How to Drastically Improve Your Cognitive Skills With Singing Lessons

The study of the effect that taking singing lessons have on improving cognitive skills has been researched for many years. Singing success greatly improves most people's ability to learn. When young children are taught how to sing the alphabet song, they remember it for the rest of their lives. Older students in bands, orchestras, and choirs usually score higher than the national average on standardized tests when results are compared to the scores of students who have not had musical training.

The mastery of music requires multiple disciplines that involve most parts of the body. Singing lessons can be used to develop and enhance critical thinking, comprehension, language development and memorization. These things strengthen mental functions. Social skills are enhanced as learners focus on self-expression. Motor skills are also involved.

Several studies have concluded that vocal exercises increase performance in non-musical fields such as mathematics, comprehension and linguistics. Analyzing the time signature and number of counts per measure is directly related to mathematical concepts. If the time signature is 4/4, then each measure of the composition must be equal to but not greater than or less than four. The details may be studied and mastered without even mentioning the dreaded 'M' word (Math).

Vocal exercises also develop discipline and improve self-esteem. These are often stated as major concerns in today's society. A disciplined learner must show the dedication and concentration required to master all the concepts needed to successfully perform a musical composition. Many students who struggle to experience success in the academic field are able to feel confident in themselves after accomplishing this. Singing lessons engage the whole child.

Facilitating the singing success of children develops language and reasoning skills, introduces creativity and teaches them to solve problems by imagining various solutions. Singing lessons can certainly help children to score higher on standardized tests.

Many studies encourage some form of musical training in early childhood. However, research shows that even if singing lessons are not introduced until the later years, they still improve cognitive skills. Even though their exposure lasts a shorter time, the capacity for retention of positive influences is greater. The neural bridge that links the brain's hemispheres can be up to 15% larger in older children. An adult musician's brain has about 130% more gray matter in the auditory cortex than the brain of those who have not experienced singing success.

Cognitive skills can be improved by taking singing lessons. If you would like to learn more about the many options for everyone interested in this service, please visit us at http://www.singinglessonstoday.com.

Arnetta Thomas is a retired public school teacher with a degree in Performing Arts. While working in the classroom she has seen firsthand the positive effect music has on students. Cognitive skills can be improved by taking singing lessons. If you would like to learn more about the many options for everyone interested in this service, please visit us at http://www.singinglessonstoday.com/.

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Enjoy Singing and Learn How to Sing

As a self-taught female independent musician I started to make creative music and experimental electronic pop of sorts while laid up with disabling back pain. I have had to find out for myself how to sing by discovering voice exercises, joining a community choir and investing in the occasional lesson with a helpful vocal coach.

I didn't have a clue that I wanted to make music prior to this extreme housebound period. When I say housebound, I was actually living in a vintage double decker bus. So I started playing with a drum machine, a keyboard and a 4 track recorder.

So, where did my voice fit in with all these machines and effects? Well, I did actually always like to write things down. Especially when I was struggling to work something, or everything, out. And I went to University to study Modern Languages even though I didn't get to finish the studies due to said back problem. So I liked to play with words. And I started out just saying those words. Adding spoken word to the musical textures I was making.

And of course I had always loved singing. Expressive artists such as Sinead O'Connor and Tracy Chapman had seen me through my teenage angst. And I had always enjoyed the melodies of motown legends such as Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross and the Supremes. But I had never considered myself a singer. And confidence is the key I think. Or at least a key ingredient to delivering a convincing and moving performance.

I would also strongly recommend joining a community choir - there are loads of community choirs in cities like Manchester and you can always start your own singing group. Singing in a choir gives you great warm up physical and voice exercises. And it is easier to get your voice tuned up as you will more intuitively tune in with the voices around you. And you can play with different ranges - higher (soprano), middle (alto/tenor) and lower (tenor/bass).

And the other key ingredient is to develop your own singing style, explore how to sing with your unique voice. And to sing in tune and with a strong tone. I have over the years had to do a lot to develop my voice with voice exercises, breathing exercises and physical exercises. And I continue with these voice exercises with a keyboard a few times a week to try and get my tone more accurate pitch wise. You see my voice does not seem to want to sing in diatonic western scale of its own accord. And sometimes it wants to speak So sometimes my creative music involves spoken word and then I may break into melody. This fits the story I am telling for me.

So, ultimately it is about doing what you want to do, what your heart wants to communicate. The creative side of your voice. And then there is the science behind it: voice exercises, breathing exercises and enjoying singing whenever you can helps. I am enjoying using Jeannie Deva's warm-up exercises at present.

Caro is a largely self-taught independent musician, making and performing her creative music live. She is also a passionate studio recording engineer and music producer, helping others to deliver and capture their best performance.

