Lesson 3 Relaxed or Open Throat

Edward L. Johnson describes the lift of the throat and how it applies to the Bel Canto technique. For more info, check out www.thebelcantotechnique.com .

[@planetcool2240]

The 10 min mark is so critical along all the other info Ed is sharing. For those who are Canadian, he taught Gil Moore from Triumph and Brian Volmer from Helix and if you watch Helix videos of last year in concert, Brian still nails it because of this teacher. Ed saved Brian's career and I've followed Ed's videos and helped in my songwriting and recordings of Planet COOL! ...thanks for putting this on KZbin...

[@amynelson5084]

This dude knows what he speaks about. I'm very impressed and so grateful you shared these videos! Thanks so much!!!

[@aly4541]

ikr

[@MrCopperthwaite]

This is what we need: the actual nuts and bolts and how to get the knack. Excellent and thanks.

[@aly4541]

purrr

[@ClaralizMora]

Thank you so much for posting this!!! It is very clear the way he explains it, and easy to understand! Sometimes understanding singing technical terms are very difficult...but he explains it sooo great. Thank you!

[@ChrisTondreau]

Claraliz Mora Yes, this was one of the things I especially appreciated in studying with Ed.

[@ttchang9]

Thank you so much for posting this video! Very informative and helpful!

[@duykhanh3000]

Thank for your kindness to share these amazing teaching ❤️

[@nmbokn8593]

Interesting Chris, that at 6:50 he speaks about a horseshoe, describing the teeth arrangement, but when you open the back of the throat thru the smile, it feels as if a horseshoe is inserted into the mouth with rounded part in the rear of the throat....this action also automatically lowers the larynx....good stuff

[@lifeontheledgerlines8394]

"Singing is just sustained talking." - Harold Hill (Robert Preston, 1964), _The Music Man_

[@sottilario7213]

Thanks for the tip!

[@gracesu-weatherby6626]

Thanks sharing that amazing lesson!

[@stevesanyal]

Fantastic explanation

[@paulgaisie1785]

best lesson ever

[@sketchtonic9565]

OMG. where have these vudeis been my whole life!?

[@bh5606]

Very good information.

[@jerrybarnish5304]

Thanks already helped for singing in church.

[@lpmarketing5015]

That spreading the teeth was genius!

[@takamine98]

great stuff here. Thank you!

[@kellychristie4157]

CINDY JONES; your information is most informative and i do believe you are correct in that you dont have to drop your jaw if you are taking the correct steps prior to having to do that. Chris Tondreau I believe has well and truely got it sorted.

[@monalizalorenzo3662]

Amazing!!!

[@petertassi7496]

This video presentation and the eight lessons was produced and paid for by me, Peter Tassi. This person received the package I would sell, took the material and put it on the internet. When I got in touch with him I told him that his actions were forgiven but he cannot make money off my work and financing of this project. It takes some kind of person to do this. I will now consider next steps

[@ChrisTondreau]

If you do not have my personal email, please reach out to me at [e-mail]. I have not reneged on our agreement, but this is a conversation to have privately. @petertassi7496

[@ChrisTondreau]

Proof that my channel remains unmonetized. drive.google.com/file/d/1QlIcolRaWakdv-nn3Pxu1uijAiB1Px-w/view?usp=drivesdk

[@bernardodelatorre5243]

COOL, thanks!

[@VIDEOHEREBOB]

The thing to realize (I had to) is you have to learn to maintain the lift as well.

[@ChrisTondreau]

VIDEOHEREBOB Yes!!

[@joejayno]

That was awesome info. Great!!!!

[@ternitamas]

the studies of johan sundberg on the acoustics of voice production contradicts this view, vowels need to be modified for certain formants to appear in the vocal tract in order to amplify the voice correctly and acquire squillo

[@ChrisTondreau]

Hi Sharan; I've been holding off on replying, as I've been working out the last of the technical details. I can now tell you that, yes, I do offer online instruction now. Please either contact me through here, or go to www.thebelcantotechnique.com and go to the "Lessons/Contact" link to find out more. I look forward to hearing from you!

[@waihonglow]

Hi, sir. I really wish my vocal coach will watch your videos. She always kept asking me to drop my jaws, open my mouth to sing. However, I always feel tension in my neck and the problem can't be solved. I really wish she could teach me the way like you do. Now by the time I yet to start singing, I already feel tension in my neck...

[@karlheinzkirchmann6469]

Wonderfull. Very seldom you hear a person speaking so full of facts about singing technics. What a pleasure to listen. At the same time we understand how complicated and enduring it may be to learn. Again absolutely wonderfull and so heavenly right but so hard to learn❤

[@protocolwork]

Nice little jackpot video, oh yea.

[@rica2k5]

So When I sing low mid to high the throat should be relaxed and open and cheeks lifted up maintan? thats why mariah whitney and other great singers have nice smile or mouth position when singing also fat cheeks

[@AILifeUpgrade]

this is really awesome ..info....thanx...chriss.s....this is perfectly right what u r explaining....do u give skype classes also??..plz do reply :P

[@unabarry5496]

I thought this was Edward L Johnson, Sharan, not Chris who is responsible for uploading these for us all! Follow those eigth or nine lessons and you won't go wrong for now.

