Vowels and Mouth Shape--How They Contribute to Your Overall Sound

Vowels. They are something we have used our whole life and are a fundamental part of words and speech. There are few, if not any, words that don't contain vowels within them. However, the way we say vowels is not the same way we would sing them. In order for the voice to project more efficiently and for you to maintain the correct pitch when singing, mouth shape and position when producing vowel sounds is key.

Basic Singing Vowels

Vowels we are used to reading and speaking look like this: A, E, I, O, U. However, when sung, these vowels are pronounced differently to help to better produce a brighter, fuller sound.

The five basic singing vowels are:

Ah (similar to the word saw)
Eh (similar to the word wet)
Ee (similar to the word sheet)
Oh (similar to the word tone)
Oo (similar to the word soon)

Mouth Shape When Singing Vowels

Always when singing, make sure that your tongue is forward, flat, and rests against your bottom teeth. If you allow your tongue to rise up during singing, whether just practicing singing vowels or vocal exercises, you can cause tension in your jaw and throat, which can strain the vocal chords.

When you yawn or sigh, the soft palate (located in front of the uvula and just behind the roof of your mouth) rises slightly. The idea when you sing is to keep the soft palate raised as much as possible to allow your sound to be bright, full and round.

Also, while singing--either phrases in a song or exercises--your mouth should be slightly open (place two fingers vertically stacked between your lips--use this as a starting point for practice). As you move up in your range to the higher notes in your register, your jaw should drop to allow more air or sound to project out.

*Important to Remember: For each vowel sound, try to maintain an oval-like shape for your mouth. Many beginning singers and even some advanced singers, have a tendency to form a horizontal, thin shape with their mouths when singing. This prevents you from keeping a full, bright sound when you sing, can strain your vocal chords and makes your voice sound thin while causing intonation issues. I still to this day have issues with the vowel "Ee", since the tendency for this vowel sound is to have a mouth shape similar to a smile.

I hope that this introduction helps you better understand vowels, mouth shape and how these elements affect your vocal performance. If you have any questions about this topic or any other aspect of singing, feel free to leave a comment in the comments section below!

#OnRepeat: Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars "Uptown Funk"

This week's #OnRepeat is a song that has probably been on replay in your cars, phones and sound systems for weeks now, but it should be mentioned because of the potential for where music could possibly--and should--head within the next several years: Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' song, "Uptown Funk".

Mark Ronson is an English producer who has collaborated with Bruno Mars before on songs such as "Locked Out of Heaven" and "Moonshine". The whole album, titled Uptown Special, is a list of collaborations, each one better and funkier then the next. It includes names such as Stevie Wonder and even the rapper, Mystikal. 

"Uptown Funk" has so many different influences embedded in the music itself. Some of these influences include The Sugarhill Gang's "Apache", Zapp & Roger's "More Bounce to the Ounce", The Gap Band's "Oops Upside Your Head", Earth Wind & Fire's "Getaway", The Sequence's "Funk You Up", George Kranz's "Din Daa Daa / Trommeltanz", among many others. In case you haven't heard of some of these bands, I'll go ahead and leave some of the music videos below for a couple of these songs so it can get you started on your own musical discovery (i.e. Youtube and internet search):


Zapp & Rogers "More Bounce to the Ounce"

George Kranz's "Din Daa Daa / Trommeltanz"

Earth Wind & Fire's "Getaway"

Now that I've given you some clear musical influence examples to listen to, take a listen to Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk" below. Subtle things such as bass lines, horn parts and riffs,  playing with the synthesizer and chanting--all things present in the examples above--are present in "Uptown Funk". The influences are arranged together in an attention-grabbing way, along with light-hearted, playful lyrics and Mars stylistic vocals to produce something that pays homage to what's come before while still trying to take a couple steps towards the future; all the while making you want to get up and dance along with the guys in the video.

The song "Uptown Funk" has a vibe that is hip and funky. I'm not sure if Ronson and Mars knew what they were starting when they created this jam--matter of fact, they probably just wanted to make good music--but this song makes me excited to see what musicians, bands and producers come up with in coming years. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do and if anyone has any new songs, artists or bands to check out, let me know in the comments below!

#OnRepeat: Corinne Bailey Rae

This week's #OnRepeat artist is someone whose album you should be playing on a hot day like today: Corinne Bailey Rae's self-titled album. If you haven't heard her music yet, Corinne Bailey Rae is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her lyrics are poignant and the music should only be described as "tasty". Many people that I know, musician or not, have loved listening to her music because of her feel-good vibe and she continues to be an artist that I constantly listen to.

