The history of a True American Musical Art Form, The Blues

Vocal Training Warrior: Vocal Training, Voice Lessons, Singers Voice Lessons, Speakers Vocal Training, Actors Vocal Training, Home Recording Studios, Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercises, Clear Diction Exercises, Vocal Training Videos, Vocal Training E-books.

In the history of music there has probably not been one musical style that has influenced “Popular Music” more than Blues. Blues also is unique in that it is truly an “American” musical art form. As we will discover, the roots of the musical styles of Jazz, Rock, Gospel and musical artists from BB King, Elvis Presley, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin, all were heavily influenced by the Blues.

It is important to note that the term “Popular Music” as I have used it above is a bit misleading. Too often we mention Classical Music and Popular Music as too completely different musical expressions. I am not inferring that they are not very different from each other. What I am saying is that the word “Popular” actually only relates to the time period one lives in.

Let me explain. If we were living in Europe in 1786 when Mozart was 30 years old and in the height of his career (he died at age 36) his music would have been considered Popular, would it not? If there had been recording studios, radio stations, Mp3’s and iPods in 1786 would it be too naive and simplistic to conclude that one of his symphonies or piano concertos would have been a “Top-Ten Release?” And if so, would it not be considered “Popular Music?” I think you will admit that this is certainly an unconventional but truthful perspective.

Since Blues has been such a powerful influence, it is important to understand why. Following is a brief history.

The Blues were born in the North Mississippi Delta following the Civil War. Its heartfelt and passionate performances are deeply rooted in slavery and the African American culture. Early compositions were Field Hollers, Ballads, Church Spirituals and Rhythmic Dance tunes called Jump-Ups that showcased a singer who would engage in a call-and-response with his guitar. He would sing a line, and the guitar would answer. For many years, due to the lack of music education, multitudes of songs were recorded and passed on only by memory. Because of this fact, it is very possible that many a great song was “lost in translation.”

The Blues became the essence and hope of the African American laborer, whose spirit is wed to these songs, reflecting his inner soul to all who will listen. Rhythm and Blues is the cornerstone of all forms of African American music. The Blues, with it's 12-bar, dissonant 7^th chord progression and its bent-note melodies were the early anthems of an oppressed race, bonding themselves together through their soulful cries for freedom and equality. From its origins at the crossroads of Highways 61 and 49, and the platform of the Clarksdale Railway Station, the blues eventually began to expand and headed north to Beale Street in Memphis.

The term "The Blues" refers to the "The Blue Devils", meaning melancholy and sadness. An early use of the term in this sense is found in George Coleman's one-act farce Blue Devils (1798). Though the use of the phrase in African American Music may be older, it has been attested to since 1912, when Hart Wands "Dallas Blues" became the first copyrighted blues composition.

The Blues form was first mainstreamed about 1911-14 by the black composer W.C. Handy (1873-1958). However, the poetic and musical form of the blues first crystallized around 1910 and gained popularity through the publication of Handy's "Memphis Blues" (1912) and "St. Louis Blues" (1914). Instrumental blues had been recorded as early as 1913. During the twenties, the blues became a national craze.

Mamie Smith recorded the first vocal blues song, 'Crazy Blues' in 1920. The Blues influence on jazz brought it into the mainstream and made possible the records of blues singers like Bessie Smith and later, in the thirties, Billie Holiday.

In northern cities like Chicago and Detroit, during the later forties and early fifties, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, and Elmore James among others, played what was basically Mississippi Delta blues, backed by bass, drums, piano and occasionally harmonica, and began scoring national hits with blues songs. At about the same time, T-Bone Walker in Houston and B.B. King in Memphis were pioneering a style of guitar playing that combined jazz technique with the blues tonality and repertoire. It is also important to mention that the roots of Jazz began with the Blues. So, if there were no Blues, there would be no Jazz!

In the early nineteen-sixties, the urban bluesmen were "discovered" by young white American and European musicians. Many of these blues-based bands like the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Canned Heat, and Fleetwood Mac, brought the blues to young white audiences, something the black blues artists had been unable to do in America except through the purloined white cross-over covers of black rhythm and blues songs.

Since the sixties, rock has undergone several blues revivals. Some rock guitarists, such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and Eddie Van Halen have used the blues as a foundation for offshoot styles. While the originators like John Lee Hooker, Albert Collins and B.B. King--and their heirs Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, and later Eric Clapton and the late Roy Buchanan, among many others, continued to make fantastic music in the blues tradition. The latest generation of blues players would be Robert Cray and the late Stevie Ray.

Today there are many different shades of the blues. Forms include:

Traditional County Blues - A general term that describes the rural blues of the Mississippi Delta, the Piedmont and other rural locales. 


Jump Blues - A danceable amalgam of swing and blues and a precursor to R&B. Jump blues was pioneered by Louis Jordan.

Boogie-Woogie - A piano-based blues popularized by Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson, and derived from barrelhouse and ragtime.

Chicago Blues - Delta blues electrified.

Cool Blues - A sophisticated piano-based form that owes much to jazz.

West Coast Blues - Popularized mainly by Texas musicians who moved to California. West Coast blues is heavily influenced by the swing beat. 


The public’s affection for the Blues only seems to be increasing. In Dana Point California, the city next to mine, Doheny Beach now has a yearly Blues Festival that keeps getting bigger and bigger. Others can be found in Portland, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and the list goes on.

As for me personally, Blues has always been a regular part of my life. When I play guitar and sing with other musicians, it is the easiest and most enjoyable form of popular music to “jamb” with. When I was growing up and my parents owned a music store and rock club called The Four Muses in San Clemente California from 1965 to 1975, we always had Blues groups performing. Most notable was the famous Blues Duo of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.

My only personal problem with listening to a lot of Blues is that it can become very repetitious and not “fresh” sounding due to the consistent use of the standard 12 bar Blues Chord Progression. That said, I highly recommend that everyone make an attempt to listen to some live Blues this summer. The music and the crowd it attracts normally guarantee an enjoyable experience.

Thank you for reading!

Jonathan Morgan Jenkins

http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com

Buy Jonathan's best selling ebook on sale for only 9.95!
http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/ebooks

http://www.youtube.com/vocaltrainingwarrior


Subscribe in a reader

Why do I need to Train My Voice for Singing, Public Speaking or Acting?

