Vocal Training Warrior

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

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:00:00 +0000

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

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

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:01:00 +0000

Powerful Performace Interpretation techniques for Singers, Actors and Public Speakers

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 19:05:00 +0000

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.
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.
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.
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
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

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A healthy voice is will last you a lifetime!

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:56:00 +0000

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

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Singing, Speaking and Laughter will Improve your Health

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:21:00 +0000

V ocal 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

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

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:27:00 +0000

V ocal 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

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

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:32:00 +0000

Performing all Vocal Styles with Expertise and Confidence is Critical to your Resume as a Vocalist.

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Sun, 04 May 2008 20:09:00 +0000

To become a truly professional vocalist, you must be able to perform all vocal styles with expertise and confidence. If you are a vocalist that is stuck in a "Style Rut", read this article and you may find that it is not as difficult as you may think to sing and speak in different styles with control and confidence.

During my tenure as a Voice Instructor, I have coached Singers, Speakers and Actors of every age and musical of speaking style. Some typical singing styles would be, Classical, Opera, Musical Theatre, Jazz, Pop, Folk, Rock, Rhythm and Blues and Country. Some typical speaking styles would be, Corporate Trainer, Corporate Speaker, Politician, Teacher, Poet or Rap Artist. Some typical Acting styles would be, Stage Actor, Musical Theatre, Film Actor, Commercial Actor, Voice Over or the creation of specific Characters or Accents. If I missed any, please add them to the list.

My point is that there are so many uses for the Human Voice, an incredible miracle of an instrument. After working with all of these people through the years, I have found these consistent themes in how they perceive their chosen method and/or style.

1) They often worship their chosen style and exclude all others. (This is especially prevalent with snooty academic/classical crowd)
2) They think that their style of singing is the only correct way the voice can operate.
3) They have little or no understanding of how the voice operates.
4) They think they are gifted and do not need competent training.
5) They refuse to even consider expanding their capabilities by attempting to sing or speak in another style.

To me, anyone who thinks in any fashion like this is incredibly naïve and has little or no interest in becoming an accomplished vocalist. If I have ruffled your virgin feathers, I make no apologies.

Before you leave the room or call your Attorney claiming that I have bruised your ego, please allow me one chance to explain to you the many aspects of proper vocal performance that are similar to all vocal styles. Then we will discuss the actual few differences. Here is a list of all the aspects of vocal performance that must be understood and applied by all vocalists and all musical or speaking styles.

1) How to breathe properly to intake the maximum amount of oxygen every time we breathe.
2) Understand how the body is engineered to use pressurized oxygen to accomplish many vital functions by coordinating the abdominal muscles.
3) Have a thorough understanding of the most important abdominal muscle for singing or speaking called the Diaphragm. This includes its position in the body, how it is used to intake oxygen and how it is used to pressurize airflow and expel it in a controlled and efficient manner.
4) Have a thorough understanding of the Larynx or Vocal Chords and how this marvelous organ is used to accomplish a fundamental sound and correct pitch.
5) How to keep our throat open so the fundamental sound and pitch which emanates from the Larynx is not restricted and therefore diminished in any way before it reaches the resonating chambers of the head.

Before we discuss how style differences are accomplished, please review the above long list of important things that all vocalists must be able to understand and perform masterfully before they can be a powerful vocalist in any style.

Now let’s discuss how we accomplish different styles. You will be amazed at how simple it really is. And when you realize this, my hope is that you will become a vocalist that understands there are more common processes than different ones. And, hopefully, you will become more open to becoming an accomplished singer or speaker in all styles.

Let’s start with the style where the voice is usually operating to its absolute potential. That would be Classical or Opera. I realized that I made a not so flattering comment in #1 of my first group of numbered items. (This is especially prevalent with snooty academic/classical crowd) I did not make this comment about the style; I made this comment about the some of the people that perform that style. The college where I received my formal music degree was a place where the mention of Popular Music was considered Sacrilege. With my childhood musical background being Surf Bands and Rock and Roll, I had to watch what I said for fear of being Tarred and Feathered!

Lets analyze the physical singing style of Classical or Opera. We usually observe the following physical characteristics in the performer.

1) They often breathe correctly.
2) They often understand how to use their abdominal muscles for proper oxygen control.
3) Their Diction is often clear and resonant.
4) Their jaw is often open or dropped to produce the most balanced resonant tone possible.

I my experience, I seldom find these important vocal performance aspects in people who sing in other styles. The main reason is lack of training but another reason is a bad attitude about being open to sing in other styles.

Unfortunately, it appears to be human nature to dismiss a new challenge or even minimize its importance rather than embrace it as a gift that will change our life. We would rather shoot the messenger than listen, embrace and grow. Pretty sad!

What I have found is that, once I can get a student past the mental blocks of experimenting with a new vocal style, it becomes mainly an issue of altering the diction and opening the jaw to different positions that creates basic musical or speaking style changes. It is really that simple.

I want all of you to try something so you can get the effect. I want you to act in character using two extremes. Pick any song or speech you are familiar with and perform it in each of the following characters. Don’t hold back and perform the character as exaggerated as possible.

1) Pretend you are an Opera Singer or Speaking words in a Shakespeare Play.
2) Pretend that you are an old-time Country Singer with all the twang you can muster. If speaking, just say the words that way.

While you are doing this, be aware of the following:

1) How open or closed your throat is.
2) The position of your tongue at all times.
3) How closed or how open your jaw is.
4) What kind of tone, nasally or balanced, you are producing.
5) Do you feel tension in your neck and head or not.

I hope you are getting the picture that the differences in vocal performance are very few compared to the similarities. When you tell your body to become a certain character, the subconscious mind brings it to pass by altering physical positions.

In conclusion, I tell all my students that if they want to truly become and accomplished and fulfilled vocalist, they should be able to sing or speak in any style on command and do it properly.

So, it is time to drop the ego and open yourself up to receiving some proper training. Trust me, when you do this, you will be a very happy vocalist. Further, you will have a healthy respect for all styles, all vocalists and increased admiration for your marvelous musical instrument.

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

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http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com

Blessings,

Jonathan Morgan Jenkins

The Human Voice is an Incredible and Powerful Instrument for Singers, Public Speakers or Actors.

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:31:00 +0000

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

This month we will be discussing an incredible creation, the Human Voice. During my 26 years of training this incredible gift, I never cease to be amazed at the lack of knowledge of it’s most basic functions and how it is often taken for granted or even intentionally or unintentionally abused by misguided vocalists. Let us take a glimpse at this powerful instrument and, hopefully, develop a healthy respect.

Larynx

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The larynx (plural larynges), colloquially known as the voicebox, is an organ in the neck of mammals involved in protection of the trachea and sound production. The larynx houses the vocal folds, and is situated just below where the tract of the pharynx splits into the trachea and the esophagus.

I must first say that I consider the Larynx to be one of the greatest miracles and gifts that mankind has ever been given. Let’s pause for a moment and consider life without a larynx. If you could not speak, sing 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 more functional and complex than any instrument created by man because it can not only create pitch, but it can also communicate words when used in connection with the parts in the throat and the head that produce diction and tone.

No other instrument can do this. 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 said they had no talent. Unfortunately with the voice, many people have completely forgot that, like any other instrument, it must be trained to reach its potential.

I agree that there exists many people who sound wonderful without any training. The mistake many of these people make is that they can achieve "exceptional" voices if they would submit themselves to effective training. This is because their basic voice is so far advanced without training. Often times they conclude they have a “natural talent” and “ have a perfect voice that does not need training”. Another problem these “natural voices” have is the lack of knowledge of how to achieve effective breath control. As I have learned through my many years, humans do not breathe correctly under normal conditions. All of us must learn this basic and vital ability.

For example, if you were learning the clarinet, you would not expect to just be able to play it once you purchased your instrument. That would be ridiculous! Anybody would expect that they would have to take some kind of lessons. One reason we forget this in respect to the voice is that our instrument already works. Since we have used it to communicate, starting with our first scream after being born, we have already developed some level of vocalization and pitch.

Another consideration is that, with the clarinet or any other instrument, if you do not want to play or learn, you can sell your instrument and chose another. With the voice, though, you are stuck with what your have. This is why many people harbor ill feelings about their voice for many years. For many, it is easier to just keep quite than take another chance at being ridiculed for singing poorly. This result is a shame as most people can be trained to sing effectively. To reach our vocal performance goals, we must first be grateful for the gift we have and believe that it can improve with correct information and effort.

Now we can discuss the nuts and bolts of this marvelous creation called the larynx.

The larynx, also known as the voice box, is an organ in the neck of mammals that protects the trachea and is the miracle organ that creates sound production. The larynx houses the vocal cords. It is positioned just below where the tract of the pharynx, the part of your throat you see when you look straight back into your mouth, splits into the trachea (passage to the lungs) and the esophagus (passage to your stomach).

Sound is generated in the larynx. Further, this is where pitch and volume are manipulated. The strength of the airflow from the lungs, generated from the lower abdominal muscles and controlled by the diaphragm, contributes to loudness of overall sound. As this air column passes through the vocal chords, a fundamental sound is produced.

The vocal chords are, then, stretched according to the information received from the brain and a certain pitch is produced. This is information is important weather we are singing or speaking. As I have clearly written about in my book, Singing and Speaking on the Edge of a Grunt, Public Speakers and Actors must perform the same air support and control of any singer. In fact, if a speaker, actor, etc. is to be effective, they must also alter their pitch and volume like any singer.

This connection of similar vocal training for these different vocal disciplines is often not supported. They are seldom considered to be doing the same thing when they perform. But, in my world, they all need to become Vocal Warriors. We are all doing the same thing. We are using our voice to express entertainment and ideas to others. Strategies for vocal development are the same for all. This is an important cornerstone of my teaching philosophy.

After the basic sound vibration exits the vocal cords it is altered as it travels through the vocal tract, eventually exiting the mouth and nose. The changes occur based on the individual construction of your unique body and on the position of the pharynx tongue, lips, and mouth. The process of altering a source sound as it passes through the filter of the vocal tract creates the many different vowel and consonant sounds of the world's languages. Further, this is where comedians, for instance, alter their sound to mimic other people’s voices or others create cartoon characters.

The vocal folds can be held close together by adducting the arytenoid cartilages. The muscles attached to the arytenoid cartilages control the degree of opening. Vocal fold length and tension can be controlled by rocking the thyroid cartilage forward and backward on the cricoid cartilage, and by manipulating the tension of the muscles within the vocal folds. This causes the pitch produced during phonation to rise or fall.

To summarize, these two basic movements exist within the larynx.

1) Bringing the vocal chords together so they vibrate and produce a fundamental vibrating sound when air travels between them.

2) Once the fundamental sound is produced, the vocal chords are stretched (just like tightening a guitar string and the pitch rises) and the pitch changes.

Although there exists more complex muscle movements within the larynx needed to produce sound, these are the most fundamental and easiest to understand. After all, my main goal is for you to understand the fundamental basics of vocal production so you can apply them daily and improve your sound. I am not trying to prepare you for pre-med school!

This information is only the beginning to understand the complexities of how to operate the Human Voice. To become a powerful and accomplished vocalist, you must have a thorough understanding of the Abdominal Muscle Systems, the Larynx, the Resonating Cavities in the Throat and Head and the many facets of Diction that are used to produce the multiple styles of Music or Speaking production.

This information is only the beginning to understand the complexities of how to operate the Human Voice. To become a powerful and accomplished vocalist, you must have a thorough understanding of the Abdominal Muscle Systems, the Larynx, the Resonating Cavities in the Throat and Head and the many facets of Diction that are used to produce the multiple styles of Music or Speaking production. All these subjects are thoroughly discussed in my book, Singing and Speaking on the Edge of a Grunt, (click here) on sale for only 19.95! When you consider that my private students pay me as much as 2,400.00 a year to get this information, this offer is an obvious bargain.