The song that first made me fall head-over-heels for this singer-songwriter is the song, "Like a Star". It's such a simplistic song that tells about how much a person loves another, using metaphors and imagery. Her vocal inflections add so much more to the overall feel of the song as well and are similar to that of an R&B singer. To top it all off, the music video is reminiscent of a story book too, which also makes me love the song all the more.

Another song that should be mentioned is the song "Till It Happens to You". The lyrical content of this song is actually the opposite of the previous song, "Like a Star", which talks about falling in love with someone and realizing how much they love the other person. In the song, "Till It Happens to You", the lyrics describes what happens when someone falls out of love with someone else and the confusion that follows. The background vocals present throughout the song are not only pleasant to listen to, but also add a melancholic feel that plays well with the story taking place in the music.

I also should talk about the song, "Put Your Records On", from this album; the song that Corinne Bailey Rae is well-known for. The lyrics are great--Corinne never fails to disappoint when it comes to lyrical content. However, this song stands out because of how catchy the song is, which is something that is very hard to accomplish in songwriting. 

I love how Corinne uses the guitar as an extension of her own voice. She uses it to add to the feel of each song in such a way that you would think it's still her singing even when she's stopped. For any aspiring songwriters out there, she is a good musician to listen to and watch. 

If you guys have any new groups or singers that you love to listen to, leave a comment below!

Microphone Technique

After standing backstage at a school Jazz concert watching a vocalist perform with a small combo, the thing that I walked away thinking was, "She was holding the mic too far away from her face." Seriously. I remember that her voice was very pleasant to listen to; it was reminiscent of Amy Winehouse and Norah Jones. However, the way she held her microphone when she was singing on stage, made it hard to hear the attention-grabbing timbre of her voice. This is an aspect of singing that some vocalists tend to forget about and/or wouldn't even really think they needed to be aware of: how to sing into a microphone when performing.

SM 57 or 58 (Shure Microphones)

When discussing microphone technique, we have to talk about the equipment because the more we know about it, the better prepared we can be when we have to use the equipment. Although there are other brands and types of dynamic microphones, I chose to talk specifically about the Shure microphone because they are the most commonly used. (The technique and information that you learn here can be applied to other vocal dynamic microphones as well.) Below is a picture of the Shure microphones--the SM 57 is the top microphone and the SM 58 is the bottom microphone. 

Although the bottom microphone (Sm 58) is more commonly used for vocalists, you may encounter venues, musicians or friends who use the top microphone (Sm 57) for vocalists. Your approach to performing with both is the same.

Proper Posture & Mic Placement

Whether or not you perform with a microphone, proper posture is the same as the posture you use and practice during warm-ups: standing with your feet slightly hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, shoulders slightly back and chin parallel to the floor. Make sure to stand up straight as slouching prevents you from taking in full, deep breaths to sing.

Vocal instructors that I've studied with have taught me that the proper distance between your mouth and the microphone is a "hand's length"--this means that you measure the distance between your face and the mic by the distance between your thumb and your pinkie finger when you place your hand up between your face and the mic. This is a useful tip to remember because if you stand too close to the microphone, even when just speaking into it, you can cause the mic to feedback (an unpleasant, loud sound that comes from the speakers that you are plugged into) or your voice will end up sounding very "boomy" (deep with forceful, punching noises that happen when you say any words with consonants). Also, remember to adjust the microphone stand so that the mic is right in front of your mouth, being mindful of what kind of shoes you will wear during your performance. For example, it's common for many female vocalists to wear heels during a gig, making them taller, so you would have to adjust your stand to the appropriate height if you were wearing those type of shoes. 

Vocal Volume & Mic Placement 

The distance between your mouth and the microphone also depends on how loud or soft your voice gets while singing and what type of feel or effects you want to create for your performance. If you know that at the beginning of a piece, you are barely whispering the words of the song, bring your mouth closer to the microphone. Similarly, if you know that you will be belting a note in a particular passage of the song, either take a step back from the microphone or pull it slightly away from you, depending on how loud you get when you sing in your middle and upper register. This is why it is so important to really experiment with your voice and know every aspect of it. This is true of the song you will be performing as well so you can prepare ahead of time what you will do. For example, I know that I can hit fairly low notes in my chest voice (also known as my lower register), but when I attempt these notes, I can't produce that much volume. So, I bring the microphone close to my mouth so that the mic can amplify those notes. Don't bring the microphone below or above your mouth, though, because the audience will have a hard time hearing you with either placement. 