Vocal Training Warrior: Vocal Training, Voice Lessons, Singers Voice Lessons, Speakers Vocal Training, Actors Vocal Training, Home Recording Studios, Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercises, Clear Diction Exercises, Vocal Training Videos, Vocal Training E-books.


The voice may be the most treasured physical asset that we possess inside this marvelous machine we call our Human Body. As a professional vocal coach for many years, there are two remarkable conclusions that I have made from my experiences.

1.) How easily we take the voice for granted and often fail to nurture it or, even worse, abuse it.
2.) As far as its performance applications as a musical instrument, we conclude that, “I either have a great instrument or I don’t.” (without training)

I will discuss conclusion number one in more detail.

How easily we take the voice for granted and often fail to nurture it, or even worse, abuse it. I would first ask you to Google images of Vocal Cords or the Larynx. You will find pictures of the two vocal cords that we use to accomplish two major goals.

1.) The cords are moved together by muscles and air is pushed between them from the lungs and abdominal muscle system. This makes them “buzz” and creates a fundamental sound. Just try “humming” and you will get the idea.

2.) Once a fundamental sound is produced, other muscle systems stretch the two cords in a perfectly coordinated manner to produce varied pitch. This can be compared to tightening or loosening a guitar string while plucking it.

Most of us can perform these basic operations without training as we must learn to speak and “hum a tune” at a young age. This is a marvelous or even miraculous process that must not be taken for granted. The pictures you have found during your Google search may make the Larynx appear rather large but it is actually about the size or smaller than your thumb. Now that you have viewed this delicate little instrument, imagine what it must endure when you go the Ball Game or Rock Concert and yell and scream. Or maybe you are a vocal performer of any given style and because you have little or no formal training about how to properly deliver controlled levels or air pressure to your larynx, you are constantly vocalizing with a lot of strain and tension in your throat. Under these stressful conditions, your delicate little instrument often endures a lot of abuse. This is one of the reasons why you get a “hoarse voice.” What is happening is that your tender vocal cords actually become swollen from straining and banging into each other.

Try beating your hand on the wall for a while and you will also swell up. With the vocal cords, this constant abuse may develop vocal nodes, which might be simply thought of as calluses on the vocal cords. I am also a guitar instructor and I get calluses on my fingertips from pressing down the metal strings to make musical chords. Great pop singers like Elton John, Ian Anderson, Julie Andrews, Freddie Mercury, Robert Plant, Justin Timberlake, Victor Wills, Joni Mitchell, Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Rod Stewart, Celine Dion and many others have all endured surgery from vocal nodes. This result means that they abused their voices to some extent, not intentionally of course.

Another example of serious vocal abuse can be found in some of our young performers who “scream” the lyrics intentionally in a vocal style called “Screaming.” I have already had one of these young people in my studio for vocal rehabilitation following surgery for vocal nodes. We all must realize that this is serious business and if we want our voice to last us a lifetime, we must never abuse it. Further we must submit ourselves to professional training and not be so naïve that our voice does not require this to operate to its potential.

I will now discuss conclusion number two in more detail.

As far as its performance applications as a musical instrument, we may conclude that “We either have a great instrument or we don’t.” (without training)

Let me ask you this question:

Why, when we consider studying the voice, is there such a lack of considering a practical educational approach?

Here is what I mean by this?

Imagine the normal process for a beginning student learning how to play the clarinet. A common approach might include the following strategies:
1.) Observe and understand how the instrument works mechanically.
2.) Learn basic fingering positions.
3.) Learn proper embouchure, or how we position our mouth on the mouthpiece.
4.) Learn proper posture, breath control, and phrasing.

Where I find the approach to vocal instruction fall short of these basic goals is mainly in the mechanical part of instruction.

I have never had one student start with me with any prior experience that had any grasp of how the entire body works as one team to produce sound. I mean never!

This issue is discussed in depth in Chapter 3, “The Vocal Power Team,” in my popular ebook, “Singing and Speaking on the Edge of a Grunt.”

How do I make this conclusion? My first consultation is always an in-depth inquiry regarding what students understand about this information. Sadly, not much.

We must be honest and ask why this is the case. In my observation it results from a disconnect about the necessary process of learning how to properly vocalize when compared to other musical instruments or professional life skills like sports. We approach the voice like no other learned skill most of the time. If we were learning to play the guitar, even just to play the simplest of songs, we would conclude that we must at least buy a lesson book to begin studies. In other words, we would not just pick up a guitar, put it in our lap and expect to be able to play. This may sound rediculous, and it is, but this is often how we approach using our voice to Sing, Public Speak or Act. We may conclude that the fundamental sound and quality of our vocal instrument is the best it can get and there is little or no room for improvement. It is hard to imagine anyone approaching any other learned skill in this manner.

If we approach vocal instruction in this manner then we are being ignorant of the potential of our incredible instrument. My studio is filled with many a beginning vocalist who have been told by their peers that they were “tone deaf’ and should never sing again. The truth is that, although and untrained voice may have some difficulty in singing in pitch initially, this can be quickly fixed with most people. I have only encountered two people in 26 years that were clinically tone deaf.

So, we must conclude that our approach to learning how to properly vocalize must be no different that any other instrument or life skill. It must be trained properly so that it will be operated in a responsible and powerful manner ones entire life.

The following issues are also very important for any aspiring vocalist to consider.


In case someone forgot to notify you, singing is work! One of the largest obstacles to progress I have found is that some students apparently never take into account that learning to sing or speak correctly will take a lot of practice and hard work. Of course, there is the gifted crowd who think they are so naturally talented they do not need to work hard. This attitude breeds failure no matter what you are trying to accomplish in life. Many people do not equate learning proper singing or speaking with work.

The fact is that when I sing or speak correctly for a long period of time, I actually break a sweat. My whole body is involved. Your whole body is your instrument! Just like any sport, part of the learning curve involves learning which muscles to use in the right way and then using those muscles in a similar or repetitive motion to develop consistency and muscle tone.

If you have ever trained with weights, you know what I mean. The only way you make progress is to build and tone your muscles with consistent effort. Just like you can’t go to the gym one day a week and expect to compete for Mr. America, you can’t sing or speak correctly once a week and expect to become Lucianno Pavarotti. You must be focused, disciplined, and work hard.

