Singing is turning into an international phenomenon (well...it always kind of was!) But if you have seen programs such as American Idol and Britain's Got Talent and any of the similar heaps of shows like them, no doubt you've realized that most of us human beings adore the sound of the singing voice! The action of singing is inspiring, exhilarating and liberates you from the boredom of our daily routines for short and marvelous seconds when we can express ourselves using our entire bodies culminating in the sounds of our voices.
But how do you sing, exactly? Should you wish to sing pop songs or rock music or learn
how to sing opera or blues, would you study the same things? What about being a back up singer or an acapella vocalist? You will find loads of numerous styles and genres and they all seemingly make their own specific demands on the voice.
Could there really be a "worldwide" vocal practice that ties in with most styles of music? The fact is that many of the nuances of a given style of music depend on the voice operating a certain way. If you're a jogger, for example, you cannot be expected to lift hefty weight loads like a weight lifter and he can't be expected to manage a race! A similar type of parallel resides in singing.
Still great running technique is still vital for ALL runners just as good singing technique is critical for ALL vocalists. Personal variations in physiology and the way we perceive our voices makes it crucial that we experiment with the sounds of our voice to discover precisely what gets results and what doesn't.
A thing I've come across during my professional performing career is the fact that top level vocalists in nearly every style of music were classically trained at one point in their lives. Classically coached means that they were instructed by a skilled opera singer and learned and performed classical and opera repertoire (songs) with their instructors. Much like cross-training and weight lifting will let you succeed in practically every sport, classical singing technique can carry you through any style with a firm foundation.
The explanation for this is that operatic technique is grounded in study on the human voice along with a lot of practical teaching and performance expertise throughout hundreds of years. The concentration of classical technique isn't to make everybody sound like an opera vocalist but to present the basis of free vocal functioning. This carries over in to any style you may want to sing.
One of the primary rules pertaining to how to sing opera is always keeping a low larynx. This is neglected by too many singers and keeps them from singing beautifully. The larynx is just yet another name for the adam's apple or voice box and it should remain in a somewhat low, secure position at all times. You can feel the larynx sink down if you yawn with your hand on your throat. That low position is where it has to remain in the course of singing although you may relax it in between phrases. Plus it should stay in this location on all notes, low and high.
If you can take care of that one concern, you will end up a leg up on nearly every singer in just about every style of singing. A few things that happen once you successfully lower the adam's apple consistently is that your voice will become significantly louder, warmer, more rounded, more in tune and simpler to operate. This is the way the muscles of the voice were MEANT to function but undoing we have as requires a bit of time. reset the positioning of the larynx and consistently learn to keep the larynx low, you'll be pretty amazed with how your voice comes out. And you'll certainly appreciate how difficult it is to perform opera, even if you never end up doing it yourself!
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