Hi. I just bought the pdf book over the weekend and have been reading it. I have been working on my vocals for about 2 or more years now with instruction.
But I'm a bit confused with the downloads from the members section. There doesn't seem to be any order to them as far as there names. Although as I go through the book (the first few chapters) Jamie will talk about them. Some of them I can find others may have another name. I'm not one who loves to sit and read this kind of stuff. But I'm looking for help in some areas I'm not getting with my other materiel. I'm all about he work outs and would like to get started. The Ultimate work out he released I have enjoyed for the last coupe of days. I have three warm ups. The most gental for those rough mornings from Brett Manning, Then I do Ken Tamplins warm up that is a little more aggressive and works with full voice before the end and then I do Jamies which when I'm done is like having a silk voice :)
But I'm all about the hard stuff and developing my higher grit if that is what we are calling it. The mix voice has been easy to maintain but the higher stuff not so. I need a way to practice and keep that going. I have Jamies extreme scream download as well where he shows that just growling along with stuff can help. I'm starting that this week. I used to just burn out singing songs all day. But that takes to much time and renders limited results in the end. My question I guess if I was to ask. Is there a cheat sheet for those files so I can just work on them in logical order? I'm just learning the forum and may only be able to be on here till this weekend when my subscription runs out. I'm a working musician and can't afford the $27 a week. But I bought the book hoping it would help me with the things I am struggling with. Thanks for your time.

Heya Tom,
Drop the other vocal warm-ups while you're working with RYV, they'll just make things harder for you. Make sure you download the Audio Files from the edition of RYV you purchased - most folks get the 2nd Edition. Their only purpose is to give you an audio example as you read through the book - they aren't exercises or anything. So as you're reading Jaime says "Chubacca sound" and you're like "WTF is that??" there's an audio file to show you what he means by that. You really have to comprehend what Jaime's trying to teach you about the technique. There are no quick fixes or "vocal steroids" that will let you cheat, BUT, you will notice results and changes rather quickly. Remember that as you relearn technique you may lose as much as you gain while you go through an "adjustment" period, but you'll get it all back one you "lock in" to the new technique.

Page 255 outlines the 7 Week Training Program to get you started. It consists of the Vocal Stress Release - all the exercises from page 205 - 218. Then do your 15 minute (or so) Ultimate Vocal Warm-Up audio - then sing 5-6 of your favorite songs. That's Week 1. Week 2 do the VSR, UVW - THEN work on the Basic Falsetto Slide (using a keyboard or other pitch/tone creator) - then sing 5-6 of your favorite songs. Week 3 is the same as week 2, but don't do ANY Falsetto Slides, instead work on the Basic Transcending Tone Exercise. Week 4 is the same as 2 & 3, but do ONLY the Sirens (Basic Full Voice) for your isolation exercise NO FS's or TT's. Week 5 & 6 Do ALL the Basic Isolation exercises. Week 7 Pick you favorite of each type of Isolation exercise0 to keep in your regular regimen.

So here's that simplified with ACRONYMS!!! (Yay!)
Week 1 = VSR + UVW + 5-6 Songs
Week 2 = VSR + UVW + BFS (page 233) + 5-6 Songs
Week 3 = VSR + UVW + BTT (page 242) + 5-6 Songs
Week 4 = VSR + UVW + BFV (page 251) + 5-6 Songs
Week 5 = VSR + UVW + BFS + BTT + BFV + 5-6 songs
Week 6 = VSR + UVW + BFS + BTT + BFV + 5-6 songs
Week 7 = VSR + UVW + 1 Falsetto Iso + 1 TT Iso + 1 FV Iso + 5-6 Songs .. and week 7 becomes your DAILY regimen where you'd add specialized exercises for Grit or whatever you're working on and add them in there. ALWAYS do your VSR and UVW though, those are your constants.

