SING LIKE A STAR BLOG
How to Be An Amazing Singer- Stage Movement
WORKING THE STAGE
Make sure you understand the emotional subtext of the song before movement is added. Gestures should be natural and should relate to the text.
To find natural gestures, first, speak the words of the song as if you are having a conversation, adding some natural gestures you would normally make in conversation. The challenge with gestures in singing is that we sustain notes when singing, and we don’t do so in speech.
Make gestures short and natural, just like those you would use when talking animatedly.
Use the concept of the Fourth Wall- the imaginary wall between the artist and the audience. The fourth wall is where you place a mental image of the person you are singing to. Songs are usually sung to someone- real or imagined.
The person should be someone in your life who causes you to feel emotional. As you are singing, you are having an imaginary conversation with that person who is up there on the imaginary fourth wall.
Don’t worry...
How to Sing Well and Move Your Audience
ARTISTRY
Having a great voice with perfect vocal technique is terrific, but most audiences don’t pay to hear perfect vocal technique. They come to a performance or buy a song because they want to feel something- they want to be moved.
The ability to move an audience is what distinguishes an artist from someone with a great voice who, though they may sing technically well, is not yet an artist.
Artistry is the ability to always be absolutely in the moment, believing every word you are singing, with absolute control of a voice that responds readily to every emotion.
How do you reach that level of artistry?
You need to personalize the song. Even if you did not write the song, you should be able to sing it as if every thought came from your own heart and soul. Singing is not just making beautiful sounds and coming in on time.
A great singer is also a convincing actor! Often, singers who have spent years developing their vocal technique tend to ignore this equally important...
How to Sing Well in Different Vocal Styles
MUSICAL THEATRE STYLE
Musical theatre singing today runs the gamut from the classical or legit style required for The Phantom of the Opera, to the rock style of Rent, to the more traditional vocal styles in musicals such as Oklahoma and Carousel. The two main delineations in musical theatre are legit and belt singing styles.
Belt Musical Theatre Style: This style of singing is brighter, chestier and more forward; belt has been termed a skillful yell.
For healthy singing, don’t belt higher than the first bridge; developing a robust mix can make you sound like you are belting, but without the vocal trauma associated with a high belt. To discover your belt voice, vocalize on hey and yeah.
In belt, the larynx is higher than the neutral, speech level position. The tone quality is bright and brassy, with lots of twang. Singers feel a sympathetic vibration in the mask or front of the face, with a balance of chiaro (bright) and oscuro (dark) tones, leaning toward a...
How to Sing Authentically in Any Vocal Style
Contemporary music includes a great deal of style cross-over. Many country artists sound like pop singers, pop artists need to be able to riff soulfully like R&B singers, and musical theatre contains every element of style from classical (legit) to gospel and even rock.
Acquiring the musical elements of divergent styles of singing will enhance any singer’s style and make them more versatile.
Some of these elements include:
- Vocal timbre. Tone color varies dramatically from one style to the next; the use of vocal colors (sometimes called resonance) can be a big factor in whether or not a singer sounds authentic in a particular style. The resonant, pure, low-larynx sound of classical singing for example, although beautiful and impressive, is entirely inappropriate for pop or rock singing, which uses a much more conversational or speech-like quality.
- The vertical positioning of the larynx affects timbre. A low laryngeal position produces a darker vocal timbre. While we...
The Importance of the Speaking Voice for Singers
“Silence is a source of great strength.”
“Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.”
Lao Tzu
Average Speaking Range
Did you know that when you talk you are speaking on musical pitches? For speaking, the vibratory cycle is approximately:
Men: 110 cycles per second (Hz) (of course this varies and can be higher for tenors or lower for low basses).
Women: 180-220 cycles per second (Hz).
Children: 300 cycles per second (Hz).
The average speaking range drops with age; the average male at age 51 speaks around 110 Hz, and males at age 21 speak around 130 Hz. The average female at age 51 speaks at around 174 Hz; at age 21 she speaks at around 196 Hz.
Of course, smoking and alcohol abuse will drop these numbers significantly. For a great example of this, listen to comedienne Lucille Ball’s voice in the early 1940s as opposed to the 1960s. Cigarettes and alcohol caused almost an octave drop in her speaking voice!
Weightlifters (male...
Rehab for Damaged Voices- How to Fix Vocal Problems
1. Rest
Rest and sleep are essential for singers to maintain vocal health. Lack of sleep produces edema or swelling of the tissues.