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Singing Lessons for Beginners

Many like to sing but are too shy to sing in front of their friends or in public. They do not have the confidence in their singing. They want to sing better but do not know how. They think that they have a poor voice and singing is for the gifted. Harry Lorraine, the world-famous memory expert, says that there is no such thing as a poor memory, only an untrained memory. Similarly, there is no such thing as a poor voice only an untrained voice.

There are many schools of singing which cater to the different genre - country, pop, classical, opera, etc. Different music schools started to proliferate with the popularity of singing competitions like American Idol and Britain's Got Talent. For beginners who are considering taking singing lessons, they are overwhelmed by the large number of music schools or online singing courses offering all kinds of singing lessons. It is important for beginners to know that there is only one natural way to sing.

Singing is nothing more than speaking at different pitches.

Your vocal power is defined by the strength of the muscles in and around the larynx(voice box) and vocal cords, and it is crucial to isolate other muscles. Engaging other muscles will disrupt the fine balance of muscle strength and air, regardless of genre. A good vocal technique should concentrate on training the larynx muscles to do all the vocal cords adjustment.

For those of you who are already taking singing lessons, and if your singing teachers are asking you to focus on "give your tone more support" or "placing your tone forward", you should consider getting a new singing teacher. There are also many traditional singing teachers who over emphasize the importance of diaphragm control, resulting in building too much air in the singer's body. If the vocal cords are not sufficiently robust to withhold the volume of air gushing out from the lungs, the result is a sudden change in tonality and capping the singer's range. Proper breathing is important but it is the result of good vocal production and not the cause of it. And good vocal production comes from good vocal technique.

Beginners should start off on the right footing. Select the correct vocal technique. Not all vocal techniques are created equal. Based on the human anatomy and physiology of vocal production, there is only one safe and natural way to sing.

Speech Level Singing is a revolutionary vocal technique that is founded upon the idea that you should sing as naturally as you speak. This vocal technique is trusted by more than 120 Grammy Award winners. Although Speech Level Singing is a well established vocal technique, there are not many certified Speech Level Singing teachers in Singapore or Asia. Therefore it behooves the beginners to seek out only certified Speech Level Singing teachers. The value of the training is in the feedback from the SLS teachers.

Author's interests range from computer programming to internet marketing to history. He stumbled upon speech level singing by chance. If you want to find out where you can get a speech level singing teacher in Singapore, go to http://www.singaporesingingcoach.com/

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Voice Lesson and Singing Tips: How to Find Your Singing Voice

Many singers struggle to find their own singing voice. They may be able to sing along with the radio but find that they are unable to support their voice alone without an additional recorded voice track playing along. Many tend to feel that their live performance are lack luster due to a lack of vocal and performance skills. All is not lost, however. They can find their singing voice with vocal training, listening skills and performance techniques. This article will explore the listening skills needed to find one's own singing voice.

1. Listening to the skeleton of a song. Listen to a song for its sequences. and try to imagine a song without the original artists' vocals on it. Explore ways to play with the melody and phrasing. Does the song sing itself, does the melody leave room for interpretation or are there things that may be more natural for you that the artist doesn't do?

2. Learn to play with different keys when singing. Song keys are not set in stone. In fact, many artists lower the keys of their own songs when performing live. If there is a song you like and you feel it would fit your voice perfectly except for it feeling a bit high or low, don't be afraid to change it. Adjusting a song up or down by a half or whole step is not a negative reflection on your vocal skills.

3. Examine vocal affectations that are authentic to your voice. Vocal affectations, such as a unique way to attack a note (think Christina Aguilera) or a vibrato or run (think Luther Vandross) or a 'lick' (think Michael Jackson's 'hee hee') sound good on some people's voices but sound out of place in others. With the help of listening to diverse musicians, learn and develop the ones that are authentic to you and your voice.

While you do these exercises, don't be surprised if you begin to see flaws in your favorite artist's singing. Remember that they are limited to only do what is in their skill set as well. If you find yourself thinking 'geez, that was ugly', or 'why did he/ she do that? Then you are learning to find your voice. If you follow these steps to find your voice you will find that it will become more than you had imagined. You will develop a gift for interpretation which will make you unique amongst the crowds of singers out there.

I want to hear from you! If this article was useful, please let me know your comments! Sign up for my FREE 7- Day Ezine on "The Secrets of Great Singing" by visiting http://www.dileesahunter.com/

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Voice Lessons and Singing Tips: How to Breathe for Singing - 3 Tips That Work!

The preparation for great singing is the breath. How we breath along with the things we physiologically allows to happen before singing can greatly affect the voice's performance. In order to learn how to sing correctly, we must explore the art of breathing to sing. This includes deep breathing, breath support, and breath control.

