Contents at a Glance Introduction... 1 Part I: Exploring Singing Basics... 7 Chapter 1: Preparing to Sing...9 Chapter 2: Determining Your Voice Type...17 Chapter 3: Aligning Your Body for Great Singing...27 Chapter 4: Breathing for Singing...39 Chapter 5: Toning Up the Voice...57 Part II: Improving Your Singing... 71 Chapter 6: Acquiring Beautiful Tone...73 Chapter 7: Exploring Resonance...83 Chapter 8: Shaping Your Vowels for Clarity...93 Chapter 9: Exercising Consonants for Articulation...103 Chapter 10: Crafting a Practice Routine...115 Part III: Advanced Techniques to Improve Your Voice... 127 Chapter 11: Developing the Parts of Your Singing Voice...129 Chapter 12: Expanding Your Vocal Flexibility and Range...153 Chapter 13: It s a Cinch: Belting Out Your Song...165 Chapter 14: Training for Singing...187 Chapter 15: Finding the Right Voice Teacher...199 Part IV: Preparing to Perform... 209 Chapter 16: Selecting Your Music Material...211 Chapter 17: Mastering a New Song...221 Chapter 18: Acting the Song...239 Chapter 19: Confronting Your Fear of Performing...249 Chapter 20: Auditioning a Song...259 COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
Part V: The Part of Tens... 277 Chapter 21: Ten Performers with Good Technique...279 Chapter 22: Ten Frequently Asked Questions about Singing...283 Chapter 23: Ten Tips for Maintaining Vocal Health...289 Chapter 24: Ten Tips for Performing Like a Pro...297 Part VI: Appendixes... 305 Appendix A: Suggested Songs to Advance Your Singing Technique...307 Appendix B: About the CD...317 Index... 323
Table of Contents Introduction... 1 About This Book...1 Conventions Used in This Book...2 What You re Not to Read...3 Foolish Assumptions...3 How This Book Is Organized...3 Part I: Exploring Singing Basics...4 Part II: Improving Your Singing...4 Part III: Advanced Techniques to Improve Your Voice...4 Part IV: Preparing to Perform...5 Part V: The Part of Tens...5 Part VI: Appendixes...5 Icons Used in This Book...6 Where to Go from Here...6 Part I: Exploring Singing Basics... 7 Chapter 1: Preparing to Sing....................................9 What You Want to Know Right from the Beginning...9 Determining your voice type...10 Locating the notes on the staff...10 Considering posture, breath, and tone...12 Developing Your Singing Voice...12 Working the Different Parts of Your Voice...13 Applying Your Technique...14 Having Fun...15 Chapter 2: Determining Your Voice Type.........................17 Sifting through the Ingredients to Determine Your Voice Type...17 Identifying the Fab Four...19 Highest range of the dames: Soprano...21 How low can she go: Mezzo...22 Highest range of the dudes: Tenor...24 He s so low: Bass...25
x Singing For Dummies, 2nd Edition Chapter 3: Aligning Your Body for Great Singing..................27 Evaluating Your Posture...27 Creating Correct Posture...29 Feeling grounded on your feet...29 Engaging your legs...31 Releasing your hips...32 Lengthening your spine...33 Balancing your head and shoulders...33 Releasing Tension...34 Letting go of tension in your upper body...34 Opening space in the head...35 Walking with ease...36 Projecting confidence through posture...37 Chapter 4: Breathing for Singing................................39 Breathing Basics...39 Inhaling to sing...40 Exhaling to sing...40 Posturing yourself for breathing...42 Practicing Inhalation...42 Opening your body...43 Breathing, slow and steady...47 Catching a quick breath...48 Practicing Exhalation...49 Blowing in the wind...50 Trilling for exhalation...50 Recognizing resistance and suspending the breath...52 Testing Your Breath Control...53 Releasing abs and then ribs...54 Singing slowly...55 Chapter 5: Toning Up the Voice.................................57 Defining Tone...57 Creating unique tone...57 Identifying factors that affect tone...58 Considering tone, pitches, and notes...59 Flexing Your Singing Muscles...59 Discovering your own bands...60 Making the first sound...60 Dropping the jaw...61 Putting your larynx into position...62 Matching Pitch...64 Sliding up and down on pitch...65 Developing muscle memory...66 Recording yourself and singing along...67 Releasing Tension for Better Tone...68 Checking for neck or jaw tension...68 Bouncing the tongue and jaw...69
