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Basically, if the larynx stays down and the vocal cords stay together from the very bottom of the
vocal range to the very top everything is fine. This also applies to all vowel and consonant
combinations through out any phrase. If at any point the larynx jumps up or down or the tone
becomes breathy then there is something wrong with the vocal process.

The larynx is the big bump in the middle of the neck just below the chin. This houses the vocal
cords and controls the process of swallowing. When the larynx moves up, the muscles around the
cords act as a sphincter and closes so as to prevent swallowing down the windpipe and into the
lungs. This is a very important process when you need to swallow, but it is a very poor process
when you are trying to sing. If you place your hand on your larynx and yawn, you will find that
you can bring your larynx down as well. This is a good way to learn what it feels like to have the
larynx stay down. The end goal here is to be able to keep the larynx from moving down as well
as up. It should stay completely still as you ascend and descend.

The vocal cords, also known as vocal folds, are a pair of soft tissue cords that are joined at the
front of the larynx and extend back. When they close, the back end of the cords come together
(adduct), and the flow of air is temporarily stopped. When the pressure of air from the diaphragm
overcomes the pressure of the muscles holding the cords together, they are blown apart and
sound is made when they close again due to the resonation created. Then once again the air
pressure overcomes the muscle pressure and the process begins again. If a singer is singing an A
above middle C, this process happens 440 times every second. The pitch A above middle C
vibrates 440 times per second. That is very fast and it is somewhat difficult to see this process
happen even if you can see down the singer’s throat. Since the invention of the strobescopy it has
become easier to view the vocal cord resonation process. If the vocal cords begin to come apart,
the tone becomes breathy and the muscles around the outside of the larynx begin to tense. This
becomes what is called a constricted phonation and is quite harmful for the voice.

This is a very brief and condensed version of what happens when you sing, there is obviously a
lot more going on. But, to give you an idea of what is correct, take these two ideas and while you
are singing, monitor them. See if you can keep your larynx still and your cords together. You
will probably find that there is a certain area of your voice that is easy for you to accomplish this
and certain points of your voice that are more difficult. These harder areas are called bridges,
The key to Speech Level Singing is in understanding the bridges and the mix. Bridges in the
voice are passage areas from one part of our vocal range to another. In Italian, they're called
passagi - or maybe you've heard the term passagio. These passage areas are a result of vocal cord
adjustments that must take place in order for us to sing high and low in our range. These vocal
cord adjustments produce resonance shifts in our body.

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Our first shift in resonance, or our first bridge, is our most crucial, because this is where our
outer muscles are most likely to enter the picture. If they do, they tighten around the larynx in an
effort to stretch the cords for the desired pitch.

Please see "Singing for the Stars", "Singers Advantage" or consult one of our certified teachers
for a more in-depth explanation of Speech Level Singing®.

Keep in mind, if you do not see a teacher's name listed on this site, they are not certified. We
only endorse the information and work of certified teachers. It is unethical and illegal for any
teacher to use the terms Speech Level Singing, Seth Riggs, or SLS that is not certified.

http://singersedge.com/voice-training-speech-level-singing/

We all want to be able to sing at our best – or else you wouldn’t be reading this blog! The
question is, how do we get there in the most efficient and quickest way possible?

But we need to be careful here. We are so used to listening and watching singers at the height of
their artistic peak that we don’t see the grueling, deliberate, and often endless amount of hard
work that was required to get them there.

Luckily, Seth Riggs, founder of Speech Level Singing has uncovered some remarkable truths
about the voice that allow us to capitalize on our voices for the least amount of effort – saving
our voices for a lifetime of use. Later, a formal development process based on Mr. Riggs’
findings was pieced together by CEO of SLS Dave Stroud. With this combined approach we can
begin to allow our voices to find and stay flexible, adaptable, and over time strengthen it for even
the most demanding of vocal tasks. In this way, we can achieve or sustain the kind of vocal
freedom we may have either been born with, or have only dreamed about. The rest of this article
is a simplified explanation of the Speech Level Singing training process.

In order to get your voice functional the quickest, it is helpful to understand on a broad level how
the training process works. Otherwise, you may slow yourself down considerably, or even
damage yourself, if you work one aspect of our voice when your focus at that particular time
should have been somewhere else. When it comes to voice training, precision is key!
Understanding the process can help both the beginning singer, and the most advanced vocalist to
uncover the secrets to becoming the best they can be.

At any of the early stages of training, the singer will usually find themselves making some
TEMPORARY but possibly extreme sounds in order to establish proper vocal conditioning and a
better coordination. This is a crucial part of the process that is unavoidable. Don’t be discouraged
– it is only temporary! When the right coordination is achieved, the extreme sounds can be
removed and a speech level coordination can begin to take place.

