Do you have any quick tips that you can give people like myself just as far as things to think about when speaking and how to kind of break past that little ring?
Speaker BSo much is going on on the inside, right.
Speaker BTo create this.
Speaker BSo much that we have no control over, really.
Speaker BBut in your case, I'm going to tell you, Anthony, that there are four articulators and you're right now only using one, which is the tongue.
Speaker BYou literally are talking like this again.
Speaker BSo your jaw is tight.
Speaker BYou are not using your lips.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BBut what is making the words is your tongue.
Speaker BSo your tongue is attached to your larynx.
Speaker BI'm going to speak normally.
Speaker BWe have four articulators.
Speaker BOur cheeks.
Speaker BWhen I was talking about Shawn Mendez, he uses his cheeks a lot.
Speaker BIt causes a lot of tension and as a result, you know that he has a professional ear, nose and throat?
Speaker BNo, he's a speech pathologist.
Speaker BHis name is Aaron Lowe.
Speaker BAnd Aaron actually massages his larynx after the gig.
Speaker BDo you know that every show goes on.
Speaker CI thought he massage a larynx.
Speaker COh, on the outside.
Speaker CI thought he like goes in there.
Speaker BAlthough I have had people put on gloves and you can massage your cheek, the inside of your mouth, your jaw.
Speaker BI've had it all done pretty crazy.
Speaker BBut no, you go from the inside and out.
Speaker BBut because he's using his cheeks to talk so much, he kind of is smiling all the time.
Speaker BIt's too up.
Speaker BIt pulls the larynx up.
Speaker BThe jaw is another one.
Speaker BYou don't use your jaw.
Speaker BSo can you drop your jaw?
Speaker ADrop my jaw.
Speaker BHuh?
Speaker BSee how your tongue pulls right back?
Speaker BSee how your tongue was pulled right back?
Speaker BCan you keep it?
Speaker CI wish.
Speaker CThe podcast.
Speaker BDrop your jaw.
Speaker BDrop your jaw.
Speaker BDrop your jaw.
Speaker BIt will be very difficult for you to do this now.
Speaker BDo you see how there's an indent to your tongue there?
Speaker AUh huh.
Speaker AI saw that.
Speaker BYep.
Speaker BSo your tongue, we call it muscular dysphonia.
Speaker BIt means that the tongue is too tight.
Speaker BAnd you see how you hardly could drop your jaw.
Speaker BSo we, you and I, if we were working, I wouldn't even start with singing.
Speaker BWe have to eliminate that first and start building in core voice because your vocal cords will not coordinate if the tongue is too tight.
Speaker BThe tongue is designed to bring food and liquid to your esophagus.
Speaker BAnd so if we're using it too much in speech, think about with arms wide open.
Speaker BCreed.
Speaker BI got you, babe.
Speaker BYou know, like Cher.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BThe tongue is way back.
Speaker BChristina Aguilera.
Speaker BOh, yeah.
Speaker BIs that Darker sound because the tongue pulls back.
Speaker BIt dulls the pitch.
Speaker BIt dulls the tone.
Speaker BSo I'm going to give you an example.
Speaker BDo you believe in love after love?
Speaker BVery sad.
Speaker BDo you believe in life after love?
Speaker CForward.
Speaker BThink about Stevie Wonder.
Speaker BThat sound is forward because his tongue is flat.
Speaker BBruno Mars, flat tongue.
Speaker BChaka Khan, Latang.
Speaker BAnd when I was learning how to sing, I was like, I gotta figure out, you know, I wanted to sound like a lot of these singers.
Speaker BAnd what are they doing?
Speaker BWhat are they doing?
Speaker BWhat are they doing?
Speaker BWell, I have a very small mouth.
Speaker BI kept thinking, you need a big mouth.
Speaker BBut then I.
Speaker BNot the size of the mouth, it's the tongue.
Speaker BIf the tongue is flat, people seem to have a bigger range.
Speaker BWhen the tongue pulls back, it could be a very cool tone.
Speaker BLike, oh, this is a great example.
Speaker BWherever, whenever, we'll be together, remember?
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BI thought quite well.
Speaker BSo, you know, the top of the range is poured back.
Speaker BAnd then she went forward, and then she went backwards again.
