Tips On Singing Riffs

In pop, rock and R&B styles of singing the quick passages you are referring to are commonly known as "riffs." Riffing is something that is very popular. In the operatic and other classical vocal genre, riffing is known as Coloratura. Fast singing is something that some singers seem to be able to do quite naturally, but others seem to struggle with. In order to sing coloratura well, the voice must be very flexible, the larynx at a comfortable speech-level (floating, not jammed up or locked down), and there must be a perfect balance of cord connection and air flow.

The quick riffs should sound natural and spontaneous. The only way to develop this sound is to practice the passages at more moderate speeds, note by note, and gradually increase the tempo. The goal is to maintain your speech-level posture, feel no strain or excess breath pressure beneath the cords, and feel as though the passage is connected from bottom to top (rather than flipping into a disconnected, falsetto type of production in the higher ranges).

After your technique has been developed to a certain degree where you are able to sing comfortably at your speech-level, it is advisable that you practice singing quick passages.

This is tough ask at the first glance but I found that once you start getting into the flow it becomes quite easy.

How Sound Originate & How To Use It For Singing

Found this small extract

"Vowel sounds originate from the vibration of your vocal folds. Consonants are created with an exhaled air stream and are formed by your mouth. If stressed, consonants will push out too much air and tense the muscles in your throat and mouth. This condition makes it difficult for your voice to work well. In response, your may find yourself additionally tightening throat and tongue muscles in a fight to make the note. This will produce strain, choke your sound, sing off pitch, miss the note entirely, run into register break, and result in vocal fatigue. The problem usually increases as you sing higher and louder. Vowels, worked with correctly, will relax the acoustic chamber of your throat and mouth and increase your volume through resonance. Consonants should not be stressed as you sing. Let the vowels take the spotlight."

 

Little easy science that should help!

Singing With Power

I found powerful singing is a style that often seems accompanied by its own punishment - strain, hoarseness, laryngitis, throat discomfort, loss of upper range, or a frequent need to "clear your throat." In severe cases, the result can be nodes or polyps, (nodes: calluses on the inner rims of; polyps: blisters on the tops or undersides of the vocal folds), which are painful and restrictive of singing. I know cause as an amateur one of my goal was to sing with more power.

I was trying to sing in "full voice" up in the higher ranges of my singing voice. It was not until my personal trainer told me that the mistake I was making was to try to drag my chest voices up past my first bridge and into where the mix should occur. This was the cause of discomfort and hoarseness.

It is important to remember that when we are first building sound in the mix and head ranges, that the fullness and power that is desired is limited at best.

It is necessary that a light, yet connected coordination be found first.