I truly hope this information has been helpful. I hope that you will seek out a competent voice coach before you begin your journey to become a serious vocalist. I would highly recommend that you buy my ebook for only 9.95 at my website where I thoroughly explain how to use your voice properly.

Best of luck to all!

Jonathan Morgan Jenkins
http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com

Buy Jonathan's best selling ebook on sale for only 9.95!
http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/ebooks

http://www.youtube.com/vocaltrainingwarrior


Subscribe in a reader

Powerful Performace Interpretation techniques for Singers, Actors and Public Speakers

Vocal Training Warrior: Vocal Training, Voice Lessons, Singers Voice Lessons, Speakers Vocal Training, Actors Vocal Training, Home Recording Studios, Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercises, Clear Diction Exercises, Vocal Training Videos, Vocal Training E-books.

Artistic Interpretation - The Icing on the cake!

Weather you are singing a song, making a public speech or acting a monologue, how you interpret your performance is critical to your success. Further, it is ultimately the only thing that will separate you and your performance from that of your peers. For instance, if we were to chose a recording of Handels Messiah, we would usually make our choice based on the conductor. This is because each conductor “interprets” the same piece of music differently. The decisions about tempo, volume, phrasing, balance, etc are all the prerogative of the director.

Here is a personal example. One of my favorite instrumental orchestral recordings is The Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofe. The piece is a musical interpretation of the visual components of one of the worlds greatest wonders. I am a fan of the former great conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy. A few years back, I had an old, worn out vinyl recording and was looking for a CD or at least a cassette recording to purchase. Not finding one, I settled for a recording by a different director. Big Mistake! The piece was interpreted so different, and badly, that it was hard to recognize that it was the same piece of music.

Ultimately, interpretation is the most important aspect of any vocal performance. It is where the performer, after mastering their fundamental skills, can create their own performance version of any song, speech, poem, or monologue. The process of interpretation is supposed to be an experience whereby the performer and the listener have the freedom to draw their own conclusions about the success or failure of any creative process. The positive aspect of this freedom of artistic expression is that the performer is free to interpret a song or character that may have been performed many times in a similar fashion and interpret it in a fresh and innovative way.

The risk of this freedom is discovered when ten critics attend the same concert, play, or speech and form ten very different conclusions regarding how successful the performance was. Some may like it, and some may not. The reasons for their conclusions may be realistic or fallacious. Unfortunately, many critics may have the power to affect your career, even if their opinion is completely wrong.

One important goal to possess as a performer is to always create such a strong performance that even your worst critics have to concede to your success. This occurs because your interpretation was so effective that even the critics understood it on some level. One, though, must be very suspect of the opinions of critics.

Here are a few important reasons:

1. There may be only a few present to judge any performance, and as any political pollster would tell you, the more opinions you can get on any subject, the more valid the conclusions are.
2. Professional critics may be politically or financially connected, and their professional opinion may be highly suspect as to the truthfulness of their conclusions. This conclusion is easily confirmed by the yearly results we see in the Academy Awards. Considering the recent films that are chosen each year for the highest awards, it is obvious to those in the real world, the ticket-buying public, that many members of the Academy are highly politically correct and too connected to Hollywood to have an unbiased opinion. The sharp television viewer ratings downturn for the Academy Awards in the last few years reveals that the public has become their critic and has judged them harshly.
3. Performers rely on their often uneducated family and friends to be their critics. I can’t count the number of singers I have had to reprogram after they were told by a friend or family member that they were tone deaf when, in fact, they were not.
4. Critics are often not even performers themselves. These are the worst kind of critics. The truth is, if they are so knowledgeable about the correct way to perform, they would be up on that stage showing everyone how it is done instead of flapping their jaw about your performance successes or failures
5. The best critic of what you are accomplishing is you. Ultimately, every performer must be secure enough in how they are currently performing and in their performance goals. A sailing ship must have a sail and rudder to move forward with confidence, and you must have yours. When you have the self- confidence in your own abilities, or lack thereof, you will be able to graciously receive all opinions about your work without taking them as a personal attack. You will be able to sift through all the opinions of the critics, forsake the false ones, and embrace the truthful ones, using them as a solid foundation on which to build your future performance goals with confidence.

The Importance of planning how you will communicate your Lyric, Speech or Dialogue is very important. Try this exercise with every work you will perform.

Read out loud your entire song lyric, speech, or acting part exactly how you would perform it in character.

When you are done, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What is the main theme of the story, lyric, or speech?
2. To whom am I singing or speaking?
3. What is the visual location of my performance?
4. What mood is portrayed in the words?
5. If music, what mood is conveyed in the harmony?
6. Why was this lyric, speech, or script written?
7. What result am I trying to accomplish in my audience?
8. What do I want the audience to remember about my performance?
9. What movements, mannerisms, etc. do I need to rehearse to convey my message?
10. How should I dress to perform?
11. If I am a character other than myself, who am I, and how will I effectively imitate that person?
12. Create your own questions!

Write out the answers to these questions about every character, speech, or song you perform. I am sure you will be able to think of more relevant questions. The clearer you are about what you are trying to accomplish in any performance, the more effective you will be.

I hope you have enjoyed this important discussion. Pass it along to a friend!

Jonathan Morgan Jenkins
http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com

Buy Jonathan's best selling ebook on sale for only 9.95!
http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/ebooks

http://www.youtube.com/vocaltrainingwarrior


Subscribe in a reader

A healthy voice is will last you a lifetime!

Vocal Training Warrior: Vocal Training, Voice Lessons, Singers Voice Lessons, Speakers Vocal Training, Actors Vocal Training, Home Recording Studios, Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercises, Clear Diction Exercises, Vocal Training Videos, Vocal Training E-books.

In my popular book, Singing and Speaking on the Edge of a Grunt, chapter one discusses the incredible health benefits associated with singing, speaking, laughing, athletics and other “natural” physical activities. Research has proved that these activities release human endorphin hormones into the body. It is also very important to accept your personal responsibility to make healthy choices every day to keep you voice healthy. Read these important tips to maintain a healthy voice.

Do Not Abuse Your Voice!

It is obvious that to continue to be a powerful vocalist one must take care of their voice. Right? The truth is that many of us take the voice for granted and expect it “just to work” no matter how much we may abuse it.

