Hello again, Zen Master. When I sing soul and blues music, i tend to use a lot of melisma. When I do this, I notice very short, quick changes in my larynx positioning. Melisma was one of the things you didn't really cover in RYV. I was wondering if this is normal when I'm singing Stevie Wonder or Etta James or the like.

Don't sing a lot of blues so please explain Melisma. I must be ignorant, sorry.

JV

i'll help you jaime

In music, melisma is the technique of changing the note (pitch) of a syllable of text while it is being sung. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic, as opposed to syllabic, where each syllable of text is matched to a single note. Music of the ancient cultures used melismatic techniques to achieve a hypnotic trance in the listener, useful for early mystical initiation rites (Eleusinian Mysteries) and religious worship. This quality is still found in much Hindu and Muslim religious music today. In western music, the term most commonly refers to Gregorian Chant, but may be used to describe music of any genre, including baroque singing and later gospel.

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the rest is in:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melisma

I was actually watching the videos on your page when you wrote me back, sorry. Singers like Beyonce and Mariah Carey use a ton of melisma. The definition that Paul left was accurate. If you've ever heard "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding, he uses it in a number of places. A good example is the line "Two-thousand miles I've roamed..." The word "roamed" actually contains 4 notes. He starts on the top, and very quickly descends 4 notes downscale. This is melisma.

To me that's just a vocal lick, and something you should develop. I'm working on some exercises to incorporate this approach. Some blues like scales and Egyptian scales. They will be release by the end of the year.

JV

Okay, well since you know what I'm talking about now, is it normal for my larynx to minutely change position with each note?

Yep. The larynx will make minute adjustments on most people. Some people can contain it naturally and it doesn't move much. But overall it shouldn't jump all over the place.

JV

Well thank you, sir. I've been singing long before I had RYV to guide me, and I'm in love with almost every type of music. I sing a lot of soul and blues, so to know that I've been doing the melismatic stuff correctly all these years makes me very happy. (since I don't have to relearn the techniques)