About Mark Bosnian author of Sing Free Now!
Testimonials read what other singers say...
Top Ten Reasons... to take voice lessons by Mark B.
Sing Free Now! learn about the SFN method
Workshops Learn the 3 Steps to...
8-Week Class Includes the SingFreeNow! book
Media Mark Bosnian's Media Page
Blog
Contact
The Sing Free Now! Book: Buy It Today!
Sing Free Now! 3 Steps to Power, Passion and Confidence is the new book written by vocal master Mark Bosnian.
It includes FREE online access to the Vocal Power Workout exercises and the Listen & Learn audio exercises. Now offering ebook downloads for your digital devices!
Why not have the voice you’ve always dreamed of?
Sing Free Now! 8-Week Class Announcement
Do you want to have the singing voice you've always wished for? Want to sing with, power, passion and confidence? Well, now is your chance to take action and make it happen! Bosnian Vocal Studios presents an 8-week class on Wednesday evenings that will give you the tools and techniques you need to sing the way you want to.
In 8-weeks you will know how to breathe the way you were born to, how to project with a strong confident voice, how to sing high and low notes with power and passion--how to control your voice. You'll be on your way to experiencing joy every time you sing!
Sing Free Now! Blog
Mark Bosnian's Sing Free Now! blog, latest news and events. FREE professional vocal/voice coaching!
Vocal Assessment
If it’s not measurable, it’s not valuable
I’ve often had students attempt to describe what they hear in a recording of their own voice. “That’s awful,” “It sounds terrible,” or “I don’t like it” may be the first words out of their mouths. When I ask someone to elaborate, most of the time they use the same types of phrases to repeat the same theme. The problem with this approach is that nothing measurable is being described and it is extremely difficult to change a vocal performance when you can’t measure it. So how do you measure what you’re singing?
Whenever you hear a problem area in the performance, describe it in a measurable way. “It’s out of tune,” “it’s breathy,” “it’s too bright,” “not enough control,” are all dealing with measurable parameters.
If a line being sung is out of tune, there might be a combination of one or more of the principles in play. You could be singing the note with more or less intensity of support than is needed, causing it to be sharp or flat. If the vowel color is too bright, especially on a high pitch, singing in tune is very challenging. Either or both of these principles could be affecting the performance.
Follow the Big Three Vocal Principles
If a line is unintentionally breathy, support is definitely a factor. Not enough resistance to the lift can cause the problem, and is usually the first place to look. If the vowel color varies unintentionally, becoming bright on certain notes or dark on others, an inconsistent, out of control effect will occur. Singing a word or a line in a registration that doesn't serve the song can also cause an inconsistent, unstable feeling. If you are singing the song in a 50/50 balance (50% heavy register / 50% light register) and suddenly move to pure heavy register on a high note, it will probably jump out in volume and sound too aggressive. If you are a singing a song in pure heavy register and switch to a mostly light register balance to reach a higher note, the effect may sound weak or simply so different that it stands out in an unintentional way.
The key to assessing your own or another vocal performance is to be able to identify what you hear in relation to the Big Three Vocal Principles. The scale of 1-to-10 will serve you well as you listen to the performance. Ask yourself where the support, vowel color, and registration lie on the scale, and if they change anywhere, does that serve the song and was it intentional? Many of the problem areas in a performance can be improved by this method.
Follow Sing Free Now!
Registered Login
The Sing Free Now! Book
"Sing Free Now!” is your step-by-step guide to confidently singing the songs you have always dreamed of performing.
About Mark Bosnian
Mark Bosnian is an award-winning singer-songwriter and vocal master who has performed and taught the Sing Free Now! Method all over the world.
Latest Blog Post
-
I played a gig today and after my performance I was standing at the back of the room chatting with s
Sing Free Now on Facebook
Recent Comments
Five Tips for Better Singing
Vocal Registration is like an Automatic or Manual Transmission in a Car
The heavy and light registers of every voice (sometimes called “chest” voice and “head” voice or falsetto) can operate automatically as you sing higher or lower pitches and you can learn to manually shift registers to get different sounds. This gives you the option of sounding the way you want to on any given word or line in a song. The Sing Free Now! Method helps you create many choices—not just one sound when you sing.
Singing in pure heavy register with dark vowel color to establish the strength of the voice. I teach you how to make a tone called “dark vowel color” that will allow you to sing higher notes with more ease and control that you ever thought possible. This teaches the body how to set up for high notes and will allow you to then sing them with whatever tone you want (yes, you can intentionally change the tone of your voice.)
Modifying vowels to “oo” as pitches get higher. This technique will help you to sing high notes easier by slightly changing the pronunciation of vowels. The effects of this are dramatic.
Modifying vowels to “ah” as pitches get lower. This technique will give you stronger and more present low notes.
Singing different ratios of balanced registration. You will be able to blend heavy and light register in whatever ratios you want to create more colors on your palette to paint with. Another way to have many options with which to sing—not just one “right” sound that most voice teachers demand you use.
Using Scales of 1-to-10 for the Bridge to Communicate to the Engine Room
If you think of your body as if it were the crew in the engine room of a ship and your mind as if it were the captain of the ship, you can learn to send commands to your body and get the vocal results you desire. I teach you how to assign a number on a scale of 1-to-10 to any vocal element so that the crew in the engine room knows exactly what your intention is. With the Sing Free Now! Method you’ll just have to picture the sound you want and your body will make that sound.
Tell the Story of the Song and Get Your Audience Rooting for You
Through song analysis and dynamics exercises I will show you how to introduce emotion and style to your singing. This allows you to connect the story of the song to your audience--your main job as a singer. If the audience is captivated by your story-telling, perfect delivery becomes less critical and you leave the audience wanting more.
Learning about The Vocal Defense Mechanism and How to Override it
We all have a Vocal Defense Mechanism (VDM) that is a subconscious system working to protect you from harming your voice, from embarrassing yourself, and from working too hard during singing. Singing a loud note, singing a high note, or singing anything that seems in the least bit threatening can trigger this mechanism. It often sabotages your singing, making it harder for you to do what you want with your voice. The Sing Free Now! Method shows you how to override the VDM so that you can sing what you want to sing the way you want to sing it.
Using Interim Sounds vs. Always Going for Performance Sounds
It is often easier and faster for you to develop a performance sound by practicing a sound you would not perform with. This sound may seem unmusical to you at first but it will develop the strength, coordination, and control you need to make the performance sound you want. It will get you to that point more quickly than banging your head against a performance sound that you cannot make at first.
- Singing Tip 1
- Singing Tip 2
- Singing Tip 3
- Singing Tip 4
- Singing Tip 5