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

Correct Posture for Singers, Public Speakers, Actors and All People.

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:43:00 +0000

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

Before we can Breathe, Sing, Speak or just walk around, we need to create good posture in our body. Good posture is demonstrated when your body is standing straight up with no "hunch back." Imagine standing or walking while balancing a book on your head and this will create the effect I am talking about. This type of posture provides a few positive things for you. The most important result is an open Lower Abdominal Cage so you can consistently inhale a full breath and an Erect Stance that communicates to others that you are Confident and Positive.

Posture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The word "posture" is derived from the latin verb "ponere" which is defined as "to put or place." The general concept of human posture refers to "the carriage of the body as a whole, the attitude of the body, or the position of the limbs (the arms and legs)."

Good posture is the stance which is attained, "when the joints are not bent and the spine is aligned and not twisted." In this position, a person is thus able to completely and optimally attain balance and proportion of the body mass and framework. Good posture optimizes breathing and affects the circulation of bodily fluids. Padmasana or the Lotus Position is a central stance in yoga which
is used to enhance breathing through good posture. The word padmasana is a combination of the sanskrit words padma (lotus) and asana (posture).

During my 26 years of private coaching Singing Voices in all styles, directing Choirs, working with Rock and Pop vocalists and coaching Public Speakers and Actors, here is one simple physical attribute which is often lacking and can easily be improved. That is the performance of Correct Posture. When I make mention of the need to improve to many students when I see they have bad posture, I often get that "look" like "are you kidding?"

No, I am not. How often do you see people when you are out and about walking around that are walking, sitting or standing with dropped shoulders, a slouched back and a dropped chin with the head tilted forward? Be honest about how you perceive somebody like this. Does this person appear confident, happy, interesting, important, friendly or approachable? Are they somebody you would like to get to know? Probably not. How about taking a personal inventory of yourself, because maybe you are doing the same thing. When was the last time that you watched yourself walk, stand or sit. I suggest that you do and if your posture is not good, make some changes. Because, if this condition is unchanged, it can become a permanent condition as we age.

For Singers, Speakers and Actors, it is even more critical that the body perform good posture. It is not only for the prior mentioned important reasons; it is also because it is more difficult to breathe properly when our abdominal cage is compressed and not erect. Try this. To breathe correctly, you should know that the style of “belly breathing” is the correct one. This is when your lower abdomen is extended when you inhale oxygen. Try to do this with slouched posture. You will find that you can’t extend your abdomen as far. If you straighten up, you will be able to. As you will learn in my book “Singing and Speaking on the Edge of a Grunt,” the amount of oxygen we breathe in and the position of our abdomen prior to coordinating our abdominal muscles to expel the air in a controlled and power manner is probably the most critical aspect of singing of speaking properly.

Let’s first define good posture.

Do you remember the old technique that was used by models to work on their posture as they were told to walk while balancing a book on their head? The truth is that this "old" technique is still a "great" technique. Try it. Stand in front of a full-length mirror, put a book on your head and try to stand and walk. It’s a real challenge, isn’t it? While you are doing this, look at how your body responds and creates good posture. Don’t you look great? Sure you do. The trick is to file away this memory into your subconscious so that it becomes an automatic way of presenting yourself and not a conscious way that you always have to think of. That can only be accomplished through dedicated practice.

What is good posture?

Posture is the position in which you hold your body upright against gravity while standing, sitting or lying down. Good posture involves training your body to stand, walk, sit and lie in positions where the least strain is placed on supporting muscles and ligaments during movement or weight-bearing activities.

Proper posture:
1) Keeps bones and joints in the correct alignment so that muscles are being used properly.
2) Helps decrease the abnormal wearing of joint surfaces that could result in arthritis.
3) Decreases the stress on the ligaments holding the joints of the spine together.
4) Prevents the spine from becoming fixed in abnormal positions.
5) Prevents fatigue because muscles are being used more efficiently, allowing the body to use less energy.
6) Prevents strain or overuse problems.
7) Prevents backache and muscular pain.
8)Contributes to a good appearance.

What contributes to bad posture?
1) Bad attitude
2) Obesity
3) Depression
4) Lack of Confidence
5) Pregnancy
6) Weak muscles
7) High-heeled shoes
8)Tight muscles; decreased flexibility
9) Poor work environment
10) Poor sitting and standing habits

Let’s review the negative aspects of performing poor posture.
1) You look ill
2) You look depressed
3) You don’t appear confident
4) You do not appear approachable
5) You look shy

Let’s review the positive aspects of performing good posture.
1) You look confident
2) You look happy
3) You look approachable
4) You look healthy

Correct posture is obviously a very important part of presenting yourself. Think of all the things we do that will be affected.

1) Talking with your boss or co-workers with personal power.
2) Speaking to one person or a group with confidence.
3) Singing or performing in general with confident energy.
4) Standing or walking with confidence.
5) Communicating to others that your are approachable.

And what does it cost you to receive all these incredible benefits? Nothing! It is entirely free. But, it will take a lot of practice and hard work to change old habits.

I hope that you will begin today to improve your image with such a simple thing as improving your posture.

For more information, watch my latest YouTube video on Correct Posture by clicking here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgoQ9S2O8kU

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See you next time!

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

Independence as a Singer, Public Speaker, Actor, Music Student, Instrumentalist or American Citizen is Critical for your Success.

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 20:41:00 +0000

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

One of the most incredible founding principles of America is the achievement of the Independence of the individual. As Vocalists or Instrumentalists, we must also become independent through proper music education and use of the latest technology to improve our musicianship.

This month I want to put some “Practical Feet” on an issue that I feel very strongly about. One of the most incredible founding principles of America is the achievement of the Independence of the individual. Have you ever heard of The Declaration of Independence? Unfortunately, there are many young people today that do not know what this document is, let alone what it means. Further, schools are becoming more and more a place to indoctrinate children about the latest Social Engineering Experiment and not teach them those important skills that will ultimately help them to become independent and productive members of society that will have the skills and confidence to visualize and solve the future challenges the world delivers.

The truth about America, especially in our past, is that this freedom has created a country that has been in existence for only a little over 300 years that has become the leader of the free world. May I remind all of us where the greatest inventions were created in the last 150 years have come from? The Telephone, Radio, Television, Film, Electronics, Computers, Aircraft, Appliances, Recording Equipment, Cars, Trains, Water Dams, Space Travel, Construction, Defense, Medicine, etc. The list goes on and on.

Why is this? It is because people have the freedom to visualize their dreams and are aware that once they do, they will have the freedom to improve society and profit by them. In contrast, lets compare the failed political philosophy of Communism. When the State owns you, controls you and tries to play “Daddy”, the human spirit has little incentive to grow and dream. That is why, in my opinion, we should always be wary of political social agendas that want to “provide all the needs of everyone.” This type of thinking only benefits the egos of those who want to implement such destructive political agendas. They do not benefit the individual because once you indoctrinate people that “the Government will always take care of them,” they will begin to lose their incentive to become an individual success. This thinking unchecked and not defeated will eventually destroy the principles of freedom that have made America great. It is good to remember that Socialism is nothing more than Communism Light!

We see this happening in the social structures of our families. Because parents want to be “their children’s friend” or ignore them altogether and have the “nanny” raise them, children enter the real world with little or no skills to be Independent. No wonder they end up wanting to live at home, homeless, on drugs, etc. This is because many parents have completely ignored their duties as parents. A parent’s job from a child’s birth is to make that child fully functional and independent by the time they are legal adults. Trust me, the goal cannot be reached by being a weak parent and only becoming a child’s “friend.” As any “real” parent knows, children will fight boundaries but will thank you in the long run when they grow up and see that you have prepared them to function in the real world.

At this point you are probably wondering about the “Practical Feet” for musicians that I promised in my opening sentence. One of my major goals as a Music Educator for 26 years has been to teach all my students to become independent musicians. For instance, when I teach voice, I avoid clichés like, “Sing in your High Voice,” of “Sing in your Chest Voice,” and not give anyone the practical connection to those statements. You can click “here” and get a Free Preview of my Ebook where I discuss this in Chapter 2. (sign up in the column to the left) I still continue to be amazed at the Vocal Students I inherit from other teachers or Music Programs that have heard the word Diaphragm but have very little or no understanding “what” it is. They are told to “sing from their Diaphragm” without any practical explanation about what that means. One of the first things I teach all my students is the parts of the body that make the voice work. I believe, when I teach them not just “what” works but “how” it works, they will not only perform independently once they leave me but they will also be able to teach another these important principles.

Further, I sell very inexpensive recording studios at my web site. (Click Here to see it) Why? Because an important part of becoming an independent vocalist or instrumentalist is being able to “hear” yourself perform. How else can you obtain an honest rendition of your efforts? Does this not make sense? Of course it does. And, when you can, you have become Independent. And when can depend on nobody else to achieve your goals, your ability to improve will be empowered. This should be a primary goal of any musician.

The truth is, when brave men and women were founding this country, they did not look to a government program to assist them or ease their pain, they had to figure out a way to survive and improve their life. Through this effort, many incredible inventions came forth. These are the efforts that built America. As musicians, we must embrace the information and technology that has been given to us through the diligent efforts of others and use them to become Independence Musicians that can teach ourselves and another. There are few greater services to mankind than to make the decision to pass along important skills to others with a giving spirit.

Now, let me share with you a few resources that you can find Free Information or Musical Tools.
Here is a site where I get almost all my MP3’s and it is Free in its basic service plan. For a cheap upgrade, you can get better service. Since it is a music sharing service, there aren’t any Copyright problems. I have found numerous tracks of obscure music here. Further, you can find many Karaoke Tracks, as well as Video, Documents, Images and Programs.
http://www.limewire.com/download/version.php

A forum filled with Free Vocalist Information
http://www.vocalist.org/index.html

Another resource is Yahoo Groups and Google Groups where you can find Free Information on Numerous issues.
http://groups.yahoo.com/
http://groups.google.com/grphp?hl=en&tab=wg

If you are a Karaoke Enthusiast, here are a few good links.
http://www.freekaraoke.com/songdir/
http://karaokeboogie.com/
http://www.karaokescene.com/

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

Music is one of the most powerful natural laws or forces in the universe.

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:16:00 +0000

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

Music is arguably one of the most powerful natural laws or forces in the universe. We spend billions of dollars every year to own its latest expressions that are created by musicians all over the world who access its magnificent power. Since we may take music for granted or may even consider that “we” are responsible for its power, maybe it is time that we reconsidered music in the light of universal reality.

Music has been an important part of my life since I can remember. If I wasn’t listening to my Grandfather sing baritone in the Lutheran Church Choir, I was listening to my Mother sing folk songs with her guitar in the early 60’s.

When my parents opened a music store in San Clemente California called the Maria Del Arte Music Center and, eventually, the adjoining Four Muses Folk and Rock club, I learned to play a few chords and helped form a surf band, The Exceptions, with three or my buddies in 6th grade.
During High School, I was your typical hippie type who played a lot of rock, grew my hair long and avoided the High School Music Program and traditional forms of music as much as possible. My only exception was to listen to the “Grand Canyon Suite” by composer Ferde Grofe. Grofe composed this marvelous collection of Programmatic Music after he visited the canyon. Each arrangement paints a musical picture of the title to each song. The first being ‘Sunrise.’ If you can find the piece directed by the late Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, this is the best recording I know.

Anyways, once I decided to take on the challenge of a formal music education, it became very apparent that there was a wide gap between the ‘Educated Musicians’ and the ‘Non Educated Musicians.’ The later like myself were, for the most part, just ignorant and didn’t know what we were missing if we had only taken the time to learn some music theory. Many of the “Educated” musicians developed an “ego” about their classical musical tastes. You would think that some of them actually created music!

