Tag: singing lessons

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Sounding your best: Optimising songs for your voice

There’s a quote attributed (incorrectly) to Albert Einstein:

“If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live the rest of its life thinking it’s stupid.”

While Einstein appears not to have been the one to coin this phrase, and while this quote can often be misapplied, the underlying sentiment is an important one when it comes to getting the best out of your voice.

Make sure the song itself is not leading your voice astray

When we sing songs we are judging both our version of the song, but also our voice. Which means that if the song doesn’t best suit our voice, we will forever be disappointed in what we can do.

Perfect song choice is so case-by-case that it’s hard to give generalised advice, so I won’t try to. However, almost any song can be adjusted to work better in someone’s particular voice. Often the difference between sounding awful, decent, or even great, is just down to key choice. Even subtle key change can radically transform how the song feels to sing.

But a key that’s too high/too low (often by even just one semitone), will often leave us disheartened and frustrated by how “off” our voices feel and sound. This is especially true for those who sing in bands, where key choice is imposed upon them. And very often in bands, other musicians simply don’t appreciate how critically important key choice is can be. Continue reading “Sounding your best: Optimising songs for your voice”

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Shouting Masquerading As Singing: Reasons why so many singers are just yelling

DISCLAIMER: This article is not simply going to be another example of an old man yelling at a cloud.
Old man yells at cloud

It’s also not going to be a discussion around me staring into the middle distance and yearning for the “good ol’ days“.

But I will put it bluntly

There is an epidemic of shouting masquerading as singing, at least to my mind and my ear. And today I want to talk about why.

Over the years
To begin with, I’ve lost count of the number of events where every singer was just yelling their guts out. I’ve even seen singers step away from the microphone to show how loudly they can bellow their lyrics – it’s part of their performance piece. I’ve seen performers get gigs for not much more reason than they can belt notes louder than their peers. I’ve even been singing as part of a group, where when someone starts yelling their part, people think that equates to a more emotional performance.

What exactly is causing this? And what are the highest quality singers actually doing that sets them apart from some that might be accused of yelling?

Before we judge such singers too harshly…
… are there reasons behind why many resort to yelling? Are there tripwires that cause some singers to miss out on the path to higher quality?

I’m not for a second looking to justify or exonerate bad singing, but I also want to be clear that the voice has its complications. It would therefore be remiss to not discuss some of the physiological factors at play in this trend. Continue reading “Shouting Masquerading As Singing: Reasons why so many singers are just yelling”

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Learning to Riff: Why most people find it hard & why it can be easier than you think

I was having a conversation with a client recently about riffing: what it is, why it’s useful, and why it seems difficult to many.

For the ease of discussion let’s say that anything that extends the melody beyond the original for dramatic/musical effect is a ‘riff’, and that riffing is therefore the act of extending the melody in such a way.

I’d say that most singers want to get better at riffs/riffing, but that they find it hard to do. I’d also say that a lot of singers who think they are good at riffing are not as good as they think they are, and typically repeat the same old basic tricks over and over. But why is it hard to do? And could it be made easier?

The simple answer is yes, but there’s some important logic and understanding behind that answer. Let’s break it down. Continue reading “Learning to Riff: Why most people find it hard & why it can be easier than you think”

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What most singing teachers get wrong about teaching voice, and reasons why

Many of my voice clients have had past coaching before ever starting with me.

This is fairly normal. Like with any subject worth learning, we start with someone accessible, then we move forward to coaches appropriate to our improving level over time.

As I receive these more serious and technically advancing clients who have moved through various coaches, I get some insight as to the good and bad attributes of the other coaches out there.

In this article, I wanted to talk about the slightly contentious topic of: what (I think) a lot of voice coaches and singing teachers generally get wrong about teaching voice, and the reasons why. Continue reading “What most singing teachers get wrong about teaching voice, and reasons why”

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Descriptive vs Prescriptive Teaching

We had a workshop yesterday, and one of the participants commented on how they had once been told by a singing teacher to “put the sound in *THIS* cavity” accompanied with a finger pointing to somewhere in the head. The main reason he brought this up was because of how unclear and confusing that language was, so I thought it was worth talking about descriptive vs prescriptive teaching.

Descriptive Singing Instructions

If you’ve ever had a singing lesson, or looked online for singing videos, there’s no way you’ll have escaped the weirdness of such instructions. “Put it in the masque”, “make it brighter”, “the sound should open downwards not outwards”, “sing from the diaphragm”, “don’t sing from the throat”, “gain strength from your knees”, and other such gems. At least one of these statements I’d even agree with, in the sense that I also feel this when I sing, so they’re not “wrong” per se, they’re just not helpful. Continue reading “Descriptive vs Prescriptive Teaching”

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Do I have to sing in chest voice?

“I was wondering whether I HAVE to sing in chest voice? I feel like when it’s only chest voice it’s a bit monotone and lacking variation”

Many students ask or wonder this when they first start with the technique and approach that we utilise in lessons. Just for a bit of context, often these kinds of singers are capable in their originals or own artistry, but it’s important to note that such singers are relatively fledgling in their vocal development. Continue reading “Do I have to sing in chest voice?”