7 Singing Basics for the Beginner

Singing basics.  Maybe boring.  But Essential!

There is a lot of buzz around online singing training.  Tons of online teachers, promises of greatness, easy singing tips, opinions, and arguments.

We have such a unique opportunity to learn more than ever before!  From the comfort and privacy of our own bedrooms, we can get on YouTube and do a search for the problem area we have in our voices and find an answer!

“Sing flat?”

Boom:  Here’s how to fix flat singing!

Want to learn to belt?

Poof: Learn here!

 

What next?

Let me guess… you’ve searched YouTube and been through dozens of singing videos.And while the tips and training sometimes give you a good surprise, you’re not really sure what in the world you’re doing on the whole or what you need to do next.

How do you sift through all of the information out there to find the singing basics, learn some standard language, and what’s relevant to you?

[These canvases were designed by students of Discover Your Voice (and sing happily ever after) Summer Camp]

Having a foundational understanding of the singing basics will help grow your context for making changes in your voice.

Basically, you’ll sing better if you have a clue!

Here’s a quick acronym to help give some simple guidance about the singing basics that you should explore in order to improve your voice- whether its online or in a more traditional lesson format.

Impulse

Nuance

Sound

Posture

Influence

Respiration

Enunciation

Impulse 

Most of us focus on what occurs after the sound leaves our mouths, but singing starts well before that!  Impulse is probably the most neglected area of voice training.

The impulse to sing is many-faceted.  At the most basic level, it’s the desire to sing.  Perhaps it was hearing a song that you love.  Perhaps it’s an emotion that needs to be expressed.  That impulse can set the song free (but it can also be hindered by fear, insecurity, doubt, frustration).

Do you deal with excessive nerves or stage fright?  Understanding the deepest parts of yourself- both physically and even more emotionally- will begin to unravel some of those fears.

The impulse of singing also has to do with the actual auditory process which leads to voicing of the sound.  Sensing of pitch as well as  listening and understanding sound are also part of the Impulse of singing.

Nuance

Ok, so this word is a little bit of stretch, but you have no idea how long it took me to trial and error good acronyms for this!

This category in singing has to do with resonance.  In singing we have to learn about the different spaces through which we send our sound.  I first hear the term “filters” from Elissa Weinzimmer of Voice-Body Connection.  I like to think of resonance in terms of different shapes or colors, hence “nuance”.

Resonance is a broad and oft debated topic in voice land.  But, simply, we can affect the tones we produce by changing the acoustics in our bodies.  It affects beauty, power and style in singing and is much of what makes the voice such an incredible instrument!  Resonance is why you can sing like an opera singer or like a Broadway star!

Sound 

When you are learning about your voice you will spend a significant amount of time making sounds, right?  You need to have understanding of how you are creating those sounds and how those sounds are alike and different and how they are produced.  The real word is “registration”.  Believe it or not, every sound you make is the result of a physical action in your body.

Posture

Good posture is not about forcing yourself into a certain stance when you decide to sing.  Posture needs to be a lifestyle.  Your body is your instrument and you can improve your singing (and your health) by living in a state of balanced posture, not just standing up straight when you sing.

Influence

Music influences us.  People influence us.   As a singer, you are the vessel through which music flows to someone else!  Therefore, you are an influencer!  Your connection to your music, the experiences you’ve had, the expression you use, the communication choices you make, will impact your audience beyond the tone quality of your voice.  It is the uniqueness and the authenticity that you bring to your song that connect people to you.

Respiration

Well, this one is self-explanatory!  In singing, we learn to best utilize our respiratory systems.  It is the fuel for the tone.  Breath creates sound but also aids in power, range, agility, intonation- you name it!  Balanced breathing is essential for healthy singing and the longevity of the singing voice.  It’s kind of a big deal.

Enunciation

The use of language in singing is what sets it apart from any other instrument.  We are the only instruments that have the added benefit of using words to convey meaning!  When we delve into the nitty gritty of forming speech clearly, we magnify the effect of our singing.  Not only is the sound impactful, but the language is understood, which makes the abstract feelings evoked by the music more concrete.

 

Ideally, in each line you sing, there is an ever-shifting awareness and balance between these 7 components of singing.  As you study how to make changes in your voice, learn to isolate the areas that can be isolated so that you simplify what you’re trying to achieve.  Remember that the more specificity you bring to a situation, the more secure you will become.

Once you’ve got the foundations laid, learning how to allow the different components affect and enhance one another is the neverending challenge and joy of singing!