Hi everybody, I just bought the book, and I've looked at the videos and I am really impressed. I am in a cover band, we do a lot of really hard-ass stuff, which I happen to like, and want to do. I have been taking vocal coaching for 2 years and it's really helped. I have a big range and lots of bottom end but I still can't do the melodic screaming and I haven't been able to do Led Zep songs like my band mates want me to! I am hopeful that Jaime's techniques will help me be able to pull it off! My current vocal coach says it's not possible for me to get up that high. Question is, is it something that a chick could actually do without being laughed off the stage????????????

If your vocal coach thinks that you, a woman, can't go as high as robert plant, a man, then she must not know much about the size of female vocal cords by contrast with male ones.

This book is pretty much all range expansion and tone strengthening, so I think with some serious practice you'll be hitting all of the highs and perhaps even some extra lows in no time.

It's not that I can't get up that high, but I haven't been able to do it with any power. I need to learn how to get up there in full voice. My voice is naturally quite low so robert plant is a stretch for me right now. My two years of lessons have increased my range but not my power in the upper registers. I did the siren exercise and I think that might help me make the breakthrough.

You technically should be able to sing even higher than every guy with practice. Show your vocal coach Jaime's 3 octave siren siren audio file. He does a 4 octave slide at the end of it, the highest note probably being higher than most or all Led Zeppelin songs.

Then ask him why you can't go that high, being a chick.

As far as screaming goes, I saw on zen of screaming 2 and the girl from Arch Enemy said if your a Soprano, that it's probably not safe for you to scream. Hopefully Jaime can comment on that.

Practice :)

oh i started typing before you posted that.

Yes, do lots and lots of sirens, also i'm sure Transcending Tones are best for power, considering the exercise is to go from tiny to big.

Do the 7 week plan thing. I did, it works :)

You can add grit to your higher register but I think it just doesn't come as naturally for us women. I can't really do it myself so I'm the last person to teach you how but Mag could probably tell you more. Check her out she's amazing:

http://pub11.bravenet.com/forum/879185519/show/849370

As far as power is concerned, it all depends on your voice placement and support. When the voice is well placed, it projects more and of course, if you have good control of your support, it will affect your volume too. Give yourself some time. Keep practicing and it will come

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I am very excited about this program. I do think that heavy rock singing, screaming, etc., doesn't come as naturally to us girls, but I refuse to believe that I can't do it. The challenge is in my face...our drummer brought in a White Zombie tune, thunderkiss 65...no real screams, but ultra gritty...at first I was shocked to think that he thought I could actually do that , so this is what drove me to buy this book. It's time to go to the next level!

Oiselle, Mag is awe inspiring! This definitely answers my question (can girls do it?)!

When i first read this post Magali came to mind :P
Another one to check out is kimberley goss from Sinergy... shes incredibly powerful! she has more power than most guys ive heard.... so dont think you cant do it.... you can!
I think its harder for girls to get the high powerful rock/metal stuff just because theres not many examples of good powerful women rock singers.... if i had never heard singers like James Labrie, Roy Khan or robert tiranti, then i wouldnt know how to sing like that, but because ive heard what they can do, ive learned to translate that to my own singing style. So because theres hardly any female rock or metal singers to try and sound like, then its harder for you to know what you can do with your voice....
Hope you get what i mean?
Good luck

Anyone can scream, it doesn;'t matter what you are vocally cataegorized as. More power? One of my "Power" vocal coaches was a little old lady named Elizabeth Sabine who could knock you down with her voice;) You can do what you want to do;)

Unless a vocal coach is into rock don't listen to them, they're idiots. I once had one of these proper priss voice teachers tell me I was a bass then six months later tell me I was an alto 2. No, I wasn't taking lessons from her. That's just one example of how retarded they are. Find a teacher who actually knows and has a passion for your style. If she says you can't do it that means she just can't teach it or possibly even do it herself.

Oh, and someone may have said this already but go listen to Anne Wilson of Heart if you have any doubts as to whether a a chick can sing rock.

Listen to Flyleaf too :)

Classical teachers aren't stupid, they just only teach classical style. Which is hundreds of years old. It will help you with tone and sound and such. Range isn't really their thing though.

My classical teacher said, just be careful with screaming, as long as it doesnt affect your voice it'll be fine. He couldn't teach it, but didn't shun it away. Also we worked on apply the classical stuff to some blues/jazz songs, which aren't TOO far away from rock.

You gotta get lucky haha. Teachers like Jaime, who teach the whole head voice thing and rasp techniques, are better though.

It's true that there are few, few, few females who can pull off the really hard stuff. Joan Jett comes to mind, Chrissie Hynde, and a few others...I have yet to find one that I am really intensely inspired by....like the way I feel about Ozzy, Ian Gillian, and some other males. But I am always looking for female "role models" whose music is not 30 years old, as much as I love the old stuff I don't wanna get stuck there.

So kisses on both cheeks to those of you who've mentioned chick singers for me to listen to. I don't wanna be just a copycat, but you have to go thru doing covers to get your chops, I think.

another example is the singer from the agonist, who does both clean vocals and death screams. I saw them live last year and her singing was flawless.

heard one of linda perry's solo albums recently...she's great! very robert plant-ish

A phrase I live by is "All Things Are Possible" if you believe it, then all things really can be done
GO GET EM GIRL!!

ROCK OUT

No, girls can't do it. They're not really physically capable of doing it.