Table of Contents xi Part II: Improving Your Singing... 71 Chapter 6: Acquiring Beautiful Tone............................73 Creating Tone...73 Starting the tone...74 Creating back space...74 Coordinating air with tone...75 Sighing your way to clarity...76 Releasing Tone...77 Inhaling to release tone...77 Letting your throat go...77 Sustaining Tone...78 Connecting the dots with legato...78 Trilling the lips or tongue...78 Working your breath control...79 Finding Your Vibrato...80 Moving from straight tone to vibrato...80 Imitating another singer s vibrato...81 Chapter 7: Exploring Resonance................................83 Good Vibrations...83 Exploring your resonators...85 Ringing it out...86 Eliminating Nasality...87 Getting the feel for soft palate work...87 Coordinating your soft palate and tongue...88 Moving air through the nose...89 Debunking Common Misconceptions...90 Misconception: Tone resonates in your sinuses...90 Misconception: You have to place every tone in the same location...90 Misconception: You re supposed to keep your tongue completely flat...91 Misconception: You need to open your mouth as wide as possible...91 Misconception: The more forward the sound, the better...92 Misconception: You have to smile to stay on pitch...92 Chapter 8: Shaping Your Vowels for Clarity......................93 Getting Your Backside into Shape Back Vowels, That Is...94 Exploring the shape of back vowels...94 Lipping around your back vowels...96 Singing the back vowels...97 Mastering the Front Vowels...97 Exploring the shape of front vowels...98 Speaking the front vowels...99 Singing the front vowels...100
xii Singing For Dummies, 2nd Edition Chapter 9: Exercising Consonants for Articulation...............103 Saying Voiced and Unvoiced Consonants...104 Making Tip Consonants...105 Shaping tip consonants...105 Singing tip consonants...107 Making Soft Palate Consonants...108 Shaping soft palate consonants...108 Singing soft palate consonants...109 Working Lip Consonants...109 Shaping lip consonants...110 Singing lip consonants...111 Working Combination Consonants...112 Shaping combination consonants...112 Singing combination consonants...113 Chapter 10: Crafting a Practice Routine.........................115 Knuckling Down to a Practice Plan...115 Getting Answers to Your Practicing Questions...116 Where should I practice?...116 What s the best time to practice?...117 How long should I practice?...117 What do I need besides my voice?...118 Warming Up...119 Stretching to warm up your body...119 Warming up your voice...121 Exercising Your Voice...122 Picking exercises that work for you...122 Breaking it down...123 Practicing Correctly...124 Recording yourself...125 Applying information and exercises...125 Using the CD to practice exercises...126 Part III: Advanced Techniques to Improve Your Voice...127 Chapter 11: Developing the Parts of Your Singing Voice..........129 Finding Your Middle Voice...130 Noting your middle voice range...130 Singing in middle voice...131 Checking Out Your Chest Voice...134 Zeroing in on your chest voice range...134 Feeling your chest voice...135 Aiming High with Head Voice...136 Finding your head voice range...137 Feeling head voice...138
