The Full Singing Success Programme - A completely Honest Review

Click here to get your copy of the full Singing Success programme now!

If you're not sure if you should get it, read on...

Thanks for visiting!

To save you time, I have summarised my review into a list or pros and cons. If you would like to read my full review, scroll down past the lists and you will find it.:) Hope this review helps!

Pros:

1. Extremely comprehensive

2. Very systematic

3. Well-planned out

3. Well-explained

4. Clear teaching style

5. Straight to the point

6. Little to no self-promotion

7. Knowledge of the anatomy and physiology during singing

8. Strong focus on good vocal health and habits

9. Both female and male demonstrators for each vocal exercise and examples or singing style

10. Mainly revolves around vocal technique, but teaches how it applies to practical singing and style as well

11. Very effective vocal exercises based on Speech-Level Singing

12. Builds excellent foundation for beginner singers

13. Very easy to follow

14. Has many intermediate to advanced exercises as well

15. 7-installment payment plan offered, so it really is very light on the wallet

16. 6-month money-back guarantee

 17. Probably cheaper than a one-hour private vocal lesson with Brett Manning himself or the cost of one month's worth of Speech-Level Singing lessons

Side note: Singing Success has a very strong scientific approach, meaning they focus a lot on the physiology of singing, which is excellent for any singer, especially beginners, because the teachings are not abstract statements that need you to do much self-interpretation. The system makes the voice and singing seem "tangible", making it very easy for beginners to start grasping an understanding of the voice.

By the way, as with any home-study course, you get to do the work any time and anywhere you want, without having to commute for lessons.

Cons:

1. Pricy (resolved with a long payment plan as mentioned above)

2. Home-study course means a lack of one-on-one feedback and guidance from a professional

3. Little to no emphasis on breathing (which I now know holds a greater importance in singing than Singing Success and SLS gives it credit for)

4. Being a big company and all, I'm not sure their support would be as quick with their responses as compared to the smaller brands (forum and Singing Success TV resolves this issue)

5. With professional vocalists used to the exercise doing demonstations fort he vocal exercises, though you would be able to know for sure how you ought to be doing things, but it can be quite intimidating, and could hinder a beginner's motivation and confidence, and hence, their progress

6. Once you are done with Singing Success, it might be a good idea to expand your knowledge by going into other courses or lessons that has a stornger focus on singing as an art, since Singing Success has such a strong technical focus.

Right then...

I think that is all that I can think of.:)

So, have you made up your mind yet? If you have...

Click here to get your copy of the full Singing Success program now!

Okay, now for my full review. Here goes...

I have seen many vocal training courses online--both free and paid ones. I've seen many many videos of creators of these courses--vocal coaches--talking about their courses, giving tips and sharing their influences and beliefs on singing and the voice.

Well, what I liked most about Singing Success was how detailed, systematic, and well-planned the information and training was. Going through the lessons, not once did I feel like I missed a step, or like they introduced a piece of knowledge too early or late relative to the lessons. All went very smoothly and lessons were really enjoyable.

The amount of information in the course is actually quite amazing. I've never realised this before I wrote this review, but most of what I have learnt about the voice was from the Singing Success programme--and I have read and watched a LOT of voice and singing-related videos and articles. This course makes for an excellent start for beginners because it starts by explaining a lot of what you need to know what the voice--definitions of the different vocal registers, the physiology of the body involved in singing, the reasons why your voice sounds like this or that, common bad vocal habits, etc.. Then the programme takes you right from building the basis of your voice, all the way to the coveted "mixed voice" and beyond.
 

To be continued...

Singing For Beginners - The Dangers Of Misunderstanding Breath Support In Singing