It is when I got to college that I realized how far apart the two sides were. I found that many “educated musicians” had their nose in the air and looked down upon ‘pop” music and the “uneducated” people that wrote and performed it. Further, when you analyze the music programs in most High Schools, they normally only cater to more traditional forms of music like choir, band and orchestra. What about all the kids that would rather play in rock bands? Are they not also musical students seeking to increase their abilities? Of course they are. But, because they do not fit into the “music program mold,” they are not considered of any artistic value for the most part.

I am not at all inferring that a proper music education is not absolutely essential to becoming a talented musician. I work with young people in my studio constantly that I sometimes have a difficult time convincing of the importance of music education since many of them feel they are “gifted” and therefore do not require any further knowledge. No aspiring musician should ever have this attitude. What I am saying is that music is such an incredible natural force that all who study it should be in awe of its beauty and power and humbled to be at its feet. For any of us to have an ‘ego” about it or preach that or our musical tastes are far superior to others are, in my opinion, misguided.

How dare we as mortals to even attempt to dictate to such a powerful natural law as music how that it should be expressed. It is like the seagull dictating to the hurricane where it should make landfall.

To further explain, here is how I view art, more specifically in this discussion, music. Whatever your belief system regarding how the earth and the universe came to being, we all must admit that the powerful forces we experience and enjoy called Music and Speech, came with the creation or evolutionary package. We did not create them; they have always existed as forces in the universe. They are no different that the natural laws of Gravitation, Light, Magnetism, Mathematics and Electricity to mention only a few.

We may analyze a piano and conclude that tonality ceases at the end of the keyboard. These “88 keys” are only a few notes that sound within our limited range of hearing. Any Dog knows that! Isn’t it possible that the keyboard continues in both directions to infinity? Hard to imagine? Did you know that recent discoveries by the Hubble Telescope have located “Billions” more Galaxies? Where do the universe and the musical scale end?

These questions are important to consider, as I believe we must humbly revere the wonderful and powerful forces of Music and Speech. We do not own them but they are a creation that has been here since the beginning of time. And when we realize this, then we can tap into these powerful creative forces. Service, gratefulness and humility always open the door to the secrets of, arguably, the most powerful forces on earth!

Further, we have all been given an instrument that, not only creates speech, but also performs a wide range of musical pitches. We call this marvelous instrument the larynx or voice box. Just like man learned to fly from observing and analyzing birds, original man must have learned of music and speech from experimenting with his personal instrument.

With music, the created language of musical notation is our best effort to be able to communicate, understand and organize that, which already exists. I say this because some people may not consider such truths and believe music to be created by man. That is no truer than man creating flight. We only discovered the “natural force” that was and is by watching birds fly.

Further, Music is found in every known culture, past and present, varying wildly between times and places. Since all peoples of the world including the most isolated tribal groups have a form of music, scientists conclude that music must have been present in the ancestral population prior to the dispersal of humans around the world. Consequently known performance of music may have been in existence for at least 50,000 years.

Another important aspect of music that proves its flexibility to individual creative thought is that a culture's music is influenced by all other aspects of that culture, including social and economic organization, climate, and access to technology. Further, the emotions and ideas that music expresses and the situations in which music is played and listened to is also influenced by culture. To further explain, the natural law that the structure of music is based upon does not change and the arrangement of notes and chords is completely flexible to adjust to cultures.

To me, that is why music as art form is more desirable that let’s say, a painting. If we looked a painting from the Renaissance time period, we would only be able to experience it from just viewing it. But, if we have a musical composition for the same time period, we can perform it again, bring it to life and manipulate it by varying the tempo, volume, articulation or many other variables. In essence, the music comes alive again. What a miracle! We can actually experience the “thoughts” of Beethoven or Mozart in a living and fresh way.

In conclusion, my vision for writing this article is to remind all of us who write, perform or just enjoy the incredible miracle of Music that we must respect how music decides to express itself through all creative minds that access its universal power. We may not like the artistic expression or “style” that we hear. That is a matter of taste. For instance, we may not all like milk or beef but we can certainly agree to respect the cow for its important contribution to the food chain. So it is with the created natural law of music.

So if you are a “pinhead academic” or a “naive punk rocker” get over yourself and learn everything you can about music with an open spirit and a humble heart. Music deserves that kind of respect.

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

Vocal Training. Singers, Public Speakers, Actors and All People must Communicate Clear Diction

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 20:28:00 +0000

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

I propose a New Years resolution that will definitely change your life. I want you to learn to sing and speak with powerful and clear diction. Read on to accept the challenge!

Proper Diction is one of those subjects that is often misunderstood or ignored completely due to complete ignorance or cultural aversion. Yet, the mastery of performing powerful and clear diction is critical to how you present yourself as a competent citizen and educated professional in a highly competitive world.

The truth is, you can drive the greatest car, live in the biggest house or wear the finest clothes, but if you mumble your words and think talking in “cultural slang” is “to cool to get real and change” then your first impression with people will always be less than you probably wanted.

It is like a person with bad breath, dirty nails, soiled and wrinkled clothes or body odor. People will always remember these things about you and not the “flashy lifestyle.” Your presentation is very important and exercising proper diction should be high on your list of personal development goals.

One of the challenges in America is that, because we are such a melting pot of cultures, the overall “American Diction” has become very sloppy. Isn’t it true that you wish you had a dollar for every time you had to ask somebody, “Can you please repeat that?”

Let’s read the “official” definition of Diction.

Diction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Diction, in its original, primary meaning, refers to the writer's or the speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression. A secondary, common meaning of "diction" is better, and more precisely, expressed with the word enunciation — the art of speaking clearly so that each word is clearly heard and understood to its fullest complexity and extremity. This secondary sense concerns pronunciation and tone, rather than word choice and style.
Diction is divided into two types: Denotation is the literal meaning of a word. Connotation is the attitudes and feelings associated with a word.
Diction has multiple concerns; register — words being either formal or informal in social context — is foremost. Literary diction analysis reveals how a passage establishes tone and characterization, e.g. a preponderance of verbs relating physical movement suggests an active character, while a preponderance of verbs relating states of mind portrays an introspective character. Diction also has an impact upon word choice and syntax.
Diction is comprised of eight elements: Phoneme, Syllable, Conjunction, Connective, Noun, Verb, Inflection, and Utterance.

Don’t you hate some of these “High Brow” definitions?

Now it is time to discuss some solutions to our “Diction Dilemma”. First, let me remind you of something very familiar to you. The English Language when it is actually spoken by the English. That’s right, our former landlords across the Atlantic Ocean. Most people like to hear the English speak. Their diction, for the most part, is very clear. Proper diction is a part of their culture. I like to watch news reports from England. You will see somebody, for example, that looks like they came from India (there is certainly a strong accent in this culture). But, when they open their mouth and start speaking, they speak very clear English, the accent and all! This fact demonstrates great hope for anybody who wants to clean up his or her diction. If someone from India can completely change how he or she talks then anybody can.

There are many aspects of diction that can be discussed that need improvement. I thoroughly discuss these in the chapter on Diction in my e-book, Singing and Speaking on the Edge of a Grunt. I will attempt to simplify one of the obvious ones: Improper use or complete lack of Consonance.

The Consonances that get neglected the most are the ones at the ends of words. For instance, we may not pronounce the D in Made, the T in Flat, the K in Park or the CH in Latch. Go ahead and test yourself. Find something to read and read it out loud. You are probably like most people and you do not make the effort to pronounce these consonances. When you do not, your speech is sloppy and run together. We are so much in a hurry these days to get from one end of the sentence to the other, we forget about what we are saying. Then, we get irritated when someone requests that we repeat ourselves. Somehow it is their fault and not ours. Am I hitting any nerves? Good!

One important reason why Consonances are so important is simple physics. Lets take a Consonant like T. It does not matter if it is at the beginning of a sentence or at the end, the performance is the same as is its importance. Perform the Consonance T. You will notice that the tip of your tongue touches the back of your top teeth and, after you build up some air pressure, you let it all go and hence we have a T. The important aspect of this is that it is what I call an “explosive Consonance”. When the air pressure is released, the “explosion” moves a lot of air molecules a longer distance than if we just said the vowel “aw”. This being the case, the T will travel farther in the air. Therefore, it will be heard at a greater distance and your diction will be more powerful. If you are an actor on a stage all by yourself performing a monologue, the back row will be able to understand what you are saying more clearly. And if that is true then those closer to you will definitely understand you. This is always the result that clear diction will provide.

In private practice, one way I coach vocal students to accomplish this is to “get in character.” Simply pretend that whomever you are speaking to, act like they are all hard of hearing and your message is very important. When you do this, you will find yourself moving your lips, face and jaw to try to make your diction also clear by the actions of your body. I would say most of us have tried to speak to someone very hard of hearing or had to communicate across a distance with our facial expressions when we had to be quiet. This exercise will bring your body diction to its optimum potential. Add the clear Consonance to the mix and your will become a clear communicator every time.

To conclude, practice reading your Lyrics, Speech or Monologue slowly and with clear and articulate diction. Take your time. The goal should always be not WHEN we get to the end of a sentence, but HOW we get there.

I hope you enjoyed the article on Diction.

I also hope that you will click on the links below for a FREE Diction Video Lesson, FREE preview of my Ebook and a FREE Holiday Newsletter.

Goodbye for now!

Jonathan Morgan Jenkins/Vocal Warrior

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History of Microphones, Sound Recording, Ribbon Microphones, Condenser Microphones,Telephones

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:27:00 +0000

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

My last article, which received tremendous interest, was on the History of Audio Recording. I am grateful to all of you that read it and made it a great success. This article is no less important. We certainly can’t discuss the History of Audio Recording without also discussing the History of the Microphone. Neither can exist without the other. Together, let’s explore the birth and development of this incredible invention.

A microphone is, simply stated, a device that captures “waves” in the air created by the voice or any other noise transmitter and translates those waves into electrical signals. Another way to say it is to convert acoustic power into electrical power. After the sound waves are converted into electrical signals, to hear them again in an acoustic setting, they must be converted back to acoustic power through some kind of loudspeaker. It is amazing to think with all the technological advancements in the last 40 years, we still use this simple process on our stereo, computer or ipod.

Have you attended a concert lately? The relatively weak signal from a voice or musical instrument is created, changed into electrical energy by some sort of microphone, boosted through a series of power amplifiers and, finally, converted back to acoustic energy through loudspeakers. It is easy to sit, enjoy the music, and forget to be thankful for this amazing power that was created in our universe which we enjoy our entire day.

Let’s meet some of the visionary people who discovered and developed the universal principles that operate a microphone.

Johann Phillip Reis (1834-1874)

This German physicist designed a “sound transmitter” that employed the use of a metallic strip that rested on a membrane with a metal point contact that would complete a circuit as the membrane vibrated. His basic belief that, as the membrane responded to the increase and decrease of acoustic energy and bounced the metal point up and down with more intensity and increased the amplitude of electrical current, was brilliant. Unfortunately, this early effort was not developed enough to produce speech that could be understood.

Elisha Gray (1835-1901)

This American inventor would one day become one of the founders of the Western Electric Company. Gray’s design was called a “liquid Transmitter”. The “liquid” was an “acidic” solution. This was an incredible innovation. A diaphragm was attached to a movable electrically conductive rod that was immersed in the acidic solution. A second rod was fixed. With a battery attached, a circuit could be completed between the two rods. Acoustic vibrations traveling through the diaphragm caused the distance between the two rods to vary. The result was that this variance produced corresponding changes in electrical resistance in the acidic cell, changing the levels of current. These variations could be translated to a week audible sound.

