Three Directions We Must Focus On as Singers!
Depending on where you’re at in your journey as a singer, you may be stuck and you’re not really sure why.
Perhaps you’ve got years of experience as a rock singer with complete mastery over style, however, you’re not able to tackle more challenging songs as your technique is limited.
Or maybe you have an amazing technique - you can easily hit the high notes and sing at any volume without losing the quality of tone - but you’re a jack of all trades and a master of none.
Then again, you may have complete mastery over your style and technique but have never stopped to consider your personality, and how that may not suit what you are singing. Perhaps this is why you don’t have an ‘x-factor’.
So, the 3 main categories we need to look at are:
- Technique
- Style
- Personality
These three areas are continuously informing each other. It takes an incredible amount of self-awareness as well as input from well-trained experts.
What I mean is this - if you believe yourself to be a certain type of singer and are doing the same things over and over again without exploring other ideas, then you're lacking self-awareness.
This is a huge frustration of mine as a voice coach!
My friends produced an amazing album that I believe would've been very marketable, except they didn’t change the way they sang.
Musically, I believe they matched some of the chart topping artists at the time, but they were never going to compete vocally with the likes of Brandon Flowers and Dan Reynolds.
My friends had mastered the pop-rock genre, and their personalities matched the way in which they wrote and performed music, however, their technique let them down.
The truth of the matter is that all three categories need to be considered simultaneously!
So the question is - what’s the next step for you?
Depending on where you're at personally this will differ, however, I will take a look at a “style specific” issue.
- For Style: Determine what you do best (even if you believe that to be singing nurses rhymes to children) and find an entry-way into a new style that’s not too far from where you are.
For example, if you’re a male classical singer who wants to sing R & B, then this is a HUGE shift from your current senses.
I would recommend singing some of Josh Groban’s pop- heavy material. Once you have a handle on that material you’ll be able to migrate to some older pop like Billy Joel.
From Billy Joel you can work into a song like ‘Uptown Girl’ and from Uptown Girl you can start to access Motown.
Once you’re in the Motown world, you're looking at the grandfather of a lot of modern-day Pop/R & B artists.
The main idea is that you can move from genre to genre whilst your body adapts to the new rhythm you’re continually up against.
This is true for both Male and Female singers.
As a classical singer who has developed rhythmically, all of a sudden your style is better informed and even if you remain as a classical singer, you will be far better off.
Over to you. Have a think about what area you’re lacking in, and do something about it.
Until next time.