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Overview
Whether you picture yourself as the next Ariana Grande or just feel like picking up a new hobby, Singing For Dummies walks you through the surprisingly straightforward steps you’ll need to take to develop your voice. It’s a practical guide to every important aspect of singing, from vocal techniques to performance tips.
You’ll learn exercises and practice songs that gradually improve your craft and receive instruction on the latest technology and recording devices to capture and play back your songs. Singing For Dummies also shows you how to:
- Understand and use important singing techniques, improve your tone, upgrade your posture, and maximize your breath
- Maintain your voice with preventative self-care that keeps your vocal cords in tiptop shape
- Sing with instrumental accompaniment or with a partner in a duet
Perfect for men, women, boys, and girls, Singing For Dummies is the most intuitive and accessible resource on the market for anyone who hopes to find their voice.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781119842965 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Wiley |
| Publication date: | 11/16/2021 |
| Edition description: | 3rd ed. |
| Pages: | 384 |
| Sales rank: | 431,376 |
| Product dimensions: | 9.10(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.90(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Singing For Dummies
By Pamelia S. Phillips
John Wiley & Sons
Copyright © 2003
Pamelia S. Phillips
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0-7645-2475-5
Chapter One
So You Want To Sing ...
In This Chapter
* Examining the contents of this book
* Exploring what you need to know and when
* Finding out how to use the materials in the chapters
So you're curious about singing. Congratulations on being brave enough
to pick up this book and improve your singing skills. Whatever musical
background and experience you have or don't have, this book has something
to offer you. The book contains great exercises and even a CD that allows you
to hear the exercise and sing along. If you're a beginner, welcome aboard. You
can find out all kinds of cool info about singing in this book. This chapter provides
an overview of all the great stuff that you can encounter in the book.
I Love to Sing! What Singing
Is Really All About
Singing is one of the coolest means of expression out there. If you stop and
think about it too long, singing may not make much sense, but it really feels
good. Singing well is about knowing how to work the parts that create the
sound for singing. The chapters that you encounter in the book outline what
you need to know in just the right sequence. You don't have to read themin
the order written to get what you need. Some of the later chapters may be a
little difficult if you don't have any singing experience. The only way to know
is to jump right in and start reading on whatever topic interests you.
What You Want to Know Right
from the Beginning
Before you choose the date for your first big concert or recital, you want
to find out about singing before you step out onto the stage. The first part
of this book provides you with the big picture. First, you want to get yourself
aligned - that is, line up all your body parts to get ready to sing and then
explore your breathing. Breathing while singing isn't that much different from
how you breathe normally, but you have to take in more air and use more air.
When you get the air flowing, you can explore the tone of your voice.
Correcting posture for a better sound
Posture is important to sing well. If all the parts for singing are lined up correctly,
you stand a really good chance of getting wonderful sounds to come
flying out of your body. Knowing how to stand isn't rocket science, but it may
take a little adjustment on your part. If you aren't used to standing tall all the
time, you may feel a bit awkward at first. Chapter 2 explores posture for
singing.
Knowing the keys to proper breathing
The big key to great singing is knowing how to use your breath to make the
sounds. You may not know how to get much breath in your body and then
make it last throughout a long phrase. If you check out Chapter 3, you can
find all kinds of exercises and explanations of how to work on your breath,
so you can sing those long phrases in your favorite song.
Locating the notes on the staff
Voice types are probably easier to figure out if you know where to find the
notes on a musical staff. (See Figure 1-1 in this chapter.) The treble clef spaces
correspond with the notes F, A, C, and E. Beginning on the bottom of the staff
and going up, it spells face. You can use sentences to remember the other
notes. Again, starting on the bottom line and moving up, the notes on the lines
of the staff are E, G, B, D, and F, letters that begin the words of the sentence,
Every good boy does fine. For the bass clef, the spaces are A, C, E, and G, the
letters that begin the words All cows eat grass or All cars eat gas. The lines in
the bass clef are G, B, D, F, and A, which correspond with Good boys do fine
always. If you prefer animals, then use Great big dogs fight animals.