This is an article I wrote about a week ago, which recently got published on Ezine Articles. Hope you find it helpful.

~~~

Breathing is the foundation of life, and efficient breathing spells unmistakable importance in great singing. However, it is very easy for novice singers to mistake breath support for necessary vocal power, and in the process, cause harm to their voices. This article aims to help clarify this dangerous misconception that so many new singers have.

What is considered good breath support?

Before all else, it is important for everyone to understand what good breath support is. Good breath support stems from what vocalists like to call "diaphragmatic breathing". Yes, it is very likely that you have heard about it, but no, it's not anything you haven't done before. With diaphragmatic breathing, each inhale of air should have you feel your stomach expand, and each exhale of air would suck your stomach in. If this happens in reverse for you, that is, your stomach gets sucked in when you breathe in, and out when you breathe out, you aren't breathing from your diaphragm. This article will not go into the physiology of breathing, but it is important to at least know if you're breathing right for efficient singing or not.

Now here comes the misunderstanding...

Have you ever heard someone comment on a weak and "airy" singing voice, saying how the singer lacks breath support? Well, that comment is not necessarily true.

Sound is produced when our vocal cords close, interrupting the flow of air pushing outwards from our lungs. With excellent breath support, one would have a lung filled with air that is just waiting to come out. Along with that, our vocal cords will instinctively position themselves in a way that allows sound to be produced. Even so, one should be aware that not everyone's vocal folds can do that effectively. The absence of a balanced vocal cord closure would in turn, produce a voice that would sound both weak and airy. With that much air blowing rapidly past the vocal folds, it wouldn't be long before the singer feels the desperate need for a drink. Singing in such a manner would in time, cause vocal damage.

In essence, it is unreasonable to expect a voice to be powerful or pleasant to the ear, if the vocalist's vocal cords don't have the coordination and strength to handle the magnitude of a strong exhale of air. It takes years of vocal cord training, good breathing technique and a battery of other skills to make a singer sound good, or even just powerful.

Otherwise, all professional athletes would be fantastic singers, especially swimmers!

New icon for bookmarking!

I have added an OnlyWire icon on the side to the right, and at the bottom left corner of this blog. It will make adding this site on your favourite social bookmarking sites much easier, and you get a broader range of selection to boot!

Let me know if it gets annoying though, 'cause the list that pops up when you hover your cursor over it is pretty big, and it won't minimise itself until you click the "X" button at the top right of the small pop-up.
I'll remove it if it causes you more trouble than help.

But I still hope it helps somewhat.

P.S. If you like a particular post or page, please click on the title of the post or page so you actually bookmark that particular webpage, instead of actually bookmarking the entire blog as one site.

P.P.S. If you do find any of the content I have on this blog useful, it would mean a lot to me if you could "Like" it on Facebook, Tweet it, add it to your tumblr, or any other social networking site you might use.

'Appreciate it!

apologies for the delay

Hi everyone! Hope you're doing well.

I'm sorry the promised summary for the Vocal Technique post is taking so long, but I'm trying to record a backing track so you could follow along as you do the lip trills. It's just taking me a while to get the recording right, but I'll get it up as soon as I can.

Happy singing!

Understanding Open-Throat Singing and Its Uses in Different Styles of Music

Here is a helpful video for those of you with a choir background. It will help narrow the gap a little for you, between your understanding of classical and contemporary singing. But even if you don't have a classical singing background, I'm sure you would still pick up little anecdotes here and there.

I know I did.:)

Check out the falsetto on her!

As the title says, check out the falsetto on her! She has a lot of Mariah Carrey stuff on her channel, which kinda explains why this original of hers and how she sang it sounded so much like Mariah.

But back to her falsetto -- she uses it a lot in this song and stylistically, it makes the whole piece does sound really pretty, or to me at least. Technically speaking however, I'm not sure if all that breathy singing would harm her voice in the long run.

So, lesson for the day everyone -- be careful with using your falsetto, even though using it may sound reeeeally good.:)

For those reading this who don't exactly know what falsetto is, I'll explain what it is in a later post, along with head voice. People seem to always mix the two up, lol.

Helpful Article #03

Good Vocal Health - How to Have a Healthy Singing Voice
By Dileesa Hunter

The health of one's voice depends largely on how one treats it. If one could actually see their vocal cords in action, one would note that they are delicate ligaments that are easily manipulated, and easily bruised.
It is important to note that good general health precedes good vocal health. "Good" health is relative, so let's cover the basics.

• If you are a smoker, STOP. Smoking doesn't take you from soprano to alto, its takes you from soprano to nothing.

• Drink plenty of clear fluids daily. Singing is an athletic activity that involves the entire body, so you must be hydrated.

• Increase fruits and veggies. Why? Again, singing is athletic!! Just as a track runner prepares for a race by eating right, so should singers.

Now, more specific to singers, it is important to recognize that many times we wear our voices out before we even get on stage! How? The way we speak. Please remember, our speaking and singing voices use the same vocal cords. So, talking in a loud cafeteria, on the phone with the car windows down, rounding up the kids, all wears on our voice. People who consider singing their vocation must 'baby' their voices. Here are some tips:

• Find a note that you can easily hum on, and speak on that tone. It may sound funny at first, but your voice will love you for it.

• Make people move in closer to hear you, as opposed to you shouting over a noisy room

• Limit phone conversations in the car, or at least wind the windows up and turn the radio down!

• ALWAYS stay hydrated.

• When you are sick, REST. Trying to sing when you are already sick with a cold or flu can cause permanent damage, so take it easy.

Here's another tip that's easier said than done: Find your 'mix' voice, and sing in that as much as possible. This will dramatically increase your vocal stamina. A 'mixed voice' is the technique of mixing your chest voice with head voice to find a middle voice that makes your voice much more fluid, full, and even from top to bottom. Having sung and still singing Gospel music for so many years, (I believe) it's the only way I survived!!

Some also refer to this technique as speech- level- singing. The basic idea is to place your singing voice where you talk, to make the most natural sound. We speak with our teeth, tongues, lips, but so often when we sing, our voice is in the back of our throats! SPS, or singing in our 'mix' , brings us back to this basic truth of forward placement.

I want to hear from you! If this article was useful, please let me know your comments! Also, please visit http://www.AmericanSingingStudio.com for more information and products.

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dileesa_Hunter
http://EzineArticles.com/?Good-Vocal-Health---How-to-Have-a-Healthy-Singing-Voice&id=2019493