Do you ever try to get more power and strength in your voice but you feel you’re pushing too hard? And it’s like you’re making the wrong kind of effort to get a powerful sound? But you don’t know what to do instead?

Well if so, don’t worry because this is very common amongst singers.

A lot of vocalists realise that when they sing:

•  sometimes they’re getting a lovely easy rich and projected tone,
• but at other points this seems to slip away and they don’t know where it’s gone.
• So they try too hard to get it back and end up with a sore throat.

This is the gremlin of inconsistency.

And it can feel frustrating, disappointing and confusing if you don’t know how to fix it. You might be worried you’ll let yourself down if you’re singing in public.

But the good news is that this unreliability is just down to not knowing your instrument well enough, and how to use it effectively.

It’s not some great mystery.

Because making great sound is actually just mechanics, pure and simple. The mechanics of the muscles and cartileges in your vocal anatomy.

Sure, singing is a deep and intimate, spiritual experience too. Totally intertwined with your presence and your self expression. I’m not denying that.

But when you get the instrument in great condition, like buying a top quality handmade guitar, then the passion that you put into it comes out sounding beautiful, and how you want it to.

Today I’m  sharing with you one of my favourite, simplest tricks for getting more power when you sing, with less effort.

Just last week in the 4^th session of my new online course, The Confident Singer Masterclass, I was working with my students on showing them how to gain new strength in their tone.

I was getting them all to sing an Ooh, just in their normal way, so I could find out what their usual habits and typical sound was.

Some of the singers had lovely clear tone that rang out, others rather breathy, that was nice and tender to hear but ran out quickly; Others had a little glottal glitch at the start of the sound. And one lady Laura had a nice voice but it didn’t seem to go much beyond her throat. It had both a pushed, and a held-back, quality about it.

I knew what she needed. She needed my magical projection technique that is so simple to apply.

I call it The Fountain.

I have 2 categories of technique that I use in helping singers to find the full potential of their voices. (These come from my unique singing  system, Vocal Synergy).

One category is ‘physical’ instruction. This is where I’m asking a singer to do something specific with certain muscles.

The other category is ‘imagery’ instruction. This is where you create an image or vision that a singer uses or steps into, that has a direct effect on the way they use their voice. ( It might sound a bit woo-woo, but I assure you, it’s very effective.)

The Fountain obviously fits into the 2^nd category.

In this powerful approach,  you imagine your voice as a fountain.

1. You imagine the base, the power, of your breath and sound, starting, and being switched on, deep down in your belly, well more like, below your navel and above your pubic bone. In the area of the sacral chakra.

That’s where the power of your voice arises from, so you can avoid thinking you have to use your throat as the ‘engine’.

 2.  You imagine the direction of the fountain water, as going up through your throat, mouth, and in a direct channel up through your head, out and projecting up to the ceiling.

So The Fountain just consists of these 3 things: Imagine the fountain. Switch on the belly power. Direct it to the ceiling. Simple hey?

This is what I guided Laura to do the other day, and you know what happened?

Her voice sounded completely different! She heard it, and all the other students on the call noticed it too.  In fact they were impressed. It had flow. It had an easy power. It projected without effort. It had vibrant tone.

And Laura said it felt really good too. She said it felt like she included more of her whole self in the making of the sound and that it felt more authentic. That it helps to free her voice and open her throat. Not a bad outcome for one image!

Yay!

It’s hard to explain technically why The Fountain helps so much but it REALLY does. So give it a try!

This is just one of the 5 Essential Tools For Powerful Singing that I’ll be sharing and demonstrating in my new online workshop.

It’s happening on Monday, 22^nd March from 7-9pm GMT and it’s completely free to attend. Find out more, and  book your place here:  The 5 Essential Tools For Powerful Singing.

Enjoy exploring this technique and I hope to see you soon!