[@Oaktreealley]

Is there more video?

[@rica2k5]

The problem is o followed all this technique but when i reach the high notes yes their high but i smile not really open a wide mouth with my corner of the lips tucked what should be the problem

[@calliesma1]

the site above does not seem to exist...

[@michaelcraig9449]

You cant yawn the entire time you are singing..so WHAT to do?

[@tmunday7270001475143]

I yawned through out this whole video 😂

[@michaelcraig9449]

OK, so what does one do instead, to do it correctly? I want to know what to do instead. What to do, exactly.

[@kpotter78]

He explained it all.

[@DocPortland]

Messo Soprano superstar Joyce DiDonato has the best teaching advice on her youtube channel with regards to support, etc. This guy comes from 20-30 year old techniques and some make sense, ie relaxation. Back in the day they made it so technical and difficult, when in reality - the body knows how to do it all already - we just have to teach the body how to get out of the way of itself.

[@polluxtoda]

i see can this technique be used for non classical singing?(rock, blues, countryn, pop?) Thanksss

[@KariArpa]

Students should be weary of misinformation and use common sense when it comes to voice teachers. I see so many crazy ideas cross the threshold of my studio. As a singing teacher myself for 38 years I wish to point out a couple things Mr. Tondreau said that don’t make sense and encourage bad habits: 1) The face has nothing to do with the uvula. I train all my students to lift their uvulas very high on cue with completely blank faces. It is a simple matter of isometrics & a mirror. We need to reserve our faces for our performances. Singers should be equally both actors as well as musicians. Our faces need to visually express the message in the lyrics of the song. It is no accident many singing stars transition effortlessly to acting in movies. 2) I can hear when my students are not opening their mouths. I don’t have to look. To say it is not necessary to let the jaw fall way open to achieve better volume is simply a matter of having your students stand behind you to hear the difference. A student can be trained in minutes to open up the mouth with no tension. Letting the jaw drop has nothing to do with tension in the neck. If you completely relax after you yawn, your mouth stays open. Have you ever fallen asleep in a chair with your mouth open? Professor C. Kari BM MM

[@unabarry5496]

Big difference between opening you mouth and letting your jaw drop! I don't think for one minute that Edward Johnson was suggesting the opposite - a clenched jaw, which is no use to anyone. But you need to drop your jaw more as you go up - and as I said, that is not necessarily opening your mouth. An open mouth can just close the throat.

[@ericfrey1821]

+Prof. Kari Yes, I have fallen asleep in a chair. The jaw doesn't hang wide open, it only hangs slightly open. Opening wide has no bearing on loudness, that's a good way to make the pronunciation of ones vowels sound rediculous though. If a singer doesn't have a good technique, opening wide isn't going to solve anything. (Loud doesn't equal a good sounding tone anyway.) Lack of volume comes from lack of resonant forward overtones, not from lack of opening wide enough. Sing a soft tone, or speak the same phrase, both with a gaping jaw and one natural open...did it get magically louder, nope it didn't, that's not how acoustics work. Opening wide does not happen naturally in speech.

[@evp911]

Prof. Kari that's Seth rigs not Tendreau

[@polluxtoda]

@@ericfrey1821 hi sorry to ask this, are all the videos based on your points given here and the previous(2nd video), somewhat a true representation of how bel canto is explained? i am sorry i just got into this side of singing/vocals/voice. Thank you...

[@karlheinzkirchmann6469]

There are a lot of Professors in the word, professors on famous Universities, who never are able to teach singing technic. In the whole world maybe a handful of people who know the secrets, yes, secrets. A teacher must help you to find the right way to your targets……and when he starts with the wrong first little way y’ll never reach……. The teacher here teaching is fully right. In practice your teacher may use other words or start with other important ideas. The singer - on the end. - have to find their own way. THE OWN WAY was the way all great singers wether in these days wether in the past went. Find your way with the first right instructions. Tethered are a lot of charlatans who are professors infamous Universities ❤

[@riccardocerti]

Ameeeeennnnnnnn

[@ikkap5877]

As if she is hypnotized.

[@funguy29]

what a comely lady...

[@philthompson8574]

You can't sing and yawn at the same time. Yawning lifts the soft palate at the back of your throat

[@TheStarviking]

I lift the soft palate at the back of the throat, and sing beautiful coloratura classical - Mezzo Soprano.

[@philthompson8574]

@@TheStarviking please give us a sample

[@fudgyboo]

Your soft palate is supposed to be raised when you sing. At least in the bel canto style.

[@manilasop1148]

Half of beginners or developed ones too, would understand yawn as a potato in the back of their throat. He didn’t mean that 😂. Anyways, he’s good.

[@weerobot]

My Uvula`s up...

[@Fr.....]

Lo malo es que no nos enseñó con la práctica pura teoría 😊

[@scottstedeford7575]

Sing every word through the “ah” vowel.

