Technique Tuesday : Yodelling
By ‘yodel’, singers, I don’t mean ‘a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or “chest voice”) and the high-pitch head register or falsetto.’
No no. This is different. Yet there are similarities …
The infographic alludes to those moments when you’re singing, everything is going smoothly until suddenly your voice does something weird. A ‘yodel’ or a ‘blip’ - a fluctuation in pitch/sound. It can feel embarrassing.
(A good analogy would be: when you’re driving - perhaps negotiating a speed change or a tricky corner - and you don’t quite change gear smoothly enough and the gearbox complains.)
Often when learning a craft or skill, (at any stage of development) there are moments when new muscle memories wrestle with the old, and the result can often mean a spot of spontaneous ‘yodelling’ happens.
There’s an imbalance going on somewhere in the mix.
The remedy lies in reapplication of very basic vocal technique principles and internalising these learnings, little and often. Little by little the neurons in the brain form pathways which in time become more secure and dependable.
There are 3 levels to the way the brain accepts information which in turn, forms new muscle ‘habits’. Study this infographic:
Like to learn more? Here are some links to other connected blog posts worth reading, investigating:
- it’s all in the way you practice
- your voice is a muscle
- maintaining airflow to the source of the sound
- quality of breath over quantity
- the question of ‘support’
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