I currently have a 16 year old singing pupil who sings very quietly with vitually no power or projection. She has almost perfect intonation and is very musical. I have worked on all the obvious things like breathing, voice placing etc... but there's still not much volume. She's just got 116 at Grade 1 and the examiner's comments were mainly about projection and volume too. She wants to go on to grade 2 but I think we need to work on this problem. Some of it's confidence, but does anyone have any suggestions of exercises etc. that would help. I've mostly only come across singers who sing too loud!!!
Any help?
David

Does she talk loudly? Or is she willing to raise her voice or shout? Make her say the shout/talk loudly the words to her song, and then before she can think about it, make her sing them along with the piano. She might them subconciously start singing slightly louder

I dunno if it really works, I just read it somewhere recently!

A teacher gave me this tip- 'imagine you are stood there and you have to sing to someone at the other side of the room. And if you are not singing loud enough, I'll tell you. also, imagine that you have to sing over the orchestra'

Of course, it's important for a young developing voice NEVER to force or push. Isobel Baillie's autobiography was entitled 'Never sing louder than lovely'.

Some singers just aren't very loud. I'm not. (Thus my screen name ) I'm 16 as well and have just now started to get louder and stronger. Sometimes all you can do is wait for the voice to mature and get louder. That's what I did and continue to do. There's really nothing I can do to make myself much louder with out hurting myself. I know some people thought and probably still think that I'm just holding back, but I'm not. I just happen to have a small voice.

QUOTE (dcmbarton @ Apr 15 2005, 10:09 AM)

I currently have a 16 year old singing pupil who sings very quietly with vitually no power or projection. She has almost perfect intonation and is very musical. I have worked on all the obvious things like breathing, voice placing etc... but there's still not much volume. She's just got 116 at Grade 1 and the examiner's comments were mainly about projection and volume too. She wants to go on to grade 2 but I think we need to work on this problem. Some of it's confidence, but does anyone have any suggestions of exercises etc. that would help. I've mostly only come across singers who sing too loud!!! Any help? David

David

You may not have a real "problem" here, because the age of 16 is still very young. just our of interest, was the examiner a voice specialist or more of an instrumental expert?

I know many girls of this age that love to sing but have a lighter voice - I have noticed that these voices tend to gain in weight as time goes by. Breathing machinery I suppose becomes more robust and experienced. Vocal chords may have more fine tuning to be done. (I am sure someone with more knowledge of human development can tell me if I'm on the right track here)

I'd like to see this girl keep singing, exploring repertoire and styles, finding something that she is so passionate about that she desperately wants to communicate it to every listener in the room!
No need to rush into the next exam - go explore.

One thing you do not refer to is how focussed the voice is. This is a tricky concept to define here but I suspect you know what I am talking about. At one stage I had the attributes you refer to but my own voice was "all over the place" However, once I understood the concept of focusing it more precisely than merely at a listener, I found I had better abililty to communicate and project.

My teacher at the time said "anyone can sing loud", and she placed no emphasis on volume as such. The feeling was that if you get everything iin line as you are doing, then volume will eventually take care of itself.

I hope you find these thoughts stimulating!

Thanks for your suggestions.

QUOTE

Does she talk loudly? Or is she willing to raise her voice or shout? Make her say the shout/talk loudly the words to her song, and then before she can think about it, make her sing them along with the piano. She might them subconciously start singing slightly louder

Yes, she does talk loudly, but she sings at almost a third of that volume.

QUOTE

Of course, it's important for a young developing voice NEVER to force or push.

Quite right. However, if she wants to do exams (which she does) then going on the report from the last exam she is going to need to sing much louder and with more projection.

QUOTE

You may not have a real "problem" here, because the age of 16 is still very young. just our of interest, was the examiner a voice specialist or more of an instrumental expert?

Well, as it was an Associated Board examiner, you never know what their speciallist subject is.

QUOTE

One thing you do not refer to is how focussed the voice is. This is a tricky concept to define here but I suspect you know what I am talking about. At one stage I had the attributes you refer to but my own voice was "all over the place" However, once I understood the concept of focusing it more precisely than merely at a listener, I found I had better abililty to communicate and project.

Yes, her voice is really very focussed, just very quite. In the exam she could be heard clearly above the piano. The examiner basically said that she had brilliant diction, but that she needs to be careful with consonants 'at this low volume'.

Thanks for all your advice.
David

QUOTE (dcmbarton @ Apr 16 2005, 10:14 AM)

Well, as it was an Associated Board examiner, you never know what their speciallist subject is.

That is strange. I have seen biographies of all of my examiners - they are mailed to the person submitting examination entries. It would be worth checking, because if your examiner was primarily a pianist (say), it would be worth seeking an assessment through a competitions festival or similar to see if anything can be specified.

A "not loud enough" or "project more" comment is not enough to get you anywhere .. a top vocal coach should be able to identify the cause and make specific suggestions, if indeed there is a problem.

QUOTE

but that she needs to be careful with consonants 'at this low volume'.

Like George, I felt this was a bit odd, and not very helpful. It could be understood at least two ways : -

1) When singing really softly you need to make your consonants clearer, (ie but they were fine when you sang a bit louder!)

2) Since your volume is very small, your consonants often disappear, (ie most of the time).

We are reading this comment out of context of course, and its' possible there are more helpful remarks elsewhere in the report. But my thoughts too were that it implies slight criticism without being clear or giving advice. Did that comment refer to one particular piece, or was it a general thing?

Maggie

I've always had a small voice. It has improved over many years of lessons - I now probably have twice the volume of 10 years ago, but it will never be a big voice.

One thing that helped me was realising that a lot of it was a confidence thing. People who came to listen to me in Am-Dram shows always remarked that I sang twice as loudly when singing in a chorus, than when I did a solo.

I thought about this and tried to work out what I did in company that I couldn't do as a soloist, and it was basically that I didn't trust the technique I'd been taught when on my own, falling back on old (bad) habits. In a group, I would actually use the proper technique, partly because of more confidence (I wouldn't be heard if I fouled up) and partly because I subconciously realised that it was the only way to be audible amongst the other voices!

Try your singer in a choir. See if she has the ability to sing up when surrounded by others. If so, you'll be able to work with her on getting to do whatever-it-is in her solo work too.