Shezbeth
7th February 2011, 06:34
May this information be of use. ^_^
I am posting this information in the Spirituality section because, as I will relate later, it's functional application is for the augmentation of meditation, focus, vibrational increase, and intent.
Throat singing is a practice where a person can audibly sing a base note (using the voice box) while simultaneously producing harmonic overtones by shaping the lips, mouth, and jaw to produce resonance. In this manner, a person can sing multiple notes, even chords, simultanously.
I have received NO training in this practice. My experience is entirely self-imposed. I saw it done once and it wasn't until years later that I puzzled it out myself. I have a bit of training in music, so I will use specific terms where available. I can try to clarify terms later if necessary.
The first step is to breath-whistle, where one imitates the mouth postures that produce a whistle, but not blowing enough to create the shrill tone. This breathing still produces a tone, just muted. Practice this. It can be done breathing in or out.
The second step is to find something that produces a constant (preferrably loud) tone, usually in the bass clef, and match that pitch until there is no variance (wa-wa-wa of the soundwaves overlapping).
The third step is to combine the two practices. Produce the bass tone in the presence of the 'generator' of the tone so that you can determine easily and quickly if one has strayed from the bass tone. Then add the breath-whistle practice to begin producing one's second tone while maintaining the bass tone. Go slowly. It might help if one has a keyboard handy to help to know the tones in question. The upper tone is produced by the mouth and throat, so experiment with different positions of the mouth and throat to determine which shapes produce which tones, while maintaining the base tone. For me it was VERY difficult to change the second tone while maintaining the first. The initial part of these practices is to train the voice box to maintain the tone no matter what the mouth does.
At this point I'll relate my personal experience, as it is difficult to prescribe the exact proceedure.
As I begins to develop, I found major scales to be useful. I would produce and hold a middle C bass tone, while slowly going up and down the C scale with the second tone. I practiced this for about a week before I began attempting more complicated configurations. Having studied the trumpet and voice, I had a wealth of different scales in memory - others may not and this may be more difficult. Individual results may vary.
Once I could readily produce a major scale, I went on to a chromatic scale. From there I went on to more complicated scales involving major second and third up and down. The purpose is to train the mouth to assume the correct posture for the upper tone without thinking, while still producing the bass tone.
Once I could do that, I began to use short songs. The first being the scottish bagpipe song Scotland the Brave. I didn't use the correct bass tone, I would still stick with C (which is the primary note produced by the machine I operate at work), but would produce the melody with the upper tone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q61XZZpIv0 - Scotland the Brave
Once I could do this with consistency, I would practice. Practice practice practice. Then, having gotten bored I practiced singing Amazing Grace, again with the C bass note and the melody in the upper tone. Again practice. Then I began to develop my own simple repetitious mantra, using the 'two' voices I had brought under control. Here's where it gets interesting.
I found that - as I experimented with various intensities of pitch - third, fourth, and even fifth tones could be produced when the various parts of the mouth were in proper alignment. This was EXTREMELY difficult to control, and required months to get a hold of, even years to the degree that I can now. As I began to express control, I would make the songs more complicated.
-- I should point out that while controlled by various portions of the mouth, the 3rd-5th tones are dependent on the bass tone. To that end, I will refer to the tones as follows:
Bass tone, Harmony tone(s), Melody tone.
The bass tone determines the harmony tones while the position of the mouth, jaw, and throad determines whether those tones are in tune with the bass and eachother. Without practice it can be quite dissonant. The melody tone is produced by the lips, and can therefore be done independent. Therefore when referring to the bass tone and harmony tones I will say bass chord.
--
I began to study Amazing Grace almost exclusively, for it allowed for the greatest utilization of harmony, though it necessitated a movement of the bass tone. If one is singing a major fifth chord, the chord must move or the melody will not coincide with the bass or harmony. To this end I would sing the bass chord in the following measure sequence in the key of C -
Measures 1-2: 1 chord
3: 4
4-6: 1
7-8: 5
9-10: 1
11: 4
12-13: 1
14: 5
15-16: 1
All this is and can be done producing the bass chord of at least 3 notes and the melody. I've actually gotten it up to 7 simultaneous notes, though some were different octaves of the same note.
I'll post more on the meditative application of these techniques later. Any questions or comments (tips?) can be PM'd or posted. I particularly want other who know about this stuff to comment!
Please don't quote in replies (if any). If you want to ask something specific, PM me.