If I say that a singer's range is Middle C to high C, I have to use ledger
lines to notate those two notes, because they're not within the five-line staff.
Ledger lines are extra lines added above or below the staff for those notes
that are higher or lower than the notes on the staff. When you find Middle C
in Figure 1-1, you can see the extra line added below the staff. The easiest
way to find Middle C on the piano is to look at the brand name printed on the
lid covering the keys. If you find that brand name, the C right in the middle of
that name or just to the left, is usually Middle C.
Middle C is called Middle C, because it's in the middle of the keyboard that contains
88 keys. Middle C is also called C4, because it's the fourth C on the keyboard.
The names of the notes are A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Those notes repeat
over and over on the piano. If Middle C is C4, then the next C above is C5 and
so on. C is the note just to the left of the pair of black keys. The distance
between the two Cs is called an octave. If you start counting at the first ITLITL and
count eight white notes up, you find another C. That means the E just above
Middle C (C4) is E4. Easy enough but not every person you encounter knows
this system, so I stick to what works: Middle C.
You also encounter the words flat and sharp in this book. Flats lower a pitch
one-half step and a sharp raises the pitch one-half step. F-sharp is the black
key on the piano between F and G. The same black key between F and G can
be called G-flat.
Finding your tone and resonance
Vocal tone is important, because you want the best sounds to come out of your
mouth. By exploring exercises on tone, you can make changes to your sound.
People often tell me that they want to change the way that they sound. To
change your sound, you need to know how you create sound. The two chapters
on tone, Chapters 4 and 6, give you quite a bit of information about how to
start a note and then what to do to make the note sound a specific way.
Developing Your Singing Voice
After you have the basic information swimming around in your head, you can
start to work on your singing voice. Chapters 5 through 9 offer you more specific
information about how to create a sound that's unique to you.
Sometimes, singers try to imitate their favorite famous singer. What you want
to do is sound like yourself. Your voice can be just as fabulous as that famous
singer. You just have to practice to develop it.
Determining your voice type
Most singers want a category to belong to. You may have heard of the categories
of singers - soprano, mezzo, tenor, and bass. If you aren't sure which
one applies to your voice, explore Chapter 5. You can find explanations of
what makes a soprano different than a mezzo or a tenor and a bass. You don't
have to figure out your voice type today, but you can explore the chapter so
you know what to listen for as you sing.
Fine-tuning vowels and consonants
A long time ago in grade school, you had to work with vowels and consonants.
Well, you can refresh yourself in Chapters 8 and 9! By making your
vowels and consonants specific, you can make yourself easily understood
when you're singing. You've probably heard someone sing but couldn't
understand a word they said. It's even worse when the song is in English or a
language that you speak. By knowing how to articulate vowels and consonants,
you can create specific sounds that your audience can follow.
Warming up your voice - practice
makes perfect
After you discover all this great information about singing, you need to make
a plan of practicing it on a regular basis. If practicing seems like a foreign concept
to you, check out Chapter 10. The whole chapter is devoted to helping
you figure out what to do when you warm up and how to apply the exercises
that you read about in the book to your daily practice routine. Because you
can explore so much, make a list of what you want to accomplish today and
then add more to that list each time that you practice.
Working the Different
Parts of Your Voice
Your goal is to make your singing voice sound like one smooth line from top to
bottom. Your voice may have a few bumps and wiggles as you work your way
up and down. That's perfectly normal, but help is right at hand. Chapters 11
through 13 work with specific areas of the voice called registers - chest voice,
head voice, middle voice, and falsetto. In these chapters, you can discover
what each part of the voice feels like and what to do with it.
Strengthening your middle, chest,
and head voice - a complete
vocal workout
The first step in the workout for the voice is to find the different registers of
the voice and then notice what each feels like. After you find them, you want
to try and smooth out the transition between the registers. You may find that
your chest voice and head voice feel miles apart. The exercises in Chapters 11
and 12 are designed to help you smooth out the bumps. You may not think the
exercises are easy in the beginning, which is good. I don't want you to be
bored. Even if you've never explored any vocal sounds, you can figure out
these exercises and get your voice in good working order, which just takes
some time and patience.
