We Have A Winner!!

Many thanks to all of you who took part in our Holiday Songwriting Contest. Prize: a one hour voice lesson with Renee Grant-Williams. It was tough to choose a winner, but of course there can only be one. And that one is… (drum roll, please)

Mariesa Frank!!      

EVERYTHING’S BETTER AT CHRISTMASTIME

The only way to get things done is to just do it!

Range - Vocal Coach Offers Four Tips

To expand a singer's range, vocal coaches must be prepared to explore every trick in the book. Everyone wants to hit better high notes. And there are many who want to improve, or simply phonate more audibly, their lower notes.

It could be argued that there are far more important issues for a singer to conquer: rhythmic integrity, emotional communication, and a delicious understanding of when and how to use consonants, to name a few. But we singers love to fret about the high notes, so I am going to offer a few solutions about range, vocal quality and power that I hope will help.

High notes come in all shapes and sizes and any one of them can strike terror into the heart of a hapless singer. Our usual reaction to that terror? We do everything we possibly can to make the situation worse. We panic. We sing too loud. We grimace. We stiffen up like mummies.

Support and relax your jaw. When you stiffen and jam your jaw downward you are applying tremendous pressure to that area, which, in turn, constricts your throat and strangles your sound. Instead, use your lower body for support. Tuck your hips under your body and keep your knees loose, almost as if you were sitting on your tailbone. Then support your voice with lower-body strength. Use the same lower-body crouch you would use to lift a heavy chair. If that were the task, you would surely protect yourself by using the strong muscles of your legs and lower body.

Sound loves movement. Freely move some part of your body to help keep it loose. Don’t clench your fists and stiffen up. Wave your arms, move your head, do a Mariah Carey hand wave. She seems to sing whatever she draws in the air with her right hand. But, no, tapping your toe doesn’t count.

Keep a level head. Resist reaching up for the high notes. The note is not up there like a fly buzzing around. All you have to do is try this little experiment to see how reaching up with your chin strangles off the sound: Sing or hum a long note as you slowly dip your chin to your chest and then raise it upwards and let your head fall back. Go back and forth a few times. Do you see how tipping back chokes off the sound? Now, we’ve all seen great singers who seem to throw their heads back and let forth. But if you look carefully, most of them are arching back with their whole body. It’s not that the head is arching back independently; the head is part of the support curve.

Lighten up before you leap. Most high notes are written as high notes because they

are important words and the writer expects them to stand out. But as you go higher in your range, vocal tension increases. Lighten up the volume of the two or three lower notes before the high note. You’ll have less weight to carry and the high note will be easier to sing. Never ruin a potentially great high note by over-singing the 1-3 notes before it. Nobody is out there thinking, “Wow, I wonder if she’ll hit that middle note.” No, they’re all waiting to hear how well you sing the high note.

 

Nashville vocal coach Renee Grant-Williams reveals the trade secrets that have already helped hundreds of aspiring singers become celebrities: Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Dixie Chicks, Miley Cyrus, Huey Lewis, Kenny Chesney, Faith Hill, Jason Aldean, Christina Aguilera...

Like me on Facebook at or follow me on Twitter @MyVoiceCoach. My blog can be found at MyVoiceCoachBlog.com.

Go to CyberVoiceStudio.com and sign up to receive my free weekly Video Voice Lessons.

 
For more information go to MyVoiceCoach.com or call 615.244.3280 to schedule a private voice session in person, by telephone or by Skype.

The X-Factor Lip-Syncing

The big news from The X-Factor this Fall is not who got voted off last week, but that a miscalculation on the part of LeRoy Bell in the group number revealed that the ensemble were lip-synching. The X-Factor response? Everybody does it. For shame! That excuse never would have worked on my mother.

But I can't say I'm surprised. And it kind of makes me wonder what else they might be up to. Electronic vocal enhancement ? Auto-Tuning? Flex Time? A click track implant? All of which have potential as carefully selected manipulations that could serve to alter the success or failure of each contestant's performance.

It's no secret that these top contests are not reality-based. Au contraire, they build a roster that is carefully crafted to represent the most viewer-friendly cast. Could there also be a sinister controlling hand at work as well, constructing and directing a well balanced suspenseful sequence of events?

It doesn't take a musician's ear to hear that The X-Factor vocals seem to be more or less enhanced electronically. Could this partly explain why some singers appeared to excel one week and tank the next?

Now that's a pretty sinister notion right there -- that those in charge could conceivably control the direction and outcome of every show by manipulating the sound effects, or lack thereof, on individual artists' performances.

As a voice coach, I have consistently stressed that the national shows like American Idol and The X-Factor be required viewing for my students. There is a lot to learn about performing, song choice, and branding from them. But if these shows are not 100% live, what is this teaching them? This kind of news leads young singers to believe they do not have to bother to perfect their vocals because their mistakes will be corrected electronically.

