July 2015

Sing Like an Angel (Soft and Beautiful!)

It’s relatively easy to have a full sound when singing loud. But what happens when we need to sing a phrase softly? In most cases the voice becomes more or less “airy”, to the point of losing completely its identity. You can barely recognize who is singing anymore!

Why does this happen? The way most untrained singers sing softly, is by becoming somewhat passive: they stop supporting the breath, and as a consequence the placement is gone and the pitch drops. They don’t realize that when you sing softly, the same (if not more) amount of energy is necessary to keep the sound full and the voice placed correctly.

My wife and I direct a choir together. She is the conductor, while I focus more on warm-ups and vocal training of our singers. Last month our community hosted an international event, and the choir was scheduled to perform some music. Most of the songs were very deep and powerful, but rather inward, with very few loud passages. During the warm-ups I emphasized a lot the importance of keeping the sound full while singing softly, and I came up with an exercise that proved effective:

1. Choose a note in a comfortable area of your range

• Sing that note at a regular volume (not too soft, not too loud), and hold it for a few seconds.
• As you hold it, relax your throat into a more and more comfortable position, but make sure to keep the volume steady. You’ll notice that, in order to do that, you have to very actively engage your diaphragm and belly muscles

2. Now sing that same note

• Start at the same volume as before
• Relax the throat and make sure to engage your diaphragm and abdomen as much as before
• Now go gradually softer in volume, but keep your abdominal area totally engaged, to ensure breath support
• Hold the placement in the same spot in your throat. If you let your placement “fall back”, you will notice your sound become airy, which is what we’re trying to avoid.

If this is done correctly, your sound shouldn’t change while you sing softer and softer. I find it helpful to visualize where my voice is placed, and to mentally hold it there when I sing softer.

When you’ve mastered this technique, you will be able to go from loud to soft and back to loud without losing anything of your sound. You can end a song fading out to zero, thus creating a sense of suspense and upliftment. You will simply have many more expressive tools at your disposal, to make your singing richer and more inspiring. Something to look forward to!

___________________________________________________________________________

Singing Course: 50% OFF!

“Never before was I able to reach my upper range without tensing. After this course, I’m finding my voice is much more relaxed which makes singing way more fun! Thanks Ramesha!” — D.D., Los Angeles, CA