The Most Common Things That Challenge a Great Singer

                   I always try to be positive, think positively but I also think it’s wise to be aware of the areas you NEED to work on positively.  Therefore, I’ve put together a list of possible “trouble” areas you should check out.  Be honest with yourself.  Check with your teacher, and/or friends and family.  Many of us have trouble being objective about ourselves and this is not me being critical; it is me trying to help each of you “tweak” your performance skills.  Here are the areas for your consideration:

•            BREATHING - This is probably the most dangerous and most invasive problem area.  Of course, every one of my students breathes!  However, what I constantly talk to my students about is “connecting” their breathing to their singing, so that breath is truly the FUEL FOR YOUR SONG.  I’ve made several recent posts with good exercises for learning to “connect” but you have to DO them, and DO THEM REGULARLY to achieve lasting results.  To determine if you are breathing correctly, watching yourself in a mirror while you sing, and be aware of everything you are feeling as you sing.  If you either SEE ANY tension in your neck, if your chin begins to lift at all, if you struggle to get to the end of phrases, if you feel tension in your throat or mouth, or if you struggle to maintain correct pitch, especially at the end of phrases, any and all of these indicate poor breath support.

•            INDISTINCT OR LESS-THAN-STRONG TONE QUALITY - The tone quality a singer should strive for, and that is the healthiest production anyway, is a clear, forward, resonant tone.  This type of production allows a singer to have control over volume, emotion, phrasing, and the tone itself.  When you sing, if you can only produce a thin, reedy sound, or if your tone is too breathy, or soft, you need to work on your tone quality, and ultimately, your breathing, once again.

•            STIFFNESS IN PRODUCTION, EVIDENCED BY LACK OF ENDURANCE, LACK OF FLEXIBILITY OR VOCAL DEXTERITY - The voice should be relaxed, natural, and fluid.   This does NOT mean you need to fill your singing and songs with crazy turns and riffs and alternate melodies.  What it DOES mean is that you should BE ABLE to include a vocal decoration or ornamentation.  If you can’t, this is an area you may want to spend some time and energy on.

•            POSTURE - Check out my recent post on vocal posture.  As I mentioned there, good posture is of prime importance for producing a wonderful vocal sound.  Again, you need to look at yourself and/or have a friend or family member watch you while you sing to determine that you are not slouching or the opposite, puffing out your chest.  More than simply your back shape, posture is about maintaining lower body tension with a relaxed upper body.  This is not as easy to achieve as it may sound; it requires practice!

•            ARTICULATION - Those of you that study with me know how much emphasis I place on correct pronunciation.  Nothing bothers me more than not being able to understand the lyrics of a song as a singer is performing.  It’s maddening, not to mention the fact that proper articulation of vocal vowels can actually HELP and ease vocal production, rather than making it more difficult.  Record yourself singing and ask ANOTHER person (you probably can’t be objective) who is unfamiliar with the song, to interpret your performance of the lyrics.  Obviously, the person doesn’t need to understand EVERY single word but the greatest majority of the meaning should be accurately conveyed.

•            RANGE - Vocal range is the distance from the lowest note a singer can comfortably phonate, up to the highest note that can be easily produced.  This would probably include “chest”, as well as “head” or “falsetto” register, as well as the transitional areas between them.  If your range is limited, this may be a good focus for you to include in upcoming vocal lessons.

•            TRANSITIONAL “BRIDGES”, “BREAKS”, OR “MIXES” - Optimally, the human voice should be ONE voice, bottom to top.  HOWEVER, rarely do individuals “naturally” sing seamlessly from the bottom to the top of their range, and vice versa.  Usually, one register of their voice (in most cases, the “chest” or “belt” voice) is much stronger than another, which then causes a “break” between these registers, and a very noticeable difference between the tones produced for the two distinct areas.  Required, REGULAR, and FREQUENT vocal practice is necessary to smooth out these discrepancies, and obviously, it is of primary importance to work with your voice teacher in order to determine the location of the “break(s), and specific vocalises to practice at home and in your car, in order to develop your “mix”.

•            PHYSICAL HEALTH - Many people don’t realize that singing can and should be pretty physically demanding.  I don’t mean singing is physically “demanding”; singing requires disciplined, “controlled” breathing and muscle control to produce consistent, healthy tone throughout an entire song or songs.  Because of this truth, it really is incredibly important to get and keep your body in pique physical condition.  This might include things from getting sufficient sleep and water, to eating in a healthy way, getting good aerobic exercise, and avoiding smoking.  You might consider taking a good multi-vitamin.  You need to be careful about “cheering” too hard at sporting events or concerts; you need to avoid too much “partying” with alcohol or recreational drugs.  Honestly, a big component of good physical health is just common sense, thinking ahead.  Check out the earlier posts on “Keeping Your Voice ‘Singing’”, what you need to know to keep your voice healthy when you’re traveling, as well as what to do when you’re sick.  You really need to treat your voice as your “treasure”, as the first thing you’re going to protect.  An example of this would be wearing a scarf around your throat on a windy day or avoiding speaking if you’re outside on a really cold day.  Always try to think pro-actively about caring for your voice.

•            SELF-ESTEEM - Believe it or not, a positive self-esteem is incredibly important to a performer.  You may not realize it but an audience can always sense when something is wrong.  No, they probably won’t know WHAT is wrong but they will realize that everything is not right, and that really causes the performance to be flawed and less than it could or should be.  In late May and June, I posted an entire program on creating, building, and maintaining a healthy self-esteem through self-realization.  It’s a pretty “weighty” program but well worth the time and effort it requires, if you struggle with lower self-image issues.  Vocal performance requires the singer to feel amazingly vulnerable, exposed, and “naked”, if you will.  It is a very daunting task, and without a secure self-image, can be too much for an inexperienced performer.  The best DEFENSE is a strong OFFENSE.  Building, strengthening, and even re-structuring a damaged self-esteem, can be an integral tool in shoring up confidence and even vocal technique.

•            DISCIPLINE AND COMMITMENT - Sadly, most singers don’t take “singing” as a “serious” endeavor but the old adage is true, “You get out of life what you put into it.”  Two others I love are, “The person who really wants to do something finds a way; the others find an excuse”; and the Chinese Proverb, “The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step”.  If you wanted to be a brain surgeon, you wouldn’t practice/study for that once a week for an hour.  No, singing is not brain surgery but it’s not NOTHING either.  Think about how much you had to practice walking before you stopped falling down, or riding a bicycle, or ANYTHING ELSE.  ANYTHING you want to do WELL requires practice, and you get out of it what you put into it.  I am always astounded by students who are shocked when they, OBVIOUSLY, don’t practice from one week to the next (usually by their own admission though I can hear it as well), and they don’t understand why they aren’t improving.  Wow!  I’m no brain surgeon but maybe it’s BECAUSE they’re not practicing AT ALL.  Students will apologize to me, which I think is sad.  It’s no sweat off my back.  I still get paid; I can still sing but by not practicing, these students are really shooting themselves in the foot because they’re making it impossible for themselves to improve, and THAT really breaks my heart.  It’s such a waste of money and time, and it’s very unfair to blame anything or anyone other than the students themselves since he or she isn’t investing even a minimal amount of practice time to give themselves a better shot at improvement.  A LITTLE bit of practicing goes a LONG way.

Thanks for reading these!  If you have any other suggestions to add to my list, please send them to me.  If you have questions or comments about me or my lessons, check out my website at www.SingitForward.net.  I’d love to hear from you with comments, questions, and/or suggestions for future blog post topics.  Till then, thanks again and Sing it Forward!