CCM Reverse Crossover Exercises by Sequina DuBose

sequinadubose — 2025-05-20 15:26:01 UTC

Dancing, movement, character-inspired posture
Use guided meditation to focus on implementing & improving self-awareness of bodies and posture
Release abdominal tension and work in opposition to the instinct to pull in the abs
Promote a sensation of “groundedness”
Check for head & jaw & neck alignment (the forward thrust/jutting of the chin)

lorisen — 2025-05-20 15:29:04 UTC

Feeling abdominal engagement
Pulse-breathing & panting
Work on the floor
Sitting with elbows on knees & breathing
Bending over and breathing
Surprise breath
Smelling flowers, etc.
Circular hand/arm gesture that mirrors a breathing and phonation cycle.

sequinadubose — 2025-05-20 15:29:10 UTC

Rest the back of the head on hands, almost toward a double chin
Release the jaw by having students sing using "Blah blah blah"
Apply pterygoid muscle massage for jaw release, etc.

sequinadubose — 2025-05-20 15:30:31 UTC

To address:

Glottal onset/offset
Breathy phonation

Exercises:

Sighs & audible sighs
Staccato exercises
Agility exercises

lorisen — 2025-05-20 15:32:47 UTC

[u] sighs, sirens, & yawn
"shh" pulses
inflating a balloon
Exercises encouraging a lower breath (tracheal pull, longer vocal tract)
Classical vs. CCM - Vowel work (articulation without over tensing the articulators)
Working from speech
Perspective shift: Creating the right recipe for a specific sound/vocal quality

sequinadubose — 2025-05-20 15:34:18 UTC

To address:

Tongue tension
Jaw tension

Exercises:

Movement is the antidote to tension - encourage tongue wagging while vocalising (ex: yah, yah) in front of a mirror to ensure the jaw is still while the tongue moves and is released during the vocalise.

Sing phrases using "Gala-gala-gala, glo-glo glo"
Sing phrases using "Ta-da-na-la-ra"
Apply tongue trills
Apply raspberry trills (tongue out)
Apply tongue stretches
Singing phrases using "Blah blah blah" - encourages a release of tension and separates the singer from previous habits they would associate with “singing”
Apply jaw massages (massater & pterygoid muscles)
Place thumbs between molars to rest the jaw and bring awareness to any tension or biting while sighing, gliding, or singing

*with each exercise remember to check in with the singer's alignment to ensure that misalignment is not a contributing factor to jaw and tongue tension

lorisen — 2025-05-20 15:38:40 UTC

Laryngeal Registration

Yodeling to bring awareness to CT dominant vs. TA dominant voice production

Encouraging TA-dominance: Use of [a] & ascending exercises
Encouraging CT-dominance: Use of [u], & staccato exercises, & descending patterns in vocalises

Acoustic Registration (i.e. vowel shape & overall vocal tract space)

[i] [e] [E] [a] (to work on "brightening" vowels)
[o] [O] [u] (to work on "darkening" vowels)
Concept: Horizontal vs. vertical space
Speech-like vowels & delayed vowel modification (and modifying towards a spread vowel)
Exploring nasality
m (with lips) + n (with teeth and tongue) as a hum & "nyah"

sequinadubose — 2025-05-20 15:39:29 UTC

Observe and monitor singers' ability to deliver the stylistic elements appropriate to hybrid/crossover repertoire without reverting to old habits and sacrificing vocal technique (breath, phonation, registration, resonance, etc)
Encourage singers to learn style elements through audio sources or imitation, but be aware of any evidence of an inaccurate understanding of what the instrument actually needs to do to create that sound. The idea is bringing awareness of the instrument in creating various vocalisms and colors.

sequinadubose — 2025-05-20 15:42:31 UTC

-Start unvoiced, and practice more advanced or extreme vocal techniques in short bursts of time - as with belting, stamina has to be built over time

-Slowly start to introduce adding some vocal fold vibration

-Always check the student's ability to come back to a clean vocal fold closure (sigh - “Ah”)

*A good technical foundation informs stylistic choices, to navigate vocalizations common to the CCM style and extreme vocal techniques (growling, rattle, vocal distortions, etc.) without compromising vocal health.

sequinadubose — 2025-05-20 15:57:56 UTC

Resistance bands exercise: Instruct singers to grab the ends of resistance bands with each hand and stretch them in opposite directions across the front of the body at inhalation or at the onset of phonation and throughout singing to help singers feel the sustained suspension and expansion of the abdominal muscles while energizing the breath