By Guest Blogger James Emery Vigh
Lots of people have a good singing voice, but only a small percentage of those people have the kind of voice that people listen to and go “wow!” Just what is it that these people have?
What they have is an instinctual ability to communicate with their singing voice. It’s all about communication.
In opera, a lot of attention is placed on having a great operatic voice. But the premier performers have that extra ability that makes them stand out. They are better actors.
In music theater, the singers are also actors, but are not necessarily singing in an operatic style. The better ones understand that it’s better to communicate than to impress people with their raw ability.
In pop music, the best singers have that “certain something” about them that make you want to listen to them over and over again. These people are also communicators.
Unfortunately, many singers don’t understand this art. They think that if they “screw their faces up” enough, that’s showing emotion, and that’s communicating. It isn’t.
Much of this, I’m quite sure has to do with God-given talent, but I’m convinced that many singers could do better if they could just learn to think differently.
Singers have no trouble communicating their emotions when they talk to people, but when they sing they seem to lose that ability. The answer lies with learning to sing the same way as you talk – with expression.
Most people don’t talk with a flat voice with their arms flat on their sides like robots. Their voices rise and fall, the pitch goes up and down, the styles are smooth or “clipped” — all depending on how they feel and what they want their listeners to understand. To communicate while singing, you must do the same kind of thing.
If you are singing someone else’s music in front of an audience, you are, in effect, acting with your voice and with your body. If you really do feel exactly the same way as the person you are “copying”, that’s all the better, but even if you don’t, your job on stage is to bring out whatever that song is trying to convey to your audience.
Naturally,you want to make the song “your own”, but you still have to do your job.
If you are performing your own original music, you need to figure out how to make your audience feel about your song the same way that you feel about it. But it’s no different with someone else’s music.
You need to learn to listen to a song differently. You can’t just listen to the lyrics, and then try to get the notes right. There is a reason (or reasons) why you are choosing to perform a song in the first place. It’s normally because you like the song. You need to ask yourself why you like the song. What is it about the way that song is sung that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up? You have to find out, then imitate it.
Imitation of other peoples’ styles is the first step towards developing your own style. It is the style — the way that you sing that makes people sit up and listen. You must convey the raw emotion, whatever it is, to your audience.
Remember that music is passion. You must sing and thereby communicate passionately.
James Emery Vigh is an author of guitar method books for adults and children. His current project uses a combination of animation and live action to teach the guitar to kids. For more information, visit http://www.profbruno.com
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