When
you listen to many famous singers you will
notice that each one has their own unique tone
that sets them apart from other singers.
Even if two singers the same song they would
not sound alike, because each of the singers
have a different tone, timbre, and pitch.
Every singer interprets a song differently,
putting an emphasis on the various parts of
the song�s story, giving the song a
distinctive feel that evokes a wide range of
different emotions.
The Importance Of Clear Articulation
Many singers are faced with the challenge of
articulation that can eventually become a
crucial strength or fundamental part of their
own unique signature sound.
Lead singer of Sixpence None the Richer and
vocal coach Leigh Nash is well know for having
a clear, breathy innocent articulated vocals,
she knows the power that articulation plays in
successfully telling the song�s story, and
she has some reliable advice for addressing
the issues that are associated with
articulation that will ensure that a song is
delivered successfully.
The problem is that singers become use to the
way that they sing, and without anyone else listening
to them there is no one to correct them. This
is exceptionally true with regards to
articulation. If you do not have a vocal coach
then you should record yourself singing, and
then carefully listen back to the recording as
critically as you can, but don�t be to
critical. You want to make certain that you
can hear the words that you are singing
clearly.
Get Rid Of Distortion
A lot of singers get so caught up in their own
emotions and then begin to jumble or slur
their words, concealing them beneath belts and
tears that cause distortion that is
distracting.
Poor articulation while singing creates the
same problem that causes miscommunication when
you are not articulating properly during a
simple conversation.
Singing Like You Would Normally Talk
The main problem with articulation
when singing is that a student will try to do
something totally different when she or he
sings from the way they normally talk. As an
example they will begin doing odd things like
making big movements with their mouths,
believing that this enable them to articulate
and sing better. They attempt to punch or push
out the words when all they have to do to
properly articulate freely while singing is to
sing just like they talk.
Don�t Over-think How You Should Sound
Often times singers really over think how they
should sound rather than just trusting their
instincts that come from a strong desire to
communicate the song�s message�.
I teach my students to sing the works just
like they would normally speak them. I
believe that the audience is much more
connected to the singer if what the audience
is hearing is words that come strait from the
heart, as opposed to over thinking or any
showing off.
Sing Open Vowels After Closed Ones
There are other issues that come up even when
a student is singing like he would speak, one
of the issues is that some students tend
to be overly animated.
Large movements combined with opening up your
mouth to wide can cause problems. Singers
frequently open their mouth for the vowel A,
thus creating tensions that pushes their chest
voice up higher and higher. One way to get
around this problem is to try to sing open
vowels after closed ones. For example, just
before the vowel A, say OO.
Tone
For some singers, tone can be challenging and
problematic. Singing to nasally can be a huge
concern for some singers.
If you are a singer that is having problems
with tone, specifically a nasally tone it is
because you are pushing your tongue to far
back against the roof of your mouth or soft
pallet creating too much tension in your
throat. When you give it some thought and can
really visualize it, you will realize why your
tone is to nasally, you are not creating
sufficient resonance to produce a solid, pure
tone. It takes some getting used to, but
visualizing what is going on in your nasal
passages and throat is half the battle.
Finding The Correct Balance
A lot of students have a problem with a
breathy tone. Students believe that they can
improve their singing by modifying their tone.
For example, students believe that they can
sing very low or very high if they add
breathiness to their tone. It is a fact that
this has the exact opposite effect, and makes
it even more difficult. A quick tip that you
can use to avoid sounding breathy when you
sing is to do exercises by putting the
consonant G sound just before the vowel, like
G-OO for example. The G sound causes your
vocal cords to come together. When the vocal
cords come together, it gets rid of the
breathiness. In order, to avoid an excessively
nasal sound, you can do exercises that lower
the larynx, exercises like singing,
mum-mum-mum-mum, or lip rolls. You can
exaggerate the low larynx tone, if you have an
excessive nasally tone, the whole idea is to
find correct balance between the two.
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