Recently I started taking vocal lessons, and it's been an interesting journey so far. I realize that I am just at the beginning, but I am seeing some immediate effects. And they remind me very much of therapy.
For example, I noticed that in an attempt to create volume I have a habit of pushing my voice. Not necessary! There is an effortless way of creating volume, and it sounds heaps better too. Now I have started applying this lesson to other areas of my life. Why would I push sh*t uphill when there most likely is an effortless way of doing it? Sh*t doesn't belong on hills anyway.
In another example I noticed that I am not using my facial muscles enough to control the sound coming out of my mouth. In other words, my face remains expressionless while I sing causing the delivery to be a bit flat. Ever since realizing this I keep checking whether I am wearing my mask or whether I am allowing emotions to show on my face and elsewhere in my body. In other words, am I communicating for real or am I posing? Songs are about communication and taking risks. So is everything else!
A third great example is about trusting my voice. If I am on pitch it is because I am trusting my ears to guide me. If I wander off-pitch, it's because I try to control the voice with my mind. Again, this is the old struggle between following my intuition and second-guessing myself, between 'I can do anything' and 'I will suck if I don't try hard enough'.
I had already realised that if I want to write great music I had to be in this effortless, openly communicating and intuitive space. Or at least as close as I manage to get to it. It's reassuring to see that the same principles also apply for great singing and, of course, a great life in general.
On another note, I think price-wise singing lessons and therapy are on a par too. That's why singing lessons are better bang for your buck: They come with therapy built-in. I haven't heard many therapists singing...
Peace out
Over the last 10 years I have taught myself all of these things, most of them came to me while recording and listening to myself either on playback or in real-time;
ReplyDeleteI find listening to a mic feed through headphones while you are singing changes they way you deliver, probably because you can hear past your teeth and get a third party perspective on what you are doing. This will either make you feel extremely self conscious and your voice less controlled or will give you invaluable inside knowledge on what you actually sound like allowing you to leverage your voice.
I have been told that I use my voice very expressively, although its not completely conscious I know at this point that it has a lot to do with how I use my face. No matter what you do with your voice it will always sound 'monotone' or insincere if your face isn't reflecting emotion. This also, I find, comes naturally when you stop shying away from it.
I won't go into the other two techniques you mentioned (although the same can apply to them)as I may or may not convey the bad habits of an untrained vocalist, but maybe, just maybe I was able to teach myself how to sing convincingly because I was raised by a therapist?
I forgot to mention;
ReplyDeletethe reason moving you face is important is that your face is directly attached to your mouth. anyone with a contact mic knows that the direct sound from your vocal cords isn't very interesting and that your mouth is required to shape the tones into intelligible and aesthetically pleasing sounds. If you think of your mouth as a puppet then your face holds the strings. As an exercise I would recommend over accentuating every word while singing. This can help you relate your face to what's coming from your mouth. However for an expressive singer juxtaposition is very important. A quick shift from quiet to loud or from mumbled to an unnecessarily clear and stark delivery will create the kind of contrast that not only displays clear and hopefully raw emotion but will create a character and as a performer that's what you should be. So don't underestimate a good mumble either.
Thanks Marcel, this is very helpful. It is amazing how setting my facial muscles in motion helps the delivery (shape and tone etc) and feels quite liberating at the same time. Some face movements feel like over-accentuating, almost grimacing, but I know they are not. I watched a video of myself and noticed that when I felt quite animated, it actually looked very natural.
ReplyDeleteGood points you made about creating contrast, too.