[@swtfyespitta7021]

How do u try n spread yo teeth?

[@danielhughes441]

Couldn’t be more wrong when it comes to vowel shaping. And saying singing is an extension of speech greatly oversimplies things, and let’s other things (like vowel formantes) never occur

[@scottstedeford7575]

Agree. I think Thomas Hampson describes it best, that singing is athletic. So much concentration and action in the body below the throat that make singing possible. Not at all the same as talking.

[@ikkap5877]

Does this man ever sing? I've heard nothing but anatomy so far!

[@BrettOwen71]

+ik kap Knowledge of anatomy and physiology is very important and lots of singers are sadly lacking it. The more you know your instrument, the better your mastery of it. The voice is the most intimate and personal instrument that exists. It requires intimate knowledge. Can't skip the fundamentals.

[@BrettOwen71]

Now eat all your brussel sprouts or no dessert!

[@Tkimba2]

@@BrettOwen71 no

[@BrettOwen71]

Tomba 2 Then go to your room! We’ll talk about this later. Sometimes you make me sooo...Just go. I have to lie down.

[@brun-cosmejoelle8834]

? Le soulèvement du palais peut-être mais pas de la gorge !

[@theoperatripleaxel5417]

Can that woman speak? She is just there for an entire hour just listening cross-legged...

[@produzassim]

é uma edição rsrs, creio que Madona aprendeu muito rssrs

[@sobeto28]

11 minutes of taling and this guy doesn't even demonstrate a single sound? How can this have 20k views i don't know, maybe thats why opera is what it is now.

[@MsEustaciaVye]

I agree all talk no action

[@Will_DiGiorgio]

Absolutely pure rubbish. There's a reason why pop singers blow out there voices so young and opera singers, can go into thier 70s and it's singing covered not open... He certainly has no clue what the noble Bel Canto sound should be if he's talking about singing open... No support, no diaphragm..

[@ChrisTondreau]

The other videos in the series talk about support and the diaphragm. The idea of singing with an open throat is a facet of Bel Canto that is rarely disputed.

[@Will_DiGiorgio]

Its a strangled sound and not noble at all . The voice should be even in every register top to bottom with pure vowels. That's a great Bel Canto singer, doing that open is impossible. The legato would sound horrible, the vibrato would be inconstant and you break through the passage forcing the voice into the open falsetto. Open Bel Canto is a myth. Although its an overused example, youll never here Pavarotti sing Bel Canto open .....Especially in his prime before he destroyed his voice trying to sing Aida and Ottello....

[@CorneliusHDybdahl]

​@@Will_DiGiorgio The open throat refers to an unconstricted pharynx. The combination of a narrowed epiglottic funnel and an unconstricted pharynx is what causes the squillo in the voice, providing an essential part of the bright component of the chiaroscuro timbre. The covered sound you're referring to is an acoustic change above the passaggio, where, in order for the larynx to be able to stay neutral rather than rising uncontrollably and causing interfering tensions, you need to allow the first formant to pass beneath the second formant, resulting in a noble-sounding closure or covering of the timbre, called voce chiusa. This is not what provides the dark component, as you need to have that independently of whether you're singing above or below the passaggio for the vowel. Instead, the dark component is provided by the raised soft palate, which is essentially an expansion of the oropharynx; in addition to the neutral larynx. It is in other words possible to sing with a covered sound despite having an open throat (or more precisely an unconstricted pharynx). There are however several major points of misinformation in the video. For example, it is entirely possible to suffer vocal nodules without poor vocal technique if you're dehydrated when you sing, or if you're genetically susceptible to them, or if you suffer an illness that inflames your vocal folds to the point of damage. Note though that this is just one example and there are many other flaws with the video.

[@tasadiri1283]

Who is she?...y so hot? Can't focus?😂

[@Sabininho]

Oh I can also explain a lot about singing to that babe PS Move your teeth??? Are you fucking kidding me? Boy ... this bel canto is not what Caruso was taught

[@peteradaniel]

Very relaxing video, but he's talking absolute rubbish. Singing is just talking in the breath. He talks about tensions and doesn't discuss the diaphragm or abdominals, which is the only reason why tension occurs in the neck.

[@ChrisTondreau]

He talks about breathing and the diaphragm in a subsequent vide in the series. That said, in inexperienced singers, tension in the throat happens for a lot more reasons than ineffective breathing.

[@peteradaniel]

+Chris Tondreau What other reasons that bad breathing. The diaphragm is everything to do with singing, if it's blocked you sing badly, if it isn't you don't. Everything else, like placement, sound, head voice etc is extraneous and harmful. Speak on the breath, babies can do it. They never get nodules.

[@peteradaniel]

+Chris Tondreau The idea of voice placement is the worst. Total killer, why think about putting anything in your head or anywhere else?

[@Rosannasfriend]

Did you see the title? It's lesson 3. He already explained about the diaphragm and intercostal muscles. Geez, some ppl should read before talking.

[@timothywendel]

+Alex Daniel that's what you are supposed to do in classical singing so they resonate in the head. think it in the head and after a time you relax the throat