is being a good singer knowing how to exaggerate?

[samal50]

I think with acting, this is the case; to act a certain way you normally wouldn't regularly, to exaggerate. With singing, I think "acting" with voice, is the key? Maybe I'm not explaining it better but I hope someone gets the idea here. A lot of what I consider great singers seem to fit what I am describing (Teena Marie, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, etc). These are singers. There are vocalists and there are singers. While the studio recordings sound great, some of these great singers do lip sync just from watching their live performances. Lips sync is more of a pop music thing if they have to dance around.

[Ben Woodward]

Actually I don't think so. I think a good singer knows how to communicate and express an emotion, whether that be subtly or exaggerated. I don't think a singer should be exaggerating all the time.

 

Check out Stanislavski. I'm a fan of this method, whereby you are not told to act a certain way you normally wouldn't but to understand the story, the people involved and the reasons for communicating the song to a particular person.

With these points, you don't simply act as happy, sad or angry, etc, but you have a purpose for delivering a message and you are taking an action to get something you want.

 

 

 

 

 

[samal50]

Curious about breathing techniques, seems like each line or phrase of the lyric one must learn to inhale as to not sound or feel as if running out of air when going on to the next vocal phrase or line.

[davie]

Curious about breathing techniques' date=' seems like each line or phrase of the lyric one must learn to inhale as to not sound or feel as if running out of air when going on to the next vocal phrase or line.[/quote']

 

In order to inhale breath without sounding like your grasping, you need to achieve a breath that feels deep and low within the body and also make sure your body posture isn't compromised. Another issue that causes singers to run out of breath is the stacking of breath pressure, exhaling the remaining breath at the end of each vocal phrase is just as important.

[samal50]

I would think exhaling is when the vocal phrase is sung? Seems like the inhaling part is something needs to be worked on?

[highmtn]

@Rookie,

 

The singing voice is used to convey emotion and meaning with a combination of pitch manipulation, melodic imitation of the human voice when emoting, and facial and body language.

 

It's not so much that you exaggerate the emotions or pitches, but more that you emulate them and "feel" them so that they come across as genuine.

 

I am a firm believer in keeping songs in the original key whenever possible, because part of the emotion of the song will be altered if you drop the key down by a half-step or more. When we speak with emotion, whether it be when we are crying, begging for mercy, shouting in anger, laughing, whatever it is, we hit certain notes and melodies with our voice that tell the listener "I'm MAD!" or "PLEASE DON"T LEAVE ME!" or "WHY DO YOU TREAT ME THIS WAY", or "I'm so lonesome I could cry" and on, and on. The pitches we hit tell the story. A good song takes the pattern of crucial speech modulation as a model and extends the duration of the syllables for stylistic effect and mimics and portrays out most important moment in song. Our emotive speech, our shouting, and our crying are encoded in a way that tells the listener how we are feeling and what the intensity of that feeling is. That is why we really like listening to someone who "sings with feeling". We are receiving the message clearly.

 

When we drop that key down or modify the melody or change the dynamics, we are changing the way the song makes people feel when they hear it. Like it or not, that's what happens on a base, gut, emotional level. For REAL. When you drop a song down, you drop the emotion down with it.

 

That's why when we hear Mariah Carey up at the top of her range, we are CONVINCED that she's feeling what she's telling us. She ain't fakin' it is what our mind tells us. It's that way with all music. That's why great composers set orchestral pieces in the KEY they write a symphony in . Because it SETS THE MOOD. The Melody sets a mood. Minor, major, diatonic, whatever, those things match the moods and the melodies of how we communicate with one another at the most important and meaningful levels.

 

Yes, we have to do songs in the key we can actually sing it in, but please be aware that you are playing with fire, or more likely pouring Water on the FIRE when you wimp out and drop the key of the song. If you want to give it a real sense of urgency, take a tough song and bump it UP a key or two. If nothing else, when you drop it back down to the original key, it will be a walk in the park.

 

Bob

[kickingtone]

I would think exhaling is when the vocal phrase is sung?

 

Much of it is, but not all. It is easy to underestimate the importance of exhalation. Personally, I think that exhalation involves better timing than inhalation. Inhalation is very quick and simple, exhalation is slower. (Listen to somebody snoring, you'll get the idea.)

 

A decent analogy is a sponge or mop. For them to clean efficiently, you must be able to wring them out efficiently. That is where most of the effort is. The lungs are the same. When you exhale, you are wringing out the pollutants from your respiratory system. Exhaling incompletely, recycles pollutants -- mainly CO2..Volume and purity of air are equally important in preventing breathlessness.

 

So, without overdoing it, you should be aiming to adequately empty your lungs before taking the next breath. Some of this will happen automatically during a phrase, but the phrase should not dictate how far you go.

[kickingtone]

When we drop that key down or modify the melody or change the dynamics, we are changing the way the song makes people feel when they hear it. Like it or not, that's what happens on a base, gut, emotional level. For REAL. When you drop a song down, you drop the emotion down with it.

 

I think interpretation is partly instinctual and partly learned, and highly subjective and cultural.

 

Changing a song, changes its expression. The effect would vary according to the listener.

 

[davie]

I would think exhaling is when the vocal phrase is sung? Seems like the inhaling part is something needs to be worked on?

 

Depending on the length of the vocal phrase, you need to exhale the remaining breath in your lungs, especially for shorter phrases. Some classical singers use a method called a "cough-off" to get rid of the leftover air. In my opinion, complete exhalation has a strong connection to proper inhalation. There is a trick based on this idea that I use to find a deep and relaxed breath. Simply perform a hiss until you COMPLETELY run out of air. Once you reach that point, your body's natural reflex automatically draws in a very deep and relaxed inhalation breath. As a result your rib cage should expand considerably. This may help you establish the proper feeling.

[angel75]

You really need to check out this book! This take on singing will clarify this for you - especially in the wow factor! I was recommended by a friend of mine to read it - fantastic book for beginners and only $5.00. But deals with everything from your mindset to the core fundamentals of voice - all explained in easy to follow, plus you get a bunch of free tutorials. It also teaches you to get to know your voice and understand what it can do.. If you're at all interested, here's the link: http://www.amazon.com.au/Voice-Factor-Shower-Stage-Steps-ebook/dp/B00PG8QPHS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1416046005&sr=1-1&keywords=the+voice+factor

Or you can search for it under amazon.com under The Voice Factor.

[1001gear]

Wunnuh my band directors once told the group, "Nuance is the art of making subtlety obvious."

 

Or vice versa.

 

 

or some variation thereof...

[samal50]

Every time I sing in the shower I just sound so good but not the same story when NOT in the shower. Just OK I guess. Something about the vocals in the shower just "ride" so well from vowel to vowel as if there was reverb...

[1001gear]

Reverb and delay were invented because guitarists kept electrocuting themselves.