SCREAMOLOGY

Yes, I call it SCREAMOLOGY: the study of how to scream properly. For many years there have been front men and women singing with a growl and screaming with a purpose.

It's all around and if you don't believe me just turn on any classic rock radio channel and listen for about five minutes and AC/DC will come on. Even back then there were people screaming in music but what I am talking about is screaming like the people in heavy metal bands like Lamb of God, Mudvayne, Pantera, and etcetera. Now, for the question and the actual reason of this piece; how do you scream without hurting your vocal chords or losing your voice? Ahhh, that's the million dollar question and I hope this proves to be better than a one cent answer.


First of all, do not think of me as a music trainer, vocal teacher or even a professional musician (because I am not---the correct term is aspiring) I have just learned this little secret and have decided to share it with whoever wants to listen. You must realize that this is a trial and error type of thing and it will take probably about four months to get to where you feel comfortable doing this and even longer to have it become natural and not so much a technique.


You should really take, at minimum, six months of professional singing lessons. I understand this is metal we're talking about but you need to know how to use your diaphragm and you need to have it strong before you start screaming. You will need to learn how to strengthen your gut to belt those screams and protect your pipes. Once you learn to finally sing classical or “clean” music as I like to call it you can learn to scream in my opinion.


FINALLY LET US SCREAM! Step one is to meow like a cat, an angry pissed off cat. Try it now, just a short one; you'll feel your diaphragm tighten and that is what you want; you’ll also feel your bottom push if you’re sitting down. The most important thing to remember is DO NOT FORCE IT! You do not need to force it and if you do you will tear the hell out of your voice. When you first do this you will probably hurt yourself a little bit so do not do it too long, I would suggest to only do it for about 10 minutes. Okay, now we have the first brick to build the castle. Second step, you are not singing and you need to realize that, you are screaming or yelling; whatever your terminology, you are not singing.


When you do the cat meow you will also feel your pelvis tighten and that is where the power comes from for screaming. You will feel like you have to take a crap but after a while you will get used to it and the feeling will go away and all you will have left is the power. You need to use this with the breathing structure that you learned in your singing classes that you took (or were supposed to).


To get those low growls it is the same technique, but it is a shallower breath. Growl like a dog; aren't you glad you learned your animal noises in kindergarten? The more you get used to this and it just seems to happen naturally, the more you can really start to open up your screams and actually get a lot of different pitches, (not really exact pitches, but tones) which will give your voice depth which all singers want. Like I said before you want to only do this for about 10 minutes until you get comfortable with it. Then proceed and lengthen the time to what you feel is right for you.


I had to learn this through trial and error for about four months while jamming with a band. I hope this helps you out because I lost my voice every practice before I learned to do this correctly. Now I can go to practice and jam for three or four hours and not have a sore throat or anything. I have also learned that it is easier to scream while you are jamming with a band because it is hard as hell to do it with out a band rocking out with you. I am not sure what that is all about but I can't really scream unless the band is with me jamming. BEST OF LUCK AND REMEMBER ROCK HARD LOUD AND OFTEN!


If you wanna hear a sample here's a single; not mastered or mixed yet....band broke up before we finished recording. Hope you enjoy the song Hell to Pay.