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YOUR
REAL VOICE - the vocal ezine for real people
March 4, 2007
#36
FEATURE EDITORIAL
Now
What Do I Sing?
This
is part 2 of our last article on learning to sing your OWN version of a
song in your OWN voice. Here's the edited version of the reader
comment that started all this:
"I don't feel that I have a version of the song to present that is my
own. All I hear in the song is what is familiar to
me. I heard the voice (from the recording) and thought it was a
voice I could duplicate. When I sing my version, are you
saying that I am free to change the places where the emphasis is put,
and to change the breaks, etc, as long as I stay with the music?
I realize I was about to set myself up to work against my anatomy and
to hinder my ability to really create and connect with the song.
So where do I start?"
If you took the challenge from YRV #35 and learned to sing the plain
versions of some practice songs, you are now ready to begin working on
a version that is your own. In our reader question, she asks "Am
I free to change the places where the emphasis is put, and to change
the breaks, etc, as long as I stay with the music?" YES!
Absolutely! THAT is exactly where you start. Can you hear
in your mind what you would like to add to the song beyond the plain
version? If you already can hear in your mind what to add, just
go for it and add in or change what you want and experiment with it
over and over until you like it and feel that you can flow easily
through the song.
If that last sentence leaves you feeling terrified, GREAT! If you
are like most of my students, you ask "HOW do I DO that?!?!?! I
don't have any idea what to sing!" Great! You are ready to
begin finding your own voice by carving out your own style. It's
really rare that singers know automatically what to sing to improvise
without any work at it. This is NOT a singing skill that comes
automatically to almost anyone! Even if you've heard a lot of
other singers do it, to do it without copying anyone really takes focus
and attention, but that's the only way to get good at it. Focus
and attention on your own sound, from your own mind, is the only way to
get to your OWN voice at all.
If you're not sure what to sing, change one line at a time. Just
like the original question suggests, change the places where the
emphasis is put, change the breaks, change a few words by singing their
notes a little higher or a little lower. Follow any instinct you
have and you will start to notice that gradually it will begin to flow
more easily. As long as you stay with the music and the beat,
whatever you are doing will work. If it feels good to you, even
better! Keep working on a line at a time until you build up to a
whole verse, then a whole chorus, then eventually the whole song.
Then keep singing the song all the way through changing it every
time. You may have to sing the song through twenty or thirty
times making up your own version every time before you begin to feel
like you've got it. That is completely normal! To get to
the point that you have really carved out your own sound and your own
style, you will have to do this hundreds of times. That's one of
the great things about this exploration. You already love to
sing, so you are going to do it anyway. What better way is there
to experience the joy of singing than to sing in your own voice and
really know that it is your own?
If you have questions about this article, please email us at info@sing-in-tune.com
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REAL VOICE is the best vocal e-zine for real people! It is a
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Contact Athena by e-mail at info@sing-in-tune.com
or learn how to sing
perfectly in tune at her web site at www.Sing-In-Tune.com
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