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

Famous for his development of the telephone, he employed a similar device as Gray to produce the first transmission of intelligible speech over his primitive telephone. Most of us have heard of the famous words of Bell to his assistant, “Mr. Watson, come here. I want you.” The true inventor of the telephone, though, became a legal dispute between Bell and Gray. The courts remained neutral regarding their claims due to the overall poor quality of these early devices.

David Edward Hughes(1831-1900)

While Bell and Gray slugged it out in the courts, Hughes was diligently working to produce the first working microphone. Already a pioneer and patent holder in the telegraph industry by 1855, he designed a new kind of microphone by 1878. It was a completely different design that Bell and Gray. It incorporated the use of carbon granules loosely packed into an enclosed space. When the acoustical pressure varied as they traveled through the diaphragm, the electrical resistance that traveled through the carbon granules changed proportionally. The resulting sound was noisy and full of distortion but it was a significant step forward. Since early reports in the newspaper compared his device with a microscope, “ it acts for the ear much in the same way that the microscope serves the eye,” Hughes coined the current name “microphone” to his invention.

Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)

Edison took Hughes design and made it simple, cheap to manufacture, efficient and durable. He created a cavity filled with granules or carbonized anthracite coal packed between two electrodes, one of which was attached to a thin iron diaphragm. His refinements became the basis for all the telephone transmitters used in most of the telephones for the last century. Further, Bell Telephone and Bell laboratories are still incredible companies that continue to produce new communication technologies.

With the invention of the radio, new broadcasting microphones, like the Ribbon Microphone in 1942, were invented. The Ribbon Microphone originally employed the use of an aluminum ribbon that was placed between two poles of a magnet to generate voltages by electromagnetic induction. As the sound wave caused the ribbon to move, the induced current in the ribbon was proportional to the particle velocity in the sound wave. Ribbon microphones have historically been delicate and expensive. Today’s modern materials make present-day ribbon microphones durable enough for loud rock music and stage use.

An incredible step forward in microphone development occurred in 1964. Bell Laboratories researchers James West and Gerhard Sessler created the electroacoustic transducer, an Electret Microphone. The Electret Microphone was a type of Condenser Microphone that offered greater reliability, higher precision, lower cost, and a smaller size. It revolutionized the microphone industry with almost one billion manufactured each year. Further, during the 1970's, dynamic and condenser microphones were developed, allowing for a lower sound level sensitivity and a clearer sound recording.

Currently, microphones are so much a part of our daily life that we take them for granted. After writing this article, I have decided to put them on my list of things to be grateful for. Since I am a pilot, my safety is partially dependent on my being able to communicate on my radio. Guess what I use to talk on my headset? You guessed it, a microphone!

As for the future, many new and incredible innovations are being explored.

1)Laser Velocity Transducers
2)Optical Microphones
3)Direct Digital Output
4)Force Feedback technologies that are used in conjunction with an Optical Microphone

I hope that you have learned some important information about Microphones. As innovation continues at a rapid rate, the ones we use today may become a future exhibit in the Smithsonian Institution. Until then, they will continue to be an invention that taps into a universal principle that improves our lives.

The truth is, the universe is filled with probably billions of incredible things that we have just not discovered. As in the past, present and will be in the future, those that possess the faith and perseverance to tap into the universal mind are those that will discover and share the secrets of the universe with all of us.

Maybe you are that person!

Check out the latest Microphones at my web site and treat yourself for the holidays!

http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/quality_microphones

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Happy Holiday to all.

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

Home Recording Studios. History of Sound Recording, Digital Audio, MP3s and Multitrack Recording.

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:00:00 +0000

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

Today, with the explosion of the inexpensive Consumer Electronics, some of the most incredible advances have been those in the Digital Recording Industry. This article documents the general history of Audio Recording.

The earliest record of an Audio Recording dates back as far as December 4, 1877. Thomas Edison became was the first to record and play back the human voice. The technologies that resulted in the phonograph were developed from the discoveries that he made developing the telegraph and telephone. His discovery came to him while he was experimenting with how a moving diaphragm linked to a coil would produce a weak, voice modulated signal. During this time he was also continuing his experiments with a telegraph repeater that was a simple device that made use of a needle to make indentations in paper with the dots and dashes used in Morse code.

These two innovative ideas were joined. He attached the stylus from the telegraph repeater to the diaphragm in the mouthpiece of a telephone. During his first test in July of 1877, he attempted success by mechanically pulling a sheet of paper under the needle, attached to the diaphragm as he shouted into the mouthpiece. Unfortunately, this combination failed to produce desired results. But, it did produce a vague recognizable sound that was the seed of faith Edison needed to continue fulfilling his vision.

During the following year, Edison and his staff worked with diligence to refine his invention. His first important discovery was to replace the paper with Tin Foil. This was appositive development and Tin Foil became the first viable recording media. A band of Tin Foils was mounted on a cylinder. The cylinder was turned manually with a hand crank during recording and playback. His first famous recorded words were, “Mary had a little lamb it’s fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went the lamb was
sure to go.”

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Early Techniques - 1890s to 1930s

In the era of acoustic recordings (prior to the introduction of microphones,
electrical recording and amplification) the earliest recording studios were very
basic facilities, being essentially soundproof rooms that isolated the
performers from outside noise. During this era it was not uncommon for
recordings to be made in any available location, such as a local ballroom,
using portable acoustic recording equipment.

In this period, master recordings were made by a direct-to-disc cutting
process -- performers were typically grouped around a large acoustic horn (an
enlarged version of the familiar phonograph horn) and the acoustic energy
from the voices and/or instruments was channeled through the horn's
diaphragm to a mechanical cutting lathe located in the next room, which
inscribed the signal as a modulated groove directly onto the surface of the
master cylinder or disc.

Following the invention and commercial introduction of the microphone, the
electronic amplifier, the mixing desk and the loudspeaker, the recording
industry gradually converted to electric recording and this technology had
almost totally replaced mechanical acoustic recording methods by 1933.

The next breakthrough was Magnetic Tape developed by German inventor Joseph Begun. Graduating in 1929 from the Institute of Technology in Berlin, Germany, where he penned the revolutionary research book entitled “Magnetic Recording”, during 1934- 35, Begun developed and built the world's first tape recorder used for broadcasting.

During the 50’s magnetic tape applications made further strides, especially in the application of the recording studio. The person whose research led to the first Multitrack Recordings was the legendary Les Paul, the man also famous for the popular Les Paul Electric Guitar.

Paul's multitrack experiments, begun in the mid 1940’s, progressed rapidly and in 1953 he commissioned Ampex to build the world's first eight-track reel-to-reel tape recorder, at his own expense. Due to his diligent efforts, Ampex Corporation released the first commercial multitrack recorders in 1955, naming the process "Sel-Sync" (Selective Synchronous Recording). Elvis Presley was one of the many early artists that benefited from this incredible advancement in professional recording.

Our next big step forward is the invention of the Cassette Tape. In the Netherlands, The Philips Company invented and released the first compact audiocassette in 1962. They used high-quality polyester 1/8-inch tape produced by BASF. Recording and playback was at a speed of 1.7/8 inches per second, incredible for the time. The consumer's demand for blank tape used for personal music recording was unanticipated by Philips. They became a large and profitable corporation.

With the development of the computer through the sixties, especially in the Nasa Space Program, many recording visionaries knew that the ultimate future of Audio Recording was not tape but digital. The first big advance occurred in 1967 when the first digital tape recorder was invented. A 12-bit 30 kHz stereo device using a compander (similar to DBX Noise Reduction) to extend the dynamic range. In the 1970s, Thomas Stockham created the first digital audio recordings using standard computer equipment, as well as developing a digital audio recorder of his own design, the first of its kind to be offered commercially. In 1976 he made the first 16-bit digital recording at the Santa Fe Opera on a handmade Soundstream digital tape recorder.

Bringing us up to present day, the MP3 Audio File is arguably the most important invention we enjoy. Mp3 files are the ones burnt on CD’s, downloaded on the net and commonly imported into your ipod or itunes. It was invented by a team of European engineers at Philips in 1991. Compact discs soon followed and the rest is history.

I was first introduced to Digital Recording Technology when I recorded and released my
first CD, WINDOWS, (click here to listen to clips) in 1993. I was fortunate to have a close friend that was a consultant for Yamaha and had a Digital Studio filled with the latest equipment, much of which were prototypes that he was helping Yamaha develop.

Since then, the industry has absolutely exploded. It is hard to believe that this technology that today is common in many homes and the standard in professional studios was only recently in it’s infancy. The greatest advances have not only been in the technology and the availability to the public. When I built my first digital recording studio in 1994, I was
very limited as to what I could buy due to the very high cost.

I recall the days when a top of the line rack mount synthesizer could cost you as much as 5000.00. After you added the computer, mixing board, keyboard and other necessary
accessories, the cost of a basic recording studio could climb to as much as 20,000.00 to
30,000.00, minimum.

Now, the costs of owning a digital recording studio are as low as 199.00. What if I told you I could sell you your own recording studio that you could use in your home, in your car, on a picnic bench, on a business trip or on vacation! I am sure you would be interested! At my web site, I sell Digital Recording Studios Complete Packages for under a 600.00. This is an incredible value to the consumer.

Please click here, Home Recording Studios, and see for your self.

I hope you have enjoyed ands learned some important information in this article. I write all the time so sign up and be notified of updates.

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Jonathan Morgan Jenkins
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Vocal Training. Discrimination of Women as Singers and Public Speakers through Vocal Music History

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 22:35:00 +0000

Vocal Training Warrior : Vocal Training, Voice Lessons, Singers Voice Lessons, Speakers Vocal Training, Actors Vocal Training, Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercises, Clear Diction Exercises, Vocal Training Videos, Vocal Training Ebooks.

In this Blog I am taking a different path from Voice and Speaking Lessons and writing on the very interesting subject of Music History. Specifically, how women have been descriminated against through the ages, especially in the arts. I hope you will read this with an open mind. We are all responsible not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Discrimination and Human Oppression of any kind that has occured through world history and in our present world was and is one of the greatest failings of humanity. With the discrimination of African Americans usually taking up much of our attention in the news, an often overlooked subject is discrimination of Women through the ages, not only in society, but in the performing arts.

In America, when the word Discrimination is mentioned, the most common thought is that of the treatment of African Americans during the ear of slave trade. Negro Slavery, in America, was introduced by law in 1517. In 1442 the first Negro slaves were imported into Europe. They were taken from Africa to Portugal in ships of Prince Henry, the "Navigator." From that time there was little traffic in Black Slaves until after the discovery of America. When the great destruction of American Indians occurred by war, and disease, the importation of Negroes into Spanish America was begun in order to fill the void in the labor market.

Slavery as an institution ended after 345 years on Sept. 22, 1862. United States President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation that he later called "the central act of my administration, and the greatest event of the 19th century." The proclamation promised freedom for slaves held in any of the Confederate states that did not return to the Union by the end of the year. Black discrimination in American Society, of course, has continued for many years with the last 30 years seeing tremendous improvement in race relations.

So, why am I talking about Black Slavery in a Vocal Training article? Because the word discrimination should also cause us to reflect on the Institutional and Cultural Slavery of Women that has occurred for, as far as we know, a few thousand years. Personally, I am more disturbed by this act than anything the African Americans had to endure. This is because it has been a worldwide epidemic documented from the beginning of human history and continues in full force today in many cultures. Even today, in many cultures, women are abused legally and forced to dress certain ways or they can be killed. Those who founded America brought with them these same ideas, often taught in their religion, and “The land of the free” was only really for men.

