Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Examining The Success Of Speech Level Singing Technique

By Brett Manners


SLS or speech level singing is a voice method that is specifically designed to lessen strain on one's vocal cords. Naturally, this makes singing easier to perform. Also once can more easily produce music and have fewer problems with high notes. Here is how this kind of voice method works.

One of the most important things that a singer can do is project the voice. This can be done in several ways. However, many voice methods can be detrimental to the voice box or larynx as they can cause strain. SLS is a method that allows the larynx to operate as it normally does during speech. In this way, the singer is not working hard to sing. In fact, it seems to come naturally.

One may think that SLS is simply relaxing the voice to allow one to sing easier. In some ways that is true, but it is more involved than that. One must train the voice to relax and this is done by practicing certain exercises. These exercises are designed to help one sing in a completely natural way, and they help to isolate the inner larynx muscles from the outer ones.

Your voice is a musical instrument just like a piano or guitar, for example. When you play a guitar, you change the length of the strings to make music. The shorter the strings become, the higher pitch they produce. The same can be said for your vocal cords.

Guitar strings are vibrated by the fingers or a pick striking them. Vocal cords are vibrated when air from the lungs passes by them. If you want to change the pitch of your voice you must shorten or lengthen the vocal cords, and this is done with muscles in the larynx. You can do this naturally or forcibly. Speech level singing lets the voice box remain in its normal position, just like when you speak.

Part of your SLS training is about bridges and how they affect the way that you sing. Many people force notes by moving the voice box. SLS teaches you to keep the voice box in its natural position. This is done by letting your inner voice box muscles make the needed adjustments to the vocal cords. Bridges are places where you need to hit higher or much lower notes, and they take training to recognize and use naturally.

If you sing in only one octave you do not need to worry about bridges. However, this is seldom done. SLS teaches that the first bridge is the place where most people tighten outer voice box muscles and one must learn to keep them relaxed. Once you relax these outer muscles, the inner ones will take over and this removes a great deal of strain from your voice. You can reach high notes and there is no cracking of the voice and going off key.

Once you understand the basics of how SLS works you will see that it can make a difference in the way that you sing. When you stop working at singing you can relax and develop your own unique voice. You can find many good online programs that demonstrate and take you through the process of speech level singing.




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