Table of Contents xiii Let s Hear It for the Boys: Figuring Out Falsetto...139 Discovering your falsetto...140 Experiencing your falsetto...141 Making a Smooth Transition...144 Maneuvering in and out of chest voice...144 Transitioning in and out of head voice...146 Mixing It Up...148 Make the most of your mix, man...148 Get into the mix, gals...149 Chapter 12: Expanding Your Vocal Flexibility and Range.........153 Tactics for Tackling Register Transitions...154 Working On Your Range...155 Taking your range higher...155 Varying the dynamics...156 Moving between registers...157 Taking Your Agility to New Levels...158 Moving along the scale...158 Picking up the pace...159 Skipping through the intervals...160 Improvising for a Better Pop Sound...161 Mastering patterns in pop music...162 Singing pop riffs with chords...162 Chapter 13: It s a Cinch: Belting Out Your Song..................165 Playing around with Pitch...166 Talking to yourself...167 Chanting and speaking...167 Finding your optimum speaking pitch...168 Increasing your speaking range...169 Using body energy to find clarity of tone...170 Defining Healthy Belting...171 Comparing belt and chest voice...172 Knowing your limits as a beginner belter...173 Noting the difference between the sexes...173 Coordinating breath and energy...175 Preparing for Belting...175 Speaking in a mix...175 Calling out to a friend...176 Moving Resonance to the Front...177 Exploring vibrations of resonance...177 Being bratty to feel resonance...178 Combining Resonance and Registration...178 Increasing your belt range...179 Belting up the scale...180 Advancing Your Belt...180 Sustaining belt sounds...181 Exploring different vowels...182
xiv Singing For Dummies, 2nd Edition Belters and Belt Songs You Should Hear...183 Male belters...183 Female belters...184 Belt songs...184 Chapter 14: Training for Singing...............................187 Defining Training Requirements...187 Crooning as a country singer...187 Jazzing it up...188 Making your mark in musical theater...189 Performing pop-rock...190 Opting for opera...191 Showing your range with R&B...192 Training to Sing at Any Age...192 Recognizing differences between young singers and teens...193 Developing long-term technique in teenagers...194 Understanding that voices change with age...194 Training with a Choir...195 Enjoying the benefits of singing in the choir...196 Singing in the choir versus going solo...197 Chapter 15: Finding the Right Voice Teacher....................199 Searching for the Best Voice Teacher...199 Finding a prospective voice teacher...199 Identifying what you want...200 Interviewing a prospective teacher...201 Knowing What to Expect from a Teacher...205 Feeling good when you leave the lesson...205 Working with imagery and other tools...206 Applying tried-and-true singing methods...206 Knowing What to Expect from Yourself...207 Developing your own practice process...207 Avoiding overworking your flaws...207 Making Your First Lesson a Success...208 Part IV: Preparing to Perform... 209 Chapter 16: Selecting Your Music Material.....................211 Choosing the Song...211 Finding songs at your level...211 Determining the appropriate key for you...216 Selecting a suitable song style...217 Singing to your strengths...217
Table of Contents xv Shopping for Sheet Music...218 Finding retail outlets...218 Downloading sheet music...219 Flipping through compilation books...220 Checking out music at your local library...220 Chapter 17: Mastering a New Song............................221 Tackling a Song in Steps...221 Memorizing the lyrics as text...222 Tapping out the rhythm...223 Singing the melody (without the words)...226 Putting words and music together...227 Using Vocal Technique in Your New Song...228 Giving voice to vowels...228 Backing into phrases...229 Breathing heavy: Fogging up the windows...230 Changing the tone for each section...232 Using Musical Elements to Create Your Arrangement...233 Comparing songs...234 Articulation...235 Dynamics...235 Tempo...235 Using vocal variety...236 Style...236 Accompanist...237 Chapter 18: Acting the Song...................................239 Seeing the Song As a Story...239 Chatting it up before you sing...239 Musical responses...240 Accounting for interludes...241 Exploring Character...241 Characterizing your character...242 Discovering your character s motivation...243 Planning actions to get something done...244 Getting Physical...244 Figuring out where to focus...245 Gesturing appropriately...246 Movin and groovin with your song...248 Chapter 19: Confronting Your Fear of Performing.................249 Facing the Symptoms...249 Alleviating Anxiety through Preparation...250 Practicing well...251 Playing to your strengths...252
