Singing For Dummies

Pamelia S. Phillips is a professional singer, voice teacher, and author. Her voice clients range from beginners to professionals, some of whom have gone on to win Grammy, Tony, and Academy awards. She also wrote all previous editions of Singing for Dummies and Singing Exercises for Dummies.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 3Icons Used in This Book 3Beyond This Book 4Where to Go from Here 4Part 1: Exploring Singing Basics 5Chapter 1: Preparing to Sing 7What You Want to Know Right from the Beginning 7Determining your voice type 8Locating the notes on the staff 8Considering posture, breath, and tone 10Developing Your Singing Voice 10Working the Different Parts of Your Voice 11Applying Your Technique 12Having Fun 13Chapter 2: Determining Your Voice Type 15Sifting through the Ingredients to Figure Out Your Voice Type 16Identifying the Fab Four 17Highest range of the dames: Soprano 18How low can she go: Mezzo 20Highest range of the dudes: Tenor 21He’s so low: Bass 23Comparing voice types 25Chapter 3: Aligning Your Body for Great Singing 29Evaluating Your Posture 30Creating Ideal Posture 32Feeling grounded on your feet 32Engaging your legs 34Releasing your hips 35Lengthening your spine 36Balancing your head and shoulders 36Releasing Tension 37Letting go of tension in your upper body 37Opening space in the head 38Walking with ease 39Projecting confidence through posture 40Chapter 4: Breathing for Singing 43Tackling the Basics of Breathing 43Inhaling to sing 44Exhaling to sing 44Posturing yourself for breathing 46Practicing Inhalation 46Opening your body 47Breathing, slow and steady 51Catching a quick breath 52Practicing Exhalation 54Blowing in the wind 54Trilling for exhalation 55Recognizing resistance and suspending the breath 57Testing Your Breath Control 58Releasing abs and then ribs 59Singing slowly 60Chapter 5: Toning Up the Voice 63Defining Tone 63Creating unique tone 64Identifying factors that affect tone 64Considering tone, pitches, and notes 65Flexing Your Singing Muscles 66Discovering your own bands 66Making the first sound 66Dropping the jaw 67Matching Pitch 71Sliding up and down on pitch 72Developing muscle memory 73Recording yourself and singing along 74Releasing Tension for Better Tone 74Checking for neck or jaw tension 75Bouncing the tongue and jaw 75Part 2: Improving Your Singing 79Chapter 6: Acquiring Beautiful Tone 81Creating Tone 81Starting the tone 82Creating back space 83Coordinating air with tone 83Sighing your way to clarity 84Releasing Tone 85Inhaling to release tone 85Letting your throat go 86Sustaining Tone 86Connecting the dots with legato 86Trilling the lips or tongue 87Working your breath control 87Finding Your Vibrato 88Moving from straight tone to vibrato 89Imitating another singer’s vibrato 90Chapter 7: Exploring Resonance 91Understanding Resonance — Good Vibrations 92Identifying resonance in different styles of music 92Exploring your resonators 94Ringing it out 94Eliminating Nasality 95Getting the feel for soft palate work 95Coordinating your soft palate and tongue 96Moving air through the nose 97Debunking Common Misconceptions 98Misconception: Tone resonates in your sinuses 98Misconception: You have to place every tone in the same location 99Misconception: You’re supposed to keep your tongue completely flat 99Misconception: You need to open your mouth as wide as possible 100Misconception: The more forward the sound, the better 100Misconception: You have to smile to stay on pitch 100Chapter 8: Shaping Your Vowels for Clarity 101Getting Your Backside into Shape — Back Vowels, That Is 102Exploring the shape of back vowels 103Lipping around your back vowels 104Singing the back vowels 105Mastering the Front Vowels 106Exploring the shape of front vowels 106Speaking the front vowels 108Singing the front vowels 109Chapter 9: Exercising Consonants for Articulation 111Saying Voiced and Unvoiced Consonants 112Making Tip Consonants 113Shaping tip consonants 113Singing tip consonants 116Making Soft Palate Consonants 116Shaping soft palate consonants 117Singing soft palate consonants 118Working Lip Consonants 118Shaping lip consonants 118Singing lip consonants 120Working Combination Consonants 120Shaping combination consonants 121Singing combination consonants 122Chapter 10: Crafting a Practice Routine 123Knuckling Down to a Practice Plan 124Getting Answers to Your Practicing Questions 124Where should I practice? 