Emulation: the First Step in the Learning Process

During this week I received a great question in reference to my post about Gregory Porter and how singers can learn or emulate other well-known singers of the opposite sex. This is something that I've actually been asked frequently by other singers and with good reason. Males tend to have vocal ranges at least an octave below the average female vocal range ( sometimes more). However, there are other aspects of singing one can emulate or try to copy to further expand upon their own vocal ability.

I always say--and many musicians will tell you as well--that when you first learn how to play an instrument or sing, you should listen to as much music as possible. That way you can figure out what you do and don't like, copying what you do like. As you attempt to copy or emulate singers or other instrumentalists, you begin to develop your own unique approach to the different aspects of music you like--inflections, melodic phrasing, dynamics, rhythmic placement of words or notes, etc.-- eventually creating your own sound all together. There is a dangerous aspect to this process, however: you must be careful to not just copy what you hear, but to also understand the concepts behind these different musical aspects that you like. Delving deeper into the reasons or concepts behind these musical aspects that you are trying to emulate helps you to become a better musician. So in other words, while trying to copy that Sara Vaughn scat solo that you heard, don't become another Sara Vaughn copy; strive to be an original.

That being said, there are some aspects of singing that you can try to copy from well-known singers irrespective of vocal range or timbre.

Lyric Writing Style
Some musicians write in a more traditional, four-line verse and chorus format, while others  incorporate an introduction section into this mixture or even just repeat one verse over and over. For example, when I was first introduced to Gregory Porter during my undergraduate years by one of my professors, I noticed that although Porter did write some of his songs in the traditional four-line verse and chorus format, he also has songs with one verse repeated over and over. His lyrics are also poetic,  using word imagery to tell a story. This is something that I like to hear in songs so I try to incorporate this aspect into my song writing.

Vocal Inflections
Most singers tend to do vocal inflections when they perform a song. These can be either extra notes added or taken away at the beginning, within or at the end of a phrase and can also incorporate the use of space. A great example of a singer who uses a lot of specific inflections is a Brazilian singer Ed Motta who performs Funk music. Depending on the live or recorded version of each song, Motta uses inflections that add notes ( a good example of this is the song "Dez Mais Um Amor").

These are only two of the musical aspects that I look for in different singers, but there are many others that you may hear or notice from other musicians. I hope that on your road to discovering your own unique sound that you are exposed to many different singers, music and that you share your discoveries with others so that they can also find their own original sound.

Don't forget to leave any questions or comments that you might have for me in the comments section below!