Hitting high notes - part 2

Music Lesson: Incorporating Hey's and Yeah's into Song

And now we're going to take the hey's and the yeah's that you've been practicing, and we're going to put them in a song.

Introduction to the Phrase

Like your other lessons, I wanted to choose a phrase from a common musical. This time, it's from Grease , "The Worst Things I Could Do."

The Chosen Phrase

We'll be using the phrase:
"I could stay home every night, wait around for Mr. Right."

Okay? So just have a bit of fun and see how this feels in your voice.

Try Singing the Phrase

So, when you try:
"I could stay home every night, wait around for Mr. Right."

Reflect on Your Experience

See how that felt. Ask yourself some questions:

• Did that feel easy? Fabulous.
• Did it feel a bit tight?

Yeah, it's really high. It's a big, high belt. I mean, there are higher belts, but this is, you know, substantial. So be kind to yourself. You may want to take it down.

Adding the Hey's and Yeah's

But first, I'm going to try seeing what happens if we add the hey's and the yeah's. See how that feels.

Remember: The hey engages your body, engages the breath, lifts the back of the tongue, opens up the vowels, and creates more acoustic space. It also relaxes the jaw.

Building Up the Key

Let's try again. This time, I'm not going to go in straight on the original key. We're going to build up.

• Starting with: "I could stay home."
• Then taking it up higher and see if by the time we get back to the original key, you're feeling a bit better.

Count In

So we're going to start with:
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

Feeling nice? I'm going to count you in, and we're going to use your hey's and yeah's again. Use them in any combination that you want to.

Counting in:
1, 2 , and it's going to be:
Hey, yeah, yeah.

• 1, 2, hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Feeling comfortable? Feel how it feels so open that the ha gets the breath. Ready? Connect with your body.

Going Higher

Let's take it up again:
1, 2, again. Hey, yeah, yeah. Let's get a bit higher.

• And we go: 1, 2, hey, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• Hey, yeah, yeah, hey, hey, yeah, yeah, hey, hey, yay.

Choosing to Take a Break

If you want to go up one more, go for it! If you don't, at any point, press pause where you're at, and just keep trying the hey's and yeah's.

• If you don't like the hey, try the yeah.
• If you don't like the yeah, try the hey.

Returning to the Original Key

Let's go up to the original key now.

Counting in:
1, 2
"I could stay on hey, yeah."

Now when we go: 1, 2, hey.

• Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• Hey, yeah, yeah.
• Hey, yay, yay, yay.
• Hey, yeah.

Concluding Thoughts

How did that feel?

Alright, I hope you enjoyed that.

Important Notes on Belting

It is fun to belt, but just always be really aware that belting should feel good. It's not about straining or pushing.

• It's about feeling open.
• It should feel pleasurable.
• It should feel connected.
• It should feel nice.

Also, belting is not about shouting. It's actually not a volume thing. You can still aim for tone over volume. It's not about just being loud.