You will notice many significant differences that sets Speech Level Singing apart from other
teachers and voice training practices. Most teachers and voice approaches will have their

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students practice breathing exercises, use a few visualization techniques accompanied with some
often bizarre analogies, and then begin to have their students sing songs. Not here. With SLS, the
emphasis is laid thick upon developing coordination at the vocal cord level first, which means
that you may not get around to singing songs until later in the training process. If you try to jump
to singing songs too soon, your mental and physical coordination will not be nearly strong
enough to accomplish it with ease correctly, and your habitual tendencies will quickly reemerge
and greatly slow or halt your development.

It’s also important to note that the steps are dynamic and interchangeable: as you are challenged
by different aspects of your voice, you may find you need to retreat to previous steps in order to
achieve the more challenging goal.

And finally, learn to be curious about your voice. Remember: Your own voice is a fascinating
instrument (nobody else even has your unique vocal quality!), so remain passionate about the
process… Learn to enjoy singing for what it was always meant to be: not for fame or fortune, but
for the simple joy of cathartic noise making and sonic self-expression from the heart!

Step 1: Discover To begin, we must first experience your voice in it’s full, extended form: as the
“bottom”, or low notes of your voice, and as the “top” or high notes, of your voice. Normally we
experience the vibration of low notes as “chest” voice, and as the vibration of high notes as
“head voice”.

For most men, the experience of chest is relatively already quite familiar, and it’s the experience
of their head voice that is unfamiliar. This often leaves a distinct “break” between head and
chest, where the head voice is not blended smoothly into chest, or vice versa. In order to ensure
we don’t get “stuck” in chest, getting men to experience their falsetto voice is often the first step
in this direction. For women, the reverse is often true… Women are most often unfamiliar with
their chest voice when using their voices to sing.

The goal at this stage is simply to familiarize yourself in your singing with not just chest voice,
or not just head voice, but to experience both in whatever way possible, even if it going back and
forth between the two seems awkward. Female and male singers will begin to become aware of
their first “passagi”, first bridge, or their first “break”. It’s important not to get caught solely in
either vocal qualities without the other while vocalizing or practicing singing. If you don’t learn
to access both, even as separate entities, your range as a singer will be very limited, along with
your ability to control the dynamic of the range you do have, and the health and flexibility of the
voice will remain in jeopardy.

Singers and specific songs that tend to use both chest and head vocal qualities in a disconnected
coordination: Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins (Ella Megalast Burls Forever), Chris Martin of
Coldplay (Clocks).

Step 2: Connect The next phase, generally speaking, is connecting the chest voice to the head
voice – that is from the bottom of the range right to the very top so that there are no breaks or
cracks anywhere in the extended voice. This could mean developing what was once a falsetto
voice, into a blend of chest and head voice.

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At this point, the singer learns how to begin to smooth out the first break point in between the
chest and head voice. The first break point for most singers will occur almost always in their first
bridge. We call this first bridge the “mix voice”, that is the voice that “bridges” the chest voice to
the head voice. It is the first of many bridge areas of the voice, and the singer begins to learn how
to connect the first bridge, and then the subsequent bridges that follow.

Singers that tend sing in this way: Freddie Mercury of Queen (We Are The Champions), Alicia
Keys (Fallin), Chris Cornell (Can’t Change Me), Cold War Kids (Hospital Beds)

Step 3: Release/Balance After establishing a connection in the first transition, the singer must
then learn how to release any “reach for pitch” within that area… That is, they must learn how to
release any unnecessary musculature outside of the vocal cords, as the ascend from pure chest
into a blend of chest and head within the first transition. This process may repeat for the 2nd,
3rd, 4th and so on, bridges areas of the voice until the whole instrument is connected and
balanced.

If you haven’t done so previously, you will find a big emphasis at this stage on NOT struggling.
This can often be one of the most challenging parts of the training process, but it builds within
the singer a remarkable amount of versatility, skill, and will provide a means for the vocalist to
sustain singing in a healthy production, hopefully, for the rest of their lives. It is often the most
exciting step as the singer may finally learn to tap into the freedom inherent in their voice.

A singer that sings with pronounced “release” in her voice: Anita Baker (Sweet Love)

Step 4: Build When the singer has learned to release their voice on higher pitches, it is time to
strengthen it as much as possible. It is at this point that the arc of development can begin to allow
for “normal” sounds in training.

Singers and their songs in this way: Whitney Houston early in her career (So Emotional),
Pavarotti (Nessun Dorma), Christina Aguilera (The Voice Within), Wendy Moten (Come In Out
Of The Rain), Javier (A Song For Your Tears), Aretha Franklin (I Say A Little Prayer).

Step 5: Speech Level At this point, all extreme sounds are eliminated, and a speech level
coordination is established and strengthened.

Singers that sing in this way include: Mariah Carey on older albums (Hero), Stevie Wonder
(Lately), Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Luther Vandross, Harriet Wheeler from The Sundays
(Summertime), Anthony Warlow (Bring Him Home).