Speaker BThen she went forward.
Speaker BAnd it's a little bit of her sound.
Speaker BSo it's a little bit of the sound.
Speaker BThe same tone, the same pitch.
Speaker CWow.
Speaker BSame tone, same pitch.
Speaker BMelodyne, by the way, won't fix that because it's in tune, technically, but one sounds like it's going flat and one sounds like it's in tune.
Speaker BSo the jaw, relaxing the cheeks, using the lips and really eliminating the tongue, trying to be as.
Speaker BAlmost not using it at all.
Speaker BWe do need it for a few consonants.
Speaker BI could dive into all of that, too.
Speaker BIt's very in depth, but.
Speaker BAnd vowels.
Speaker BBut for the most part, if we can keep it behind our bottom teeth or on top of our teeth, then it's out of the way.
Speaker BOur vocal cords are free to change pitch, but my tone stays forward.
Speaker BI'm not going backwards and forward.
Speaker BIt would be weird if I did that.
Speaker BIf I turn it too nasal, you know, if I scrunch up my cheeks and I go too forward.
Speaker BWell, there's lots of singing teachers who teach that, you know, and it's too bright, it's too nasal.
Speaker BThat's kind of ugly also.
Speaker BSo we want to find this natural voice that's a little bit more unified.
Speaker BRelaxing the jaw, relaxing the cheeks, using the lips and eliminating the tongue.
Speaker CSpeaking of mouth sizes, Freddie Mercury always refused to get his teeth fixed because he thought, he swore that that was why he had that voice.
Speaker CDo you think that's true?
Speaker COr do you think anybody with any mouth size could be trained to sing like that?
Speaker BAny mouth size can be trained.
Speaker BBut I do think, and I've seen it, that people who have dental work Change their voice 1,000%.
Speaker BAnd I've seen it with people, again, with tongue issues because they had a lot of braces, or jaw issues because they had braces.
Speaker BSo it told the brain, oh, this hurts, right?
Speaker BTo use my mouth and my lip kind of hurt, so I stopped using it and I.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BAnd my tongue stays away because maybe you have like one of those retainers with a, you know, a thing, you know, behind your teeth.
Speaker BSo it's like your tongue doesn't want to touch any of that, so it stays here and.
Speaker BOr you don't want to use your.
Speaker BAnd all you have to use your lips on those vowels.
Speaker BA lot of people don't do that.
Speaker CSo it's a psychological thing.
Speaker CIt's not that the mouth shape and size is actually hindering, for the most part, the same.
Speaker COkay, I see.
Speaker BBut it could it change your voice if you stretched your jaw or.
Speaker CSo you think if Freddie Mercury had those teeth, those molars removed and then trained with you, he'd be back with the same voice.
Speaker COkay, cool.
Speaker BBecause ultimately it is your vocal cords ability to coordinate.
Speaker BAnd then resonation does happen in your, you know, your jaw, your nasal cavities, your head.
Speaker BSo unless you're doing some kind of structural change, it shouldn't change.
Speaker BBut like you said, it's habit and it's the brain going.
Speaker BAnd then it puts all this tension.
Speaker BSo as long as we can eliminate tension and strain, the vocal cords can work really, really well.
Speaker BI often.
Speaker BThat's why I was saying that most of the people who come to me can sing already.
Speaker BMost people have great vocal cords, but their, their head, their face, their tension, the way they're hitting notes isn't allowing that natural flow of the vocal cords to change pitch effectively.
Speaker CI knew it.
Speaker BThe word lives in your face, right?
Speaker BThe word lives here.
Speaker BPitch lives here.
Speaker CSounds like a T shirt tone.
Speaker BLives here.
Speaker BPitch lives here.
Speaker BSo we want those two things to work together.
Speaker BNot fighting each other.
Speaker BNot fighting each other.
Speaker BYou know, how many singers have you seen who are, you know, you know, doing all these things with their face?
Speaker BAnd some people can get away with it.
Speaker BI always say, like, there's no rules.
Speaker BIf it works for you, great.
Speaker BThere's no rules whatever.
Speaker BLike it were even a raspy voice, for example, what about Bryan Adams?
Speaker BLike, one of the best raspy voices on the planet.