Voice problems may arise from a variety of sources including voice overuse or misuse, cancer, infection, or injury. Here are steps that can be taken to prevent voice problems and maintain a healthy voice.

Get Proper Training

This is above all the most important aspect of proper vocal performance. This is because many vocal ailments originate or are made worse by lack of proper breathing, controlled breath support, air delivery and poor diction. Most people do not vocalize correctly out of the womb. I do not care how great your voice sounds now. Ask Elton John who had, arguably, one of the finest rock voices in pop history and ended up with surgery to his larynx in 1986 due to constant improper use. His voice has never recovered. Compare this to such people singers like

Luciano Pavarotti and Beverly Sills. Due to their proper training, they sang in high registers at an old age. Do not make the mistake of dismissing them because they sang “opera.” All vocalists must have proper breath support no matter what style they perform in. All styles change form the neck up and are the same from the neck down.

Drink Plenty of Water

Keeping your body well hydrated by drinking plenty of water each day is essential to maintaining a healthy voice. The vocal cords vibrate extremely fast even with the most simple sound production; remaining hydrated through water consumption optimizes the throat’s mucous production, aiding vocal cord lubrication. To maintain sufficient hydration avoid or moderate substances that cause dehydration. These include alcohol and caffeinated beverages (coffee, tea, soda). And always increase hydration when exercising.

Do Not Smoke

I can’t believe that we must still say such a thing with all the evidence that smoking can kill you. It is well known that smoking leads to lung or throat cancer. Primary and secondhand smoke that is breathed in passes by the vocal cords causing significant irritation and swelling of the vocal cords. This will permanently change voice quality, nature, and capabilities.

Do Not Abuse or Misuse Your Voice

Sorry to inform you but your voice is not indestructible. In every day communication, be sure to avoid habitual yelling, screaming, or cheering. And if you participate is such activities, project your power form your abdomen and not your throat. Try not to talk loudly in locations with significant background noise or noisy environments. Be aware of your background noise—when it becomes noisy, significant increases in voice volume occur naturally, causing harm to your voice.

I am currently working with a 29-year-old woman who had vocal cord surgery last year because she was a bartender in college and had to speak over the crowd constantly. She had four vocal nodules on her vocal chords. If you feel like your throat is dry, tired, or your voice is becoming hoarse, stop talking.

Minimize Throat Clearing

Clearing your throat can be compared to slapping or slamming the vocal cords together. Consequently, excessive throat clearing can cause vocal cord injury and subsequent hoarseness. An alternative to voice clearing is taking a small sip of water or simply swallowing to clear the secretions from the throat and alleviate the need for throat clearing or coughing. The most common reason for excessive throat clearing is an unrecognized medical condition causing one to clear their throat too much. Common causes of chronic throat clearing include gastro esophageal reflux, laryngopharyngeal reflux disease, sinus and/or allergic disease.

Moderate Voice Use When You Are Sick

Reduce your vocal demands as much as possible when your voice is hoarse due to excessive use or an upper respiratory infection (cold). Singers should exhibit extra caution if one’s speaking voice is hoarse because permanent and serious injury to the vocal cords are more likely when the vocal cords are swollen or irritated. It is important to “listen to what your voice is telling you.”

Do Not Take Your Voice For Granted

Your voice is an extremely valuable resource and is the most commonly used form of communication. Our voices are invaluable for both our social interaction as well as for most people’s occupation. Proper care and use of your voice will give you the best chance for having a healthy voice for your entire lifetime.

Jonathan Morgan Jenkins
http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com

Buy Jonathan's best selling ebook on sale for only 16.95!
http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/ebooks

http://www.youtube.com/vocaltrainingwarrior


Subscribe in a reader

Singing, Speaking and Laughter will Improve your Health

Vocal Training Warrior: Vocal Training, Voice Lessons, Singers Voice Lessons, Speakers Vocal Training, Actors Vocal Training, Home Recording Studios, Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercises, Clear Diction Exercises, Vocal Training Videos, Vocal Training E-books.

In my popular book, Singing and Speaking on the Edge of a Grunt, chapter one discusses the incredible health benefits associated with singing, speaking, laughing, athletics and other “natural” physical activities. Research has proved that these activities release human endorphin hormones into the body.


The result is that people experience physical and mental health in a natural way and not because they have ingested some drug or had a few drinks. I recall all the rehearsals and the concerts I directed when I was the founder and musical director of the Capistrano Chorale. Our rehearsals were in the evenings and it was often the case that myself and many of the members would arrive very tired from a day of toils. Sometimes it was very difficult to find the strength to begin the rehearsal. But, when it was over, the whole group was full of endorphins and the room was full of energy.

Just as in vocal music where there exist “style” groups that range from the Opera Music crowd to the Country Music crowd (click here to see my youtube video on performing in multiple vocal styles) , so there is the same division in the medical community. There are medical professionals that use only drugs and surgery in their practice and there are those on the other extreme that believe Chiropractic and Acupuncture, for an example, are the only true approaches to promote health. Then there are the rest of us in between that realize that most approaches to medical care have their place and, further, they have more in common than they have different.

In this article, I want to showcase a well-known medical professional that has always tried to bridge the gap between the two extremes. His name is Hunter " Patch" Adams. Hunter founded the Gesundheit Hospital in the 1970s as a pilot project. The hospital was proposed as a model health care system aimed at changing society. It was envisioned to be a forty-bed rural community hospital in West Virginia where care is free and is based on compassion and friendship. Many may recall the 1998 feature film starring Robin Williams called Patch Adams. I admire Dr Adams as he truly thinks "out of the box." As a professional, I relate to him and his approach. Singing, Speaking and Laughing all produce health in our body both physically and mentally. If there exists a natural means to create overall health, then these approaches must be tried first or, at least, in conjunction with traditional medical therapies. I will let Patch tell you his story about his vision and work since 1967. His story is taken from his website, http://www.patchadams.org/.

