Singing with your natural speaking voice?

I've always thought that you have to change something about your vocal chords when singing high notes. Say Mind Games by John Lennon. I extend my neck and the noise kinda comes out nasal?

So yesterday my new vocal coach said to sing songs in a lower register and to sing with my natural voice, pretty much removing the nasality and lessening the tension in my throat.

My problem has always been that I sing from the throat, and how it tightens up. I never feel like I can get the sound out (if that makes sense).

The interesting thing is that this teacher said I sound nasal. But my other teacher says I don't sing nasally, she made me pinch my nose and the sound came out the same.

I think the Complete Vocal Technique has a thing called twang, and you use a lot of twang in the middle register and to reach higher notes. I probably have too much of that. Sound like a freaking duck.

Anyways this is turning into a rant, my basic point is are you guys familiar with the singing with your natural speaking voice? And how the hell do you reach higher notes, my voice is not naturally light (it's not very dark either).

If you pinch your nose and the tone doesn't change, you're not singing nasally. A lot of twang can be confused as nasal...*cough* Axl Rose. I may be wrong, but your singing voice and speaking voice are two entirely different things. When you sing, try to mentally focus the tone in your soft palate and add the twang. If your support is good, you shouldn't feel it in your throat.

Simple test, just sing a note around the middle of your range and sustain it. If your breathing is correct, your stomach/lower abs should be slightly contracted. When you stop singing, your stomach should relax and your next breath should feel like your breathing in from your belly button (just a visual). If you shoulders move and your chest expands, your breathing wrong dude.

The high notes are achieved with proper placement and support. Believe it or not, they are easier than they sound. It's all a matter of blending your head/chest registers, resonance, and not trying to pull up too much weight. I used to have a problem with taking my chest voice up higher than I should. Hope this helps a little...

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark, but are your problem areas around E4-F#4?

You might experiment with air flow. Nasal tone may associate with not enough air flow. Try moving more air and singing more from the lungs. I visualize an egg or ping pong ball in my throat, the thought opens up my throat. If I feel tension in my throat then I turn my head left and right while singing a five note scale up and down to relax.

I've used some visualization. I can try it. If I can get past the claustrophobic feeling of having an egg stuck in my throat.

E and F above middle C. Yeah some of the "buzz" words can get confusing...there's prob at least 5 different names for the same thing, depending on what coach/method your using, lol.

Check it, the first C is C4 or Middle C :

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/music/piano/

Static is right. The speaking voice is DIFFERENT from the singing voice. You can't approach singing the same way you speak. That's how problems happen. When you sing, you need more space in your throat in order to relieve pressure on your vocal cords, especially when singing higher. Support and breath is also important. Like what Static said, you need to breathe with your lower abs, also the lower back and back ribcage need to expand as well.

Also I'm not crazy about this CVT thing. The names and words are kinda vague (eg. curbing, twang, etc.). Imagery is helpful, I agree, but images can mean different things to different people.

I don't like how you emphasize that speaking and singing voices are completely different. I agree insofar as that singing is associated with using your speaking voice in a very different way, relative to how you use it when you speak.

But they're not separate entities.

I don't know how to help you OP, but I know one thing - when you hit a note correctly, that note will feel 100 % natural and comfortable, as if it was in the middle of your range. It will feel like that particular note is obviously what you're supposed to be making noise with.

Don't extend your jaw. Open your mouth wide, and your Jaw should actually drop back bit - the hinge of the Jaw swings down and backward - not "out". You should tilt you head up slightly, and let your jaw drop down. I personally was not impressed with the CVT and the terminology is more confusing for most people - especially those who have not trained with a private instructor. My personal suggestions are, Jaime Vendera, Al Koehn, and Robert Lunte.

Is Al still involved with HC, or did he leave? He is an incredible instructor, and he studied under Maestro David P. Kyle, as did Robert Lunte, Ann Wilson, and Geoff Tate from Queensryche.

I don't like how you emphasize that speaking and singing voices are completely different. I agree insofar as that singing is associated with using your speaking voice in a very different way, relative to how you use it when you speak. But they're not separate entities. I don't know how to help you OP, but I know one thing - when you hit a note correctly, that note will feel 100 % natural and comfortable, as if it was in the middle of your range. It will feel like that particular note is obviously what you're supposed to be making noise with.

The problem comes from the fact that you have to strengthen the muscles in your throat to sing, otherwise you are just setting yourself up for trouble. Prior to my training, I blew my voice out, couldn't speak for weeks, and couldn't sing for MONTHS. I was trying to sing like I speak, but was just pushing more air. You have to learn to lower the Larynx through exercises - yes, some small amount of singers are able to do it without training, but they are few and far between.

Glenn Danzig, for example, sings with a High Larynx and a lot of air in a "belting" almost yelling fashion; every time I have seen him live - his voice is gone halfway through the show. If he would do a little training, he would be able to keep that beautiful baritone voice all night long as well as be able to increase the high end of his range.

Many people speak incorrectly, my own mother has a very raspy/breathy tone to her voice and I have tried to work with her on it, but she is so hardheaded she won't mess with it, and yet she wonders why she can't talk above whisper half the time. She says,"What do you know?"

"Well, let's see? I know I'm not the one whose voice disappears every 5 words... and I don't have to grunt and strain to get words out because I am trying to force a ton of air through my clenched vocal cords!"

LOL

She knows I've studied voice since the late 90's, yet she acts like voice lessons are only for singing. It would be funny if it weren't sad to hear her speak.