As for that other issue -- that The X-Factor were forced to pre-record the group numbers because the contestants were too busy getting ready for their Wednesday evening performance. Well, for Heaven's sake! Don’t include the group numbers if the cast can't handle them. And then have to go all Milli Vanilli on us. That's unconscionable.

So if they need to cheat in order to perform those dumb group segments why don't they cut them? They seem to embarrass everyone. In fact, I don't know who they appear to embarrass more, the viewers or the contestants. These tiresome group vignettes are certainly not worth compromising the show's integrity.

I expected more of Simon Cowell.

Nashville vocal coach Renee Grant-Williams reveals the trade secrets that have already helped hundreds of aspiring singers become celebrities: Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Dixie Chicks, Miley Cyrus, Huey Lewis, Kenny Chesney, Faith Hill, Jason Aldean, Christina Aguilera...

Like me on Facebook at or follow me on Twitter @MyVoiceCoach. My blog can be found at MyVoiceCoachBlog.com.

Go to CyberVoiceStudio.com and sign up to receive my free weekly Video Voice Lessons.

For more information go to MyVoiceCoach.com or call 615.244.3280 to schedule a private voice session in person, by telephone or by Skype.

 

Use consonants at the end of a word to add emphasis or a little zing.
When Faith Hill and I worked together on the song “This Kiss”, she was not really
comfortable with the song. She especially did not like the “this kiss” part.
However, when I got her to go early to the S of both words and hold
them out, the song took on new life. She recorded the song and you
know the “resssst of the story.” Why do you think that solution worked?

Does you child have star potential?

Singing Kids - Does Your Child Have Star Potential?

Singing kids. Do you have one? I mean one of those kids who just won't stop, who goes around singing to themselves or to anyone they can trap and tie down. This is an all-too-familiar scenario; Mom and Dad aren't musically inclined, but their kid has talent. How do they know whether their child has what it takes to be a success? How does a parent know if they should consider taking out a second mortgage on the house to support little Suzie's big ambitions?

Parents of singing kids must be honest with themselves before committing to the expensive and time-intensive job of organizer/chauffer/private assistant to their offspring's pursuits. Are they ready for that kind of commitment?

Even more importantly, parents of talented singing kids need to be absolutely certain that the driving force behind the dream of superstardom is their child and not them. Fortunately, in my experience, it's more often the kids.

When I asked young Taylor Ware, the national Yahoo yodeling champion and America's Got Talent runner-up, what she wanted for Christmas that year, she solemnly told me that she had written to Santa asking him to bring her a tour bus. I would say this girl is clearly in the driver's seat.

When Miley Cyrus first came to work with me, she was the consummate professional at the tender age of 12, complete with her own assistant. She had great parenting and was one of the most balanced and happy of all the singing kids I have taught. I did not get the sense that her childhood had been compromised in any way by her career.

As a place to start, parents should consider the following ten issues in order to gain valuable insight into their child's potential for stardom. The evaluations will help parents make the right decision about what to do when their child announces they want to be a superstar. This list addresses motivation and talent -- both of which are essential to a successful career in music.

You might have a winner on your hands if your child:
            1. Is motivated more by making music than by the promise of stardom

            2. Willingly passes up other activities in order to practice music lessons

            3. Learns from shows like American Idol and America's Got Talent

            4. Seems passionate about singing, always looking for places to perform

            5. Handles constructive criticism and rejection by learning from it

            6. Sings as well a cappella as they do singing along with the radio

            7. Personalizes popular songs by adding their own special touches

            8. Sounds as good to music professionals as the singers on the radio

            9. Feels at ease in the spotlight and comfortable relating to an audience

            10.Gets frequent requests to perform in public

If the answer was 'no' to several of these questions, don't rush off to the bank for that second mortgage. Your child may be talented, but most likely may not have everything it takes to have a successful career. Be encouraging and give them time to explore their talent.

Revisit these ten issues in a year or two and assess your child's progress. If there has not been substantial improvement, consider that your child may be destined to use their talent in the church choir or in a local band for fun, rather than for profit as a music professional.

On the other hand, parents who answer "yes" to most of these questions should seriously consider their child's future as a musician. Be aware that taking a leap into a full-fledged vocal/musical regimen will involve the whole family and dominate their offspring's childhood years in the same way young gymnasts with Olympic aspirations forego many of the typical social and personal pursuits common to the formative years.

Encourage your singing kids and support them as best you can. Seek professional guidance for responsible ways to help them grow musically. Remember, the drive for a music career must always be theirs, not yours.

Nashville vocal coach Renee Grant-Williams reveals the trade secrets that have already helped hundreds of aspiring singers become celebrities: Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Dixie Chicks, Miley Cyrus, Huey Lewis, Kenny Chesney, Faith Hill, Jason Aldean, Christina Aguilera...

Like me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ReneeGrantWilliams or follow me on Twitter @MyVoiceCoach.

Go to CyberVoiceStudio.com and sign up to receive my free weekly Video Voice Lessons.

For more information go to www.MyVoiceCoach.com or call 615.244.3280 to schedule a private voice session in person, by telephone or by Skype.