Working as guys and gals
The exercises in this book are for both male and female voices. In Chapter 13,
you can find some exercises that help either gender and that are unique about
your voice. Guys have a register called falsetto but the girls don't. Don't feel
bad ladies, you can still sing along with the exercises that are for the male
voice. I give you plenty of ideas for working the exercises.
Applying Your Technique
After you explore your technique through the exercises that I provide, you
need to take the next step. Chapters 15 through 19 are about applying your
technique. At some point, you want to apply that healthy technique to songs.
You also want to maintain your healthy technique and a healthy voice at all
times.
What to look for in a voice teacher
Finding a voice teacher can be tricky. After you find the teacher, the experience
can be rewarding. If you aren't sure how to go about finding a teacher,
explore the tips and suggestions in Chapter 15. Finding the teacher may be
the most difficult part. After you answer the questions in Chapter 15, you
have a better idea of what you want from voice lessons.
Choosing appropriate singing material
Finding new songs to sing can be overwhelming. You have so many choices,
but how do you know what works for you? The clues are in Chapter 17. The
lists there offer you suggestions of what to look for and what to avoid when
choosing songs. Whether you want a song to sing for your own pleasure or a
song for a specific function, you want a song that accentuates your strengths.
After exploring the technique chapters earlier in the book, make a list of what
your voice does well. For more suggestions of songs, you can explore
Appendix A for a list of suggested songs for enhancing your singing technique.
The songs cover different styles of music from classical to country.
Feeling comfortable with
the music and text
After you choose the song, you need to know how to decipher and digest
what you see on the page. Listening to a recording can be deceiving, because
the artist may not be singing what's on the page. Look at the page and feel
confident that you can conquer the melody, rhythm, and the text. Don't
worry if you can't read music. You don't have to. You can explore the steps in
Chapter 18 to get you singing the song in a shorter amount of time. You can
take this skill a step further in Chapter 19 and explore acting to combine with
your singing. Sounding good when you sing is great, but you want to sound
good and understand the story behind the music. You don't have to know
anything about acting to explore this chapter. It's all right there for you.
Applying Technique to Performance
After your technique is really cooking, you can explore Chapters 20 and 21
about taking your technique into a performance situation. Performances can
be big or small. Whatever the size of the audience, you want to look like a pro
and feel good about what you're doing onstage.
Overcoming performance anxiety
If your daydreams of singing are clouded with anxiety about singing in front
of an audience, Chapter 20 is just for you. By confronting your fear and taking
charge, you can make progress and let go of the anxiety. You only add pressure
to your performance if you assume that you're supposed to be totally
calm. Many famous performers get nervous before a performance. After
exploring Chapter 20, you know that it's fine to be nervous, but you can still
sing while nervous.
Auditioning for a singing role
So many singers dream of auditioning for a Broadway show that I wrote a
whole chapter about it. Chapter 21 has information for you about what to
expect at the audition, who may be there, what you may have to sing or do,
and how to prepare for the audition. Because an audition for a musical is different
than an audition for an opera, you want to know what's kosher and
what's not.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Singing For Dummies
by Pamelia S. Phillips
Copyright © 2003 by Pamelia S. Phillips.
Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 3
Icons Used in This Book 3
Beyond This Book 4
Where to Go from Here 4
Part 1: Exploring Singing Basics 5
Chapter 1: Preparing to Sing 7
What You Want to Know Right from the Beginning 7
Determining your voice type 8
Locating the notes on the staff 8
Considering posture, breath, and tone 10
Developing Your Singing Voice 10
Working the Different Parts of Your Voice 11
Applying Your Technique 12
Having Fun 13
Chapter 2: Determining Your Voice Type 15
Sifting through the Ingredients to Figure Out Your Voice Type 16
Identifying the Fab Four 17
Highest range of the dames: Soprano 18
How low can she go: Mezzo 20
Highest range of the dudes: Tenor 21
He’s so low: Bass 23
Comparing voice types 25
Chapter 3: Aligning Your Body for Great Singing 29
Evaluating Your Posture 30
Creating Ideal Posture 32
Feeling grounded on your feet 32
Engaging your legs 34
Releasing your hips 35
Lengthening your spine 36
Balancing your head and shoulders 36
Releasing Tension 37
Letting go of tension in your upper body 37
Opening space in the head 38
Walking with ease 39
Projecting confidence through posture 40
Chapter 4: Breathing for Singing 43
Tackling the Basics of Breathing 43
Inhaling to sing 44
Exhaling to sing 44
Posturing yourself for breathing 46
Practicing Inhalation 46
Opening your body 47
Breathing, slow and steady 51
Catching a quick breath 52
Practicing Exhalation 54
Blowing in the wind 54
Trilling for exhalation 55
Recognizing resistance and suspending the breath 57
Testing Your Breath Control 58
Releasing abs and then ribs 59
Singing slowly 60
Chapter 5: Toning Up the Voice 63
Defining Tone 63
Creating unique tone 64
Identifying factors that affect tone 64
Considering tone, pitches, and notes 65
Flexing Your Singing Muscles 66
Discovering your own bands 66
Making the first sound 66
Dropping the jaw 67
Matching Pitch 71
Sliding up and down on pitch 72
Developing muscle memory 73
Recording yourself and singing along 74
Releasing Tension for Better Tone 74
Checking for neck or jaw tension 75
Bouncing the tongue and jaw 75
Part 2: Improving Your Singing 79
Chapter 6: Acquiring Beautiful Tone 81
Creating Tone 81
Starting the tone 82
Creating back space 83
Coordinating air with tone 83
Sighing your way to clarity 84
Releasing Tone 85
Inhaling to release tone 85
Letting your throat go 86
Sustaining Tone 86
Connecting the dots with legato 86
Trilling the lips or tongue 87
Working your breath control 87
Finding Your Vibrato 88
Moving from straight tone to vibrato 89
Imitating another singer’s vibrato 90
Chapter 7: Exploring Resonance 91
Understanding Resonance — Good Vibrations 92
Identifying resonance in different styles of music 92
Exploring your resonators 94
Ringing it out 94
Eliminating Nasality 95
Getting the feel for soft palate work 95
Coordinating your soft palate and tongue 96
Moving air through the nose 97
Debunking Common Misconceptions 98
Misconception: Tone resonates in your sinuses 98
Misconception: You have to place every tone in the same location 99
Misconception: You’re supposed to keep your tongue completely flat 99
Misconception: You need to open your mouth as wide as possible 100
Misconception: The more forward the sound, the better 100
Misconception: You have to smile to stay on pitch 100
Chapter 8: Shaping Your Vowels for Clarity 101
Getting Your Backside into Shape — Back Vowels, That Is 102
Exploring the shape of back vowels 103
Lipping around your back vowels 104
Singing the back vowels 105
Mastering the Front Vowels 106
Exploring the shape of front vowels 106
Speaking the front vowels 108
Singing the front vowels 109
Chapter 9: Exercising Consonants for Articulation 111
Saying Voiced and Unvoiced Consonants 112
Making Tip Consonants 113
Shaping tip consonants 113
Singing tip consonants 116
Making Soft Palate Consonants 116
Shaping soft palate consonants 117
Singing soft palate consonants 118
Working Lip Consonants 118
Shaping lip consonants 118
Singing lip consonants 120
Working Combination Consonants 120
Shaping combination consonants 121
Singing combination consonants 122
Chapter 10: Crafting a Practice Routine 123
Knuckling Down to a Practice Plan 124
Getting Answers to Your Practicing Questions 124
Where should I practice? 125