Vision for a Free Hospital Based on Fun and Friendship

by Patch Adams

I entered medical school in 1967 to use medicine as a vehicle for social change. I used my free time to study the history of health care delivery around the world and to look at contemporary models with the idea of creating a medical model that would address all the problems of the way care is delivered. I didn't intend to create a model that would be the answer to the problems; but to model creative problem solving, and to spark each medical facility to design their own ideal rather than succumb to the garbage of managed care, or a resignation to the impossibility of humanistic care. Beginning in the climate of the political "war on poverty," I felt confident that a free hospital to serve the poorest state, West Virginia, would find easy funding and that we would be built in four years. I smile writing this as we enter our 33rd year without having broken ground on the hospital. However, we have asked our architect to go to finished drawings so that we can begin building as soon as we have funding in hand. None of the journey has gone as I imagined and the vision is so much deeper, more comprehensive and far-reaching as a consequence of such deliberate progress.

The original vision had all the principles we have maintained all these years. There would be no charge for the care. Barter was also not an option. In fact, we wanted to eliminate the idea of debt in the medical interaction as a way to begin recreating human community. We didn't want people to think they owed something; we wanted them to think they belonged to something. We could not conceive of a community that did not care for its people. This also meant a refusal to accept third party reimbursement, both to refuse payment and to sever the stranglehold that insurance companies had on how medicine was practiced. We would have nothing to do with malpractice insurance, which forces fear and mistrust into every medical interaction. We espouse the politics of vulnerability and are clearly aware that we can only offer caring and never promise curing. In such a flagrantly imperfect science, we need the right to make mistakes.

The loudest cry of patients was for compassion and attention, which was a call for time. So initial interviews with patients were three to four hours long, so that we could fall in love with each other. Intimacy was the greatest gift we could give them, especially at a deathbed, with intractable pain or chronic, unsolved medical problems. It was natural to insist on a house call to sweeten this intimacy. When I made a house call, I opened every drawer and snooped in every closet. I wanted to know the patients in all of their complexities. An apparent secret in the practice of medicine (so easily erased when business is the context) is how care is bidirectional. This intimacy is as important for the caregiver as it is the patient. The bidirectionality of healing is at the core of preventing burnout. The business of medicine has connected the word care with the concept "burden," to describe all who need care, who are not wealthy. But we found the unencumbered practice of medicine is an ecstatic experience.

In spending this amount of time with patients, we found that the vast majority of our adult population does not have a day-to-day vitality for life (which we would define as good health). The idea that a person was healthy because of normal lab values and clear x-rays had no relationship to who the person was. Good health was much more deeply related to close friendships, meaningful work, a lived spirituality of any kind, an opportunity for loving service and an engaging relationship to nature, the arts, wonder, curiosity, passion and hope. All of these are time-consuming, impractical needs. When we don't meet these needs, the business of high-tech medicine diagnoses mental illness and treats with pills.

What the majority need is an engagement with life. This is why we fully integrated medicine with performing arts, arts and crafts, agriculture, nature, education, recreation and social service, as essential parts of health care delivery. We knew that the best medical thing we could do for the patients was to help them have grand friendship skills and find meaning in their lives. This is a major reason that the staff's home was the hospital. We insisted on friendships with our patients (made easy by not charging, and giving them our lives). A patient ideally would bring their whole family while they were healthy, and stay a few days as friends, becoming familiar with the hospital (home, sanctuary), so that just being there was relaxing, even healing.

We wanted patients to bring all their interests and skills to essentially become temporary staff as well as patients during their stay. For example, if a car mechanic came as a patient, we could notify the poor in our greater community who might need their car fixed, and have it happen while the mechanic was getting care. The mechanic may also give classes on basic mechanics. All these features help build community, creating a sense of interdependence. Those receiving care cannot feel indebted because they become both the help and the helped.

To help promote diversity and truly to be full service in our planned facility, we insist on integrating all the healing arts. Allopathic medicine, including surgery, ob/gyn, pediatrics, internal medicine, family practice and psychiatry, will work hand in hand with complementary medicine, including acupuncture, homeopathy, naturopathy, chiropractic, ayurvedic, anthroposophic, herbal, body work and faith healing. It will be an exciting opportunity to study how they can all work together under close observation. The entire environment will be an example of preventive medicine exploring how to help a patient and their family grow healthy (or at least healthier!) From the beginning, social, environmental and global health were felt to be essential as part of our medical practice. There, violence and injustice became medical issues. Unemployment, the discrepancies between rich and poor, poverty, pollution, corrupt governments and economic systems all become concerns of a medical practice. There was always an invitation and encouragement to become involved in social change, even if the individual did not feel it affected their life. We want to build a fine community of people whose ethic is caring for all. Now, we have added to our vision a school to teach social change with the whole community as its laboratory. Agriculture will not just be about feeding people, but an exploration into sustainable agriculture. We'll use designing the community as an experiment in appropriate technology.

One of the most radical parts of the vision was that we wanted all of the activity to be infused with fun. I wanted to build the first silly hospital in history. Foolishness was embraced, often to extreme, in even the most profound of situations. We had fun deaths and bizarre, outlandish behaviors with the mentally ill. In our normal, serious world with somber medical environments (even though no research supports being serious and thousands of research papers encourage joy and humor as healing), we saw no contradiction in feeling that a hospital could also be an amusement park, even implying it is important for staff and patient.

The ideal staff people we looked for were, by intention, happy, funny, loving, cooperative and creative. I knew the key to the creation of this beautiful model was in the people deciding and choosing to live there; because it is people that really make a model. Ideas can only be as real as the people living them. Politically, our most potent wedge for change would be living happily together, in constant, joyful service, fully expressing our creative selves at extremely low salaries. The point was not to try to teach a staff this, but to find people for whom this was their way of life.

In our first 12 years (1971-1983) we did all this as a pilot project. Twenty adults and our children moved into a large, six-bedroom house and called ourselves a hospital. We were open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for all manner of medical problems from birth to death. Three of the adults were physicians. We saw 500-1000 people each month, with five to fifty overnight guests a night; totaling 15,000 people over those 12 years. We were never sued. At least three thousand of the patients had mental illness and we did not give psychiatric medicines. We referred out what we could not handle. It was truly ecstatic, fascinating, and stimulating. No one gave us a donation and we were 0:1400 for foundation grants, so our staff had to work part-time jobs to pay to practice medicine. After nine years of nobody leaving, most staff said they felt we would never be funded, and wanted to stop. It was the saddest moment for me, for I loved all of them and knew that I had to persevere.

I tried to recreate the work for three more years and realized that in order to continue, I need a facility to support this model of care. Now the job was to raise the funds to build it. It appeared that our ideas were too radical to get conventional funding, and so I realized that we had to go to the people of the world to get the needed funds. The model for that in modern society is through publicity and fame. So I broke a basic tenet of our philosophy—no publicity—and became public. For the last 20 years we have climbed that fame and fortune ladder in hopes that we would attract funds to build our ideal rather than compromise the vision. This went to monstrous extremes in 1998 when a feature film, "Patch Adams," was released with Robin Williams playing me.

These efforts have brought us a three hundred seventeen acre farm in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The land has three waterfalls, with caves behind one. We built a four acre pond, there is a mountain of hardwood trees and twenty-eight acres of rich bottom land that has had no chemicals on it for 22 years. We have built two beautiful buildings in anticipation of someday building the hospital. Two years ago, with a little sadness that the hospital was still not built, and a hunger to begin seeing patients again, I agreed to consider reopening with a first phase that would include an outpatient clinic and a school for social change, with residence facilities for the staff. We have asked our architect of 21 years to give us finished drawings for it. We owe no money and have a good start for Phase 1.

I could feel frustrated, even sad, that the hospital is still unbuilt. However, in the long run it may prove to have been a very positive time line. After 33 years, we have built a much larger, more diverse, more intelligent, more globally influential model than we ever dreamed of in those first 12 incubating years. Our global impact has affected far more patients' lives and inspired more social change than if we had gotten our funding early on. My failure at fund raising has forced me and our evolutionary staff and friends to expand in every direction and meet a quality and quantity of people that make our greater team of friends and contacts number in the thousands in almost every area of endeavor; especially healing, the arts, and social change. Gesundheit! has indeed become a global mover and shaker active in forty or more countries, expanding beautifully all the time.

When we build the model with people serving it, full and part time, its example will be breathtaking with a process already in place to have an important impact because a variation of that is happening already. The patients of our first 12 years were individuals and families looking closely at their organ systems. The patients of our last 20 years have been communities and societies looking at their organ systems: environmental, social, political, economic. All of these "patients" will dance through the hospital when it is built. I have had to earn the funds to support these last 20 years' activities, with every month being a creative journey of survival. Since the film's release, we're not on such a survival edge, but we have still not raised funds for major construction. The beauty of the journey makes patience easy, especially since every day is wildly exciting and globally influential, regardless of the building progress. This is not to say that the building of the hospital is any less important. On the contrary: it is more important than ever since it has remained, these 31 years, the only model in the U.S. (and one of few in the world) to comprehensively address health care delivery problems. Our example of joyful persistence alone is an important, inspiring model for the changes needed in the world.

We stopped seeing patients in 1983 to devote ourselves to fund raising full time for the hospital, by expanding out into the world. I began lecturing and performing on a wide variety of subjects (fifty lectures, shows and workshops) with every imaginable kind of audience and with as many as eleven lectures in a day. All levels of education from elementary schools to medical schools (most of the ones in the United States and in thirty to forty countries), churches, community centers, conferences and corporations. For most of the time it was for 150-200 days a year and 300 days a year since the film, always all over the world. A constant flow of publicity and my two books translated into ten languages and the film have made our project part of the medical dialogue all over the world when referring to humanized health care.

During these 20 years our clown healing work has expanded all over the world, so that clowns are now a regular part of hospitals on every continent and this is expanding as people hear the message that it is really about spreading joy in every public space as gestures toward peace, justice and care. I started taking clowns to prisons, foreign countries, even to refugee camps and war zones. For 18 years I've taken thirty clowns from all over the world to Russia for two weeks of clowning in hospitals, orphanages, prisons and nursing homes, as well as airports, subways, streets and hotels. Ten years ago this led to our getting involved in the care of orphans in Russia in work that is now recognized all over. We have taken clowns into the war in Bosnia, the Kosovo refugee camps in Macedonia, the Rumanian AIDS orphanages, African refugee camps, Cuba, China, El Salvador, Korea and Haiti. As I write this, we took twenty-two clowns from all six continents and ten tons of aid for three and a half weeks into the war in Afghanistan. Because this work has connected us with many aid and relief organizations (like Airline Ambassadors), it is now easy to organize huge quantities of people and aid quickly and effectively. These experiences have also gotten us involved in the global conversations on conflict resolution.

All of our gestures of love and fun have been a magnet for beautiful people who want to devote their lives to loving service. Every year thousands of doctors and nurses tell me they would be willing to live and work full time 40 to 60 hour weeks in our hospital for $3,000/year. Many more want to come part time. Students of medicine from all over the world constantly entreat us to let them come study what we are doing. This may be the most important reason to get the hospital built.

Nine years ago a special group of old and new friends began to come together in a real group commitment toward the dream; our second major staff change. No longer did I have to carry the vision alone because the individuals of this group—though quite diverse in thought and personality—each felt they found a place and readiness in themselves to want to be and work for the now-collective vision. For any project created by one person this is a grand step so that the vision can continue if something happens to the visionary. Another important bonus is that each of them brings their special interests and talents to the project to vastly broaden how the multiple tasks I used to do now get done, and each adds their blessed creativity again enhancing every part of the vision. What it feels like to me is that now everything is in place to make the hospital a reality.

We plan to build a forty-bed rural community hospital. There will be sixty beds for staff and beds for their families in a creative, comfortable communal hospital. There will also be forty beds for guests who would be healing arts students on electives, ophthal-mology teams every three months, plumbers, string quartets, and anyone wanting a service-oriented vacation. There will be 30,000 square feet devoted to the arts in a fully arts-centered hospital. There will be a school for social change and in-depth agricultural programs. It will be funny looking, full of surprises and magic. We'll be exploring how far below the national average our effective operating budget can run—I believe we'll be shockingly inexpensive. Our ideal is that an endowment would cover the annual costs and realize without this we'll find creative ways to pay for its operation. There will be a forty-acre village to house our children's school (also for sick children and children of sick parents) and other important community experiments, like how to integrate all ages in a fun, healthy way. Staff persons who've served for four years and want a little distance from the intensity of the hospital can create their fantasy living space in our village.

I want to tell all readers that the journey has been heavenly all along the way. Simply being in an idealist quest is its own reward. I've never felt I've sacrificed anything or thought it was a hard journey. Hard would have been having to work in corporate medicine and lie to patients and myself every day. My concern for humanity's future drives me to want to put whatever efforts I can to changing everything that hurts people and nature. The Gesundheit! Institute is that for me, and so many others.