Please be sure to READ so you understand what's going on and what you should be feeling for / visualizing to get the most form each exercise. I use the audio files to listen to the Isolation exercises before starting them so I can do it along with him and get the feel - but you GOTTA read too - even if it's just once or twice to get the mental images. You can do exercises till you're blue in the face and get no results or make things worse - you have to understand them and do the PROPERLY to get results. YOU AND YOUR VOICE ARE WORTH INVESTING SOME TIME IN!

Don't worry about gentile. I did the whole Brett Manning thing, and truth be told with proper technique you're really not affected by "morning groggy voice" - with proper technique EVERYTHING is gentile to you voice. I can wake up, throw clothes on, hop in the car and sing with the radio on the drive to work no matter how "sleepy" my voice is because I use proper technique - NOW would I go singing in front of people without warming up PERIOD - no, that's unprofessional, but COULD I - yes.. I wouldn't, but if it happened it wouldn't be the end of the world or a tragedy of a performance. Motivation and blood flow/oxygenation are the only things that will wake up ANY portion of your body - hence the VSR and building stamina by jogging and singing, etc.

In my experience the vocal routine is best done at the "peak" of your day - at your individual time during the day when you feel the most energetic - be it in the morning or at night - when ever YOU feel the most energy in your day. This is also when you are the most mentally alert and more likely to "click" with things and commit them to muscle memory - you don't want to make "bad" habits, you want to make "good" ones. You're also generally in a more positive mood which only benefits the creative and confidance side of singing.

Hi vocalist.

"""when i was first starting i was skipping transcending tone, thinking it wasn't that good, boy was i wrong, thats the MOTHER of removing breaks and getting that mixed voice strong.""" This needs to be stressed out, it´s very important and same thing happened to me with getting mixed voice into full voice.

Vocalist if you want grit, firstly you need to make all of your falseto into full voice to build the maximum range with strong voice in heights. so you need to do isolation excercises and transcending tone just like Phil said. once if you feel confident to reach your range goal then start doing grit. i had an absolute clean voice when I started and had exact problem like you´ve described. I think the best way is to start only with falseto voice or less louder voice/tone and find the lower intensity that produces a mini grit. it won´t be a grit rather a scratch similar to a vocal fry. It took me 10 sessions (hours) to work on that. and on eleventh session I accidently drank a tablespoon of cod liver oil that brought my cords together and was able to go full tone/intensity on grit/ high scream all the way. since then I got some grit from other 20 sessions but it´s still a long long way to go.

"Not new to" and "mastered" are two separate things - as I'm sure you know. It takes quite a bit of time to make technique your second nature. Until you are what I call "comfortably locked" into a technique (you're voice goes to it automatically, and doesn't fall out of proper technique) then you shouldn't attempt rasp. THAT being said, we all know you're going to anyway!

BUT I would wait until after you've done the seven week "boot camp" outlined in RYV (which will answer your question of "how often should I warm up"... which is EVERY DAY if possible, if you sing "regularly" it will become more natural and fluent.). Get your Vocal Stress Release done DAILY, OWN your Extreme Vocal Warm-Up exercises, MASTER your falsetto slides, Transcending Tones and Sirens. IDENTIFY AND SHIFT your core of resonance fluently. If you don't have these basic concepts under your belt then the "HOW" of rasp production is just going to completely confuse and escape you. I can tell you with great certainty that if you have ALL that stuff set and good, rasp will come very easily because you will have the knowledge and control you need to make it work - the RIGHT way. Think of your rasp like the roof of the house - if you don't build a solid foundation and sturdy walls, you're roof will crush and kill you. RYV and the 7 week boot camp are your foundation and sturdy walls.

BUT - like I said, You're going to try it anyway! It all begins on page 307 of Raise Your Voice 2nd Edition with Melissa Cross' explanation "Anatomy of a Scream". Since you've mastered the technique and build your strength and volume, smoothed out your vocal breaks, explored your resonance core, etc. It should all be pretty easy.