125What’s the best time to practice? 125How long should I practice? 126What do I need besides my voice? 126Warming Up 127Stretching to warm up your body 127Warming up your voice 129Exercising Your Voice 130Picking exercises that work for you 130Breaking it down 131Practicing Correctly 133Recording yourself 133Applying information and exercises 134Using the online tracks to practice exercises 134Part 3: Advanced Techniques to Improve Your Voice 135Chapter 11: Developing the Parts of Your Singing Voice 137Finding Your Middle Voice 138Noting your middle voice range 139Singing in middle voice 140Checking Out Your Chest Voice 142Zeroing in on your chest voice range 142Feeling your chest voice 144Aiming High with Head Voice 145Finding your head voice range 145Feeling head voice 146Figuring Out Falsetto 148Discovering your falsetto 149Experiencing your falsetto 150Making a Smooth Transition 153Maneuvering in and out of chest voice 153Mixing It Up 157Making the most of your mix, man 157Getting into the mix, gals 158Chapter 12: Expanding Your Vocal Flexibility and Range 163Tackling Register Transitions 164Working On Your Range 165Taking your range higher 165Varying the dynamics 166Moving between registers 167Taking Your Agility to New Levels 168Moving along the scale 169Picking up the pace 169Skipping through the intervals 170Improvising for a Better Pop Sound 171Mastering patterns in pop music 172Singing pop riffs with chords 173Chapter 13: It’s a Cinch: Belting Out Your Song 175Playing around with Pitch 176Talking to yourself 177Chanting and speaking 177Finding your optimum speaking pitch 179Increasing your speaking range 180Using body energy to find clarity of tone 181Defining Healthy Belting 182Comparing belt and chest voice 183Knowing your limits as a beginner belter 184Noting the difference between the sexes 184Coordinating breath and energy 185Preparing for Belting 186Speaking in a mix 186Calling out to a friend 187Moving Resonance to the Front 187Exploring vibrations of resonance 188Being bratty to feel resonance 189Combining Resonance and Registration 189Increasing your belt range 190Belting up the scale 190Advancing Your Belt 191Sustaining belt sounds 192Exploring different vowels 193Belters and Belt Songs You Should Hear 194Male belters 194Female belters 195Belt songs 195Chapter 14: Training for Singing 199Defining Training Requirements 199Crooning as a country singer 200Jazzing it up 200Making your mark in musical theater 201Performing pop-rock 202Opting for opera 203Showing your range with R&B 204Training to Sing at Any Age 205Recognizing differences between young singers and teens 205Developing long-term technique in teenagers 206Understanding that voices change with age 207Training with a Choir 208Enjoying the benefits of singing in the choir 208Singing in the choir versus going solo 209Chapter 15: Finding the Right Voice Teacher 211Searching for the Best Voice Teacher 211Finding a prospective voice teacher 212Identifying what you want 212Interviewing a prospective teacher 213Knowing What to Expect from a Teacher 217Feeling good when you leave the lesson 217Working with imagery and other tools 218Applying tried-and-true singing methods 218Knowing What to Expect from Yourself 219Developing your own practice process 219Avoiding overworking your flaws 219Making Your First Lesson a Success 220Part 4: Preparing to Perform 221Chapter 16: Selecting Your Music Material 223Choosing the Song 223Finding songs at your level 223Determining the appropriate key for you 229Selecting a suitable song style 229Singing to your strengths 230Shopping for Sheet Music 231Downloading sheet music 231Ordering music books 232Checking out music at your local library 233Chapter 17: Mastering a New Song 235Tackling a Song in Steps 235Memorizing the lyrics as text 236Tapping out the rhythm 239Singing the melody (without the words) 240Putting words and music together 241Using Vocal Technique in Your New Song 242Giving voice to vowels 242Backing into phrases 243Breathing heavy: Fogging up the windows 244Changing the