Thanks, Jaime :D.

I had never bothered to try doing it before, simply because I typically don't really need that much power, and because I wanted to wait till my voice is naturally a bit stronger and more settled in before I use it.

But today in church, we were singing the closing song, and the very last note was (I believe) a D4. I can usually nail a D with quite a bit of power, but I went for it and just got this weak, bleh little sound. It was a long note, so it just popped into my head as I was holding it, "Do the power push."

WHAM. All of the sudden my voice just exploded out louder than the nine people who were standing around me, and I couldn't believe how much power was behind the note.

So, thanks, Jaime. Really made my day ;).

Congratulations, seems like you did it the right way ;)
JV

Anthony,

I'm surprised it didn't poop into your head. That power push is dangerous. I know some third generation professional lead singers who left their children ophans because of the power push. I have to start wearing boxers now so that the stuff can just slide down my legs because of the... Okay, I'll be serious.

I really haven't figured out how to do it, Jaime. It's driving me nuts. On one hand, I think, "just pull the stomach in, and stick the chest out on the inhale, and then push the stomach out on the exhale, but that doesn't always work. Sometimes I just can't get loud. I can get the pitch, but it's so quiet that I have to cover one ear to control the volume better.
So I guess I would have to see a video of a shirtless lead singer's stomach as they sing in order to get a feel for how I'm supposed to orchestrate my stomach muscles. Video close-ups of the inside of their mouth when they sing sing throaty, clean, clean head, and clean mixed would help too.

I also tend to take in too much air, which does nothing for volume level. I've found that the best way to get warmed up for screaming is to do something like "punk runs"--those short, stacatto yelps of pure tone, which would be the high open E string on a guitar tuned standard. Even the ability to sing that way has proved elusive, so either I'm really loud, or really quiet and pissed off (which doesn't bode well for my mood because I can't scream when I want to). When I even try, I hurt myself a little and back off from using my voice too much for the rest of that day.

thanks for having an awesome messageboard where we can talk about this stuff!

Pram Maven
www.myspace.com/prammaven

Kind of like Marlon Brando used to move through a sandwich!

By the way, where is the power push mentioned in Raise Your Voice?

Its mentioned on page 136

It's mentioned all through the book. Also, you NEVER suck the stomach in-You allow the stomach to come in on it's own.

Jaime V

So...

can I push my stomach out instead? It seems to fling the notes farther when I do that.

I also used to take a karate class, and we were told to push our stomachs out when we yelled after delivering a particularly devastating punch to our imaginary enemy. Why we were asked to fight an imaginary enemy, I'll never know. I think we had issues.

I don't teach that approach-that is more classical related, like Bel Canto. However, when you use your fingers to press in below the navel to feel the tension as you push down, you'll notice that it does push out slightly as well.

JV

I used to take karate as well.

The reason they tell you to push your stomach out is... well, just try standing and doing a kiap that lets your stomach cave in. You feel a lot less balanced than if you're pushing out.

It's also a visualization thing. An idea of moving forward and 'through' your opponent with each hit.

so when i inhale, i do want our stomach to expand yeh, to get the most amount of air? when i do the power push, the stomach comes in a little since i am pushing down. but its still looks out/expanded from natural position, is this right?

Yes, that makes sense!