Step 6: Song Application The singer learns to apply their technique into the songs they love to
sing!

Step 7: Style The singer begins to explore what excites them the most about the singers they
love, and about the qualities that make their own voice unique…

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How your voice works best: techniques of
Speech-Level Singing
Most singers use excessive muscular effort when they sing. Muscles the body normally uses to
chew and swallow food, as well as open the (throat wider when it needs to get oxygen into the
lungs quickly, are used to manipulate the larynx – forcing it up or down. This is done to
accomplish a difficult pitch, increase intensity, or „improve“ the quality of one's tone. We call
these muscles the outer muscles, because they are located outside the larynx.

Whenever you use your outer muscles to control your voice in any way, however, you prevent
the free vibration of your vocal cords inside your larynx, and alter the relationship (and the over-
all condition) of the resonance spaces above your larynx. The result is a labored and
unbalanced sound.

Only when your larynx is in a relaxed, stable position can your vocal cords adjust easily with
your breath flow, to create the pitch and intensity of your initial tone. And, only when your
larynx is in a relaxed, stable position will your final tone contain a balance of top, middle, and
bottom harmonic qualities – like a good stereo system – so you never sound „muddy“ on low
notes or „splatty“ on high ones.

Yet, there's another important reason why your larynx must be kept Free of outer-muscle
interference. Many of these muscles are involved in the production of speech sounds, and their
interference in the tone-making process inevitably disrupts the word-making process as well.
It's hard to form vowels and make consonants when the muscles controlling the movement of
your tongue and jaw, for instance, are also trying to control your tone. Hence, voice production
using the muscles outside your larynx is a hopeless battle in which both your tone and your
words become the casualties.

Generally, when you speak in a quiet, comfortable manner, your outer muscles do not interfere
with (he functioning of your larynx. That's because tone is not your primary concern
– communication is. Therefore, your larynx is allowed to rest in a relatively stable, or what we
call a speech-level, position. This is the ideal vocal condition or posture with which to sing.

If you can learn to initiate and maintain your tone with this comfortable speech-level posture
when you sing, you can sing with the same easily produced voice you use – or should be using
– when you speak. Nothing will feel any different in your throat or mouth. Both your tone and
words will feel natural and sound natural.

But be careful Speech-level singing doesn't mean “sing like you speak!”

Speech-level singing is a „natural“ technique in which your voice is:

1. Produced without effort. When you don't allow the muscles outside your larynx – your
outer muscles – to interfere with your tone making process, your vocal cords are able to

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 more easily balance with your breath flow. Also, when you free your tone-making
process, you free your word-making process as well, letting you produce all your words
easily and clearly.
2. Balanced in quality. A relaxed and stable larynx results in a stable resonance system in
which your voice always contains an appropriate balance of top, middle, and bottom
harmonic qualities, no matter where in your range you sing.

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technique

Speech Level Singing Technique

If you want to learn how to sing better, the speech level singing technique is by far the most
effective method of singing we’ve found. In fact, the several years of lessons we took were
based on this method and much of what we’ll talk about on this site has been influenced by it.

So what exactly is the speech level singing technique?

In essence, speech level singing is based on keeping the larynx (also known as the voice box) in
a comfortable, stable position throughout the vocal range. For example, if you gently place your
fingers on the outside of your Adam’s apple or observe it in a mirror, you will notice that it stays
relatively stable while speaking in a normal voice. However, when you either yawn or swallow,
it will lower or rise respectively.

When singing (without proper technique), there can be a tendency for the larynx to rise (like
when swallowing) that causes the muscles outside of the larynx to restrict the movement of the
vocal cords. This can ultimately lead to poor sound, straining, and even the inability to hit
certain notes.

The technique addresses the “moving” larynx problem, teaches a natural method of breathing
while singing, and yields (with practice, of course) a flexible, strain-free voice.

Speech Level Singing was developed by Seth Riggs (see Singing For The Stars) and has been
claimed to have been used by more than 120 Grammy winners (source: Speech Level Singing
International).

Voice lessons with a Certified Speech Level Singing teacher are extremely beneficial (we know,
we’ve had some); however, there are plenty of resources, books, and programs that are, in our
opinion, based on this technique and can provide great benefit for much less than traditional
lessons.

http://www.streetmusician.co.uk/vocalworkout/

Complete Vocal Workout

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 Here is an amazing set of videos I found on You Tube with virtually the complete set of vocal
training exercises from Seth Riggs, the actual founder of the speech level singing method. This
guy has taught over 120 grammy award winners including Natalie Cole, Janet Jackson, Sinéad
O’Connor, Barbra Streisand, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, John-Mark and Michael Jackson.

Thanks to Seth Riggs and You Tube member HT0WNfemaleSLABryder for posting these
videos.

I’m not sure how long they will remain available on YT for so watch and learn from them while
you can. He’s the original and probably the best you’ll get !