I personally think I need a lobotomy sometimes, but sure - if there was such a thing, you can call me Dr. Rock if you like...

Yep, that's how it happens - I avoid using "throat" as a descriptor for many reasons. The second formant is actually in front of the tongue, so it's important not just to turn everything into a back vowel by singing "in the throat" so to speak, but yes, this change happens in the back on all vowels as you ascend. I find it's more practical to go for the resonance and tone rather than physically trying to wrangle your throat into shape. Obviously, my courses and training are in full detail, but it's trickier to really get the point across in a 5 minute KZfaq without going too deep and confusing. Best - K

@@FoundationVocalStudio I mentioned it because having known or heard about vowel placement for years It never worked for me. You did touch on the reason in this video. You have to shade the vowel also which will change another area in the throat or rather "Vocal tract". Even knowing this I still have trouble while singing or learning a new song. I have an interesting story though...I once had a moment of vocal clarity so to speak. I was playing around with another concept, which I cannot recall, it may have been the idea of the soft palate and the larynx opposing each other, Lifting one lowers the other, or may have been the idea of listening or feeling for the separate frequencies, The buzz in the head and the vibration of the chest and trying to keep both while raising the pitch. Anyway... I ended up with a coordination I had never felt before, kind of like when copying an accent or creating a cartoon voice. As long as I kept the coordination the voice went through the passage without consciously modifying or doing anything. Everything felt and sounded natural. I was singing Aretha Franklin, High harmonies of Beach Boys, Elton John etc. without effort. This lasted for a good few hours until I was interrupted and lost the sensation. That was years ago and I have not found it since.

The likely reason that you struggle while singing a new song, is you're relying on the coordination or feeling, rather than simply making the right choice within the vowel and how this sound alters higher in the voice. It's likely you're focusing too much on the 'physical' change - and the reflex nature of the voice actually overrides this change the second you sing because tonally you're 'asking' for a different sound than the one you think you're setting up for; or, it's vice versa - you're tonally trying to make a change but not allowing it because you're focused on raising the palate, or lowering the larynx etc. There's a number of changes that happen in tandem - a tone shift, a vowel shift, a physical shift, a muscular shift towards the CT muscle, and then even your support will change. People often struggle to sing even after training and practice because they're putting importance over the technique itself rather than the principle the technique is trying to teach you/show you/train you to do. Thanks for the story - K

@@FoundationVocalStudio I am sure you are correct. Once I found the sensation or coordination the tone was completely different than anything I had produced before in that range. It sounded and felt "Deeper" like the lower frequencies were strengthened and the higher frequencies were supportive instead of the opposite as you get in "Falsetto". Thanks for responding. Your videos have always been more helpful than others I have found.

@@mdew24 I had similar cases of "instability" sometimes something happens and the voice becomes very easy to control. Singing higher, lower, different timbres, distortion, etc. In this state, any exercises and techniques are done easily and I generally stop wondering why they are needed if everything works just as desired. But when the "magic" ends, everything stops working at all, like a completely different body and voice. I do not understand

Hey Craig - www.foundationvocalcourse.com/pages/how-to-sing-better K

Sure, you can look at it that way!

Thou shall pass! ha

I dislike the definition of M1/M2 - because, what you're really talking about is 'body' in the sound, which occurs in both head and chest voice; hence why you're confused about which one I'm in. Chest and head are actually ONE voice - but, if you want to use that definition, I'm in M1.5 ha. You're right, chest voice doesn't go above a G4, you should have transitioned your vowels by this point, and there's a shift in the mechanism around the E4 or so - ergo, stop trying to drag chest, and let the vowel and closure do the work for you. K

@@FoundationVocalStudio I definitely practiced some edge exercises on scales It turns out that my vocal cords are very weak by themselves, and I constantly use other muscles to compensate. I'm not at the vowel part yet because I think I should be able to have good cord closure all throughout my range first These edge sounds get me up to tops G4 in a pretty unstable way but I can definitely see the results in it! But yeah my voice isn't ready yet, it wants to break above F4 - G4 with the edge/squeaky door exercises, but I'm doing them every day! Thank you for the response Kegan! I'd like to hear your thoughts on this!

@@novakastmusic just remember, it's not about what you practice, it's how you practice. What are these 'edge' exercises meant to be doing for you/how can they be applied in your singing? As I said, not a fan of CVT and the curbing and the edge and the blah blah blah. Your voice is breaking because you're not using the CT muscle early enough, and it's likely your vowel is off. Edge exercises don't help with either of those things, it's just twang which is brightening your sound and creating back pressure. Use a slight cry in the sound, aim towards the back of the head, think 'down' with the muscles instead of aiming up and you should get that connection in a few minutes at most. Best - K

Changing the word slightly helps - instead of "hey" sing "hair" or "hear" and see what this does to the space in the back.

@@FoundationVocalStudio Hmmm I think I'm starting to understand, or it just seems that way. i can create a vowel in the back at the soft pallet or somthing like that and at the same time create another vowel with my lips and tongue. Like "oo" (spoon) in the front and "eɪ" (came) at the back etc.

Run screaming, eat some nails, chew glass

I used to study with him back in Seattle. He's actually a very good teacher, and a nice guy.

Look up anything by Ingo Titse.

@FoundationVocalStudio Thank you. I'd appreciate if you named a specific book by him.