By Brett Manners
Speech level singing or SLS is a technique that is designed to minimize strain on the vocal cords. This can make it easier to sing. It can also help to produce more natural tones and a better voice in some people. Here is a look at this process and how it works.
When you sing, it is vital that you project your voice outward to get the full effects. You can project the voice in many ways but methods of them can actually do harm to the larynx or vocal box, and can strain your voice. With SLS, your voice box stays in the same mode as it does for speaking and this can make it more natural to sing.
In essence, SLS is singing with a relaxed voice, but it is much more than that. Your voice will not naturally relax unless you know what to do. When you perform the right exercises you will find out about relaxing your outer voice box muscles. This separates them from inner muscles. When you can do this, you will eliminate the hard work and straining that many people place into singing.
Your voice is a musical instrument just like a piano or guitar, for example. When you play a guitar, you change the length of the strings to make music. The shorter the strings become, the higher pitch they produce. The same can be said for your vocal cords.
The hands strum the strings of a guitar and air passes over your vocal cords to make them resonate. The voice box or larynx relaxes or tightens and this changes the length of the vocal cords. This change in length can be done naturally or it can be forced. With speech level singing, your voice box naturally produces tones in the same way that you speak words.
For proper SLS it is important to know and understand bridges in the human voice. Your larynx outer muscles can shorten or lengthen the vocal cords. However, this can also be done with the inner muscles, and there is no strain this way. Yet, there comes a time when you need to move from one set of notes to another, and this is known as a bridge. SLS teaches you to master bridges without any strain.
Bridges in your voice are areas where you go to another range of pitch. The first change or bridge is where you are most likely to tighten your outer larynx muscles for higher notes. Once you become aware of this bridge you can keep the outer larynx muscles relaxed and make a smooth transition to the higher notes. When this occurs, you are not straining to reach those high notes, and your voice does not crack or go off key.
SLS can help you improve the way that you sing by removing a lot of the effort. When you quit struggling you are free to develop a style of singing that is unique to you. There are a lot of excellent online courses on speech level singing, and they are not difficult to find.
When you sing, it is vital that you project your voice outward to get the full effects. You can project the voice in many ways but methods of them can actually do harm to the larynx or vocal box, and can strain your voice. With SLS, your voice box stays in the same mode as it does for speaking and this can make it more natural to sing.
In essence, SLS is singing with a relaxed voice, but it is much more than that. Your voice will not naturally relax unless you know what to do. When you perform the right exercises you will find out about relaxing your outer voice box muscles. This separates them from inner muscles. When you can do this, you will eliminate the hard work and straining that many people place into singing.
Your voice is a musical instrument just like a piano or guitar, for example. When you play a guitar, you change the length of the strings to make music. The shorter the strings become, the higher pitch they produce. The same can be said for your vocal cords.
The hands strum the strings of a guitar and air passes over your vocal cords to make them resonate. The voice box or larynx relaxes or tightens and this changes the length of the vocal cords. This change in length can be done naturally or it can be forced. With speech level singing, your voice box naturally produces tones in the same way that you speak words.
For proper SLS it is important to know and understand bridges in the human voice. Your larynx outer muscles can shorten or lengthen the vocal cords. However, this can also be done with the inner muscles, and there is no strain this way. Yet, there comes a time when you need to move from one set of notes to another, and this is known as a bridge. SLS teaches you to master bridges without any strain.
Bridges in your voice are areas where you go to another range of pitch. The first change or bridge is where you are most likely to tighten your outer larynx muscles for higher notes. Once you become aware of this bridge you can keep the outer larynx muscles relaxed and make a smooth transition to the higher notes. When this occurs, you are not straining to reach those high notes, and your voice does not crack or go off key.
SLS can help you improve the way that you sing by removing a lot of the effort. When you quit struggling you are free to develop a style of singing that is unique to you. There are a lot of excellent online courses on speech level singing, and they are not difficult to find.
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Speech level singing techniques are helpful and effective when you know how they work. For more information about speech level singing exercises, click on the links found at our website.