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Voice Studio News & Fun
March 30, 2020 | Issue #17 | Newsletter Archive
Voice Technique: Overtone Singing
For any of you who want a unique acoustical challenge, overtone singing might be your thing!

Overtone singing is when the vocal folds (cords) sing a pitch, and then the singer manipulates their resonance so that a harmonic overtone sounds, creating an additional higher pitch, essentially singing two pitches at once.

Many indigenous cultures have "throat singing" or overtone singing traditions, and it is amazing to hear.

Here is a video of Tuvan throat singing - listen for the low fundamental pitch and then the higher harmonic. Here is another cool video demonstrating several different female throat/overtone singers.

This is an good video showing how to do it.

Anna-Maria Hefele is a great overtone singer, and she has a series of videos showing how to do it.

And lastly, here is the MRI video of Anna-Maria demonstrating overtone singing, which some of you have watched with me. Check out what she does with her tongue to make the resonance support the overtones - so cool! Give it a try!
Folk Song Favorites
You Are My Sunshine
Recorded in 1939, this popular song originated in the country music genre, and has become one of the most commercially recorded songs in American popular music.


Watch a couple of old videos by Jimmy Wakely and the Sunshine Girls, and a version by Jimmie Davis.



Click here to download the song and sing or play for yourself!
Name That Tune
Have fun sight-reading these folk tunes! Do you recognize them?
You've Got Rhythm!
Here are some exercises for rhythm practice - good luck!
Composer Spotlight: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally, bolstered by his appearances as a guest conductor in Europe and the United States. He was honored in 1884 by Tsar Alexander III, and awarded a lifetime pension. Despite his many popular successes, Tchaikovsky's life was punctuated by personal crises and depression, and he died at young age, perhaps of cholera or suicide. 


Tchaikovsky is famous for his programmatic music, including The Nutcracker and Swan Lake ballets, and the fantasy overture Romeo and Juliet. He also wrote many beautiful and romantic songs - check some of them out below: