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Most people will sing freely without paying attention to what their voice sounds like. To create a polished and professional sound, it’s all about control in the details. The hard onset, also called the glottal onset or hard attack of a note can really make your voice stand out from the rest. There is a gap between the two vocal cords (folds), which is called the glottis. The vocal cords open and close like a curtain. The ligaments and muscles…
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Last week we looked at an overview of four approaches to singing and a more in depth look at the coordinated onset. We are going to discuss the aspirate onset, also called the breathy approach to singing. The aspirate onset is a way to sing a note in a soft approach. It is the breathy singing voice like Marilyn Monroe. This is a fancy way of saying that you start with an “h” sound. The aspirate vocal onset happens when…
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The last blog briefly talked about four approaches to singing: coordinated, aspirate, hard (glottal) and vocal fry. Today we will look at the coordinated onset. The most important fundamental technique in singing is that of a coordinated onset, also called the balanced onset. The onset is how you start a note or phrase: the beginning of sound. It is the coordinated onset that gives you a clean start to initiate your sound. A coordinated/balanced onset occurs when the vocal folds…
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There are three basic approaches to singing a note and one special method called vocal fry. These approaches when singing a note are called the vocal onset. Vocal onset is the way you initiate a pitch or how you begin to sing a note. How you initiate a pitch effects the quality of your sound throughout the musical phrase. The four vocal tone onsets are: For most singers, the coordinated onset is encouraged. The coordinated onset creates a well-supported note…
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Polyrhythms are a way to achieve a particularly ambitious sense of rhythm, which layers one type of rhythm on top of another. For instance, a salsa percussion ensemble may feature congas and bongos playing 4/4 time, while the timbales concurrently play a pattern in 3/8. This creates a dense rhythmic collaboration. The emphasis is on syncopation and asymmetrical rhythmic patterns. Polyrhythms originated in African drumming and they’ve spread to all sorts of genres worldwide, from Afro-Caribbean to Indian, Rock, Jazz,…
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Stage fright happens to most people, it just varies in degrees. Any singer or pianist will tell you their experiences of stage fright before or during a performance. Actors, public speakers and musicians have all encountered that dreaded fear. It is a nervousness before or during a live performance in front of an audience. Here are some ways to overcome the fear. Remember, no one ever gives a perfect performance. It is ok to make mistakes, just be natural and…
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A cadence for piano is different than a cadence for singing. For piano, a cadence is referring to a sequence of notes or chords, giving a sense of resolution or closure. When referring to voice, a cadence has to do with the modulation of a voice. This is the fine-tuning of a singer’s pitch or tone. For a singer, a cadence is also the way your words flow when singing. It involves the rhythm in which you sing and the…
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What does it mean to have vocal control when you are singing? Vocal control is having the ability to sustain notes without wavering, the ability to move from low to high smoothly, pitch control, controlling the dynamics (loudness and softness), belting, vibrato. The key to all of this is breath and diaphragm support. Vocal control is powered by breath and the muscles you use to support the exhale. Let’s begin with breath, air pressure and diaphragm support which are the…
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Every hit song needs a hit voice to sing the song. To have a hit voice takes work trying to cultivate that distinct and different sound. There are many factors that go into creating your own sound. It doesn’t just happen it takes time along with trial and error. Any music lover can recognize the distinct voice of Christina Aguilera, Barbara Streisand, Marvin Gaye, Whitney Houston or Billy Joel. Creating a distinct voice involves tone, delivery, emotion, sentiment, style and…
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No matter what you do, you should always be original, be yourself. Whether singing a song, playing the piano or any other instrument, put your stamp on the song. Being original is being true to yourself and not conforming to what is expected. To be original takes innovation, you need to bring something different to the table that others do not. Never deviate, or give up on what you are passionate about. The music industry if a tough business and…
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