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It helps to understand how all the pieces fit together and what is going on inside your body when you sing is amazing. Singing is the air flow from exhaling breath as it passes over the vocal cords. The air flow causes the vocal cords to vibrate and the sound is the made louder and modified by the resonance spaces located in the mouth, throat and behind the nose. There are three basic elements to produce sound when singing: air…

To put emotion into your singing or playing piano, you must feel the emotion yourself. Whether it’s joy, sadness, longing, pain, love, etc., you must feel it in order to release it to others. For a singer or pianist, it could be the music or the lyrics that draws you in or it could be both. Have you ever listened to a song and the music moved you. Then you found out what the lyrics were saying and thought “wow,…

What exactly is the melody of a song? Melodies are the most memorable and important part of any song. A melody is a sequence of single notes creating a musical idea often referred to as the tune. For instance, the song “Happy Birthday To You” is a memorable melody; it is the main idea of a song. The melody can also be amazing guitar riffs or a catchy chorus. Melodies are crucial in every form of music. A really good…

When putting a song together you need some basic elements. An Artist will have their own unique way of expressing the song and the way they want to structure the song. Many singers write their own songs and don’t play an instrument, they create the lyrics and melody. While others songwriters create songs with a beat or an instrument like a piano or guitar. Music training is not a must for songwriting. There are a few basic elements needed to…

The mark of a weak singer is lack of control, weakness and feebleness in their voice. To improve your singing voice, you must have solid support for your singing. Having a solid support system when you sing let’s you produce clear and solid notes without any wavering. To be an excellent and strong singer you must have vocal support! A solid vocal support system consists of a combination of things. First, you must have good posture, a hunched back or…

Choosing the right style of music to sing or play (on the piano or any other instrument), all depends on the individual. I’ve learned over the years if a client does not connect to the music, they are not going to put 100% into it and they will not practice. Many artists have been put into a genre box to fit what the label wants to produce. Through that process the artist will lose their passion and excitement for the…

There are a few key ingredients needed to achieve vocal perfection. Everyone can tell the difference between a good singer and a great singer. There are common traits that great singers have in common who have achieved vocal perfection. The pitch, emotion, technique and confidence are the perfect combination to create vocal perfection. Some singers are born with great pitch while others have to work at training their ears to listen and make sure the notes are correct. It is…

A great vocalist or pianist doesn’t have just one genre they stick to strictly. An impressive characteristic of a great singer or pianist is that they are versatile and can adapt to suit different styles of music. These artists are able to cross over to other genres of music by having an in-depth understanding of vocal technique and music theory. They use their arsenal of techniques and knowledge. Keeping up to date on the latest techniques and daily practice is…

Singing style is all about producing a variety of vocal techniques to create musical sound with your voice. There are different styles of singing, but good basic technique is the same regardless of the style. But each genre has different facets for the vocal style. The foundational techniques are posture, soft palate, tongue placement, diaphragm & breath support, smoothly transitioning from one vocal register to another, and training the ear to sing on pitch. Building a good, solid vocal foundation…

A chord progression is a series of chords played in sequence (in a specific order) for musical composition. The chords used in a chord progression will depend upon the key that the song is in. Every singer, pianist (musician) and songwriter needs to understand chord progressions. Chord progressions are usually expressed in Roman numerals, for example I-V-vi-IV (which is 1-5-6-4) which is a common progression. So if this sequence of chords were played in the key of G major, the…