I have tried for years to understand this and have never been able to. I recall, when I was younger, having the same thoughts after being brought up in a “Baby Boomer” culture where society was taught “ A woman’s place is in the kitchen.” I thank God I do not think this way now. I believe that all people have a responsibility to be independent personally and financially. If you are a woman or a man that is expecting someone else to take care of you and not understand the absolute necessity of using your own brain, personal vision and spiritual power to “conquer your world” then you are a Slave to some degree. Just ask any woman who has been through a divorce, left to fend for herself and finds herself with no skills to make a living. This should never happen. She should have done everything possible to train herself and be independent even though she was married. The responsibility for not preparing oneself for life is, ultimately, always the fault of the individual.

Now I want to discuss the main reason for my topic. In the institution of Singing and Public Speaking, there has also been incredible discrimination through the ages. Especially in the Dark Ages during the Medieval time period.

Some of the earliest references in culture to women singing are in the Bible. Singing seems to have become a regular profession at quite early date among the Hebrews. David had his troupe of "singing men and singing women" at Jerusalem (2 Sam 19:35), and no doubt Solomon added to their numbers. Isa 23:16 suggests that it was not uncommon for foreign female minstrels of questionable character to be heard making "sweet melody," singing songs along the streets and highways of Judea. Nor was the worship of the temple left to the usually incompetent and inconstant leadership of amateur choristers. Talented women played their part in temple ceremonies.

The truly darkest days of female musical and vocal expression were the oppressive centuries of the medieval time period generally 500 to 1450 AD. This was an age where European males influenced by other European males hoarded what they perceived as power. Other voices of the time, specifically women, were silenced by politics and religion.

During this time, the composition and performance of all music, in general, was also extremely oppressed. (I will discuss this in my next article)

During the Renaissance when the Catholic Church decided, “God had changed his mind,” women did become more active in the arts but progress was slow all the way through the beginning of the 1,800’s. That’s 1,300 years of female oppression on many cultural levels as well as Music and Speech. Surprisingly, this action was created and supported by the Catholic Church. I am at a loss to understand how “men of faith” could be so immature that they had to do this to women to feel powerful and control their world. This is a question that we still ask today when we see women covering their heads and being submissive to men in the name of religion. Who can honestly accept the notion that God would be pleased with one of his beautiful creations being oppresed?

Due to the blossoming of Choral music compositions during the Renaissance that required music be performed at a wider range, during the Baroque period, from 1600 to 1750, young male sopranos and altos comprised about 70 percent of all Choral and operatic singers. These vocal parts extended the upper range of music. This can be compared to music played on the right half of the piano keyboard. Sadly, women were still considered a minority.

But, when these boys with a woman’s range faced puberty with their voice dropping an octave, a solution to keep boys in the female range had to be found. The answer? Castration, to prevent the hormonal change that occurs during puberty. (Is this what happened to Michael Jackson?) Since male sopranos in opera were a necessity, in Italy, 4,000 - 5,000 boys were castrated annually. (Ouch!)

During puberty a boy’s vocal chords enlarge and lengthen, caused by an increased production of androgen hormones. Castration prevents the necessary flow of hormones and arrest growth. Since the Vocal Chords do not grow longer, lowering their pitch, afterwards the castrato would have the high voice of a boy soprano, but the lungpower of a full-grown man. (Strange! That is kind of how ET lokked!) Castration was performed by cutting the blood supply to the testicles, or by amputating them altogether. (Ouch Again!)

Women, especially in countries where the Catholic Church dominated, were forbidden on the stage. (So much for women's lib!) The justification for prohibition against women singing in the church choir had its origin in the bible: "Let your women keep silence in the churches; for it is not permitted unto them to speak." (I Corinthians 14:34). (It appears that "God" has changed his mind!) Nearly every church choir used pre-pubescent boys to sing the high parts in choral works because women were also not allowed to participate in church services. (You've come a long way baby!)

It was not until the nineteenth century before women were regularly found performing in opera houses or in church music. From the early monasteries and convents in the Middle Ages, women and men were separated in a religious context. Women possessed no role in the mass setting, and this naturally extended to an exclusion from all church music as well. Politically they were inferior to their male counterparts, generally translating to women not owning property, voting, or holding leadership positions of any consequence within society. It is such a tragedy to realize all of the amazing female talent that was unable to express itself due to institutional, male dominated discrimination.

Fortunately, there has been tremendous progress made as women have been liberated to pursue Musical, Speech and Acting careers. Considering the female discrimination that still exists in many of the world’s cultures, I hope women will appreciate the progress America has made. We are not perfect but we certainly are world leaders.

Can you imagine never hearing a Beverly Sills, Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Leontyne Price, Billie Holiday, Bette Midler or Barbara Streisand? I sure could not. Yet, these talented women would have been told by those who claimed to represent God that their singing would be an offence to God. May we all honestly admit that God certainly restrained himself from throwing lightning bolts at these creeps?

I will end the article with my personal hope and prayer.

May every person, male or female, possess personal passions for all their goals and achieve every one of them so our world will continue to thrive through positive and not negative creative energy.

Amen.

Since it is the Season for Giving, I hope you will consider giving my ebook Singing and Speaking on the Edge of a Grunt on sale for only 24.95 or my Zoom H-2 Personal Digital Recording Studio on sale for only 199.00. Record a song, speech, or music in full Surround Sound High Fidelity. Please check out these Revolutionary Products.

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Jonathan Morgan Jenkins
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Vocal Training. Karaoke Singers, Public Speakers and Actors need the same Vocal Training.

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 19:53:00 +0000

Welcome back for more important information on Vocal Training, Breathing Exercises, Clear Diction Exercises and Vocal Coaching.

Attention ALL Vocalists!

The important word here is ALL. All refers to Singers of all ages and styles, Public Speakers who have a membership with Toastmasters Inc or specialize in Speaking at Corporate Seminars, Actors who need to project their Voice with Power and Clear Diction and Athletes who need to improve their Oxygen Intake for Optimum Physical Performance.

My experience with Professional, especially institutional, Vocal Training through the years is that the private instruction and lesson material is often taught in a very "Sterile" manner with little personality. Or it is taught by many people with no formal education that consider themselves Professional Vocal Teachers just because they have sung for a few years.

Anybody who has attended most University Music Programs knows that there has always existed a separation between the "High Brow Professor Crowd" and the "Amateur, Pop Music Crowd." I have experience in both fields. I grew up with parents that had a music store that catered to pop music and they also promoted rock concerts. I played hard rock in many bands.

Then, I challenged myself and got a formal degree with Music Teaching Credentials. I understand both sides of the "Vocal Music Educational Experience." Due to this real life education on both sides of the fence, I am able to teach effectively to both sides. Further, my vision is not limited to just singers. I want to teach ALL PEOPLE how to operate their voice in a powerful, controlled and effective manner.

Further, one of the greatest oversights in the Vocal Training Books, in my opinion, is that they are not marketing to "all vocalists" in one book. The techniques I teach daily and have compiled in my revolutionary e-book, “Singing and Speaking on the Edge of Grunt,”
(http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/ebooks) for Singers are the same ones I use for Public Speakers, Actors and even Athletes. My book can be on all three shelves and be one book.

Try this experiment. The next time you travel to a large bookstore, locate these three sections. Vocal training for Singers, for Training for Public Speakers and Training for Actors. You will find a fair amount of books on Voice Training in the Singers section. In the other sections, look through the books. You will find only a very small mention of the subject or none at all.

This is incredible!

The fact is that the same comprehensive techniques to achieve Voice Power, Endurance and Clear Diction are needed for all three disciplines. They are forever joined, and not separate.

My book was written to teach Singers, Public Speakers, Actors and People who talk, beginners and pros, the proper way to sing and speak. My successful techniques are in harmony with the basic functions of the human body. From my College Music Education Experience, my over 25 years of teaching private voice to Singers and Speakers, the 10 years that I directed a large Choir and the numerous vocal competitions I have judged, I have been amazed at the absolute lack of basic vocal training that I have seen.

http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/about_me

I wrote this book to offer a manual to my own students and now I want to share my proven techniques to as many people as possible.

All my clients fully understand all the physical components of the human vocal instrument. Then they learn HOW to use them with power and confidence. Another example is my work with Athletes. My breathing techniques have helped many athletes to increase their stamina and overall abilities. Breathing correctly is important for everyone.

Readers of my e-book will further benefit from the following:

1) They will learn how to breathe correctly. This will be important even if they are not singers or speakers but just need to talk better.

2) They will be introduced to a thorough study of the three major body systems used to produce sound.
a) The Abdominal Muscles
b) The Larynx (vocal chords)
c) The resonating chambers of the neck and head

3) After a thorough understanding of basic function, they will learn how to coordinate these systems to produce powerful, clear and controlled sound.

4) They will learn the intricate aspects of proper diction and how to use the natural physical tools within their head to produce clear and powerful communication.

5) They will learn the secrets to proper interpretation during any type of vocal performance.

6) Ultimately, they will become confident and independent vocalists, able to teach others.

I can’t stress the absolute importance of the proper understanding of how your voice operates. Even if all you do is talk.

My revolutionary e-book is on sale for only 27.00. Clients pay me as much as 2,400.00 a year to get this information. Now that’s a discount! Buy it now and change your voice and your life!

Let me know how you are doing. Jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com

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

Oxygen - The Best Medicine / Blog #4

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:56:00 +0000

In my last Blog on 10/8, we continued our discussion of the importance of oxygen for, not only singing and speaking, but for overall physical health. It is a fact that, when many of us search for solutions to proper Vocal Training, Breathing Exercises or Remedies for Sore Vocal Chords, we have a tendency to think the answer is always something complicated that is hidden in some medical journal. Because of bad public relations regarding Natural Cures (there have been a lot of scams), many of us shy away simple solutions and search for a complicated answer. Maybe it is time to simply Breath Deeply every time we breathe and start with the solutions that are within our power to perform. My 25 years of teaching private voice has proven this on a daily basis.

I am featuring my final article on the absolute importance of breathing enough Oxygen on a daily basis to assure optimum health. Learn and live lifestyle solutions to health problems that are FREE before emptying your bank account on traditional health solutions.

How does our environment affect our Oxygen intake?

I was born in Santa Monica and raised in Southern California. In the early 1960’s, my family moved to San Clemente on the Pacific Ocean located at the very bottom of Orange County. The town’s population was under 5,000 and it seemed to be a million miles from Los Angeles with its smog filled skies.

With all the hysteria that currently exists on Global Warming and Polluted Air, let me tell you a personal story to prove to you how far we have come, at least in relation to the air we breathe. Often we do not hear the good news, only the bad. It makes better headlines.

During the summertime in Grade School, without cable television, video games, internet, etc. my friends and I spent most of our days outside riding bikes, hiking, swimming, surfing, fishing or playing sports. In other words, we were constantly exercising and breathing a lot of air. Further, overweight or obese children were a minority in my school. Gee! I wonder why?

This was also the time period before catalytic converters and emission controls on cars. Even with our distance from Los Angeles and Orange County only had a total of about 700,000 people (today, San Clemente has over 65,000 by itself), I recall numerous Smog Alerts and days when I had breathed so much smog that my lungs hurt and I had to go home and lay down.

Since I can’t recall a Smog Alert in 30 years and Orange County, by itself, now with over 3,000,000 people, it is obvious that we have made incredible progress in cleaning our air. Unfortunately, political agendas have a tendency of hiding the truth from the public. I am not saying we do not have work to do, but let’s celebrate the progress we have made.

That said, it is true that combustion, respiration, deforestation, and man-made processes have reduced Oxygen levels in our air. Further, any big city is going to have some levels of pollution floating around that you will breathe on any given day. And not only are we breathing pollution from the outside world, but also from the inside one. Indoor pollution and lack of oxygen intake can become an even worse challenge.