xvi Singing For Dummies, 2nd Edition Managing your thoughts...252 Getting up the nerve...253 Building performance focus...253 Performing to Build Confidence...255 Devising a game plan...256 Evaluating your performance...257 Chapter 20: Auditioning a Song................................259 Tailoring Your Audition for Any Venue and Any Style of Music...260 At the opera...260 Onstage at the theater...261 In the club...261 On television...262 Choosing Audition Songs to Highlight Your Strengths...263 Showing versatility...263 Connecting with the lyrics...264 Avoiding the wrong audition song...265 Preparing the Music...266 Choosing the key...267 Making the cut...268 Marking the music...269 Rehearsing with an accompanist...270 Bringing a recording...271 Nailing the Audition...272 Doing your prep work...272 Dressing in the right outfit...273 Knowing who will attend the audition...274 Greeting the audition accompanist...274 Acting at the audition...275 Preparing mentally...276 Part V: The Part of Tens... 277 Chapter 21: Ten Performers with Good Technique...............279 Kristin Chenoweth...279 Linda Eder...280 Renée Fleming...280 Faith Hill...280 Michael Jackson...280 Toby Keith...281 Beyoncé Knowles...281 Elvis Presley...281 Anthony Warlow...282 Stevie Wonder...282
Table of Contents xvii Chapter 22: Ten Frequently Asked Questions about Singing.......283 Is Belting Bad?...283 What Should I Do If My Voice Feels Off?...283 How are an Accompanist, a Coach, and a Voice Teacher Different?...284 If My Voice Is Scratchy, Do I Have Nodes?...285 Do I Have to Be Big to Have a Big Voice?...285 What s the Best Singing Method?...286 Do I Have to Speak Italian to Sing Well?...286 Can I Have a Few Drinks Before the Performance to Calm My Nerves?...286 Why Can t I Eat Ice Cream Before I Sing?...287 How Long Will It Take Me to Learn to Sing?...287 Chapter 23: Ten Tips for Maintaining Vocal Health...............289 Identifying Everyday Abuses...289 Incorporating Healthy Speech into Your Singing...290 Knowing When to Seek Help...291 Staying Hydrated...292 Getting Plenty of Shut-Eye...292 Making Sure That You re Well Nourished...293 Preventing a Sore Throat or Infection...293 Medicating a Sore Throat...294 Protecting a Sore Throat...295 Keeping Your Emotional Life in Check...296 Chapter 24: Ten Tips for Performing Like a Pro..................297 Rehearsing to Beat the Band...297 Wearing the Right Ensemble...298 Finding Your Stance...299 Singing with a Piano, Organ, or Band...299 Making Your Entrance...300 Roping in Your Audience...300 Ignoring That Mosquito...301 Handling Those Hands...302 Using the Mic...302 Taking Your Bow and Leaving the Stage...303 Part VI: Appendixes... 305 Appendix A: Suggested Songs to Advance Your Singing Technique...307 Classical: Ten Songs for Soprano...307 Classical: Ten Songs for Mezzo...308 Classical: Ten Songs for Tenor...308 Classical: Ten Songs for Baritone or Bass...309
xviii Singing For Dummies, 2nd Edition Musical Theater: Ten Songs for Soprano...309 Musical Theater: Ten Songs for Mezzo...310 Musical Theater: Ten Belt Songs for Women...311 Musical Theater: Ten Songs for Tenor...312 Musical Theater: Ten Songs for Baritenor...312 Musical Theater: Ten Belt Songs for Men...313 Country: Ten Songs for Women...314 Country: Ten Songs for Men...314 Pop-Rock: Ten Songs for Women...315 Pop-Rock: Ten Songs for Men...315 Appendix B: About the CD....................................317 System Requirements...317 Track Listings...318 Troubleshooting...322 Index... 323