Quote Of The Day:
‘I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing’
Coca-Cola commercial 1971
‘H Seepage’
Earlier this week a friend of mine asked me to come be a judge at a local karaoke night which he hosts. I was a bit afraid of having to sit through a couple of hours of bad singing, but to my surprise, there were a lot of really good singers and singers with a lot of potential. If you love to sing, karaoke nights are a great way to get out there and just do it. It is a great way to get stage experience and hone your vocal skills. If you have entered a contest and get some feedback from a judge who knows what they are talking about you can get some enlightenment and make some progress with your vocal challenges. Personally, I love being able to give people who obviously love to sing some guidance on how they can up their game a little. (For those of you who are aware of pop culture from the 1970’s, the quote above is from the famous hilltop Coca-Cola commercial and is my personal mission LOL!)
At the karaoke contest, I witnessed a lot of wonderful natural abilities, but I also witnessed a few singers doing something that is what I think of as self-sabotaging. If I were to put my finger on a fairly common bad habit some singers have it’s called “H Seepage”. (Sounds a bit nasty doesn’t it?) Most singers don’t even realize they are doing it, but it can have some pretty serious implications if not fixed and may cause major frustration without knowing why.
“H Seepage” is when an “h” sound escapes in front of a vowel sound where it shouldn’t be… for example “h”I l”h”ove y”h”ou (I love you). Do you see all the extra h’s in that line? What happens when you do that? You deplete your air a lot faster than if you didn’t put them there AND to my ear, it sounds really amateurish. You can always add an “h” here or there in front of a vowel for emotional inflection, but when it’s ongoing, it creates a lot of problems for pitch and diaphragm support by depleting the much-needed air for proper pitch and power way too fast. You’ll end up singing flat or not getting the power you desire when you come to a big note. Why? Because you are out of air from singing too many “h’s” where they shouldn’t be.
I think it is a good learning tool to record yourself singing and if you discover you are someone who has an “H Seepage” problem, see your Dr… just kidding. Try to remove the unnecessary “h’s”, concentrate on the vowel sound and you’ll be amazed at how much more air you have to work with and how much more effortless your singing and powerful notes will become overall. Try it and let me know if it works for you.
On another note, (pardon the pun), I am dusting off my high energy lounge repetoire this Sunday, March 18th at 7:30pm PST. if you would like to join me with my amazing piano player, Steve Soucy, click this link to register to be a part of our virtual audience.
Click here for great music Sunday, March, 18th
Don’t ya love technology?
Until Next Time…Breathe, (get control of your “H Seepage”) and Happy Singing!