Dr Adams is truly a pioneer and a visionary that has changed how we think about our approach to physical and mental health. I would encourage all of you to do what you can to spread his message and, hopefully, donate to his cause.


Jonathan Morgan Jenkins
http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com

Buy Jonathan's best selling ebook on sale for only 16.95!
http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/ebooks

http://www.youtube.com/vocaltrainingwarrior


Subscribe in a reader

Free MP3's, Free Lyrics and Free Chord Charts for Singers and Vocalists

Vocal Training Warrior: Vocal Training, Voice Lessons, Singers Voice Lessons, Speakers Vocal Training, Actors Vocal Training, Home Recording Studios, Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercises, Clear Diction Exercises, Vocal Training Videos, Vocal Training E-books.

I have researched the following FREE RESOURCES on the Internet to help you achieve your success as a vocalist and a consumer.

The first resource I want to share with you is LimeWire. This is a Free (basic service) Music, Video, Images, Document and Computer Programs sharing service. It is different from Napster or itunes in that you are sharing and not making a purchase.

I can’t count the number of times that LimeWire has been able to locate music files that I would probably never find in the marketplace. Further, I got them for free. When you take into consideration all the other types of files that you can search for other than music, this site is an incredible resource. Further, unlike many music files services, LimeWire is compatible with Windows and Apple.

Read below all the great benefits of LimeWire and the cost.

LimeWire Basic Service is FREE.

LimeWire Turbo Pro for as little as 21.95.

Here is the link to LimeWire.

http://www.limewire.com/download/version.php

What is LimeWire?

LimeWire is a fast, easy-to-use file sharing program that contains no spyware, adware or other bundled software. Compatible with all major platforms and running over the Gnutella network, LimeWire's open source code, is freely available to the public and developed in part by a devoted programmer community. LimeWire is offered in dozens of languages and is available in LimeWire BASIC, a free version, or LimeWire PRO, an enhanced version with personalized technical support offered at $21.95.

Why Should I Use LimeWire?

LimeWire is the fastest, easiest, most advanced file sharing program available and it's completely free of spyware, adware and any other bundled software. Find out more about LimeWire's features.

For the ultimate Lime experience, LimeWire PRO features access to optimized search results, faster downloads, free updates and personalized technical support for up to six months. Get your copy of LimeWire PRO today.

What's new at Lime Wire?

Lime Wire is introducing a filtering system to encourage safer, more responsible file sharing. Copyright owners interested in blocking their files from being downloaded, uploaded and shared are invited to learn more and register here. LimeWire users can learn more about responsible file sharing in Copyright Information.

About LimeWire LLC

Lime Wire LLC is a New York City-based company founded in 2000. We develop innovative, sophisticated applications of file sharing technology. Industry experts Mark Gorton (Chairman) and Greg Bildson (COO, CTO) lead an international team of professionals from the world's most prestigious academic and professional institutions. Find out more about Lime Wire LLC.
The latest and greatest new additions to LimeWire.

> Protection Against Identity Theft
New ways to control your sensitive material.

>Even Better Control Over Shared Files
Easily see and control what files you are sharing.

> Built-In Browser*
Browse the Web, right from LimeWire! (Windows users)only

And LimeWire still has all of these great features:

> NO BUNDLED SOFTWARE OF ANY KIND!
No spyware. No adware. Guaranteed.

> Firewall to Firewall Transfers.
Since about 60% of users are currently firewalled, this feature greatly increases the amount of content on the network.

> Faster network connections.
Using new "UDP Host Caches", LimeWire starts up and connects faster than ever before!

> Universal Plug 'N Play.
UPnP support allows LimeWire to find more search results and have faster downloads.

> iTunes Integration.
Windows and Mac users can now take advantage of LimeWire's iTunes integration.

> Creative Commons Integration.
LimeWire now recognizes OGGs and MP3s licensed under a Creative Commons License.

> "What's New?" feature.
Users can browse the network for the most recent content additions.

> Search drill down results.
Searches in LimeWire now immediately display information that fully describes files.

> Proxy support. Users can now use web proxies to route their downloads to protect their identity.

> Support for International searches and International groups. Users can now search in any language, and LimeWire ensures that a user will be connected to other users with their own language to aide international users to receive search results in their native language and to find content from sources that are close to home.

Free Song Lyrics

The next Free Resource is Song Lyrics. There are numerous websites that have collectively compiled the lyrics to most songs ever written. In my private studio, I use these services constantly. I have listed below five important ones.

Here is the best way I know to find lyrics. Just put the Song Title followed by the word Lyrics in the search box of any search engine and numerous listings will come up after you initiate the search. You will likely find one of the websites listed below.

Here is how you can import the lyrics into your computer. Create a new Word Document, Highlight the lyrics you want, Copy them and them Paste them into you Word Document. Once there, you can change the Font and use your editing tools to make the lyrics look as you want.

Links to Free Lyrics websites.

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/

http://www.metrolyrics.com/

http://www.allsonglyrics.us/

http://www.allmusicals.com/

http://www.lyricmania.com/

Free Chord Charts/Guitar Tabs

Here are some more valuable and Free resources. There are many instances where I just want the chord structure to a song or the Guitar part written in tablature. The websites listed below are excellent resources that I have used on numerous occasions through the years.

Just like the method above for finding lyrics, you can put the Song Title followed by the word Chords in the search box of any search engine and numerous listings will come up after you initiate the search. You will likely find one of the websites listed below.

http://www.chordie.com/

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

http://logue.net/xp/index.htm

http://www.911tabs.com/

I hope that you will find this information very helpful. We often hear stories of how the Internet is being used to accomplish negative and harmful things. Here are many examples of how it can be used for incredible personal benefits.

I wish all of you the best of success!

Jonathan Morgan Jenkins

http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com

Buy Jonathan's best selling ebook on sale for only 16.95!
http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/ebooks

http://www.youtube.com/vocaltrainingwarrior

Subscribe in a reader

The Secret of Performing with Vocal Power for Singers, Public Speakers and Actors.

Vocal Training Warrior: Vocal Training, Voice Lessons, Singers Voice Lessons, Speakers Vocal Training, Actors Vocal Training, Home Recording Studios, Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercises, Clear Diction Exercises, Vocal Training Videos, Vocal Training E-books.