tone for each section 247Using Musical Elements to Create Your Arrangement 248Comparing songs 248Articulation 249Dynamics 249Tempo 249Using vocal variety 250Style 250Accompanist 251Evaluating musical elements 251Chapter 18: Acting the Song 253Seeing the Song As a Story 254Chatting it up before you sing 254Recognizing musical responses 255Accounting for interludes 255Exploring Character 256Characterizing your character 256Discovering your character’s motivation 258Planning actions to get something done 258Getting Physical 259Figuring out where to focus 259Gesturing appropriately 260Movin’ and groovin’ with your song 262Chapter 19: Confronting Your Fear of Performing 265Facing the Symptoms 265Alleviating Anxiety through Preparation 267Practicing well 267Playing to your strengths 268Managing your thoughts 268Getting up the nerve 269Building performance focus 270Performing to Build Confidence 272Devising a game plan 272Evaluating your performance 274Chapter 20: Auditioning a Song 277Tailoring Your Audition for Any Venue and Any Style of Music 278At the opera 278Onstage at the theater 279In the club 279On television 280Choosing Audition Songs to Highlight Your Strengths 281Showing versatility 281Connecting with the lyrics 282Avoiding the wrong audition song 283Choosing the key 284Making the cut 285Marking the music 286Rehearsing with an accompanist 287Preparing the Music 288Preparing hard copies 289Taking digital sheet music 290Bringing a recording 290Nailing the Audition 291Doing your prep work 291Dressing in the right outfit 292Knowing how to audition online 293Greeting the audition accompanist 294Acting at the audition 295Preparing mentally 296Part 5: The Part of Tens 297Chapter 21: Ten Performers with Good Technique 299Xiomara Alfaro 300Juan Diego Flórez 300Lady Gaga 300Eddie Kendricks 301Bruno Mars 301Minnie Riperton 302Sofia Shkidchenko 302Meryl Streep 303Josh Turner 303Colm Wilkinson 304Chapter 22: Ten Frequently Asked Questions about Singing 305Is Belting Bad? 305What Should I Do If My Voice Feels Off? 306How Are an Accompanist, a Coach, and a Voice Teacher Different? 307If My Voice Is Scratchy, Do I Have Nodes? 307Do I Have to Be Big to Have a Big Voice? 308What’s the Best Singing Method? 308Do I Have to Speak Italian to Sing Well? 308Can I Have a Few Drinks Before the Performance to Calm My Nerves? 309Why Can’t I Eat Ice Cream Before I Sing? 309How Long Will It Take Me to Learn to Sing? 310Chapter 23: Ten Tips for Maintaining Vocal Health 311Identifying Everyday Abuses 311Incorporating Healthy Speech into Your Singing 313Knowing When to Seek Help 313Staying Hydrated 314Getting Plenty of Shut-Eye 315Making Sure That You’re Well Nourished 315Preventing a Sore Throat or Infection 316Medicating a Sore Throat 316Protecting a Sore Throat 318Keeping Your Emotional Life in Check 318Chapter 24: Ten Tips for Performing Like a Pro 319Rehearsing to Beat the Band 319Wearing the Right Ensemble 320Finding Your Stance 321Singing with a Piano, Organ, or Band 322Making Your Entrance 322Roping in Your Audience 323Ignoring That Mosquito 323Handling Those Hands 324Using the Mic 325Taking Your Bow and Leaving the Stage 326Part 6: Appendixes 329Appendix A: Songs to Advance Your Technique 331Beginner Songs for Any Voice Type or Gender 332Intermediate Songs from Various Styles for Any Voice Type or Gender 333Intermediate musical theater songs 333Intermediate pop-rock songs 333Intermediate country songs 334Intermediate classical songs 334Songs to Practice Technical Lessons for Any Voice Type or Gender 334Spunky songs for practicing articulation and agility 335Songs with larger intervals to practice smooth register transitions 335Songs to practice breath coordination and legato phrases 336Songs to Work on Range and Registers 336Songs for low female voices 337Songs for low male voices 337Songs for higher voices to expand your range for any gender 338Songs for lower voices to expand your range for any gender 338Songs for Working Mix, Belt, and Falsetto 338Female mix songs 339Songs for working on male falsetto and mix 339Belt songs for higher and lower female voices 340Appendix B: About the Online Tracks 343Recognizing What’s Available: The Track Listings 343Tackling Any Potential Issues 347Index 349