawn
yeah inhale through a yawn
that has helped me out so much
like anytime I feel like I'm just pushing and I like
don't know where my voice is going to go
it's yeah
and I know I'm about to crack
and I know I'm not gonna make these notes
it's a easy reset that you can do in 2 seconds
that completely can transform
(01:08:20):
the way that the rest of the song is gonna shake out
absolutely it's nice
absolutely so thank you
thank you so much anytime
anytime uh
let us know where can we find your stuff so
cause we can yeah absolutely
um I'm on TikTok
Rachel Beasley music um
I'm on Instagram at Beasley underscore Rachel um
and you can find the Indigos
(01:08:40):
that's my band at the Indigos music um
their latest single stand up
I wrote and sang lead on um
so yeah I'm super excited about that and very cool
and really just anywhere I'm like
maybe if you see me out in Indianapolis
singing at a wedding or singing with the endago
somewhere I'm I'm around
come say hi yeah
come say hi yeah
I love it awesome
(01:09:01):
I'll be sure to link to everything too
so they can find it easily anytime anytime
thank you for sharing your beautiful instrument with us
thank you and I appreciate it
of course anytime
and hopefully we'll be able to have you back soon
yeah that would be wonderful
Yay Awesome
Alrighty thanks for joining
thanks for tuning in everybody
and we'll catch you in the next episode bye
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