Although you can probably gain some microphone practice by singing at your local karaoke bar, I would also suggest trying to perform with some type of band. Anywhere from two to five musicians would be a good size group. Not only do you get practice with singing on a mic, but you also can meet new people and challenge yourself, musically. This is just another step in the process of becoming a better singer, musician and performer. I hope to see some of you implementing these tips on stage soon!

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!

#OnRepeat: Celia Cruz

For this week's #OnRepeat post, I have to write about Celia Cruz, one of the most powerful, versatile female Latin singers of our time. There is no specific album to mention because any song that I have heard with her singing in it is pure gold. For those of you who don't know, Celia Cruz was a Cuban born singer who gained attention in the 1950's when she became the lead singer for La Sonora Matancera, a large ensemble or orchestra in Cuba, with whom she toured all over Latin America.  One of the songs that I really like from her time performing with this group is their version of the song, "La Sopa en Botella." Her voice has piercing quality that can cut through any band and her rhythm is impeccable--exact yet seems like it's effortless. 

Another song that I should mention is the bolero, "Esperame en el Cielo." Even with her strong voice, she manages to still evoke intense emotions of love, desperation and sadness. I chose this song not only because it is one of my favorite boleros-- the lyrics talk about a person who loves another so much that they talk about seeing them in heaven when they pass on. Some may think that the vocal technique, belting, that Celia uses for this song shouldn't be used, but it actually fits the genre very well.

I grew up listening to Celia Cruz--she was always a favorite with my parents. I have always been impressed with her ability to improvise both lyrics and melodic lines on the spot. However, I have a new appreciation for her, her performance-style and her music since beginning my studies in my graduate program a year ago. I encourage everyone, whether you are familiar with Latin music or not, to listen to Celia Cruz as much as possible. She is one of the best examples in Latin music to study to help improve your understanding of improvisation and performance. Her energy and charisma transcend language and cultural barriers and she still continues to this day to be the "Queen of Salsa". 

Dealing with Constructive Criticism

It's always a great thing to receive compliments about your voice or your performance. However, let's face it, not everyone is going to like your voice. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and everyone has their own musical preferences, just like you or I do. However, being someone who continuously struggles with second-guessing myself, I can understand how hard it is to accept criticism without taking it personally.

Things to Remember When Encountering Criticism

#1: Have an open-mind.
Listen first to what people or a person has to say. They may have helpful insight into how to make your performance and overall vocal technique improve.

#2: Try to realize where that person and their views are coming from.
In other words, try to think of what kind of experiences they have had---musical taste, moral values, education, etc.--that makes them think or react in that way. This is true for everyone, including you and I; so while it is important to make sure you listen to everyone's opinion, remember it doesn't necessarily make their opinions right.

#3: Ultimately, draw your own conclusions. 
You should have an open-mind to criticism, but you also have the right to take from criticism whatever you think and feel will help you improve, not only as a musician, but as a person.

Personal Experience

My first experience with this was back during my undergraduate years. After several ensemble performances, a professor of mine told me that my voice and musical instincts were great, but that my stage presence was slightly sub-par. He advised me to take acting or speech classes to help me become more comfortable performing in front of people. This was what I consider constructive criticism. I knew he was coming from a very genuine, helpful place with no intent to offend. He wanted to see me succeed. Even though I have yet to take any acting classes, I have since made a conscious effort to open up more on stage when I sing. I am forever grateful for this advice and think of it every time I get ready to sing.

The other experience that I had, happened, unfortunately, very recently. After attending multiple ensemble rehearsals, several of the other singers in the group proceeded to call me names alluding to the fact that I didn't dance when I sang. I had only been studying the music we performed in the ensemble for almost a year, so I came to every rehearsal focusing on the music. When the other singers in the group teased me for my "lack-of-dancing", my initial reaction was anger and confusion. I had been singing for many years and I knew I was knowledgeable of my craft, but when they called me those names I felt incompetent. Later, I realized where these people were coming from--immaturity and ignorance--and I knew that this was criticism that I shouldn't listen to. I will admit that ever since this incident, however, I am more conscious of my stage presence and performance when performing this type of music. So I guess I used this negative experience as a tool of motivation to improve myself. In most cases, though, I would recommend ignoring negative or hurtful comments or criticism.

Whether the criticism is good or bad, it is important to remember that it is a part of life. How you react to it helps you grow as a musician and individual. As long as after all those comments have been said, you still are okay with yourself, then you have nothing to worry about. I always like to think that when people criticize, it's because they are taking notice of you. So no matter what, just keep on singing.