In our home, we like to keep the windows open as much as possible because we like to constantly have fresh air moving through the house. I can’t stand stale air. I think we have all had the experience of entering a home or building and immediately realizing that the air has not been changed in days. When that happens, I am always wondering "what" I am breathing.

It’s just common sense that when you are vegetate inside with all the window’s and doors closed, you are breathing in and out is what you or others have already breathed in and out. This can also lead to Carbon Dioxide buildup which most of us know can be deadly.

We are reminded of this at least once a year when some "bright bulb, rocket scientist" thinks its okay to use his barbeque or Coleman stove to heat up the house. Unfortunately, the consequences are often deadly. So, another free solution to increasing your Oxygen intake is to simply open up your windows and breathe deeply. Just make sure that there isn’t a giant diesel truck idling close by!

Hey sports fans. Here is another solution if you've got the bucks!

A common but expensive technique for increasing oxygenation levels involves the use of an incredibly complex device called a hyperbaric chamber such as those commonly used for treating divers suffering from decompression sickness.

The elevated oxygen saturation’s provided by hyperbaric therapies have been proven clinically effective in wound care, gangrene, carbon monoxide poisoning, certain types of cancers, speeding healing in burn patients, treatment of anemia, etc.

The chamber is actually a great big tank in which the patient is placed and then pressurized so that their bodies can absorb more oxygen. The increased ambient pressure elevates the partial pressure of oxygen in the bloodstream and can permit oxygenation levels equivalent to 140% at sea level. The medical community knows that when nothing else will help, Oxygen can come to the rescue and work miracles!

A great many persons, including Hollywood celebrities, routinely use such chambers for increasing their oxygen levels. The ‘rich and famous spend thousands of dollars and countless hours in these chambers. But don't you think there has to be an easier, safer and more affordable way to give your body more Oxygen?

As we have discussed in the last three Blogs, learn to breathe effectively on an ongoing basis, keep the air fresh in your home or work environment and do your best to avoid breathing around known pollutants.

More incredible benefits from Oxygen!

1) Improves chemical imbalances in the body.
2) Relieves headache
3) Accelerates healing time for injuries
4) Lowers blood pressure
5) Relieves stress and anxiety
6) Allows the body to direct enough oxygen to its primary functions without having to draw on valuable reserves.
7) Helps reverse premature aging
8) Relieves symptoms of PMS in women
9) Helps displace damaging free radicals
10) Helps neutralize harmful toxins in cells, tissues and bloodstream.

I hope these series of Blogs on Oxygen have taught you the absolute importance of using Oxygen in any healthy and balanced diet. You have the power to change your health and your life.

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Oxygen - The Best Medicine / Blog #3

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 18:07:00 +0000

In my last Blog on 9/26; we continued our discussion of the importance of oxygen for, not only singing and speaking, but for overall physical health. It is a fact that, when many of us search for solutions to proper Vocal Training, Breathing Exercises or Remedies for Sore Vocal Chords, we have a tendency to think the answer is always something complicated that is hidden in some medical journal. Because of bad public relations regarding Natural Cures (there have been a lot of scams), many of us shy away simple solutions and search for a complicated answer. Maybe it is time to simply Breath Deeply every time we breathe and start with the solutions that are within our power to perform. My 25 years of teaching private voice has proven this on a daily basis.

The fact is that we can increase our body's Oxygen easily and naturally. Unfortunately, it is some in the Medical Community, Drug Companies and Sales and Advertising businesses that want us to think it is hard and only they have the answers.

For example; If we are overweight, obese and shortening our life, we are not informed how irresponsible we are for destroying our precious bodies, we are told “we have a disease that makes us fat” and we have an “excuse” for our “active chewing”. My mother, bless her heart, just lost a 3-year battle with cancer. Now CANCER is a disease. When we start referring to overweight people who constantly “graze” and get fat, we are not only telling them a lie that does not help them, we are also diminishing what a REAL DISEASE is. The ultimate answer is not diet pills, expensive clinics, gastric bypass surgery or making excuses. It is a consistent exercise program with a moderate, high protein diet accompanied by lots of water. Add a lot of healthy oxygen through proper breathing techniques and we get a simple, natural and low cost solution.

May I be blunt? The truth is, all through history, I never seen a picture of any overweight or obese people in a prison camp. Look at pictures of Senator John McCain and the other heroes in the Hanoi Hilton. Not an overweight one in the bunch. So, lets be real. Obesity in America is an avoidable epidemic. The math is simple. When you take in more calories than you burn, you will get fat. If someone needs counseling to help them regulate their food intake, that is fine. But, lets not start off on the wrong foot and call “chowing down” a disease. The only real solution is for everyone to respect their precious gift, their body, and fill it with healthy food all day long and exercise on a regular basis. Further, we must deep breathe generous amounts of FREE OXYGEN.

Sorry for the soapbox! I just have a "pet peeve" about being politically correct when great health is such a precious gift and so important.

Now, back to the important topic of Oxygen. Breathing is an act we can perform better that is important and FREE. Aerobic Exercise is any exercise that increases the level of oxygen in the body. This exercise, whether it is, walking, jogging, cycling, dancing, or swimming, conditions the heart and lungs to work more efficiently. When the lungs give our heart the oxygen it needs, it doesn’t have to over work, making it more vulnerable to heart attacks. Most fitness experts recommend a minimum of 30 minutes a day, three to five times a week. I try to exercise at least 30 minutes every day. Trust me, I am just like everybody else. If I did not balance out my caloric intake with exercise, I would be big as a house. I would rather live in a house and not become one.

As I have taught in my Free On line Vocal Training Videos, deep breathing in a slow and relaxed way oxygenates and relaxes the body. Deep coordinated inhalation brings oxygen to the tissues, while deep exhalation moves wastes from the body. Without proper breathing coordination our built up tensions will cause our breathing to become erratic and shallow. By consciously replacing that habit by deeper breathing, we can bring partial benefits to both the mind and body.

Even our diet can help produce higher oxygen levels. A diet highest in oxygen is a raw food diet with a high concentration of fruits, green vegetables and sprouted seeds and nuts. This is largely because live fruits, green vegetables and sprouted/soaked seeds and nuts are composed of water, which are hydrogen and oxygen and mostly oxygen by weight. The green in the vegetable is chlorophyll, which is very close in atomic structure to human blood. Chlorophyll has a magnesium atom and human blood differs only with an iron atom. With the enzymes from raw food, the magnesium ion is changed to an iron one making blood able to transport oxygen for human use instead of CO2 for plant use.

Cooking can kill the enzymes are almost as important as oxygen and in some ways more important. Enzymes are excellent sources of both alkalizing minerals, which help your cells stay at healthy PH. Anti-oxidants protect our cells from free-radical damage. An oxygen-depleting diet would consist of one high cooked foods, red meat, sugar, saturated fats, white bread, processed and frozen foods, and carbonated beverages. Switching to an oxygen-rich diet often brings immediate energy and a more vibrant face, skin and positive attitude. Choose foods rich in chlorophyll such as dark green leafy foods like spinach, broccoli, kale, mustard greens, spirulina, chlorella and blue-green algae. Juice them for optimal results.

What else can enhance Oxygen? Stabilized oxygen electrolytes are sold as a liquid to be added to water by drops. The oxygen contained within the solution is released when it comes in contact with stomach acid and is then absorbed, acting as an antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal substance. This is very expensive and inefficient compared to better breathing and increased raw live foods. It is better to do it for FREE.

Massage is another important therapy that increases circulation which results in more oxygen being carried to the individual cells of the body. Massage enhances all essential body processes by opening the passageways of liquid and energy movement within the body. This process also helps in the breaking up and elimination of toxins.

More benefits of increased oxygen.

1) Increases energy levels
2) Increases stamina and endurance
3) Enhances the absorption of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins and other important nutrients.
4) Rapid fatigue recovery
5) Lowers resting heart rate
6) Kills infectious bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, but does not harm the "Good” microorganisms the body needs.
7) Relieves pain
8) Improves circulation
9) Sleep better
10)/Strengthens the immune system
11) Heightens concentration and alertness
12) Increases fat metabolism resulting in loss of body fat.
13) Calms the nervous system
14) Improves memory

Another Expert Opinion

"...Oxygen is ideal as the main ingredient in any life form with a nervous system. Oxygen's conductivity allows it to readily combine with conductive organic materials for transmitting nerve signals. The brain and nervous system consume far more oxygen in proportion to their weight than the rest of the body.
The constant firing of micro-electric impulses across the synapses requires a great deal of energy. If there isn't enough oxygen available for the nerve cells to fire dependably when needed, the brain can't help but function less effectively."

The Townsend Letters for Doctors

I hope your understanding of the absolute importance of Oxygen is increasing with my series of Blogs on the subject. Whatever we do in life, Oxygen is an important part of our daily health and success. We have one more Blog on this subject coming soon.

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Oxygen - The Best Medicine / Blog # 2

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:35:00 +0000

I last Blog on 9/17; we began a discussion of the importance of oxygen for, not only powerful and controlled Singing and Speaking, but for overall physical health. It is a fact that, when many of us search for solutions to proper Vocal Training, Breathing Exercises or Remedies for Sore Vocal Chords, we have a tendency to think the answer is always something complicated that is hidden in some sophisticated medical journal.

Because of the bad public relations regarding Natural Cures (there have truly been a lot of scams), many of us shy away simple solutions and search for a complicated answer. Maybe it is time to simply Breath Deeply every time we breathe and start with the powerful solutions that are within our power to perform.

The absolute truth is that Oxygen can be the major key element towards having excellent health! Do you want to rejuvenate their mind and body or are you facing a health crisis? I highly recommend learning all you can about the Power of Oxygen before you spend your savings on expensive medical solutions.

It’s a simple and indisputable fact that the miracle gas Oxygen is necessary to sustain a Healthy life! The human being can live for days without water, and weeks without food but without simple Oxygen, death begins to occur within three minutes. Did we forget that?

While our bodies require many nutrients on a daily basis, Oxygen is the single most important substance taken into the body. Since breathing occurs automatically, it is easy to overlook its existence and importance. When we eat, we have to buy the food, maybe prepare it and then chew it. If the food did not agree with our digestive system, we would revisit it while sitting on the toilet! If we are addicted to it, we have to work hard to lose weight. But, the most important nutrient, Oxygen, is often taken for granted as it is free and it's use occurs naturally.

Oxygen is a necessary component in every chemical reaction important to human physiology. It nourishes the cells, provides the energy needed to metabolize carbohydrates, allows chemical transport, breaks down waste products and toxins, regulates the pH of body chemistry, drives the desire to breathe, strongly builds up your immune system defense and fights hostile organisms. Oxygen is the undisputed king of body chemistry, and as such is your body’s most important nutrient!

Consider this, if Oxygen is extremely important for our health, and complete lack of it causes death, what does “partial oxygen” deprivation does? Research has shown that a virus, amoeba, parasites, fungus or bacterium cause about all diseases! Further, it is a fact that none of these hostile organisms can live in an environment with high concentrations of Oxygen!

Lets review the important functions your body needs Oxygen to perform.

1) Metabolize fat
2) Metabolize Carbohydrates
3) Regulate important pH Levels
4) Create ongoing Energy
5) Digest our food
6) Remove all forms of toxins from the body
7) Transport Gases across Cell Membranes
8) Manufacture hormones, proteins and other chemicals
9) Remove virus, amoeba, parasites, fungus or bacteria
10) Maintain a healthy and strong Immune System

What do the experts say!

"Oxygen gets rid of toxicity. Bacteria, viruses and parasites are destroyed in the presence of oxygen-especially cancer."

Dr. Alec Borsenko

"...Cancer has only one prime cause. It is the replacement of normal oxygen respiration of the body's cells by an anaerobic (i.e. oxygen deficient) cell respiration."

Dr. Otto Warburg: Nobel Prize for Cancer Research

"...In all serious disease states we find a concomitant low oxygen state. Low oxygen in the body tissues is a sure indicator for disease. Hypoxia, or lack of oxygen in the tissues, is the fundamental cause for all degenerative disease."

Dr. Stephen Levine - Molecular Biologist: Oxygen Deficiency: A Concomitant to all Degenerative Illnesses

"...The true cause of allergy is lowered oxidation process within the body, causing the affected individual to be sensitive to foreign substances entering the body. Only when the oxidation mechanism is restored to its original highest state of efficiency can the sensitivity be eliminated."

Dr. Wendell Hendricks - Hendricks Research Foundation

I hope your understanding of the absolute importance of Oxygen is increasing with my series of Blogs on the subject. Next time, we will continue this important discussion.

Please visit my Web Site for more info.
http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/ebooks

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Jonathan Morgan Jenkins

http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/

Oxygen – The Best Medicine / Blog #1

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 19:19:00 +0000

One truth about life and how we of the human race often view it is that we are more inclined to believe that solutions to health problems have to be difficult. It is our nature to look to books, doctors, drugs, etc, for solutions. I am not trying to say that these common types of solutions aren’t important. What I am trying to say is that we may be programmed to look for complicated solutions instead of simple ones that exist naturally.

As we know, there is the constant polarization between medical professionals as to what types of medical treatments are better, Natural or Medical. We, as consumers, are left in the middle wondering about the facts. The truth is, competent solutions to medical problems come from both camps. For example, I have met many a Chiropractor that was very dogmatic about their patients not using any drugs at all and vice versa for regular Doctors. Personally, I respect both. In fact, I would not go to any regular Doctor or Chiropractor that would not refer me to the opposite camp if necessary. Those that work together get my business.

That said, maybe the most overlooked natural substance for daily health is OXYGEN. We’re all aware of the fact that, without it, our life is very short. As a veteran vocal coach, I have heard the following questions from my students over the years.

How do I get breathing exercises to improve my voice?
How do I cure my sore throat naturally?
How do I find breathing exercises for tension?
Where do I find strange facts on abdominal muscles?
Where do I get vocal tips for live sound?
Where can find deep breathing exercises?
How can I cure my raspy voice after I stop smoking?
How about home remedies for sore vocal chords?

To answer these questions to a worldwide audience, I have written the powerful e-book, “Singing and Speaking on the Edge of a Grunt”. If you purchase it, I guarantee positive results in your voice in a short amount of time. It has been my experience in over 25 years of teaching voice that most people do not breathe correctly. When they breathe, their “shoulders” move up instead of their “belly” moving out. This means that they are getting about one third of the oxygen that is needed to get a full breath. It is a fact that a lack of oxygen will affect our health. When vocalize, though, we need as music oxygen as possible to perform with a powerful voice.

I have a FREE on-line video that teaches you how to breathe correctly. Click HERE to see it.

For the next few Blogs, I will be offering important information on Oxygen and Breathing. Here is some important information to start.

Oxygen is our greatest and first source of energy. It is the fuel required for the proper operation of all body systems. Only 10% of your energy comes from food and water, 90% of our energy comes from oxygen. Oxygen gives our body the ability to rebuild itself. Oxygen detoxifies the blood, and strengthens the Immune System.

Oxygen displaces deadly free radicals, neutralizes environmental toxins, and destroys anaerobic (depleted of oxygen) bacteria, parasites, microbes and viruses. Oxygen greatly enhances the body's absorption of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, and other important nutrients. Oxygen enhances brain-power and memory. Oxygen can beneficially affect your learning ability. The ability to think, feel and act is all, dependent on oxygen. It also calms the mind and stabilizes the nervous system. Oxygen heightens concentration and alertness. Without oxygen, brain cells die and deteriorate quickly.

As we age, and oxygen deficiency increases, it takes longer to learn, and your retention span is decreased. We can live for weeks without food. We can even live for days without water. But we can only live for minutes without oxygen. Oxygen strengthens the heart. Increased oxygen lowers the resting heart rate and strengthens the contraction of the cardiac muscle. Virtually all heart attacks can be attributed to a failure to deliver oxygen to the heart muscle. Dr. Richard Lippman, renowned researcher states that a lack of oxygen (hypoxia) is the prime cause of 1.5 million heart attacks each year.

Research studies show that mild hypoxia increases the heart and respiratory rates; however, prolonged or severe hypoxia results in lung or heart failure. Maintaining proper oxygen levels in the body is a vital ingredient to health, vitality, physical stamina and endurance. You must have a means of replenishing your oxygen level. Researchers, scientists, molecular biologists, nutritional specialists, and others have reported health benefits from increased oxygen uptake. World-class professional athletes, universities, renowned fitness trainers, coaches, and "average" citizens have also reported experiencing many of these benefits.

Read what the experts say!

"...When the body has ample oxygen, it produces enough energy to optimize metabolism and eliminate accumulated toxic wastes in the tissues.
Natural immunity is achieved when the immune system is not burdened with heavy "toxic buildup”. Detoxification occurs when oxygen is introduced into the system".

Dr. Norman McVea

"...Insufficient oxygen means insufficient biological energy that can result in anything from mild fatigue to life threatening disease. The link between insufficient oxygen and disease has now been firmly established. The more oxygen we have in our system, the more energy we produce."

Dr. W. Spencer Way: Journal of the American Association of Physicians

"...The large majority of those infectious microbes that cause us so much illness and pain are ANAEROIC...a big word that means they live and proliferate best in environments where there is LITTLE OR NO OXYGEN".

Ed McCabe: Oxygen Therapies: A New Way of Approaching Disease

"...Lack of oxygen clearly plays a major role in causing cells to become cancerous."

Dr. Harry Goldblatt: Journal of Experimental Medicine

I hope the important information helps you. We have much to discuss on the matter and we will do that the next time we meet.

Please don’t forget to sign up to my Blog and share with your contacts.

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Also visit my web site and purchase my e-book, “Singing and speaking on the Edge of a Grunt”. I guarantee Vocal Power results!

See you next time!

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

The Independent Vocalist

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 17:07:00 +0000

When I was building my Web Site, the experts that I consulted with were concerned that I was focusing on two different products instead of one.

1) A Vocal Training ebook, Singing and Speaking on the Edge of a Grunt

2) The Zoom H-4 Handy, Affordable and Portable Home Recording Studio

They saw these two products as very different from each other and that I should chose one or the other or my new customers would be confused. Since I understand when new people visit your business on the net you do not have a lot of time to get their attention, I certainly do want to confuse anyone.

To solve this, you will find that my home page is completely focused on introducing and explaining the great benefits that any vocalist can acquire from buying my ebook, reading it and applying my over 25 years of experience to make their voice a powerhouse. My recording equipment still exists on other pages but the first goal people must accomplish is understanding how their miracle instrument (voice) works and how to use it properly.

Owning your own Home Recording Studio is also extremely important to your vocal education. The fact is, if you can’t hear your own progress on a daily basis, you will have no information to base your growth on. Solving this problem is critical to your success. If you can hear yourself perform, you will not be able to determine your own PROGRESS. Doesn’t this make perfect sense?

Most people are not aware that they can now own their own recording studio for 299.00. They still think that, to record, they have to pay 50.00 to 100.00 and hour to get a quality, digital recording. Let me assure you, the surge in technology in the last 15 years in the recording business has allowed the consumer to afford his or her own Home Recording Studio for pennies on the dollar.

I was first introduced to Digital Recording Technology when I recorded and released my first CD, WINDOWS, (click here to listen to clips) in 1993. Hard to believe that this technology that today is common in many homes and the standard in professional studios was only recently in it’s infancy.

I recall the days when a top of the line rack mount synthesizer could cost you as much as 5000.00. After you added the computer, mixing board, keyboard and other necessary accessories, the cost of a basic recording studio could climb to as much as 20,000.00 to 30,000.00, minimum. The High End Digital Recording Studio that I recorded Windows in had over 90,000.00 worth of top end electronic equipment!

Now you can buy a 4-Track, Digital Recording Studio for only 299.00. It is called the Zoom H-4. This versatile unit can be used to simply record a stereo recording of a concert, a speech, or any event you wish. Further, in 4-Track mode, you can multi-track record at home, at work, on a picnic bench or on vacation. When you are done with your recording, the included free software can be used to turn your recordings into MP3s or Wave files so you can burn them to a CD on your computer.

I have many Karaoke clients that use the H-4 to make their own Ten Song Projects to share with their family and friends, give away as presents or even sell them. They are so happy to now be completely independent. For what they used to spend for 4-6 hours in a studio, they now own their own studio!

Many people have a fear about learning new technology or software. As someone has owned a digital recording studio for over 15 years, I have had to learn many pieces of software and how to run sophisticated electronic equipment. I fully understand how intimidating this can be.

Since I am committed to my clients success, I have written an FREE 22 page Custom Zoom H-4 Manual to walk new clients step by step through the process on recording, imputing the recording into their computer, editing their tracks, turning them into MP3 or Wave files and burning them to a CD. I hear daily how this manual has helped many through the beginning process.

I hope you now have a better understanding of why I believe learning to improve your voice and owning your own recording studio go hand in hand with becoming an accomplished vocalist.

Please visit my Web Site for more info.

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Jonathan Morgan Jenkins

http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/

Absolute or Perfect Pitch

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 23:19:00 +0000

Fellow Vocalists!

Absolute or Perfect Pitch has been a widely understood or misunderstood issue through the ages. Here is some valuable information that should be helpful for us all to get on the "same page" regarding the facts surrounding this issue.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Absolute pitch (AP), widely referred to as perfect pitch, is the ability of a person to identify or sing a musical note without the benefit of a known reference.

Definition

Absolute pitch, or perfect pitch, is "the ability to attach labels to isolated auditory stimuli on the basis of pitch alone" without external reference. Possessors of absolute pitch exhibit the ability in varying degrees. Generally, absolute pitch implies some or all of the following abilities.

1)Identify and name individual pitches played on various instruments
2)Name the key of a given piece of tonal music
3)Identify and name all the tones of a given chord or other tonal mass
4)Sing a given pitch without an external reference
5)Name the pitches of common everyday occurrences such as car horns

Individuals may possess both absolute pitch and relative pitch ability in varying degrees. Both relative and absolute pitch work together in actual musical listening and practice, although individuals exhibit preferred strategies in using each skill

CHICAGO (Reuters)

Musicians and singers work for years to develop their sense of pitch but few can name a musical note without a reference tone. U.S. researchers on Monday said one gene may be the key to that coveted ability. Only 1 in 10,000 people have perfect or absolute pitch, the uncanny ability to name the note of just about any sound without the help of a reference tone.

"One guy said, 'I can name the pitch of anything -- even farts,"' said Dr. Jane Gitschier of the University of California, San Francisco, whose study appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

She and colleagues analyzed the results of a three-year, Web-based survey and musical test that required participants to identify notes without the help of a reference tone. More than 2,200 people completed the 20-minute test.

"We noticed that pitch-naming ability was roughly an all-or-nothing phenomenon," she said. That lead researchers to conclude that one gene, or perhaps a few, may be behind this talent.

Gitschier said those with perfect pitch were able to correctly identify both piano tones and pure computer-generated tones that were devoid of the distinctive sounds of any musical instrument.

She said people with perfect pitch were able to pick out the pure tones with ease. And they also tended to have had early musical training -- before the age of 7. “We think it probably takes the two things," she said. They also found that perfect pitch tends to deteriorate with age.

"As people get older, their perception goes sharp. If a note C is played, and they're 15, they will say it's a C. But if they're 50, they might say it's a C sharp."

