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Singing Tips, Singing Technique, Sing Better, Become A Better Singer, Improve My Singing, Technique for Singers, Sound Better Singing, Vocal Technique, Take My Singing To The Next Level, Advice For Singers, Breath Support For Singers, Breath Exercise For Singers, Breath Support Exercise For Singers, arden kaywin, voice teacher los angeles, vocal coach los angeles, voice lessons los angeles

Demystifying Breath Support

Lately I’ve been noticing just how much confusion and frustration singers have around breath support and breathing for singing.     Singers can get SO down on themselves when they don’t feel their breath is beneath them. Do you relate?   You’re tired of the fear of not making it to the end of the phrase. You wonder why your high notes feel strained. You’re frustrated when you don’t consistently sing the way you want to. You start blaming yourself that it’s all your fault you don’t really have what it takes. You start wondering if you are talented enough to be on this path.     The Inner Critic runs riot when, in reality. . . . . it’s not your fault!   It ALL comes down to breath support.  And you just haven’t been given the right tools to unlock the foundation of your support yet.    In my 20 years of helping singers and being a professional singer myself, I’ve discovered this:   The key to unlocking the foundation of good singing starts with getting under the hood to understand a few simple concepts about the physiology of breath support and sound. It’s a step that SO often gets skipped.   But that stops today!!   Now

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The Sensation Of Good Singing

There’s so much content out there with tips and tools for how to improve singing performance. Over the years there’s one key thing I’ve learned. It’s the first step a singer needs to take in order to unlock the potential of their voice. I was reminded of it the other day when I heard this quote by poet Nayyirah Waheed: “Listening is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time.”  I love this quote because it reminds me that when we allow the mind to be still and just listen, we create space for transformation. Most singers think of listening as it relates to sound –  listening to the sounds of the instruments accompanying us, the sounds we make when we sing and the sounds we want others to hear us making. This kind of listening is outwardly focused on external sound and our external experience with it. When we are listening this way, we tend to force, manipulate and push our voice as a means of controlling an outcome. But there is another kind of listening. Listening to your body. Listening in this way means quieting the mind so you can

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Why You Have Tension & Strain When You Sing (and other reasons high notes are hard)

The Holy Grail for singers is the ability to sing without strain and tension throughout the entire expanse of your range while finding a free, powerful, resonant and vulnerable sound. Simple right???? I’m rolling my eyes right now – you probably are too. I feel you. I mean, if singing like that were simple, you’d be doing it by now. You would never strain going for high notes, you would never tense up at the end of a long phrase, you’d never feel anxious about what sound was going to come out – it would be amazing! The thing is, there’s a really good reason you’re frustrated, and guess what? It’s not your fault. Odds are, nobody ever told you about The Negative Feedback Loop Of Tension! I was reminded of The Negative Feedback Loop Of Tension recently when I got this message from a member of my virtual voice studio named Frankie. He writes:  “Just found your Chanel and I am hooked so far. I do need help with one thing. I have so much strain and tension and it will not go. I have watched hundreds of videos, honestly if not near thousands. When I push more and

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How To Find Your Most True And Organic Sound

I often hear from singers who say “I am having trouble finding my own sound”. Have you ever felt that way? For commercial singers (recording artists and musical theater singers) it can feel like you don’t quite know what lane your voice fits into, or what kind of singing or genre is the most organic for your voice. If you’re an opera singer, it can feel like being unsure of what fach you are in or what repertoire you should be singing at this stage of your artistic development. It’s an interesting concept, the idea of finding your own sound. It’s an exploration that involves discovering and accepting the true nature of our singing voice, which is no small feat. When we are younger, most of us grow up emulating the sounds our favorite singers make. When I was a kid (and I’m about to date myself here) I wanted to sound like Whitney Houston. I don’t have to tell you. . . . there’s no way a 10yr old white girl from Florida is gonna sound like Whitney Houston. But damn if I tried! Oh, I manipulated my voice, I pushed, I darkened it and in my head it sounded

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Dealing With Insecurity In Our Singing

Do you ever look at another singer and feel jealous because it seems to come so easily to them? And then you think to yourself how nice it would be to sing like them because if you could do that, then all your insecurity would just vanish? Not to burst your bubble, but in my twenty-five years of performing and teaching, I have yet to meet a singer who does not deal with some form of insecurity. Even those singers who we perceive to be the most talented, have the best technique and who seem to be at the top of their game feel insecure about their voice at one time or another. It’s just part of the experience of being a singer that the majority of us share. Most of our insecurity is tied up with our attachment to the perceptions of others. And I get it, trust me I do. It’s really hard not to be concerned about what others think of us when we’re putting a piece of ourselves and our talent out there into the world. That’s why most of us sing best in the shower or in the car when nobody is listening – we

