Metal Singing Lessons

A roaring crowd, blistering guitar riffs, and a thunderous beat pulsating through the air. At the heart of this storm of sound stands the metal singer, their voice serving as a powerful beacon guiding listeners through the intricate landscape of heavy metal music. But what makes a great metal vocalist? It’s more than just raw power; it involves a fine balance of technique, skill, and sheer passion.

This guide is your roadmap to mastering the art of metal singing lessons. From understanding your vocal anatomy to developing your unique metal voice, learning the importance of a vocal coach, honing screaming techniques, practicing daily vocal exercises, and mastering essential techniques for a powerful performance, you’ll find a wealth of knowledge to help you unleash your potential as a metal vocalist through metal singing lessons.

Vocal Anatomy for Metal Singers

Your vocal anatomy is the engine that powers your singing. The components that work together to generate the sound you produce when you sing are:

• The nasal cavity
• The oral cavity
• The pharynx
• The larynx
• The vocal chords

Understanding these components and how they interact is key to mastering your voice and producing the extreme vocals that are characteristic of metal music.

Depending on your gender, the size and shape of your larynx and vocal cords can vary, giving you a unique sound. But at its core, creating different metal sounds like growls, screams, and distortion involves manipulating your vocal chords, vocal tract, and articulators. Having a solid grasp of vocal anatomy is key to improving your metal singing performance.

I have years professional working experience having taught vocals, including screaming, helping students to develop their voice, whether their focus is rock, pop or simply singing the songs for fun.

Finding Your Unique Metal Voice

Metal music is a diverse genre with many subgenres, each with its own unique vocal style. From high screams to low growls, metal vocals can vary greatly in sound and intensity. Some of the most distinctive metal vocalists, such as Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden and Corey Taylor of Slipknot, have their unique styles that set them apart. They engage audiences with their compelling performances and are known for their extreme and aggressive sound, especially in subgenres like black metal.

Experimenting with various techniques is a significant part of developing your unique metal singing style, such as warming up your voice, controlling your breath, and changing your tongue and throat positions for various vocal effects. Consistent practice and exploration are key to finding and refining your individual metal style.

Protecting Your Vocal Health

Metal singing can be intense and physically demanding. It is significant to maintain your vocal health to ensure continuous delivery of powerful performances without harming your voice.

There are several techniques that you can use to reduce the likelihood of vocal strain. These include:

• Warming up before singing
• Practicing breathing techniques
• Using false chords for aggressive vocalisations
• Regular vocal exercises

These techniques can help to maintain your vocal health.

The Role of a Vocal Coach for Extreme Vocals

Whether you’re a beginner looking to learn the basics, or an experienced singer looking to refine your skills, a vocal coach or singing teachers can develop a personalised lesson plan that addresses your unique needs and goals. As a student, you’ll have the responsibility of deciding which metal vocal sounds you want to learn and committing to dedicated and patient practice with the help of vocal lessons.

Despite numerous online resources such as YouTube tutorials, they cannot supplant the specialised knowledge and guidance a vocal coach offers. A vocal coach can offer specific enhancements to your vocals by instructing:

• Proper technique
• Breathing exercises
• Vocal warm-ups
• How to safely perform screams, growls, and other vocal effects.

Coaching for All: Beginners to Band Vocalists

Whether you’re just starting out or you’re an experienced band vocalist, I can help you to improve your technical ability and expand your range. For beginners, I can help you to learn the fundamentals of metal singing, such as proper breathing, posture, and vocal warm-ups.

For experienced vocalists, vocal coaches can help you to:

• Refine your technique
• Experiment with different vocal styles
• Develop a unique sound
• Cultivate consistency, hydration habits, and patience in practice

All of these contribute to the overall mastery of metal vocals.

Breathing Power into Your Performance

Diaphragmatic breathing is particularly beneficial for enhancing metal vocal performance as it enables you to effectively engage essential body parts and refine your technique. Breathing exercises such as controlled inhaling and exhaling over beats can also help you to inject more power into your performance.

Mastering Vocal Distortion Safely

Vocal distortion is a key component of metal singing, adding a gritty and aggressive texture to your vocals. However, learning how to safely achieve vocal distortion to prevent harm to your vocal chords is important.

To safely practice vocal distortion, it’s important to:

• Start with easy falsetto exercises to gain control without straining your vocals
• Use diaphragmatic breathing for powerful screams
• Practice with increasing intensity
• Be mindful of avoiding vocal strain
• Listen to your body during practice sessions

Essential Techniques for Metal Singing

Acquiring expertise in the fundamental techniques of metal singing can assist in delivering forceful and dynamic performances. These include:

• Vocal fry
• Growls
• Screams
• Distortion
• Overdrive
• Methods to expand your vocal range

Mastering the Art of Vocal Fry

Vocal fry is a technique that can add a gritty and aggressive texture to your vocals, making it a valuable tool for metal singers. To achieve vocal fry, you can start with a low note and gradually lower it until your voice enters the vocal fry register.

Vocal fry contributes to enhancing the metal singing style by assisting singers in breath control, reinforcing the mix range, and facilitating the transition to reach higher notes.

Navigating Growls and Screams

Producing forceful and aggressive sounds in metal singing heavily relies on techniques such as growling and screaming. To safely produce and control growls, it’s important to use overtones for the growl effects, protect the vocal cords to reduce strain, and position the throat optimally for quality sound.

Breath control techniques, such as deep breathing and focusing on coordination of the major muscle groups of the respiratory system, can help you to improve your growling and screaming techniques. It’s also important to be mindful of avoiding vocal strain and to listen to your body when singing.

Developing Distortion and Overdrive Vocals

To harness the raw power of distortion and overdrive without damaging your vocal cords, singers can employ techniques that allow them to affect the proper amount of grit and edge to their voice. Achieving this starts with understanding your 'true voice' and the mechanics of ‘Complete Vocal Technique’, as often taught in specialised vocal lessons.

Embracing Your Vocal Abilities

To develop your unique vocal sound, it’s essential to train across various disciplines, including spoken word and singing. It might seem unconventional, but even actors or public speakers could offer insight into mastering these techniques. Private lessons or group classes are excellent for discovering your musical potential under the guidance of an experienced instructor like myself.