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Hey Singers!
I’m Justin Stoney the Founder of New York Vocal Coaching
welcoming you to Ep. 4 of Voice Lessons Online.
The show where passionate Voice Teachers from all over the world
help us learn from some of the greatest singers of all time.
Today we’re studying a singer who is just…
well… divine…
♪ [Riffing] ♪
♪ Carry the shame ♪
♪ I know somebody he calls me his own ♪
♪ Ooooo ♪
♪ I'll walk an ocean to get to you ♪
♪ As the deer pants for the water so my soul needs you Lord ♪
Tori Kelly is known for her effortless belt, sizzling riffs, soaring vocal
range…
and good old fashioned heart and soul.
Let’s hear from our team of experts about what we can learn from Tori.
First, David McCall is here to tell us about Tori’s use of Neutrality…
Hi there, I’m David McCall.
It's my pleasure to be talking about Tori Kelly today.
We already know that she's a virtuosic singer.
She can sing anything, she can do anything.
But one of the skills that I appreciate the most about Tori
is her ability to begin at a relaxed neutral.
She doesn't hit you over the head with her strongest notes
nor attack you with a bunch of melismas at the very beginning of a song.
No, she starts at a nice relaxed neutral.
She invites you into the song with her.
Now the relaxed neutral is an ideal way to begin your song.
However, it has to build.
And Tori is a master builder.
Listen to her add some more chest dominant registration
to "Hallelujah"...
Now intensity doesn't
have to be just the addition
of Chest voice.
No no no, listen to her add some more range,
more runs, and even some vocal distortion to take
"Crazy" to new heights.
Starting from a relaxed neutral will revolutionize your singing.
First of all, your choices will land.
You won't be piling choice on top of choice from the very beginning.
Which, frankly, turns everything into noise.
Nothing is impressive if everything is impressive.
Secondly, your audience will be captivated.
We won't be able to take our eyes and ears off of you
because we don't know what you're going to do next.
And that leads to the third point.
When you're not worried about where the song is going,
when you've begun at a neutral,
you've given yourself room to build.
Therefore you can say "yes" to new impulses that appear
to you while you're performing.
Either in the studio, or live!
You'll be able to say "Yes, I'll try that riff!"
"Sure, I'll try that other high note."
Because you're starting from a relaxed neutral.
Back to you Justin!
Awesome Good Sir.
Next, Kacey Velasquez- tell us about Tori’s belting!
Hi everyone!
I am so excited to talk about Tori Kelly.
She is one of my favorite singers,
and I'm going to talk about her incredible belting.
Belting is the extension of vocal registers past their native range
to achieve powerful high notes.
For example you can drag your chest voice up high when you sing,
and it would sound kind of like a shout.
I'm going to show you what this type of belting would sound like
using Tori's song, "It Should Have Been Us".
Okay, you can hear it was nice and loud
and it sounded a lot like a shout.
This type of belting can be okay for many singers
if used in moderation without pain or strain.
However, another healthier way to belt
is by using a chest dominant mix.
Which includes elements of nasal and head resonance.
It also takes some pressure off the vocal folds
and just sounds a lot more balanced.
Tori has mastered her belting by using
her chest dominant mix.
So let's take a look at these next two clips
for some amazing belting by Tori.
She is so good!
You can hear her singing these loud powerful notes
but it doesn't sound like she's yelling, pushing,
or straining any of them.
We can hear elements of nasal resonance, brightness,
and flexibility in that chest dominant mix that help her sing
those notes with ease.
But again, it just sounds so effortless.
You can learn how to develop your chest dominant mix
in voice lessons, and sing and belt with no pain or strain as well.
Well thank you guys again so much for having me
and I will see you soon.
Thanks Kacey!
Andy King, what about Tori's collaborative spirit?
Hi everyone!
My name is Andy King and I have the pleasure of talking about
Tori Kelly and music collaboration.
I want to ask you this question:
What's better than one musician playing music?