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How To Sing Without Tension & Why “Why” Matters

Have you ever noticed that so many of the tools and ideas I give you to help you sing without tension have a component of mindfulness in them?  I realized recently that I don’t always explain why I do that, or why mindfulness plays such a big part in reducing tension and the way that I teach. So today I really want to circle back to the “why” of it all and also give you an exercise for how to sing without tension in your own practice. So why is mindfulness so important to help you sing without tension so you can sound better and feel better singing? As singers, our body is our instrument. You’ve heard me say that about a million times, right? And just like a trombone player or a cello player makes sure that their instrument is in good working order, we too need to make sure our instrument (our body) is set up to work our technique as efficiently as possible. For singers, the main thing that compromises our instrument and our technique is tension. I know so many of you deal first hand with the discomforts of tension in your singing and would do

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How To Sing Without A Nasal Tone

It’s coming on summer and one of my favorite things to do here in Los Angeles in summer is go to concerts at The Hollywood Bowl. Hearing amazing music under the stars on a balmy evening with a gourmet picnic and a great glass of wine – well, there’s not much else that can beat that in my book. (If you’re not from L.A. or have never been to The Bowl before, here’s a photo:) Then I realized that The Hollywood Bowl actually plays a huge part in what I teach and how I sing, and THAT makes me love The Bowl even more! You see, so many singers suffer from a brassy or nasal resonance in their sound. How do you sing without a nasal tone? How do you fix a brassy sound? You guessed it . . . . The Hollywood Bowl! In today’s video I will explain how The Hollywood Bowl can help you sing without a nasal tone and rid your resonance of an overly brassy timbre. The ideas in this video were game changing for me when I first learned them, and I’m really excited to share them with you now. You will learn: The

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How To Get Unstuck & Stop Struggling

Is your inner voice really harsh? Does it LOVE to criticize you? Does it constantly tell you how much your are lacking, remind you of all the ways it thinks you are bad or wrong, berate you for doing too little or too much. . . . .is it ever satisfied??? A few weeks ago I wrote to you about a question I am often asked: What keeps talented singers stuck and struggling? Today I have another actionable tool for you as we continue that conversation. This tool will help you get out of your head and move past the struggle by changing the way you relate to your inner voice. You see, when you hear that critical voice, it’s not you. It is not the voice of your true self. It’s the voice of your ego, otherwise known as your “inner-critic”. The voice of the true self so often gets drowned out by the ego/inner-critic that at times the inner-critic is the only voice we hear. But it’s not the only voice that’s there. Learning how to detach from your inner-critic and connect to the voice of your true self can be game changing for improving your singing and getting you “un-stuck”. I know, you’re thinking “Oh

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A Tip To Reduce Tension & Increase Vocal Range

As many of you know, I have a four year old daughter. One of the things I learned from parenting her throughout the toddler years (and now the preschool years) is the value of re-direction. Thank the lord for re-direction!!! I can not overstate how many times this tactic has saved me from being on the receiving end of a major fuss. And for singers, the value of re-direction is just as strong. Re-direction is a really powerful way to combat tension. My favorite re-direction tool is opposition. There are SO many useful applications for opposition in singing. The one I’m focusing on today is using opposition to help singers increase vocal range. In my experience, most singers have much more range then they’re currently able to access. The reason it’s so hard for many of you to make use of the upper reaches of your range is because too much tension builds up around your larynx as you rise in pitch and you get stuck. The idea of opposition can make all the difference in the world in reducing tension in singing to increase vocal range. Watch today’s Blog video to learn how to employ opposition to help you

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One Mistake That Keeps Talented Singers Stuck And Struggling

There’s one question I am asked all the time: What’s the secret to great singing? Now, I totally get it. Who doesn’t want in on the secret to greatness? The thing is, there’s no useful, practical answer to this question. While these kinds of broad inspirational secrets are easy to soak in, they are hard to execute. They’re designed to address an insecurity with instant encouragement, without providing any real strategies or substance. As such, they are rarely actionable. Since I’m all about taking action and digging down to guide you in the real work that will facilitate lasting change in your voice so you sing with your full potential, naturally such a question pushes my buttons. There’s a better question though – One I wish more singers would ask me. Here it is… What specific mistakes keep talented singers stuck and struggling? Now THAT’s a question ripe for an in-depth, tactical and actionable answer. Like most things worth learning, the answer can’t be summed up in a sound bite. Perhaps this is the beginning of a book I should write! But for now, we can start the conversation by discussing something talented singers can do to move the needle in