What’s the best time to practice? 125
How long should I practice? 126
What do I need besides my voice? 126
Warming Up 127
Stretching to warm up your body 127
Warming up your voice 129
Exercising Your Voice 130
Picking exercises that work for you 130
Breaking it down 131
Practicing Correctly 133
Recording yourself 133
Applying information and exercises 134
Using the online tracks to practice exercises 134
Part 3: Advanced Techniques to Improve Your Voice 135
Chapter 11: Developing the Parts of Your Singing Voice 137
Finding Your Middle Voice 138
Noting your middle voice range 139
Singing in middle voice 140
Checking Out Your Chest Voice 142
Zeroing in on your chest voice range 142
Feeling your chest voice 144
Aiming High with Head Voice 145
Finding your head voice range 145
Feeling head voice 146
Figuring Out Falsetto 148
Discovering your falsetto 149
Experiencing your falsetto 150
Making a Smooth Transition 153
Maneuvering in and out of chest voice 153
Mixing It Up 157
Making the most of your mix, man 157
Getting into the mix, gals 158
Chapter 12: Expanding Your Vocal Flexibility and Range 163
Tackling Register Transitions 164
Working On Your Range 165
Taking your range higher 165
Varying the dynamics 166
Moving between registers 167
Taking Your Agility to New Levels 168
Moving along the scale 169
Picking up the pace 169
Skipping through the intervals 170
Improvising for a Better Pop Sound 171
Mastering patterns in pop music 172
Singing pop riffs with chords 173
Chapter 13: It’s a Cinch: Belting Out Your Song 175
Playing around with Pitch 176
Talking to yourself 177
Chanting and speaking 177
Finding your optimum speaking pitch 179
Increasing your speaking range 180
Using body energy to find clarity of tone 181
Defining Healthy Belting 182
Comparing belt and chest voice 183
Knowing your limits as a beginner belter 184
Noting the difference between the sexes 184
Coordinating breath and energy 185
Preparing for Belting 186
Speaking in a mix 186
Calling out to a friend 187
Moving Resonance to the Front 187
Exploring vibrations of resonance 188
Being bratty to feel resonance 189
Combining Resonance and Registration 189
Increasing your belt range 190
Belting up the scale 190
Advancing Your Belt 191
Sustaining belt sounds 192
Exploring different vowels 193
Belters and Belt Songs You Should Hear 194
Male belters 194
Female belters 195
Belt songs 195
Chapter 14: Training for Singing 199
Defining Training Requirements 199
Crooning as a country singer 200
Jazzing it up 200
Making your mark in musical theater 201
Performing pop-rock 202
Opting for opera 203
Showing your range with R&B 204
Training to Sing at Any Age 205
Recognizing differences between young singers and teens 205
Developing long-term technique in teenagers 206
Understanding that voices change with age 207
Training with a Choir 208
Enjoying the benefits of singing in the choir 208
Singing in the choir versus going solo 209
Chapter 15: Finding the Right Voice Teacher 211
Searching for the Best Voice Teacher 211
Finding a prospective voice teacher 212
Identifying what you want 212
Interviewing a prospective teacher 213
Knowing What to Expect from a Teacher 217
Feeling good when you leave the lesson 217
Working with imagery and other tools 218
Applying tried-and-true singing methods 218
Knowing What to Expect from Yourself 219
Developing your own practice process 219
Avoiding overworking your flaws 219
Making Your First Lesson a Success 220
Part 4: Preparing to Perform 221
Chapter 16: Selecting Your Music Material 223
Choosing the Song 223
Finding songs at your level 223
Determining the appropriate key for you 229
Selecting a suitable song style 229
Singing to your strengths 230
Shopping for Sheet Music 231
Downloading sheet music 231
Ordering music books 232
Checking out music at your local library 233
Chapter 17: Mastering a New Song 235
Tackling a Song in Steps 235
Memorizing the lyrics as text 236
Tapping out the rhythm 239
Singing the melody (without the words) 240
Putting words and music together 241
Using Vocal Technique in Your New Song 242
Giving voice to vowels 242
Backing into phrases 243
Breathing heavy: Fogging up the windows 244
Changing the tone for each section 247
Using Musical Elements to Create Your Arrangement 248
Comparing songs 248
