I think you have a great, warm tone, Ben. as far as grit, everyone can get it, but sometimes it's extremely hard to figure out. It's like being totally ****** off as you sing to add that edge, without letting the true emotion sneak in and clench your throat. Or like Thomas Appell says; "it's grunting without grunting." The muscles beside the cords must squeeze in the glottis to hold back a bit more breath, but if we grunt, or squeeze with the exterior neck muscles, it makes things worse.

Yeah, this last paragraph didn't help a dang bit, because it's just like most coaches going on about something in words that doesn't make a difference in practical application. So, throwing the above explanation out the door, try singing in your low range with just a bit of aggravated tone to get that "rrrgggg" sound slightly on your low, nice warm tone. When you can add just a teensy bit o' grit, continue playing around with it as you sing. over the course of a few months you can add more and more until it feels easy to do;)

PS- Congrats on the baby:) Now, watch her in the crib and observe her abdominal movements when she screams like a banshee;)

Try to be yourself, and not sound like others and it will be easier. YES, go back to full warmups. Do VSR while in the shower while singing along to Voice RX or another warm up, so that you are consistent every day;)

You too. keep the board going. I wanted this forum separate than all other singing forums. Just something quaint and cozy for RYV users so we don't have a bunch of people arguing over methodologies. I used to belong to one years ago, like singers unit or singers solution or something and it was nothing but a thousand people having a peeing contest.

Very proud of you for posting, and exceptionally happy you stopped when you caught the break, did it again, and stuck with it to go even higher. That's how you get better:) I cannot remember if I added this scale on the members section. If not, email me and I might have some mp3s to send you. Remember to always support down, and keep the notes as clean as possible. I heard a little breathy rasp early on, but you quickly fixed it;) You'll get stronger with consistency, regardless of whether you're doing scales or the Isolation exercises. But, you're already doing great!

BTW- those "vowel" and "isolation" exercises do not cause damage or nodules as one of my administrators brought to my attention as posted in another blog. I didn't get to read the post before it was deleted, but from what I gathered, it's just another one of my "non-fans" haha. I have my cords scoped each year and they are in perfect health. Those slides are what brought James Labrie's voice back and he'll attest to it. So, don't be afraid to work hard, follow the book, and you'll do great:)