With so many different styles of singing out there, it can be hard to decide where to start or which style would suit your vocal sound. No matter which style you choose is right for you there is one thing they all have in common. The need for Vocal Exercises.
"The Beatles were basically a vocal band."
- Keith Richards
What Are Vocal Exercises and Why Do They Help Singers?
Just like you would warm up before any other type of workout such as a run, going to the gym or playing a sport you need to warm up before you start to sing.
Why do we practice vocal exercises? Doing vocal exercises for singers is an essential part of practice and performance. Warming up our voices is important so we can keep them healthy, sound our best and protect against damage. Warming up your voice will allow you to sing better and extend your range comfortably. It is absolutely necessary to warm up before singing.
Many vocal exercises are quite simple, so you have a lot of options.
Let us take a look at two of the most common, easy to practice vocal exercises:
- YAWN-SIGH TECHNIQUE - For this quick vocal exercise, simply yawn (take in air) with your mouth closed. Then, exhale through your nose as if you are sighing. Yawning helps you relax your mouth and jaw, allowing you to sing better.
- HUMMING WARM-UPS - Humming is one of the best vocal warm-ups because it doesn’t put a lot of strain on your vocal cords. Place the tip of your tongue behind your bottom front teeth and hum up and down the major scale while keeping your mouth closed. Each note should sound like “hmmm”.
The Most Popular Styles of Singing to Learn
There are many different types of singing styles out there and eat style takes a different set of skills and vocal range. Below, we’ll take a look at three of the most popular grenes of singing lessons sought after accross Ireland:
Pop
Several pop singers have come to be considered the greatest entertainers of all time, including Whitney, Britney, Beyoncé and even Lady Gaga. And despite the outlandish outfits and the intense dramatic shows these women have outstanding voices. We haven't even began to look at the men of pop yes we're talking Michael Jackson, Elton John, Michael Bublé and the likes you don't get a voice like that without proper training and practising your vocal exercises daily.
Yes belting out a pop sound when you're driving along around a karaoke bar is fun, but it's also a serious career path that takes lessons hard work training practice and stamina just like every other type of singing. Some of the great schools around Ireland that offer lessons in pop include:
- Pop & Rock Choir - Cork
- Lucan School of Music - Dublin
Famous Irish Pop Singers:
- Una Healy
- Niall Horan
- Westlife
Rock
It might surprise you to hear but rock music is actually the grandchild of country music and rhythm and blues. Yep that's right Rock music, country music, the blues are actually more alike than many people realise. They have similar roots, and one of the earliest forms of rock music came from a combination of country music and rhythm and blues. They all have similar rhythms and it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish a country song from a rock song.
Let me give you an example, we all know that song Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd right? Is it country or is it rock? It's one of those songs that's right there on the line of being both, but what ever way you look at it it's one hell of a good song.
Some of the great schools around Ireland that offer Rock style singing lessons Rock include:
- Pop & Rock Choir - Cork
- School of Rock - Dublin
- Ringsend Rock School - Dublin
Some of the best Rock Singers of all time include:
- Steven Tyler
- Jon Bon Jovi
- Stevie Nicks
- Elvis Presley
- Freddie Mercury
- Ozzy Osbourne
Famous Irish Rock Singers:
- Bono
- Dolores O'Riordan
- Phil Lynott
- Van Morrison
Country
Since the early '50s, country music has been a combination of western swing, honky tonk and country boogie. Rockabilly, an early style of rock and roll music, was also popular with country music fans, and some say this was the birth of modern rock with people like Elvis Presley emerging from this scene.
By the '90s, country music had spread worldwide, Country singers didn't just come from the Southern States of America anymore either, we had the likes of Keith Urban coming on the scene from Austrailia and Shania Twain from Canada.
Some of the most famous Country Singers of all time include:
- Patsy Cline
- Dolly Parton
- George Strait
- Hank Williams
- Garth Brooks
Famous Irish Country Singers:
- Daniel O'Donnell
- Nathan Carter
- Cliona Hagan
How Do I Find my Singing Style?
"Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument - learning to do your craft - that's the most important thing! It's not about what goes on in a computer!"
- Dave Grohl
Discovering your voice type is in fact a really simple exercise, and certainly one which is worth spending a bit of time on as a beginner. Understanding your vocal range gives you an important guide on the notes and songs you are able to sing safely and effectively.
Simple steps for finding your vocal range and voice type:
- Warm up!: I've said it before and now I'm saying it again, it is absolutely essential to warm up before singing. Do your vocal exercises.
- Find your lowest note: Using a piano, find Middle C (also known as C4) and sing along as you play the note. If you don’t have a piano, you can use an online piano here. Travel down the white keys to the lower notes and sing along to each note until you reach your lowest note. Any note within the octave of Middle C is designated a number 4, any note in the octave below is designated a number 3, and so on. Your lowest note will be the last note you can sing comfortably and sustain without croaking or breathing the note. Write down the note (for example G3). Once you’re sure you’ve found your lowest note, don’t attempt to try singing any lower as this might strain your voice.
- Find your highest note: It's much the same process as finding your lowest note. Travel up the piano from Middle C until you find the highest note in your normal voice and write the note down. Continue up the scale in your falsetto voice until you find the last note you can sing and sustain comfortably and again write the note down this note it is the top of your vocal range. It’s very important not to push your voice and attempt to sing past this note (we do not want do damage those vocal chords).
- Compare your lowest and highest note: nce you know your lowest and highest note, check these against the voice types below:
- Soprano: C4 – C6
- Mezzo Soprano: A3 – A5
- Alto: F3 – F5
- Tenor: C3 – C5
- Baritone: G2 – G4
- Bass: E2 – E5
Once you've found your range you can explore the genres, find out what style resonates with you, visualise what type of singer you seer yourself as.
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