Let's first explore the purpose of studying the breath. The overall goal is for breathing to be a moment of relaxation, and rejuvenation. It is a way of refueling the body and allowing the body to give itself its second wind. Too often, though, singers find themselves gasping for air and so tensed up that they are soon fatigued and unable to sing to the end of a phrase. This can be frustrating, disheartening and discouraging. the good news is one can be trained to sing in a way that will rejuvenate and refresh their body. Its kind of like how a jogger finds their rhythm and can run for five miles without needing to catch their breath. Here are a few ways to maximize breathing while singing.

1. Breathe deeply each time. Focus on expanding your lower abdomen. Relax the shoulders and neck. These all work together inversely. The more tense your neck and shoulders are, the less deep your breaths will be and vice versa. A good way to practice this is by gently swaying back and forth allowing your head to 'bob' from side to side while breathing in through your nose. This helps to relax the body and the effort to draw in air is focused on the diaphragm.

2. Imagine yourself trying to stay full of air while you sing. This is great because so many people undoubtedly feel the need to 'empty' the air while they sing. If one imagines themselves trying to keep the air in while they are singing, their phrases and tone quality will improve because they will now be more in control of the flow of air due to downward pressure.Some envision this as a bowl movement feeling. If you think of your abdomen being pushed 'out- and - down' as you sing, you will find yourself with much more breath control.

3. When you are running out of air, do not collapse your chest or tense up. Keep your ribcage high to maximize air flow.

Good breath control enhances your singing in so many ways. It improves posture, tone quality, phrasing, and makes it easier to find the correct voice placements. This leads to a good vibrato which leads to vocal runs and melismas. Just remember that they all work together. Don't expect to master the breath in one day, but instead take time to lay a good foundation for a lifetime of good singing!

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The Singing Voice Visualized - Overcoming Barriers With Imagery

As an aspiring singer, if you have ever dealt with such issues as:

Upon hearing your recorded voice back, think, "Eeeww, that's not me!You go for the high/ low notes and chokeYou run out of energy and can't seem to complete a phrase seamlesslyYou sometimes confuse ascending and descending movements of pitch

...then you could benefit from using various concepts of reinforcement in the form of visualization.

We have either auditory or visual dominance in our brain's analytical processing. One might assume that auditory would be the most desirable in singing. Not necessarily. Imagery may be very helpful, and cultivation can be developed. An analogy is making related doodles in the margins of text you need to memorize.

Solutions: Try individually, to discover which ones/ combinations are most effective for you.

The 'direction' of the voice is often perceived as coming out of the mouth and straight forward, but it may be more advantageous to monitor oneself by 'channeling' the sound back toward the ears. Think of a 'J' shape.
Similarly, if you think of the voice as coming 'up' through your body, instead send an energy downwards through your feet, grounding with the earth. Think of a pulley system, whereby the downward motion of one side automatically raises the other.
Rather than thinking of pitches as existing on a vertical plane, try a horizontal plane. Extending your arm off to your left, begin a 'siren' on any vowel with your lowest pitch, slowly moving your arm to the right as you ascend pitch. Swing your torso around with the rising tone, watching your finger pointing to the horizon as you go. This gives all frequencies of your voice 'equal opportunity'.
If you feel as though your head might explode when you go for a high pitch, imagine that your head is a pressure cooker with the valve on top for all the excess 'steam' to escape.
Think of the melodies in terms of changing shapes, especially helpful in right brain activity associated with overtone singing, in which the hemispheres become more highly integrated. (Overtone singing is the ability to clearly produce two or more pitches simultaneously.)
Toning on a particular vowel with eyes closed encourages visual imagination rather than having the interference of external stimuli, therefore informing the singer of powerful associations.
Use silence as you imagine creating a sound, 'picturing' the associated inner physical activity, eliminating interference of the brain's auditory response.
Using a mirror, notice your body language. If it seems extreme, counter it with the opposite extreme. Get someone else to observe your body language, as typically one is not self-aware of it (i.e. rag doll, wooden soldier, football quarterback). You might be 'favoring' a particular part of your body.
Holding an imaginary bubble in front of you, fill the space with your voice, allowing the bubble to increase in size, moving your hands apart to simulate.
Imagination is key: 'picture' being in your greatest comfort space, a useful concept for stage fright.
EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique, using body 'tapping' to reinforce new and useful programming)
On a more concrete level, overtone spectrum analysis offers visual biofeedback, displaying color bands for which harmonics are pronounced, lending intuitive information about how to enrich the sound.

Above all, singing is a joyous mode of self expression, so to convey yourself with a full palette of the senses is the most effective way to move your audience.

