From: thomas mark montgomery
To: Gerry
Copies to: vocalist
Subject: Re: how do I sing louder?
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>


> I am a keen amateur soloist aged forty and a consistant comment about
> my singing is that it could be louder. My teacher thinks my voice is an
> average size and so do I, but when I try to sing louder my voice tires
> and I am not happy with the sound I am making. Another problem is
> that I loose too much breath when singing loudly.

Gerry, a common mistake made by many singers, even those with college
vocal training, is to think that volume is achieved by "simply singing
louder." Breath compression is the key to volume (and good phonation as
well.) If you take your arm and place it across your torso, placing your
hand over your tricep, you will find that you now form a rectangle with
your arms and shoulders. The compression occurs within this rectangle
(think pec to pit) and as you sing, your abdominal region MAY engage.
Your teacher can explain this to you more fully, but until you achieve
this sense of breath compression, volume will only be achieved by muscular
means. Hope this helps.

Mark Montgomery