You see, the male vocal folds have tiny muscles running along the side, attached to the upper and lower edges of the fold. Contracting and releasing these folds in a fluttering motion is what allows you to safely create the grit.

Unfortunately, female vocal folds don't have those muscles.


Sorry, you'll just have to sing opera. Or something.




Note: The above was complete and utter BS. As the above posts have shown, women can scream with the best of them. If not better. :p

Haha, there are some people who probably believe that b.s. There have never been a lot of women into heavy music, I wonder why?? Maybe it's just a matter of taste...maybe some women don't feel the aggression and so can't or won't project the aggression. I don't know too many women who listen to metal. I'm just speculating, though, about why. I don't really know the answer.

I am better already with only a few days of doing the siren. I think that and some of Jaime's other things are going to push me to the next level.

Have any of you all adopted the dietary changes that Jaime recommends? It is so hard for me to do without caffeine. I quit everything else, but that is my last addiction.

you should check out Lita Ford too. Her and her husband rock

i guess, historically, there haven't been a lot of role models for women in metal...fortunately that's changing now and there are a lot of very fine power/gothic/symphonic-metal songstresses these days, particularly from Europe (Nightwish, Epica, Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil and so on)

Veeneck: If there's one dietary mantra I would take away from Jaime's book, it would be: whenever in doubt, drink water.

If you're struggling to lay off the caffeine, I found a good remedy.

Make up for it by taking Ginseng and water, and start walking a lot. It gets your body used to staying active without caffeine, and provides you with an equal, but less addicting energy source. It worked for me, and I haven't had a soda since december.

I'm not addicted to sodas, but I -do- love me an ice cold pepsi or Dr. Pepper every once in a while after being out in the summer heat. I just make sure to wash it down with plenty of water afterwards, and really I only have a soda every once in a while, not every day or every other day :).


If you're having trouble staying away from caffein, then I definitely suggest what Jay Sin mentioned... If you're getting headaches from the withdraw, then... well be strong :p. It'll only last a few days hopefully till you get the need for it out of your system.

... and actually if you do get withdraw symptoms, you really do need to quit the coffee :p.

Nothing wrong with switching an addiction from caffiene to a temporary addiction to advil till the headache's go away.

I've been having coffee since I was around 5. I have my own espresso machine and make those fancy drinks quite often. Also getting a starbucks double shot on ice with an extra shot is quite yummy.

But, me being a hardcore caffeine drinker at the age of 16, can still put up the self control to stop when I have to sing. So i'm assuming you can too :)

Tips!
- If you dont wanna stop, drink twice as much water as you did coffee after you drink it.
- plan coffee drinking times accordingly so it doesn't affect your voice.
- Lower your coffee intake to something more reasonable, (I was doing 6 shots of espresso a day until one day I stopped and got MAJORLY ill until I drank some more coffee. I couldn't walk without falling because of dizziness and for some reason my whole body hurt. Also the headache was terrible and vision was blurry. It was real freaky.)
- find something else caffeinated like certain types of tea, or low fat espresso chocolates. So when you get a headache, just have that, it will go away for a bit. DONT USE SODA!


Also, if your into energy drinks, quit. I used to have one every day before school and then I went to the doctor and he said, you have very high blood pressure from the energy drinks. So I stopped. If you exercise its better for you than just sitting down after having one, but I'd just avoid them.


goood luckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

Thanks guys, I love all the tips...I've gotten so inspired by this radio station I discovered called the boneyard on XM radio..24/7 metal and "hair band" music with no commercial interruptions. It's so worth the 10 bucks a month for the subscription. They play all of the good stuff. And yes they played Lita Ford today. . Right now they're playing all the metal bands that are going to be at Bonaroo this year.

I think I will try the ginseng and water thing. I am so addicted, I will have to withdraw slowly...not only am I guzzling three cups of coffee in the morning, I am doing the Red Bull thing at night. I always say to myself, well, at least I'm not smoking, but I I gotta get off this junk if I am going to be able to bark with the big dogs, so to speak.

The last time I tried to quit, I got all dizzy and spacey, worse than quitting cigs, so I think I will try to wean myself down slowly and substitute water, water and more water. I am really realizing how important it is to be in shape. Speaking of which, I think I'll go out jogging with my dog..I just had a Monster energy drink !

you should check out luna jade too. she isn't a famous musician but i think shes got a great sound. the fact that she isn't big sums up all the reasons i have beef with the popular music industry.

http://www.myspace.com/lunajade

Hi Veeneck,

Let me introduce you to Anne Boleyn. She is the lead singer from Hellion. She was one of the first female METAL singers, and she is still one of my favorite singers - she's got power for days - and physically, she is a small woman - but listen to the sound she produces! She's got a fairly low speaking voice, but she can get up there with a lot of power. We always viewed her as the "female Dio".




Tim

Hey guys, thanks for the tips on these great female artists. It lets me know what's possible. Awe-inspiring stuff!

I am playing my first gig next week with the addition of Jaime's vocal warm-up methods, so we'll see how I do. I am sticking to stuff I know how to do well at my level. In rehearsal I still choke on certain screams, like it gets stuck in my throat....I know what I should be doing but I can't make it happen yet. I will keep doing transcending tone and sirens and hopefully those muscles will develop. Meanwhile we are leaving that stuff off of our set list.

haha yeah energy drinks are bad! I got high blood pressure from them, which went away after two weeks of not having them. Withdrawal sucks.

I'm having an energy drink today for the first time sinceeeeee january. I saw a drink called "playboy" so i had to get it! hahaha

Good luck.