Vocal Masterclass w/ John Mathieu
David:
*David sings Cold Play - Yellow*
John Mathieu:
Hey David, nice job! Nice to meet you. So first thing, there are a lot of verses to that, right? You had like four different verses, right? All with the same musical melody. One thing I would really focus on is make sure we can hear the words. I got a lot in the beginning and then as the guitar ramps up, right, the whole middle of the song, and you got the guitar in the background. Dropping your jaw a little bit and saying bigger words, saying your vowels kind of taller, it might help us hear a little bit better. In the beginning you start really delicate. Just remember this, even when you sing softly, you got to keep that river of air flowing.
John Mathieu:
One thing you can think is to make your vowels is a little taller. Now what that's gonna do is make your vocal folds do the work. They'll be there. You have to build them. That's why you have voice lessons, right? So you build your vocal folds. Yours are solid, just make sure you don't keep it too tight, or we won't quite hear right. Try to give it just a little bit of space and then it comes out really nicely. You have a great voice. One little trick - raise your eyebrows when going for the high note.
John Mathieu:
Yeah. There you go. That's amazing. Yeah. That's honestly, that's all I had to say because I really liked that. Just give me a little bit more words, especially when the guitar gets really strong. You never want to say you're competing with the instruments, but you kind of are, right? As the vocalist you need to be heard.
John Mathieu:
What you did is just there, when you go down and say "yellow" and that's the name of the song. Just make sure we hear that right there. It's not a throwaway. It seems like in pop music if it's lower than middle C, they don't even care. Okay. That's crazy. We want to hear that. And you got good low notes, just like you got good high notes. So just keep that split. That was beautiful. All right. Keep going, keep going...
John Mathieu:
Yeah. Wow, David, that was amazing. Every single one of those. In pitch, right on your overtones. Lifting your eyebrows basically raises your soft palate. The soft palate is a tricky thing. We can't feel it. I've studied voice for a long time and it's, it's a tricky thing, but raising your eyebrows helps you get up.
John Mathieu:
Every single one of those was perfect. Yeah. Every single one was perfect. I hope you felt that. Yeah. Excellent.
David:
Yeah. I've been working on that. Okay. I'm trying to make sure all the air, I'm keeping them in my mouth, like, you know, more focused. So yeah.
Benjamin Kawsky:
Great job guys. Next up. We're bringing Joe to the stage. Awesome job, David. All right, Joe.
Joe:
*Performs Whitney Houston/Mariah Carey - When You Believe*
Joe:
Thanks. That was my first time singing the whole thing by myself. I'm singing this with Vinny who is here now. And because it's the first time I sang it all the way through by myself.
John Mathieu:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, I understand that. Although I think I heard your voice most of the time. We are creatures of emulation. We make noises other people make, but that was great. You actually did a really nice job of release. You had a great crescendo on that last note and that was great. A couple of times though, it got a little pressed with the E sounds.
John Mathieu:
The E is so closed. You gotta have this relaxed kind of a yarn, right. In "believe", do bee-leeve not beh-leave. Just keep that narrowness, that helps. The other thing, you've got to keep that hum in the back of your throat. It's like you're humming even while you're singing. It's kind of another way of singing. It keeps the air going at all times. And I know it gets harder as you go higher.
John Mathieu:
Yeah, and you have nice release going up to the high notes but I think when you come down, the throat gets a little jacked up and then it squeezes you sharp. You kinda gotta let the bass fall down. You have to let the hammock sag a little bit.
John Mathieu:
Hey, just last thing. When you do your runs, just throw the air. Because what we always want to do is micromanage it and then the sound gets stuck and that tends to sound fake. Really allow yourself, I wouldn't call it cruise control, but, but be vulnerable and just, well, let it happen.
Benjamin Kawsky:
Alright awesome job! Next up we have Richard.
Richard:
*Performs La donna è mobile
John Mathieu:
So you've been working on this for, for what? A couple of months with Ben? Yeah, like a month. The second verse, traditionally, you kind of come out a little bit more mischievous.
John Mathieu:
And now I want you to think of this. Not as a tuxedo wearing opera singer. I want you to think of this as you're on the street of Italy. And your friend has an accordion beside you, and you're kind of bouncing. Italian soul.
John Mathieu:
Excellent. Let's go back and do that again.
John Mathieu:
Can you say E but keep your mouth up. You want to try that? There you go.
Benjamin Kawsky:
You can open taller, like you have vampire fangs, not wider.
John Mathieu:
Great job to all you guys. I really enjoyed it.
Benjamin Kawsky:
Yeah. Very proud of everyone today! Great job! Bravo, Bravo. Thank you, John, for being here with us tonight. Thanks for sharing all of your wisdom, we loved having you.