Metallica Scales

August 3^rd – The thing to do is to keep it active; if you don’t use it you’ll lose it kinda thing. But the thing with that is you can’t just wang away to full-tilt. You have to crank it up slowly, go through the early motions gently and gradually increase the stress and pressure to full-on (this is starting to read like one-handed literature) because the voice is a delicate instrument.

I remember seeing, when I was a kid, back in the late fifties/early sixties the sign in the back of many a car;

Running In - Please Pass.

See, back then, anyone buying a new car was under strict instruction to limit the speed to 35mph for the first 500 miles and let the engine bed in, to be allowed to reach its full potential through a period of gentle coaxing, not have us drive it out the showroom and whip round country lanes at a 100 miles an hour, which was virtually impossible in a Ford Prefect or Standard Vanguard anyway.

The same rules apply for dancers, for athletes, for pianists. They have a period of warm ups which they follow religiously so they don’t damage what it is that makes them a living. It’s a dangerous thing, to try and run flat-out over 100 metres if you’ve not stretched and warmed up the muscles you’ll need in order to carry you that distance in the shortest possible time safely and without injury; and this same rule applies if you earn your living with your voice.

Opera singers have a set routine that they embark on at the start of any rehearsal or performance period. Starting gently with general tongue, lips and breathing exercises they gradually build up the stress and pressure on their vocal chords until they are elastic and thoroughly warmed up. Only then can they attempt to complete the vocal gymnastics asked of them by Messer’s Rossini, Mozart or Verdi. This sensible regime of caring for your voice increases longevity and quality (worked on an Elkie Brooks’ show; she was born in 1945 and still has an amazing vocal range and pitch, every bit as good as when she was 30, and you’ve all listened to June Tabor sing Waltzing Matilda unaccompanied… You haven’t? Well, shame on you! Get onto YouTube, you don’t know what you’re missing. Ms. Tabor follows a rigorous exercise regime which allows her to sing with such depth and quality even though she’s in her…well even though she’s in her sixth decade.

Don’t feel it’s very rock ‘n’ roll whilst everyone else in the band is rolling a spliff, you sitting in your dressing room before a gig running through scales and vocal exercises? Trust me; it’s the only way you’ll be able to reach those high notes and low growls. How do you think James Hetfield, who was born on this day in 1963, manages to keep it up? That’s right, that Mr. Hetfield…the one from Metallica. After getting into difficulties a couple of times on stage with his vocal abilities in the 90’s he began to take vocal lessons, using a coach, tapes and piano scales to strengthen his voice and guard against further let-downs; which he still does to this day.

There’s a guy who had the sense to recognise the early signs and, like his drinking problem and his anger problem, actually do something about it. I’d like to think there’s a legion of Screamer vocalists all toting round their own warm-up tape and running through a rigorous routine of exercises before they take the stage and not classing six pints of booze a bag of chips and several lines of snow as their warm up…