#TheoryThursday: 5 Extended Vocal Techniques

#TheoryThursday: 5 Extended Vocal Techniques

This #TheoryThursday we bring you 5 extended vocal techniques.

Aug 17, 2017 by Evan Feist
#TheoryThursday: 5 Extended Vocal Techniques
This #TheoryThursday we're bringing you 5 Extended Vocal Techniques!

You might say this is more of a #TechniqueThursday, but we know you'll find these vocal skills helpful!

1. Sideways Yodeling


Mal Webb teaches you how to manipulate your modal (chest) and falsetto (head) registers to "yodel" in an incredibly unique way.

Yodeling, at its root, is a simple manipulation of the passaggio, or the "break" between your chest voice and your head voice. The unique sound comes from flipping back and forth over that "break," and emphasizing it, as opposed to obscuring it, which is one of the goals of much formal vocal training.

The techniques demonstrated by Webb could be easily applied to our style to create cool synthesizer sounds as well as phasing effects by changing your mouth shape. This provides great tonal effects to bring to the table in any style of music!

We can't wait to see how you'll use this in performance!

2. Whistle Tones


The whistle register is the highest register of the human voice, lying above the modal register and falsetto register.  

Warning: There is only one way to produce these notes correctly, and it does not hurt. Please be careful when trying this technique, as it is one of the few vocal techniques that can actually damage your vocal cords.

The whistle reigster (or super falsetto) is named for the tone it produces. However, we can use the visual concept of whistling normally to guide us. You want to take a deep breath, but stop mid-inhale and close your throat (similar feeling to a glottal) before gently pushing a little air through your throat.  If you make weird or squeaking sounds, you're on the right track. Again, this should not cause any discomfort, and there should be no strain in your throat. Keep trying until you produce a whistle note.  

This technique can take a while to learn, so take breaks and don't get frustrated!

3. Instrument Imitations


Beatboxing (or vocal percussion) is probably the most widely used form of instrumentation, and there are so many other sounds, colors, and timbres that the human voice can create. Deke Sharon has many instructional videos through his Too Many Notes series on how to sound like a trumpet, a muted trumpet, a flute, pizzicato strings, and a harmonica.

4. Throat Bass


This is a beatbox technique that we can approach in much the same way as the whistle register and add some of the technique we learned from sideways yodeling to move in a very different direction. This involves manipulating your vocal chords, just like whistle tones, so again, the same warnings apply. This should not hurt… but will it feel totally weird? Absolutely! Take breaks and stay hydrated!

Instead of closing your throat, you want to open it, which loosens your vocal cords. Sing (normally) through that new, open throat, and find where it resonates in your nasal passages as well. You should eventually be able to produce the buzzy bass sound we are all familiar with from beatboxers. After you are producing the sound, play around with mouth shapes similar what we experimented with in yodeling. Keep experimenting to see what sounds you can discover!

This is potentially dangerous if done incorrectly, so here are a few things to look out for to avoid the common mistakes you can make that could damage your voice:



5. Overtones & Multiphonics


Overtones are part of the harmonic series of a base note. If you've ever been in or heard a choir really lock a chord, it can produce a ghostly note or two above the sung notes. This is an overtone. Overtones are governed by the physics of acoustics (gah! math!) and appear in a defined series in relation to the fundamental.

Overtone singing is is a technique wherein one person can sing two notes simultaneously: the note produced by the vocal chords and overtone, which is not so much "sung" as it is produced by forming certain mouth sizes and shapes inside your mouth to produce overtones. This is primarily done by manipulating the tongue and soft palate.

This takes a lot of practice to get even to a beginner level, so don't get frustrated!
Quickstart guide:
  1. Start by singing an "ooo"
  2. Put the tongue on the front roof of the mouth
  3. Move your external mouth shape (lips) around to different vowel until you hear an overtone!  
You should hear a semblance of one almost immediately, finding the clarity is the challenge. Keep at it!

Avi Kaplan (Pentatonix) singing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in Overtones


Now that you know these 5 Extended Vocal Techniques,
you can start peppering your music with some virtuosic voice work!


Send us your videos!


--

FloVoice's best content, delivered directly to your inbox!


Don't miss exclusive videos, feature stories, event updates, and more. 

Sign up for the FloVoice Newsletter and never miss a beat.