Articulation 249
Dynamics 249
Tempo 249
Using vocal variety 250
Style 250
Accompanist 251
Evaluating musical elements 251
Chapter 18: Acting the Song 253
Seeing the Song As a Story 254
Chatting it up before you sing 254
Recognizing musical responses 255
Accounting for interludes 255
Exploring Character 256
Characterizing your character 256
Discovering your character’s motivation 258
Planning actions to get something done 258
Getting Physical 259
Figuring out where to focus 259
Gesturing appropriately 260
Movin’ and groovin’ with your song 262
Chapter 19: Confronting Your Fear of Performing 265
Facing the Symptoms 265
Alleviating Anxiety through Preparation 267
Practicing well 267
Playing to your strengths 268
Managing your thoughts 268
Getting up the nerve 269
Building performance focus 270
Performing to Build Confidence 272
Devising a game plan 272
Evaluating your performance 274
Chapter 20: Auditioning a Song 277
Tailoring Your Audition for Any Venue and Any Style of Music 278
At the opera 278
Onstage at the theater 279
In the club 279
On television 280
Choosing Audition Songs to Highlight Your Strengths 281
Showing versatility 281
Connecting with the lyrics 282
Avoiding the wrong audition song 283
Choosing the key 284
Making the cut 285
Marking the music 286
Rehearsing with an accompanist 287
Preparing the Music 288
Preparing hard copies 289
Taking digital sheet music 290
Bringing a recording 290
Nailing the Audition 291
Doing your prep work 291
Dressing in the right outfit 292
Knowing how to audition online 293
Greeting the audition accompanist 294
Acting at the audition 295
Preparing mentally 296
Part 5: The Part of Tens 297
Chapter 21: Ten Performers with Good Technique 299
Xiomara Alfaro 300
Juan Diego Flórez 300
Lady Gaga 300
Eddie Kendricks 301
Bruno Mars 301
Minnie Riperton 302
Sofia Shkidchenko 302
Meryl Streep 303
Josh Turner 303
Colm Wilkinson 304
Chapter 22: Ten Frequently Asked Questions about Singing 305
Is Belting Bad? 305
What Should I Do If My Voice Feels Off? 306
How Are an Accompanist, a Coach, and a Voice Teacher Different? 307
If My Voice Is Scratchy, Do I Have Nodes? 307
Do I Have to Be Big to Have a Big Voice? 308
What’s the Best Singing Method? 308
Do I Have to Speak Italian to Sing Well? 308
Can I Have a Few Drinks Before the Performance to Calm My Nerves? 309
Why Can’t I Eat Ice Cream Before I Sing? 309
How Long Will It Take Me to Learn to Sing? 310
Chapter 23: Ten Tips for Maintaining Vocal Health 311
Identifying Everyday Abuses 311
Incorporating Healthy Speech into Your Singing 313
Knowing When to Seek Help 313
Staying Hydrated 314
Getting Plenty of Shut-Eye 315
Making Sure That You’re Well Nourished 315
Preventing a Sore Throat or Infection 316
Medicating a Sore Throat 316
Protecting a Sore Throat 318
Keeping Your Emotional Life in Check 318
Chapter 24: Ten Tips for Performing Like a Pro 319
Rehearsing to Beat the Band 319
Wearing the Right Ensemble 320
Finding Your Stance 321
Singing with a Piano, Organ, or Band 322
Making Your Entrance 322
Roping in Your Audience 323
Ignoring That Mosquito 323
Handling Those Hands 324
Using the Mic 325
Taking Your Bow and Leaving the Stage 326
Part 6: Appendixes 329
Appendix A: Songs to Advance Your Technique 331
Beginner Songs for Any Voice Type or Gender 332
Intermediate Songs from Various Styles for Any Voice Type or Gender 333
Intermediate musical theater songs 333
Intermediate pop-rock songs 333
Intermediate country songs 334
Intermediate classical songs 334
Songs to Practice Technical Lessons for Any Voice Type or Gender 334
Spunky songs for practicing articulation and agility 335
Songs with larger intervals to practice smooth register transitions 335
Songs to practice breath coordination and legato phrases 336
Songs to Work on Range and Registers 336
Songs for low female voices 337
Songs for low male voices 337
Songs for higher voices to expand your range for any gender 338
Songs for lower voices to expand your range for any gender 338
Songs for Working Mix, Belt, and Falsetto 338
Female mix songs 339
Songs for working on male falsetto and mix 339
Belt songs for higher and lower female voices 340
Appendix B: About the Online Tracks 343
Recognizing What’s Available: The Track Listings 343
Tackling Any Potential Issues 347
Index 349