Kiva Simova, world-renowned pioneer of western polyphonic overtone singing/ composition invites you to investigate the vast potential for singers of all types at http://harmonicovertones.com/. Beginners to advanced, solo to choir singing, all voice ranges. In addition to elaboration on tips outlined here, singers may greatly enhance their vocal expression with harmonic overtone singing studies that focus on practical musical applications. Additional information may be found through http://about.me/kiva

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Tips to Singing Harmony

Are you interested in knowing how to sing harmony? A considerable amount of depth is produced in the song whenever more than two people start singing it using different pitches. You do will sounds can be created with successful harmony. However, individuals trying out singing in harmony without learning the necessary techniques will only create discord, and the sounds produced will be hard to bear.

Begin With Scales

People singing in harmony use different pitches and may add notes supplementing the original pitch. For example, one singer may use a particular which while another may sing in another pitch.

To begin with harmony, familiarity with major and minor scales is necessary. The scale is defined to be an octave or set consisting of eight successive notes named alphabetically from A to G.

In the major scale, a note interval will run whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half. In the minor scale, a note interval will run whole-half-whole-whole-half-whole-whole.

Harmony uses notes from the major scale.

Develop Two Different Voices

While learning how to sing harmony, people use a particular melody and pitch to sing around. One individual will sing a melody note. A guitar or any other instrument can be used to play the chords.

Another individual will use the same melody note but take it to a higher or lower pitch.

Multiple notes form part of the process throughout the duration of the song, and the singer with the second voice always trying to sing lower or higher than the melody used.

How Harmony Can Work For You

The first step is to familiarize yourself with the song before beginning your lessons in harmony. Several tutors will suggest that both voice parts should be attempted during practice.

Essentially, you would have to practice a great deal to make harmony work. However, some singers are naturally you did with the ability to attempt a melody at different pitches. Known as on-the-fly harmony, the singer or harmonizer naturally joins the song at a different pitch.

A naturally gifted harmonizer has the uncanny habit of arriving at the melody and central pitch to start singing. Similar steps are followed when ear training is attempted.

Ear training exercises can also be utilized to inculcate harmony skills. For instance, a specific note can be played on the piano. The pitch is determined and then imagine in your mind as if you were singing it. You then complete the exercise by actually singing as the note is played on the piano. In your next attempt, sing at a higher note than what the piano is producing. Finally, sing at a lower note than the one emanating from the piano.

A few programs compile online singing lessons that offer voice and interactive piano feedback. The software gives you enough practice to match the pitch and then allows you to go lower or higher. A high level of accuracy in pitching can be attained only with sufficient practice.

It Is Not A Mysterious Process

Various different music genres use harmony in singing, including pop, rock, and country music. One of the most famous team of harmonizers was the Oak Ridge Boys who had the ability to synchronize four completely different voice patterns with melody, as two or more of the team members resorted to harmonizing.

Singers who are skilled harmonizers find it very easy to adapt. You will find the principles involved in harmonizing to be pretty simple, though it does take some time and practice to reach the correct pitch and then increasing or lowering your harmonizing pitch.

Opting for singing lessons is your best bet to master skill of how to sing harmony.

Find similar articles and online singing lessons at: http://www.onlinesingingtutor.com/

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Voice Lessons and Singing Tips - How to Sing With a Beautiful Voice

Many people want to know how to have a beautiful singing voice. It's been said by great instrumentalists that they wonder about the personal enjoyment of making beautiful music using the only internal instrument, their voice. It would bring them a sense of joy to be able to express themselves by singing. Here are a couple of tips to having a beautiful voice.

1. Relax your tongue- Beautiful voices sound so beautiful because they sound relaxed. In order to sound relaxed several things need to be happening simultaneously. The great thing is, some things happen as a side effect of other things happening. For example, when one learns to relax their tongue to sing, it allows teaches them to relax their throat. Once the throat is relaxed, it is no longer supporting the voice, the breath is, which is exactly what every singer wants to do. Also, once the throat is relaxed, it allows one to take deeper, fuller breaths, which allows the singer to engage the diaphragm, which is a thin muscle between your lungs and abdominal muscles that pulls air in the lungs and supports air pressure as one exhales. Learning to relax the tongue can be as simple as singing a favorite tune while wiggling the tongue back and forth. This exercise teaches one to focus on air flow and placement rather than having an emphasis on a 'holding' the tongue or throat in place to sing.

2. Sing in your 'happy' tone. Beginner singers will quickly realize that singing exactly the way you talk may sound a bit rough. 'Lift' the voice a little to make it sound more musical. To demonstrate this, one can imagine the musical theater of the 1960's and earlier. I like to envision Julie Andrews in movie "The Sound of Music". The actors in those days spoke with a sing- song tone. The sing- song sound is a result of 'lifting' the voice. It is able to project more. Using this method of voice production, it is easy to understand how they were able to break out into song at any given moment without missing a beat!

While singing with a beautiful voice may seem like a distant goal for many beginner singers, it is possible with dedication and practice. Beautiful voices have grace, flexibility, strength, control, and agility. In time, using these vocal techniques will transform your voice into something beautiful.

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