Experiment with creating resonance (sound vibrations) to improve your singing. For this singing exercise, think of your head as divided into three segments. To really feel the vibrations of resonance in the front of your face, you want to explore the vibrations made in the very back, middle, and front of your face and head.
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Back: Pretend that you’re very proper and pompous, and say, “Oh, darling!” When you say it, you want to feel the vibrations of sound only in the back of your head or mouth. You can imitate the speaking voice of a very proper queen or royalty.
Knowing what the vibrations feel like when they’re really far back helps you understand when they move forward. To be sure that you understand the sensation, you want to open the back of the mouth and throat and keep the sound back there. It’s as if your mouth is in the back of your head and you’re sending the sound out the back of your head.
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Middle: Finding resonating sensations in the middle of your head allows you to feel where the vibrations are when they’re halfway to the front. You can pretend that you’re out with your mates at the local pub and say, “Fights like that are not for me.” It may feel like the sound is going straight up from the middle of your head.
The space in the back of the mouth or throat is similar to the space you use when you speak, as opposed to the space you open to create full resonant tone for classical music. Pretend you’re Crocodile Dundee or Hugh Jackman for a moment, and speak to your mates. Imitating this speaking voice may help you find the sensations in the middle of the head.
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Front: For this segment, you want to feel the sound in your face and not at all in the back of the head. Pretend you’re a kid on the playground cheering with friends, or imitate the sounds of a boisterous and overbearing relative — you know, those relatives who make a lot of noise when they speak. They tend to shout even when you’re standing next to them.
You want that same kind of resonance for this exercise. Choose one of the previous examples and say, “Yeah, that’s what I want.” If you aren’t sure whether you felt the vibrations in the front of your face, try all three again — back, middle and front — to feel the vibrations gradually moving forward as you explore all three segments of your head.