Speaker BHe tours 200 plus dates a year, never loses his voice.
Speaker BI don't know how we can do that.
Speaker BLike that's a miracle to me.
Speaker BSo is there a.
Speaker BThat's why I don't teach technically.
Speaker BOnce I started working with artists, I realized that it doesn't matter what you're doing.
Speaker BWhat matters is that you can do it again and again and again and again.
Speaker BAnd so whether you're in the studio and you're layering vocals, you need to know you can do that hard for two hours and get a really great vocal performance and you're not going to lose your voice or you're going to be able to go on tour, stand on a stage and deliver.
Speaker BNo matter, matter.
Speaker BLike you said, Matt, morning, noon, or night.
Speaker BCan I use my voice in the morning?
Speaker BBecause what if you're traveling, you're jet lagged, you know, you have to wake up and give an interview at 6 in the morning or whatever.
Speaker BWhatever.
Speaker BWhatever the circumstances are, an artist must be able to do this anytime, anywhere.
Speaker BSo how you do it is irrelevant.
Speaker BAs long as you can do it consistently.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BThat's not.
Speaker BMy job is to tell you you have to do it.
Speaker BBut if Anthony, you came in like you said, and I want to sing with more riffs, I can tell you why you can't.
Speaker BBecause the sound is too tight and the tongue is too tight.
Speaker BSo then you can't get your voice to flutter or to move quickly.
Speaker BSo there are limitations.
Speaker BSo then it's about the want.
Speaker BWhat does the artist want?
Speaker BI told you earlier, my job is to only facilitate what the artist wants.
Speaker BYou're not doing my technique.
Speaker BI'm helping you achieve your goals.
Speaker BAnd that's ultimately why I think people like to work with me.
Speaker BBecause I'm not asking you to live in a box.
Speaker AI love that.
Speaker AJust to clarify, I.
Speaker AI mean, I love to riff.
Speaker AIt's not on my list of goals.
Speaker AAnd more concerned with just having that.
Speaker CNo, this is happening.
Speaker CAnthony's riffing in.
Speaker CIn.
Speaker CHe has four weeks to riff and then we're recording your riffing.
Speaker COkay.
Speaker AOkay.
Speaker BThat's a good no because you're going to come on to my riff class and we're going to get you.
Speaker AOh, I thought I was just going to work on this.
Speaker AOkay, well, I'll riff.
Speaker AIf you got me riffing, I will be more than grateful.
Speaker AHow long does it typically take before you start to see changes?
Speaker AI mean, it probably depends on someone's level.
Speaker BImmediately.
Speaker BOkay, never mind immediately.
Speaker AWell, then I'm excited.
Speaker AThat's really exciting.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BMy goal is immediate results.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BLike, you know, a.
Speaker BI charge a lot of money for my time.
Speaker BAnd I want you to get something right now.
Speaker BI don't need you to wait a month.
Speaker BI want you to get something right now that you can.
Speaker CPsychologists should have the same way of working.
Speaker CProgress guarantee.
Speaker BHere's another philosophy.
Speaker BProgress guaranteed.
Speaker BSo I've worked with Scott Hellman.
Speaker BI've worked with a lot of Canadian artists that have done really, really well.
Speaker BAnd my.
Speaker BIt really occurred to me after working with him at the beginning of his career that if I do my job right, you don't need me anymore.
Speaker AWow.
Speaker BThat's really the goal.
Speaker BIf I've done my job well, you don't need me.
Speaker BBut I have relationships, I told you with many of my artists that they.
Speaker BThey return for one or two coaching, maybe if they're.
Speaker BI just worked with Roy a couple weeks ago.
Speaker BHe's back in the studio.
Speaker BSo we were working ahead of each studio session.
Speaker BAnd then I might not work with Roy woods for, you know, two years, and then maybe they come back, you know, a year later or six months later or whatever.
Speaker BHey, I'm working on something else.
Speaker BOr I'm working on a performance now.
Speaker BLet's do it.
Speaker BSo my relationship with artists is long, but not weekly.
Speaker BI don't require that.
Speaker BThat's just not my business.
Speaker BAgain, that's someone else's coaching business.
Speaker BBut my coaching business is built on getting results, right?