“Improve Your YaYaYa” Coach Speaks Meme on TikTok
The first verse of the musical “I'd Rather Be Me” mean girlsthere's one note that, frankly, is a little too high for your average voice to sustain. It requires a clear tone and solid banding—a vocal technique in which the chest voice is used to produce high notes for long periods of time—and can be challenging even for those trained in musical theater. Broadway actor and vocal coach Jodie Langel has been teaching methods and techniques on how to sing these notes for the past 10 years. On TikTok, a simple trick catapulted the average TikTok post into one of the biggest runaway memes out there. It all starts with three simple sounds: Yeah yeah yeah.
Rangel has been making TikToks about vocal coaching since 2021. So when she attended the Texas Theater Conference in November, she didn't hesitate to post one of her “90-second musical transformations” on the app. In the video, a student is trying to solve a difficult part of “I'd rather be me.” The lyrics, sung by Janis, telling the assembled audience to “raise your right hand / and solemnly swear an oath,” were a powerful part of Janis's declaration to school bullies and teenagers in general that she had had enough of the bullshit in high school. School. But during Rangel's tutoring sessions, the vocal student struggled with the high notes of the word “right finger,” causing her voice to crack. Rangel's answer: Have students sing “raise your ya ya ya” while pointing toward the sky. After several successful practices, she tried the real route again and was absolutely successful, causing cheers from her classmates.
In the month since Rangel first posted the clip, the video has been edited, remixed, reposted and edited so many times that it went from a quick one-shot to one with 200 million views times memes. “Raising your ya ya ya” manages to penetrate every invisible boundary between online fandoms and genres. Sports teams such as the Phoenix Suns, Las Vegas Raiders and Golden State Warriors have used Rangel's voice as a beat for earth-shattering edits of their greatest games. There is also Sabrina Carpenter's “Ya Ya Ya” edited collection, arcane and squid game From Broadway actors to Disneyland characters, there are versions and re-creations for everyone. On social media platforms such as X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram and TikTok, asking “yeah yeah” means taking a burden off, with many users posting “yeah yeah” as an affirmation. “Consider my yay yay,” read one comment, which has been liked more than 16,000 times. Another wrote: “You know what the heck yahoo.” Improving your yahoo isn't just an activity. It's a state of mind.
But how does it actually work? Rangel narrates rolling stones “Raise your bah-ah-ah” is just one of several vocal techniques she employs to get singers to change the structure of their mouths, vocal cords or facial expressions to sing a song. “When I coach, I listen for tension. Where does the throat constrict? Especially with that girl and 'I'd rather be me,' your mouth goes into fight or flight mode because of the tension,” Rangel explains, Use her face to imitate a nervous growl. “Use (ya ya ya) to make pure vowel sounds come out of your mouth. By pointing upward, it guides the singer to point (their voice) upward. Embodiment always helps the singer, letting her release her body.”
In fact, Rangel himself has used this method and still practices it with his vocal coach. (Coaching is like therapy—even coaches need coaching.) Rangel, 52, said she has spent nearly her entire life in the world of musical theater. She grew up in Ossining, New York, just 35 miles north of Broadway, a city she often visited to see films such as cat and Gypsy. After graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts at the age of 22, she was cast as Cosette in the film. Les Misérables. “I had to learn how to use my voice safely eight times a week,” she said rolling stones. “I’m passionate about singing and singing healthily, and I’m passionate about teaching others how to use their voice safely.”
Vocal teachers have come close to making their own type of online content, mostly because the format of the video platform means they can produce anything from reactions to student auditions to dissecting celebrity performances to giving viewers tips. But Rangel said one of the reasons she started posting coaching sessions was because she noticed musical theater actors could sing but lacked the technical knowledge to keep their voices safe throughout the process. It doesn't help that some of the latest Broadway songs have gotten so heavy. That's why Rangel's “yah-yah” technique, which he uses to combat tension on big notes, often has a significant impact on a singer's performance. It keeps them relaxed, confident and free.
Not surprisingly, this free spirit is one of the things that has stuck with memes since their inception. While some creators resent being mocked online for their authentic practices, Rangel has been praised by her now 3.1 million followers for her athletic prowess. She didn't know the video had gone viral until a waitress at a Christmas dinner asked her if she was the creator of “Yeah Yeah Yeah.” “I was in the mountains of Georgia's Blue Ridge and I thought, 'Wow, this is going to be a big thing,'” Rangel said. But while there are so many new edits coming out that she can't see them all, she says she absolutely loves her vocal skills and that even casual singers might look at them and try them out. “I'm so excited and moved by it all. I mean, you have to be. The fact that it's spread so far and wide and there's so much joy and love for music and singing,” Rangel said. “How could I not be blown away and moved by all this? How could I not think this is incredible?” If this trend can bring so much joy through music, teaching and education, then I've done my job work. “