Practice makes a man perfect! Most people believe in this saying, and maybe this is the reason for their success. Nobody is perfect on this planet, but their hard work and determination make all the difference. According to Siobhan McFadyen, whether you are a sports players or a singer, practice and right technique are the ingredients for success.
So, here are five singing techniques to improve your sound:
Belting
Belting is one of the most popular vocal techniques in pop music and musical theatre. In the belting technique, a singer is taking the chest voice (where you speak) into a higher register than normal, creating a very powerful and exciting sound!
If you want to learn this technique, it is advisable to hire a teacher because in most cases, beginning belters end up hurting themselves when they forced to make the desired sound. You can take belting as an “extended, belly laugh” or as a “controlled yell.”
Falsetto
Falsetto is a popular vocal technique where an individual sings outside of the “normal” range. In most cases, it results in a “breathy” sound when coming from an untrained voice. However, there are a number of singers who have made careers out of it – you can explore them on the internet!
This is one of those singing techniques where a beginning singer can go into trouble if they are not light enough in their approach.
Therefore, it is advisable for the singer to be patient while studying falsetto and it is better to hire a teacher who can help you. You can start with simple exercises like slides and sirens to explore your range.
Riffing
Riffs and runs are known as vocal melisma. It takes some serious musicianship to perform them. The riffing is one of the popular forms of vocal improvisation, which takes a lot of practice.
The famous singer Siobhan McFadyen believes that the best way to master riffing is to start small at first.
Start embellishing an easy song – even as simple as a nursery rhyme! In the beginning, you can add just one additional note to one word. Once you build confidence, you can add another note, and then you can add another easy pattern to an additional word.
Vocal runs are especially popular in gospel and R&B styles, but the roots of melismas are actually in classical music. Singing with support and excellent articulation is a way to master this vocal technique.
Rock Yells
Rock Yells is one of the popular singing techniques. Many new singers wanted to know if it’s possible to scream or yell in a healthy way for hard rock and heavy metal. The answer is yes, but you must hire a good voice teacher who can make you an expert in this singing technique!
While you are giving the impression of yelling, a healthy yell is quite different. Real yelling may cause phonotrauma (where the cords bang together at a fast rate and can ruin your voice). The trained rock yell is more like belting, where you are depending on serious lower body support more than anything else.
You can protect your cords and can deliver much stronger sound by putting the focus on the lower body. A singer can pair this with the technique of “vocal fry” or in other words- the “creaky door” sound. And can deliver rough yell sound while being safe at the same time.
Country Yodeling
Don’t even compare this fun singing technique with corny Swiss folk songs as it goes way beyond corny Swiss folk songs. Bluegrass and country singers can benefit greatly from mastering this skill.
Yodeling is a type of singing where there are repeated and fast changes of pitch between two vocal registers: the head voice and the chest voice.
To improve the yodeling skills a good voice teacher is required. In the process of improving this skill, one can start with simple interval drills to get this big sound out in a healthy way!
Bottom Line
Siobhan McFadyen says, with the right technique and passion anyone can achieve success. So, if you have a passion for singing, it is advisable for you to follow these techniques and steal the heart of the audience.