"This can be very disconcerting for them," Gitschier said. The most commonly misidentified note, based on the study, is a G sharp. That may be because G sharp is overshadowed by A, its neighbor on the scale, they said. A is often used by orchestras in the West as a tuning reference.

Gitschier said she and her colleagues were focusing on identifying the gene responsible for perfect pitch, which will involve gene mapping. Then they will try to figure out what is different in people with absolute pitch.

"We'll have to play it by ear, so to speak," she said.

Linguistics of Absolute Pitch

Absolute pitch is more common among speakers of tonal languages such as most dialects of Chinese or Vietnamese, which depend heavily on pitch for lexical meaning. "Tone deafness" is unusual among native speakers of these languages[citations needed]. Speakers of Sino-Tibetan languages have been reported to speak a word in the same absolute pitch (within a quarter-tone) on different days; it has therefore been suggested that absolute pitch may be acquired by infants when they learn to speak in a tonal language(and possibly also by infants when they learn to speak in a pitch stress language). However, the brains of tonal-language speakers do not naturally process musical sound as language; perhaps such individuals may be more likely to acquire absolute pitch for musical tones when they later receive musical training.

It is possible that level-tone languages which are found in Africa—such as Yoruba,with three pitch levels, and Mambila,[16] with four—may be better suited to study the role of absolute pitch in speech than the contour-tone languages of East Asia. Further, speakers of European languages have been found to make use of an absolute, though subconscious, pitch memory when speaking.

Potential problems

Persons who have absolute pitch may feel irritated when a piece is transposed to a different key or played at a nonstandard pitch.They may fail to develop strong relative pitch when following standard curricula, despite the fact that maintaining absolute strategies can make simple relative tasks more difficult. For instance, transposition of music from one key to another may prove more difficult for an individual who interprets music as a fixed sequence of absolute tones rather than relative patterns of notes. Absolute pitch possessors have been known to find it difficult to play with an orchestra that is not tuned to standard concert pitch A4 = 440 hertz (442 Hz in some countries); this may be due to a perception of pitch which is categorical rather than freely adjustable.[43]

In conclusion

I know I do not have perfect pitch. At least I am not Tone Deaf. I would say that Absolute or Perfect Pitch might be one of those unique miracles in some gifted people. When I was a kid, I can remember that my older brother could send a bottle cap spinning through the air by snapping it between his thumb and middle finger. He could also spread his fingers apart, two by two, like Mr. Spock on Star Trek. I was never able and still can’t perform either of these important functions. Some people just aren’t gifted like others!

I got him back by learning how to fly my own plane to distant towns instead of sitting in hot, congested traffic! Ha Ha Ha!

See you next time!

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Jonathan Morgan Jenkins
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Tone Deafness / The Big Lie!

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:00:00 +0000

Dear Fellow Vocalists,

Since I have been around all styles of singing since an early age, I could not begin to count the number of times I have heard someone say they are Tone Deaf after they are asked to sing solo or in a group. I am confident that you have also heard this said about others or even yourself.

Tone Deafness may be the most misunderstood term in all of singing. It is very unfortunate that many people think they have this condition. The truth is, very few people do and the mental barrier they carry around them keeps them from even trying to sing. This result is very sad!

After training voice for over 25 years, if anybody says to me “I am Tone Deaf”, I invite them to my studio for a free assessment. The results of those who accepted my invitation is that I have only had one person that ever tested positive for tone deafness. Even he was able to make progress over a period of time. I will tell his story in this blog.

Granted, I have had a few students that had a more difficult time singing on pitch, but I have always been able resolve these problems with hard work by myself and the student.

Following is the definition for Tone Deafness and an excerpt from my revolutionary ebook, Singing and Speaking on the Edge of a Grunt, located at my web site http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/.

Tone Deafness

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A person who is tone deaf lacks relative pitch, the ability to discriminate between musical notes. Being tone deaf is having difficulty or being unable to correctly hear relative differences between notes; however, in common usage, it refers to a person’s inability to reproduce them accurately. The latter inability is most often caused by lack of musical training or education and not actual tone deafness.

The ability of relative pitch, as with other musical abilities, appears to be inherent in healthy functional humans. The hearing impairment appears to be genetically influenced, though it can also result from brain damage. While someone who is unable to reproduce pitches because of a lack of musical training would not be considered tone deaf in a medical sense, the term might still be used to describe them casually. Someone who cannot reproduce pitches accurately, because of lack of training or tone deafness, is said to be unable to “carry a tune.”

Tone deafness affects ability to hear pitch changes produced by a musical instrument and/or the human voice. However, tone-deaf people seem to be only disabled when it comes to music, and they can fully interpret the prosody or intonation of human speech. It has been observed that in societies with tonal languages such as Cantonese and Vietnamese, there are almost no tone deaf people; a strong indicator that the ability to reproduce and distinguish between notes may be a learned skill.

Tone-deaf people often lack a sense of musical aesthetics, and much like a colorblind person would not be apt to appreciate colorful visual art, some tone-deaf people cannot appreciate music. Tone deafness is also associated with other musical-specific impairments such as inability to keep time with music (the lack of rhythm), or the inability to remember or even recognize a song. These disabilities can appear separately but some research shows that they are more likely to appear in tone-deaf people.

Tone deafness is also known variously as amusia, tune deafness, dysmelodia and dysmusia.
1) Amusia, the medical loss of musical ability
2) Absolute pitch, the rare ability to name a musical note when played or sung
3) Relative pitch, the normal human ability to accurately discriminate pitch intervals
4) Deafness, the inability to hear sound

With Tone Deafness clearly defined, let me share with you a case study I personally encountered years ago when I was attending college. One of my many odd jobs to pay for my education was teaching private guitar lessons. I taught this one young boy who was a complete beginner on guitar. As I often did, and still do, when guitar students learn a few simple songs, I challenge them to sing and play together.

This is a great exercise for ear training and performing more complex forms of coordination. It was not long before it was apparent that he was completely unable to duplicate any pitch. Without any training to fix this problem, I experimented and figured out a strategy to help him. He and his parents wanted him to be able to sing on pitch.

Here was my strategy. I concluded, without any medical training, that the message the brain was sending to the chords was scrambled, incorrect or both. He would hear a pitch but would always sing another. His vocal chords were not being stretched to the correct location. Here was my solution. Simply, I kept repeating the same notes I wanted him to try to duplicate each lesson over a long period of time. His progress was slow but he eventually was able to get a lot closer and, then, match the pitch.

After about a year of hard work, he was able to play and sing four simple songs. Maybe that does not seem like a lot. But, trust me, it was. Again, I am not making any medical claims. I was confronted with a challenge and used logic to figure out a solution that worked. It makes sense, though, that it did work. The truth is, whenever we are learning a new physical skill, it takes a while for learning programming to be completed. In his case, it was the nerves and muscle systems that operated his voice and it just took longer to accomplish.

As you can see from this actual story, it is possible to sing on pitch. If you are one of the people who is stuck in this rut, buy my affordable ebook or find another way to get yourself checked and begin to enjoy the miracle instrument you have been given, you voice.

See you next time.

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Jonathan Morgan Jenkins
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Singing / Karaoke Myths

jonathanjenkins@vocalwarrior.com (Jonathan Morgan Jenkins) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:53:00 +0000

Increase Vocal Power 100% in One Week! Guaranteed! Learn Clear Diction Exercises, Music Mixing Advice, and Create a Famous Podcast!

If you can use the restroom, I can improve your voice in one week! If you know how to go # 2, I can teach you how to sing like #1. 100% Guaranteed!

Vocal Warrior teaches Music Mixing Advice, Persuasive Speech Topics, Demonstration Speech Ideas , Vocal Training, Vocal Technique, Geriatric Voice Therapy and Audio CD mastering. Are you a Karaoke Singer? Buy equipment for your Home Recording Studio and become the next AMERICAN IDOL!

Some Vocalists with disturbed voices say "I have a Claritin Sore Throat" or "Ultrum causes sore throat" . Most vocal problems require Natural Cures! Buy my 110 Page downloadable ebook and Vocal Warrior will teach you the "Natural" way to coordinate your body to sing or speak with confidence, power, and clarity.

Do you need to make free digital mpegs, free mp3 music or purchase the best studio microphones? You can even create your own Podcast! YOU CAN BE AN AMERICAN IDOL!

Vocal Warrior is the solution!

FEATURE ARTICLE / Singing/Karaoke Myths

Karaoke singer attacked in Wash. bar

Fri Aug 10, 6:05 PM ET

A woman attacked a karaoke singer belting out Coldplay on Thursday night, telling him he "sucked" before she pushed and punched him to get him to stop singing, bar staff said. The man was singing "Yellow" when it happened.

"It took three or four of us to hold her down," bartender Robert Willmette said.

When she was escorted outside, the 21-year-old woman "went crazy," Willmette said, throwing punches at him and others, including an off-duty police officer.

Patrol officers and detectives then arrived at the neighborhood bar and blocked off the street, which inflamed the woman's rage even more, a police report said. Before police could handcuff the woman, she headbutted the off-duty officer at least twice.

The off-duty officer was treated for cuts, scrapes and bruises.

After treatment for injuries, the woman was booked into the King County jail for investigation of assault. She was also held on a warrant issued for a previous theft charge.

According to bartender notes, she had only a single shot of Jagermeister.

Hello fellow Vocalists.

You do not want this to happen to you! If you are singing so badly that you are inciting a riot, maybe time for some formal training.

I have been around amateur singers since the early sixties and I was one myself in the early days of the folk/rock generation. During this often socially turbulent time period the younger generation was rejecting all the norms of society and trying to create their own "Social Utopia".

There were certainly many aspects to our culture that needed a second look. Unfortunately, in the musical community, many of us also rejected the norms of formal musical training, as it was “just part of the oppressive educational culture.” Many said, “I don’t need any training. If I can play a few chords and sing with the voice I have, I can be a star.”

Sounds silly, doesn't it? Although it is certainly true that there were many successful musicians in that period that became big stars, many more could have if they had been trained. As I continue to train vocalists today, unfortunately, the same ignorant attitudes about training still exist. For our discussion here, I will focus on vocal training, as that is my main expertise. More information on my professional credentials can be found @ Vocal Warrior.

If you were to decide to play a clarinet, would you just rent or buy the instrument and think you could just take it home and begin to play it? Of course not! But, when it gets the voice weather we are Singers, Speakers or Actors, this is exactly how many approach being a Vocalist. We think we either have it or we don’t. Part of the reason for this is because our voice already functions for basic communication and we get satisfied with the status quo.

I was certainly one of these people. When I started college with a goal to teach voice and choral music, I found out real quick how much my voice lacked training. Unfortunately, I learned little from the techniques used to help me improve by my Vocal Professors. It was'nt until I began to teach real people myself that my own voice changed and I was able to help others. I learned by doing and not from some pinhead educator.

Well, back to Karaoke singers. First, I admire anybody who has the nerve to get up in front of a bunch of strangers and risk rejection when they attempt to use one of our most personal body parts to make music. But, the problem arises when someone sounds awful and thinks they sound okay.

American Idol is the first show to really set people straight about the quality of there own instrument. One of my goals with my web business, http://www.vocaltrainingwarrior.com/, is to offer revolutionary vocal training techniques to Actors, Speakers and Singers. My voice has been transformed through using my own techniques. I have taken over 26 years of teaching voice and packaged my techniques in my groundbreaking downloadable e-book, Singing and Speaking on the Edge of a Grunt.

In closing, if you want to be a successful or just a good sounding singer or speaker, you need proper training to reach your potential. Do not make the mistake of not reaching your potential. But my e-book and change your voice and your life.

Do you want 205.00 in Free Gifts?

Become a member of the Vocal Warrior Team today!

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