The changing adolescent male voice
There is a rite of passage adolescent boys must travel called the "voice change". 
It's a strange and sometimes embarrassing time for them. What should they do vocally during this awkward time?

Here is some food for thought:

Boys' voices begin to change at around age 12-13, finally settling about 15-18 years old.
Boys should be encouraged to keep singing throughout the voice change years.
I believe that singing and wise vocal training can help boys develop steadier, co-ordinated voices, as well as better senses of rhythm and pitch. This gives them a head start with their vocal abilities as adults.

There is no vocal exercise that will help to extend or lower a range that isn’t there. However, training an unchanged voice is definitely not a waste of time. By getting the student comfortable with singing in his upper register, this can help to keep a nice, clear head voice when his body does begin to change.

The biggest issue with young boys is vocal strain.
They try to "MAKE" their voices work, screaming through the hard places.
Teach boys with unchanged voices to sing as high as they can without strain, and take them as low as they can go without sounding "hooty" or dropping the larynx.

The boys and young men I've worked with after their voices have changed have different issues. They are sometimes afraid of their upper register.
Teach them not only to sing in the new-found lower register, but also to vocalize in head voice, Pulling their words in all registers instead of Pushing any note. Though careful not to fatigue this young male voice in the passagio, or "land between the voices" range, do have them sing comfortable exercises crossing voices. This helps them develop the all important "mixed" voice. Grown men I've taught sometimes didn't even know they HAD head voices. They learn that singing in head voice and falsetto (a lighter head resonance vibrating less of the vocal cords) adds richer resonance to their lower register and lifts the ceiling off their ranges. After they get over the shock, they like it, and some use a bit of new found "falsetto" in their professional careers!

Adolescent girls have their own issues. We'll talk about them next time.

The English language offers a lot
of little things that we can do to
make our lyrics stand out above
some other lyrics.

Two of these techniques are through
the use of metaphors and similes.
The use of these mixed into your
lyrics will make you unique.

Both the simile and the metaphor are
figures of speech. When you use the
figure of speech that is known as a
simile, you will be using a comparison
using the words like or as. Similes
can be used to liven up your words or
as a description instead of using
adjectives.

We use similes a lot in our conversation
without even thinking about it. How many
times have you used the following: as
high as a kite or as white as snow or as
dead as a doornail or how about as clear
as mud.

A metaphor is actually more of a direct
comparison between two nouns. They are
similar to a simile in that they both
are comparisons, but a metaphor does
not use the words like or as.

There are different kinds of metaphors,
but are a couple of examples. When you
say a night owl or an early bird, these
are examples of metaphors.

If you are looking for some similes and
metaphors to use in your lyrics, there
are several places to look, but some
of the best and most entertaining places
to find them are by watching stand-up
comedy. They are great examples for
coming up with metaphors and funny ways
of seeing the world.

Look for ways to state something that
is pretty obvious, but folks are afraid
to speak or state.

You can also state something from a
different and unique point of view that
most people don't think about.

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Stay blessed.

Different Ways to Add Emotion into Singing:

Adding emotion to a song can be done in so many different ways that it’ll make your head spin. You can use variations of dynamics and tone, you can speak the words in different ways focusing on the vowels or consonants, you can color the tone by using vocal fry, growling, breathiness, cracking, the list is endless.

But here’s the deal, if you have to manufacture it, it’s fake.

Said differently, if you create these different tones and colors in the voice, but there’s no emotion behind it, then your listeners will know and you can kiss that connection goodbye. Think about it has someone ever told you that they loved you, but you knew in that moment what they were saying wasn’t genuine? Same thing.

We can go through the process of manufacturing these sounds all day long, but without us genuinely feeling what we’re saying, it’s all for naught. That’s why it’s so important for the artists to wear their hearts on their sleeves.

Wearing Your Heart On Your Sleeve:

This can be one of the most difficult things for an artist to do. In order to be successful, they have to make themselves vulnerable in a way that shows people how they really feel.

Honestly, not everyone can do this. Not everyone can let the world in. Not everyone is willing to give others a window into their soul and show them what it’s like when they’re not wearing their everyday “everything’s alright” mask. But, not everyone can touch their audience in a real way either.

Good singers are a dime a dozen. Great singers that connect with their audience in a real way are rare indeed. To me, Singing with Emotion is one of the biggest differences in the two.

So, how do we share that emotion?

There are songs that you have first hand experience with, in other words you’ve experienced nearly the exact same scenario discussed in the song. It’s by far easiest to connect emotionally to these songs. All you have to do is go back in your head and relive that experience in your mind. But don’t just visualize what happened feel it in your body. Make it as real as possible to you. Once you’ve done this, your voice will naturally take over.