This means that, as the singer, unfortunately, you must skip the after-show party and go straight home to bed. If you want to preserve your voice, you must make rest a priority. This includes vocal rest- if you are rehearsing or performing you need to limit the amount of time you spend speaking during the day.
Think of having a limited vocal budget. The voice is not a machine- you can use it safely for only a certain number of hours per day and then you are cashed out. If you are singing a lot or singing loudly, you have even less cash in reserve.
Pace yourself. Use your voice as little as possible on the days you have a performance. Give yourself a vocal rest day after performances, and at least one day a week. Don’t talk or sing all day.
Sound difficult? So is recovering from surgery!
2. Hydration
Drink two quarts of water per day, until...
Vocal Problems and What to Do About Them
“The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.”
Lao Tzu
Some singers believe that hoarseness is just part of the life of a professional singer. You can expect to be vocally tired after a long performance, but ongoing hoarseness might be a sign of vocal issues.
A singer who experiences hoarseness for longer than two weeks, or any of the other indications of vocal trauma listed below, should schedule a visit to an ENT or otolaryngologist to be scoped- (undergo stroboscopy, preferably rigid stroboscopy) before continuing with lessons or singing engagements.
The most common result of vocal trauma is vocal fold lesions. Vocal fold lesions are noncancerous (benign), abnormal growths within or along the covering of the vocal fold.
Lesions are thought to arise following overuse or traumatic use of the voice, including speaking at an improper pitch, speaking excessively, screaming or yelling, or using the voice excessively while sick, or singing with poor...
Singing Better with Flow Phonation
The term flow phonation is used to describe a way of singing that feels effortless. It can have the effect of un-pressing the vocal folds. In the beginning stages of flow phonation study, airflow is increased and the volume is very low.
More advanced students learn to increase volume without extrinsic muscle activation.
Flow phonation can enable singers to generate maximum sound with minimal effort. When breath flow is correct, the vocal folds automatically provide adequate resistance. Even when dynamics, and thus airflow, change to meet the requirements of the music, adjustments are made without engaging extrinsic muscles.
Flow phonation encourages chiaroscuro– the balance of bright and dark resonances- because it produces more of the higher harmonics in the voice source spectrum.
Flow phonation is considered healthy phonation because it requires low subglottal pressure and thus is unlikely to result in vocal damage. It requires a lower closed quotient (the percentage of...
Sing Better with Staccato
STACCATO
Staccato: with each sound or note sharply detached or separated from the others.
Legato: sound is produced in a smooth, connected, flowing manner.
Singing Staccato exercises is a great way to find vocal balance.
When singing staccato, we use the "silent H" onset.
The silent H is midway between the inefficient hypo-adducted breathy onset (which allows excess air to escape); and the adducted onset or coup-de-glotte.
The silent H encourages a healthily balanced onset with no breathiness.
Efficient breath management in singing is all about creating a balance between air pressure and the vibrating vocal folds. This balance is not static, but shifts constantly to meet the demands of vocal styles, volume, and intensity.
Staccato helps singers find this balance while developing better appoggio; staccato both requires and also encourages good appoggio.
Appoggio is expanding the lower torso with the breath, then slightly firming the lateral oblique and transversus...
Singing with Balance: Balanced Registration
PARAMETER SEVEN: BALANCED REGISTRATION
In skill-building with the previous six parameters of vocal balance, we develop balanced registration, our ultimate objective.
Most untrained singers are stronger and more efficient in either the lower or the upper register. Most untrained singers do not bridge or transition smoothly in the correct area between the registers.
Through vocal training, we create new neuromuscular responses by vocalizing on a series of sequential skill-building exercises. Our goal is to develop balanced registration.
With balanced registration, the lower register and upper registers sound equally strong, with a smooth transition between the lower and upper register. There is one unified, consistent, powerful vocal sound throughout the entire voice.
If you would like to learn more about your voice AND learn to sing from home for less than you probably spend for lattes every month, check out our amazing YOU can Sing Like a Star online subscription...
Author
Tricia Grey, MM
Author, Founder of Sing Like a Star Studios
Tricia Grey, MM, founder of Sing Like a Star Studios, LLC, has a world wide clientele of successful singers of Broadway and Musical Theatre, Pop, R&B, Jazz, Rock, and Country. The purpose of this blog is to pass on the wealth of information gathered in over 40 years of professional singing, teaching and research. She has written two books: YOU can Sing Like a Star, and YOU can be a Successful Voice Teacher. Both are available as online subscription courses with over 600 recorded exercises set to fun and inspiring contemporary music.
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