Q. Im teaching myself or trying to learn but theres this tight feeling in my throat when i hit the high notes..Does that mean i can to open my mouth more? It's like im sining from the back of my throat.
A. It depends on what notes are causing this sensation and what your natural range is. A male tenor with a well developed voice should be able to sing comfortably inside a two octave range. On a keyboard or piano those notes would be one octave below middle C (C3) up to one octave above middle C (C5) which is also sometimes referred to as Tenor C or Tenor High C.
If these note naming conventions (C4) are confusing you have a look at this chart
http://www.dolmetsch.com/midinotes.gif
Sometimes exceptional tenors can go perhaps a half octave higher than that, but they are the exception and a good number of male singers stay within about an octave and a half. There are quite a few rock singers in the baritone range who stay between Bb2 and F#4 (Chris Daughtry and Chad Kroeger of Nickelback come to mind immediately).
It is possible to develop the top end of your voice by strengthing the muscles around your vocal chords, but it is a process that needs to be approached carefully, with a professional instructor and one that will take some time. That being said, something common to English speaking cultures there is a natural break that occurs for most men somewhere around D4-F4. Unlike Italian and many Asian languages, the English language does not rely on use of pitch. As a result our singing voices often have breaks.... Vocal lessons can help overcome tis problem and bridge in weak spots. If the tension you're feeling in your throat is because of an area of your voice that is just undeveloped you just need to practice scales that take you from the areas you're comfortable in into that uncharted area. Over it will become easier. Still I recommend an instructor help you.
Certified Speech Level Singing instructors can be found in most major cities and many of them will teach over the Internet using Skype. Speech Level Singing focuses on building the chest, middle and head voices togeather and sounds as if it would be the most useful technique for you.
Good luck.
Which chord voicings fit best in the context of a Big band?
Q. I'm a piano player looking to play some charts with a big band,(they have pretty much the standard instrumentation) I need to know which voicings to play in that context. Would you reccomend fourth voicings, two-handed voicings with upper structure triads, or just standard four-note voicings (3,5,7,9)
A. there's no one-size-fits-all approach. You have to listen to what's going on around you and COMPlement it. That's what "comp" means.
Generally a good approach is to avoid doubling other instruments and to play less when the rest of the band plays more. In a big band, there's almost always someone playing chords besides you, so "less is more" is a good rule of thumb.
For example, if the trumpets are playing a close-voiced shout chorus, just play sparse, open-voiced chords. If the guitarist or the horns are playing mid-staff, play voicings that are above or below those.
If someone has a solo, lay in chords very sparsely in the "holes" that are not occupied by written fills in other sections (like saxes or brass), and above all stay OUT OF THE WAY during someone else's solo.
Hope that helps.
Reference for chord voicings on piano?
Q. Hi, I was wondering if you guys know of any online reference or book with different chord voicing styles? Lol, I have writers block right now and need some inspiration. Thanks in advance.
A. "Chord voicing styles" ... I'm not sure what that means. Are you asking for a chord chart, inversion of chords, or progressions. I personally don't like the approach of writing music from a chord progression; I write melody first and then work on the harmony.
I don't have any ready reference for chord progressions, but you can go to http://www.pianoworld.com/fun/vpc/piano_chords.htm to build chords and scales.
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Title : How do you get the tight feeling gone in the throat when singing?
Description : Q. Im teaching myself or trying to learn but theres this tight feeling in my throat when i hit the high notes..Does that mean i can to open...