Many Singers, Public Speakers and Actors are constantly seeking new strategies of how they can improve their voice. If you browse the internet to search for answers, you will find many opinions. But, some subjects about achieving powerful vocal performance are not debatable. They are the systems in the body that must perform as a team to produce powerful sound. They are the Abdominal Mucles, the Larnyx or Voice Box and the Throat and Head which I call The Amplifier. The strategies of "how" to operate these systems are many but the basic systems function as they do without our consent. Let's learn important information about these basic body systems.

May I introduce the Vocal Power Team!

The Vocal Power Team - The key to becoming a powerful and understood singer, public speaker or actor.

1) The Abdominal Muscles
2) The larynx
3) The Amplifier

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." George Washington Carver (1864-1943)

I am someone who has always believed in teamwork. When I directed my 75 member choral group, the Capistrano Chorale, we were all dependent on one another to practice and perform to our individual potential. When we all did, the performances were exceptional and when we all didn’t the performances suffered.

We have the same scenario in our body. We have three separate body systems that must operate at their individual potential and coordinate as a team in order for our singing or speaking to be powerful. The following material consists of excerpts from my popular book Singing and Speaking on the Edge of a Grunt. This material is simply an explanation of their basic functions. The answers to how to coordinate them to produce powerful vocal sounds are explained in the book. I hope you learn something special from this material. The body is truly an incredible machine!

1) The Abdominal Muscles

The Abdominal Muscles are located between the ribs and the pelvis on the front portion of the body. There are five muscle groups that combine to completely cover the internal organs. Further, they support the trunk, allow movement, and hold organs in place by regulating internal abdominal pressure.

The five main abdominal muscles groups are:

> Transversus Abdominus - The deepest muscle layer, its main role are to stabilize the trunk and maintain internal abdominal pressure.

> Rectus Abdominus - It exists between the ribs and the pubic bone at the front of the pelvis. This muscle group is commonly called “The Six Pack”. The main function of the rectus abdominus is to move the body between the ribcage and the pelvis.

> External Oblique Muscles - They exist on each side of the rectus abdominus. The external oblique muscles allow the trunk to twist to the left or right.

> Internal Oblique Muscles – These flank the rectus abdominus, and are located just inside the hipbones. They operate in the opposite way to the external oblique muscles. For example, twisting the trunk to the left requires the left hand side internal oblique and the right hand side external oblique to contract together.

The abdominals are an extremely important part of the breathing process, especially during exhale. They assist in forcing air out of the lungs by depressing the thorax. Then, our fifth muscle group begins its very important job. The fifth and arguably most important muscle for our discussion is the Diaphragm.

> Diaphragm - In the anatomy of Mammals, (Yes, we are one of those!) the diaphragm is a shelf of muscle extending across the bottom of the ribcage. The diaphragm separates the thoracic cavity (with lung and heart) from the abdominal cavity (with liver, stomach, intestines, etc.). In its relaxed state, the diaphragm is shaped like a dome or parachute.

2) The larynx






I must first say that I consider the Larynx to be one of the greatest miracles and gifts that mankind has ever been given.

Take a moment and consider life without a larynx. If you could not sing, speak or laugh I think you would agree that your life would change in a major way. We have actually been born with a free instrument. It is better than any instrument created by man because it can not only create pitch, but it can communicate words. No other instrument can do that. With many people, though, they shy away from singing because many students, in my experience, think they sound poor. This is often because, as in my case, somebody close to them laughed at them when they sang and maybe inferred that they had no talent. Unfortunately, with the voice, many people fail to understand that, like any instrument, it must also be trained to reach its potential.

Of course, there exist many people who sound wonderful without any training. The mistake many of these people make is that they will achieve exceptional voices if they submit themselves to effective training. This is because their basic voice is so far advanced without training. Often times I have seen these gifted vocalists conclude they have a natural talent and have a perfect voice that does not require training. Another problem these people with natural voices have, common to everyone, is the lack of knowledge of how to achieve effective breath control. The truth that I have found is that humans do not breathe correctly under normal conditions. All of us must learn this basic and vital ability.

In a comparable example with the steps required to learn another common musical instrument, if you were learning the guitar, you would not expect to immediately be able to play it once you purchased your instrument. That would be ridiculous! Anyone would expect that they must take some kind of lessons. One reason that our approach to training the voice may be different is

that our instrument already works. Since we have used it to communicate, starting with our first scream, we have already developed some level of vocalization and pitch. The important thing to understand is that your basic level of development will be different from everybody else. You must accept your current ability and move forward with confidence and dedication to create a voice that represents your individual potential.


3) The Amplifier

The what? Do I need my electric guitar? No. Actually, an acoustic guitar would be a better analogy. All kidding aside, without the resonating cavities of the neck and head, our little voice box would probably sound like a munchkin from the Wizard of Oz.

Have you ever heard an electric guitar played without an amplifier? No much to hear, is there? But, plug it into a couple of high-end Marshall Amplifier stacks and run it through some crazy effects and you will hear it for a long distance. Here is how this same principle works within our body.

As we have discussed, the vocal cords are two bands of mucous membrane tissue located in the larynx. The larynx is located in the neck at the top of the trachea or windpipe. Vocal cords produce sound by vibrating together as the air passes through them from the lungs, supported by the abdominal muscles. After leaving the larynx, the vibrations travel through the resonating cavities (amplifiers) of the neck and head. When they reach there, the sound is further amplified by resonating (bouncing) against the hard boney surfaces that enclose those cavities, especially the teeth.

This amplified vibration is eventually projected, as a complex sound, beyond the body via the open mouth. Before exiting, the sound is often enhanced by the addition of words. This is accomplished mainly with the tongue, teeth and lips. The result is called diction. We will discuss diction in depth in chapter five. At the end of the process, the resulting outside of body sound is the sound of the individual’s voice. The individual’s voice quality is also partially dependent on the thickness and length of the vocal chords. Further, the shape, thickness, and density of the bones and cartilages, and the size and shape of the empty spaces in the resonating cavities are of prime importance when determining our voice.

I hope this information was helpful.

Thanks for Reading! Visit my web site for more info. http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/ebooks

Goodbye!

Subscribe in a reader

See you next time!

http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com

Blessings,

Jonathan Morgan Jenkins