^_^ Peace and good health!
I am posting this information in the Spirituality section because, as I will relate later, it's functional application is for the augmentation of meditation, focus, vibrational increase, and intent.
Throat singing is a practice where a person can audibly sing a base note (using the voice box) while simultaneously producing harmonic overtones by shaping the lips, mouth, and jaw to produce resonance. In this manner, a person can sing multiple notes, even chords, simultanously.
I have received NO training in this practice. My experience is entirely self-imposed. I saw it done once and it wasn't until years later that I puzzled it out myself. I have a bit of training in music, so I will use specific terms where available. I can try to clarify terms later if necessary.
The first step is to breath-whistle, where one imitates the mouth postures that produce a whistle, but not blowing enough to create the shrill tone. This breathing still produces a tone, just muted. Practice this. It can be done breathing in or out.
The second step is to find something that produces a constant (preferrably loud) tone, usually in the bass clef, and match that pitch until there is no variance (wa-wa-wa of the soundwaves overlapping).
The third step is to combine the two practices. Produce the bass tone in the presence of the 'generator' of the tone so that you can determine easily and quickly if one has strayed from the bass tone. Then add the breath-whistle practice to begin producing one's second tone while maintaining the bass tone. Go slowly. It might help if one has a keyboard handy to help to know the tones in question. The upper tone is produced by the mouth and throat, so experiment with different positions of the mouth and throat to determine which shapes produce which tones, while maintaining the base tone. For me it was VERY difficult to change the second tone while maintaining the first. The initial part of these practices is to train the voice box to maintain the tone no matter what the mouth does.
At this point I'll relate my personal experience, as it is difficult to prescribe the exact proceedure.
As I begins to develop, I found major scales to be useful. I would produce and hold a middle C bass tone, while slowly going up and down the C scale with the second tone. I practiced this for about a week before I began attempting more complicated configurations. Having studied the trumpet and voice, I had a wealth of different scales in memory - others may not and this may be more difficult. Individual results may vary.
Once I could readily produce a major scale, I went on to a chromatic scale. From there I went on to more complicated scales involving major second and third up and down. The purpose is to train the mouth to assume the correct posture for the upper tone without thinking, while still producing the bass tone.
Once I could do that, I began to use short songs. The first being the scottish bagpipe song Scotland the Brave. I didn't use the correct bass tone, I would still stick with C (which is the primary note produced by the machine I operate at work), but would produce the melody with the upper tone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q61XZZpIv0 - Scotland the Brave
Once I could do this with consistency, I would practice. Practice practice practice. Then, having gotten bored I practiced singing Amazing Grace, again with the C bass note and the melody in the upper tone. Again practice. Then I began to develop my own simple repetitious mantra, using the 'two' voices I had brought under control. Here's where it gets interesting.
I found that - as I experimented with various intensities of pitch - third, fourth, and even fifth tones could be produced when the various parts of the mouth were in proper alignment. This was EXTREMELY difficult to control, and required months to get a hold of, even years to the degree that I can now. As I began to express control, I would make the songs more complicated.
-- I should point out that while controlled by various portions of the mouth, the 3rd-5th tones are dependent on the bass tone. To that end, I will refer to the tones as follows:
Bass tone, Harmony tone(s), Melody tone.
The bass tone determines the harmony tones while the position of the mouth, jaw, and throad determines whether those tones are in tune with the bass and eachother. Without practice it can be quite dissonant. The melody tone is produced by the lips, and can therefore be done independent. Therefore when referring to the bass tone and harmony tones I will say bass chord.
--
I began to study Amazing Grace almost exclusively, for it allowed for the greatest utilization of harmony, though it necessitated a movement of the bass tone. If one is singing a major fifth chord, the chord must move or the melody will not coincide with the bass or harmony. To this end I would sing the bass chord in the following measure sequence in the key of C -
Measures 1-2: 1 chord
3: 4
4-6: 1
7-8: 5
9-10: 1
11: 4
12-13: 1
14: 5
15-16: 1
All this is and can be done producing the bass chord of at least 3 notes and the melody. I've actually gotten it up to 7 simultaneous notes, though some were different octaves of the same note.
I'll post more on the meditative application of these techniques later. Any questions or comments (tips?) can be PM'd or posted. I particularly want other who know about this stuff to comment!
Please don't quote in replies (if any). If you want to ask something specific, PM me.
^_^ Peace and good health!