Hmm....
Yes!
Two musicians playing music!
There are two possible situations that you might
find yourself in that I want to bring your attention to.
First, I want to show you a clip of Tori Kelly
collaborating with Dan & Shay.
Not only can you see their connection,
you can also see the energy between them all.
They're enjoying each other's company,
they're smiling at each other, they're harmonizing together.
It's pretty palpable right?
Next, let's look at an example where
it's only singer's connecting.
Here's a clip of Tori Kelly and Shoshana Bean
singing to each other and with each other.
Here in this clip we've two got absolutely bonkers vocalists
who are both overtaken with each other's skills and voices.
There's a joy you can feel between them,
there's a lightness, there's a connection even though they
aren't physically together.
When I'm with my singers or even collaborating myself,
I remind them and myself that the key is- openness.
We want to stay open to the other person's gifts.
We want to stay open to the other person's ideas.
We want to stay open to the other person's creativity.
We want to stay open to what might become
available to us as we collaborate.
So I leave you with this challenge...
Right now, yes, now,
who can you collaborate with?
Find a friend, find someone online,
find someone at your church, at your school,
do it and do it now!
You have nothing to lose!
And as we saw from the two short clips of
Tori Kelly with other musicians,
collaboration is not only going to sharpen your skills as a musician
it's going to be a whole lot more fun.
So cool!
Now, Arbender Robinson,
tell us about Tori and how she inhabits the performance.
Hello, hello, hello!
So, artists, musicians, music lovers,
we're going to take a peak at a video that is the epitome
of what I call singing or living inside of the music.
So now we've gone beyond voice lessons,
we've gone beyond coachings.
And now we are just in performance mode.
So everything that we do in that performance
helps to justify or helps to give value to what
we're doing musically.
So we're going to watch this clip
and in 30 seconds or less we're going to see gestures,
we're going to see hand movements,
we're going to see body position,
we're going to see slow or fast movements,
we're going to see shifts in the body that
completely accent all of these wonderful things that are
happening in the music.
And they tell the audience exactly what they're supposed
to listen to.
Exactly how they're supposed to feel.
And it really tells us what the song is all about or
what the energy of the song is all about.
So enjoy these 30 seconds of someone living inside of the music,
and putting on what I think is a spectacular set up
for what I think is a wonderful song.
Thanks Arbender!
And thanks to all our experts.
I’m going to share what I’ve learned from Tori in a moment,
but first here are some ways to go deeper on your Vocal Journey…
To get to know the Voice Lessons Online team or schedule a lesson,
visit VoiceLessonsOnline.com.
To get your copy of Justin Stoney's book
"Sing Like Never Before", visit SingLikeNeverBefore.com
If you'd like a vocal course that you can do from home,
check out the Voice Lessons To The World Vocal Course.
Our 12 part program takes you on a journey
from beginner to master level vocal exercises.
Find it at VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com.
If you're a voice teacher looking to master your craft,
join our worldwide community at VoiceTeacherTraining.com.
Finally, if you'd like free vocal tips sent to you each day,
sign up at DailyVocalTips.com.
Well, saying almost anything about Tori Kelly’s singing is a challenge.
Because, I mean, how can it get much better than this?
♪ Or this:
♪
Or this?
♪
But it actually does get better than this.
Because for Tori, there is something greater than music.
Now, I’ve been coaching singers through the music industry for many years.
And let me tell you - it can be a ROUGH place.
How do we survive its slings and arrows?
Well, we’ve gotta have something GREATER than singing that drives us.
For Tori - it’s her faith.
Now, regardless of what we believe,
this takes serious GUTS.
To be in an industry that many times asks us to compromise and to say-
you know what?
Whether I’m famous or I’m a flop,
at the of the day I have something greater that nobody can take from me.
Now that’s REAL star power!
Thank you Tori for shining such a bright light into the world.
We’ll see you next time for more Voice Lessons Online.
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