Singing 101

In its most rudimentary form, singing is simply the process of opening your mouth and intonating lyrics over a melody. For many singers, that’s ok — there doesn’t need to be more to it than that. But, if you plan to get on stage or record in a studio, you’ll need to step up your game.

Two of the main ingredients needed to create a great performer/performance are: the ability to communicate, and technical perfection. You can get by with one or the other and be a good singer, but it's the marriage of these that will make you great.

Have you ever heard a singer hit every note perfectly, but still left you kind of wanting? Or perhaps you saw a dancer nail the moves, but the performance was still lackluster. This is what happens when technique overshadows communication.

On the flip side of that, have you ever seen a performer who wasn't overly proficient but you understood what they were saying and, even though they had pitch issues or problems with range, they moved you? This is what happens when communication overshadows technique.

We need both sides of this coin to round out our singer and get a truly believable performance.

Your job is to use your instrument to weave a story for your audience. You want them to get caught up in the thoughts and emotions that you create and, if you do it correctly, they might become contemplate or even weep with joy.

Let's take a more in-depth look, then, at each of these abilities.

TECHNIQUE

Imagine you're building a house. What do you want it to look like? How big will it be? How many rooms?

How many windows? What types of floors? These are all important questions! You want your dream house to look exactly the way you envision it. When people look at it, you want them to say "Now that's a mighty fine looking house Joe built". They see the culmination of your ideas laid out in a way that's pleasing and makes sense. What they don’t see is what's underneath — the structure and foundation.

Technique is the support system that allowed the house to be built. It is the foundation that everything else sits upon. With a strong foundation and structure, Joe built his house to last.

This is true for the voice as well. A solid technique allows a singer to explore all that their instrument has to offer. It involves an understanding of the vocal instrument and the correct ways to play it and keep it healthy.

COMMUNICATION

Good communication is the ability to share thoughts, information or ideas from one person to another in such a way that that each fully comprehends what the other is saying.

As an example, imagine you're home with friends and, unbeknownst to you, a fire breaks out.

One of your friends casually walks up to you and says "Hey. I think the house is on fire." You wouldn't be very inclined to do anything about that, would you? Chances are good you'd look at the person and wonder what in the world they're talking about or believe it to be some odd, ill-fashioned joke.

On the other hand, if someone ran up to you and yelled "The house is on fire!!"

That would probably prompt you to get out of there, fast!

For a singer, this is no different.

Many singers often miss the mark here. When they sing, they focus on hitting the right note or creating a fantastic riff; their attention is on how good they think they sound and on how their vocal ability will impress their audience. In doing so, the singer fails to communicate with his audience.

As mentioned above, communication requires at least 2 people. The person speaking / singing / communicating is doing so for the benefit of the listener. As soon as they start focusing on themselves, they stop communicating and, invariably, lose their audience.

Learning how to properly communicate a lyric is the difference between singing a song and owning it.

WRAP UP

Technique and communication are two-sides of the same coin. Developing both will give you ultimate control of your instrument and, when that happens, the sky's the limit!

TERMINOLOGY

1. Intonate - to pronounce or articulate (continuous connected speech) with a characteristic rise and fall of the voice

2. Melody – these are the sequence of pitches that make up the song

3. Lyrics – these are the words you sing over the pitches

For more information on singing or communication, check us out at www.cmacjmusicgroup.com.

Keep Singing!

CM Jones

Craig M. Jones is a professional singer, musician, songwriter and vocal educator with over 30 years’ experience in the entertainment industry. He has performed locally and internationally, as both a singer and percussionist, with such notables as Orange Then Blue, Stan Getz and Walter Beasley. A member of The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M), he strives to blend his knowledge of health and wellness into a cohesive vocal technique to both develop and support all musical styles and genres.

*The A4M is a not-for-profit medical society dedicated to the advancement of technology to detect, prevent, and treat aging related disease and to promote research into methods to retard and optimize the human aging process. A4M is also dedicated to educating physicians, scientists, and members of the public on anti-aging issues.