In this and the following section you’ll learn how to move from one note to a next-door note that is either higher or lower in pitch, and then through five next-door notes, using the hum.

See the distance between the two notes on the horizontal line as being made up of lots of smaller distances that you can glide smoothly through one at a time. This line and the idea of gliding are both very helpful in keeping the control of your voice in your head and away from your throat. (Later, with more practice, you will be able to separate the different notes while keeping all the positive qualities of the slide.)

Some possible helpful images are: a skater gliding across the ice, an elastic band being stretched, or holding a piece of chewing gum in your teeth and pulling the end out of your mouth. Find one that works for you.

Always do the exercises really slowly at first, so you keep thinking of moving just a tiny distance at a time. As you get more confident you can speed up.

Exercise 10: Humming next-door notes

• Visualise your horizontal line of notes stretching in front of your forehead.
• Pick a note you can hum comfortably (we’ll call it note 1) at some point on the line.
• Think of the next-door note (we’ll call it note 2) slightly higher in pitch than note 1, so slightly further away on the line.
• Switch on note 1 in the usual way to produce a quiet hum.
• Slide gently and slowly along the line until you are humming note 2, then back in the same way to note 1.
• Switch off note 1.

Repeat the exercise but this time with the second note slightly lower in pitch (e.g. note 2 to note 1 and back to note 2).

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Exercise 11: Humming different next-door notes 

Now repeat the previous exercise but starting on different notes, and using both the mmmm and nnnn hums:

• Visualise your horizontal line of notes stretching in front of your forehead.
• Pick a note you can hum comfortably at some point on the line.
• Think of the next-door note either slightly higher or lower in pitch than the first.
• Switch on the first note in the usual way to produce a quiet mmmm or nnnn hum.
• Slide gently and slowly along the line until you are humming the second note, then back in the same way to the first.
• Switch off note 1.

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Exercise 12: Humming next-door notes faster

If you managed the previous exercise with no feeling of effort or throat control, then repeat it but gradually speeding up the note changes.

The important thing here is to keep the effortless sliding quality as you move between notes, which becomes more difficult as you switch faster.

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