However, there are some song plots that you haven’t experienced directly. In this situation, it’s easiest to define the main emotions, and try to feel them in your body as well. You can do this by reliving another experience that may have made you feel a similar way, or simply imagine what that emotion would feel like and take it from there. To me, the biggest key is finding a way to physically feel it within your body. If you can do this, you’re golden.

Application:

All of this is worth nothing if you don’t take the time to apply it to your singing. So, go now and find a song that you can connect with. Analyze it so that you know specifically how every line should make you feel. Start making yourself feel those emotions and sing through it a time or two and see what comes out. Play with the dynamics, the color of the tone, different inflections, and the length that you hold different notes until you’ve created your own version of the song that is so contagiously emotional that your listeners become putty in the palm of your hands.

Follow these guidelines on singing with emotion with each song you perform, and if you really allow yourself to be vulnerable (and you choose songs that will connect with your audience), then you’ll see a huge difference in the response the crowd gives you.

God bless you all.

Singing with Emotion: Part One

One of the best definitions I’ve ever heard of music came from one of my college classes where a fellow defined music as, “Emotion that you can hear.”

And really, when you sit back and think about why we enjoy the different music we listen to, it’s usually because it makes us feel something or because it’s in line with what we’re feeling. Sometimes we’re aware of this, and sometimes we’re not, but think about it.

What type of songs do you listen to when you are happy? Sad? Frustrated? Excited? Angry? Overwhelmed? Intoxicatingly in love? My guess is you probably have certain songs or artists that you listen to for each of these.

So why does this work? Well, psychology teaches us two things:

1. We like people that are like us, and,
2. The most dominant emotion in the room is the most contagious.

So, if you’re in a mood that’s portrayed well by an artist, then you’re going to be drawn to their music. But at the same point in time, if an artist connects well with a song, they can start to pull you in that direction emotionally as well, helping to bring you deeper into the song.

Truth is, you have the power to do this as well. If you’re performing, you are automatically the dominant emotion in the room because you have a mic. From there, all you have to do is choose the right songs to connect with your audience, then sing your song in a genuine and therefore contagious way, and your audience will be eating out of the palm of your hands.

So now that we understand that music is about more than just notes and words on a page that can be translated into flowing melodies, let’s talk for a minute about what we as singers can do to make our voices connect with others even more on an emotional plane.

Analyze the Song:

In order to help your listeners fully feel a song, you’ve got to know on a deep level how you, the singer, feel when you say each part of the song. Some songs have a consistent emotional feel, but most will evolve into different emotions throughout the course of the song.

For example, take the song “Forget You” by Cee Lo Green (which I’ll admit to indulging in from time to time). In it, I’d argue that the main emotion of the chorus is hurt/angry, while the verse tends to be a little bit more frustrated in feeling, and in the bridge he’s so upset, he breaks out into sounding like a blubbering fool all the while, the music is fun, upbeat, and makes people feel good (ironic, isn’t it?).

Which brings me to my next point… the emotion portrayed in the singers voice doesn’t always have to be in line with the lyrics. Sometimes we use sarcasm to evoke emotion in a song.

So, before you start to really sing a song, sit back and take a few minutes to break down each line of that song so that you know exactly what feeling you want to portray during in that line. Once you do that, you’re ready to start adding the emotion.

Why "BIBLIA YA WATOTO" Audio Book is the best for your Children’s Bible Reading Plan.

Basically, "BIBLIA YA WATOTO" Audio book is characterized by:

1. Brevity. 
I want this to be do-able. It is more important to be reading small chunks of Scripture regularly than setting the bar too high and failing.
If you can get your children to spend atleast 30 minutes with the Bible, morning and evening, then it will be awesome, and hopefully they will develop a growing appetite for it themselves.
"BIBLIA YA WATOTO" give you the edge to make it easier for you and your children.

2. Variety. 
I chose Old Testament and New Testament.
I also want to vary between narrative, poetry, practical, etc. However, the emphasis is much more on the stories of the Bible.
Sometimes I skip some chapters that are especially difficult for children. They can be read and studied when the children are older and better able to profit from them.

3. Simplicity. 
The pattern is a few verses for reading. I’ve added a couple of sweet soundtracks and colorful pictures to make it more attractive and fun.

4. Accountability. 
Although this audio book is to help me be more accountable for shepherding my children and my society, I also want to make other parents and children accountable.
This audio book gives us an opportunity to have a brief discussion about the scripture in our families.

5. Unity.
One advantage of this audio book is that we can all be reading in the same part of the Bible (father,mother and children).
Whatever else we read, we will all have read these verses as a minimum. That means we can all talk about the same passage of Scripture at meals, etc.
I hope this will give your family a spiritual unity as you journey on together.

My hope and prayer is that eventually my children, and all our children, will no longer read because of external pressure or habit, but because they want to, because they have a passion for the Christ that the Scriptures testify of.

"BIBLIA YA WATOTO" Courtesy of JC-RECORDS Production.