Donate via Paypal https://tinyurl.com/DonateAVC

How to hold a note Singing Lessons for Beginners

When you listen to a great vocal performance there are two things which usually stick with you long after the song. The courageous high note or the impressive long note, otherwise known as the money note. Stick around because we are going to explore how to hold a note.

Gday my name is Ian Castle. I'm a vocal coach and performer from Australia and I'm here to help you become a better singer. If you haven't done so already consider subscribing for more videos like this one.

The amount of time you are gong to be able to sustain a long note is determined by how much air you can take in, obviously, but more importantly how you manage that air as you exhale. If you want to be able to hold a note longer you need vocal cord closure, also called adduction, and depending where you are singing in your range, light compression.

How you start a note is going to affect its length. When you breathe in you want your vocal cords to close momentarily to trap the air. This will create compression, a build up of pressure behind the cords. Watch as I take in a few breaths and see if you can hear the closing together of my vocal cords as they prevent the exhale.

For the purpose of this demonstration I'm making the breath very noticeable. Ideally you want a silent breath.

If my cords don't close there is nothing to stop the air rushing out as soon as I go to sing which will dramatically affect note length. Watch as I go to sustain a long note without any cord closure.

Without the pressure behind my cords it became very diffIcult to hold the note. My body started to tense up to compensate for the lack of compression and eventually the note became a breathy, shaky mess.

Learn How to Read Music https://www.aussievocalcoach.com/musi...

This time I'm going to take a breath in, close my cords, hold the breath back for just a second and then release into the same long note.

That time I was able to sustain the note much longer with no loss of tone quality. You may have even noticed my voice released into vibrato towards the end. This is a great technique for releasing any tension that may creep in while holding a straight tone.

Let's do an exercise together to help you achieve longer notes. First just take a breath in and close your cords. Now go to breathe out but don't actually let any air escape. Can you feel the pressure build up behind your cords? If so, great that is compressed cord closure. The next step is to release the cords to create a tone. Choose a note that is in your lower range to start with. Make sure you aren't pushing the air out. Just let the air escape naturally. You might find it useful to move your hand and arm in a flowing motion while you sustain the note. This will prevent you from forcing.

Experiment with his exercise in different parts of your range. One of the most famous long notes is the G5 that Jeff Buckley sustains for about 20 seconds in Hallelujah. He is able to achieve this by singing in head voice with light compression. Here's the note.

Have a go at sustaining a head voice note using this phrase. Let me know your time in the comments below.

Ok so that will do us for today's lesson on how to hold a note. I hope that it helps you. If you enjoyed the lesson hit the like button and share it with your singing friends. I will include some more video lessons here to help with sustaining your voice so check them out. Bye for now!