The Least You Need to Know About Singing

For Boyce Music and Worship Students

 

The Least You Need to Know About Singing

 

  • Your voice works best when you can take a deep easy breath and release it freely as you sing, while keeping your belly muscles alive.
  • Your body works best when you stand tall, keep your head erect, and your shoulders relaxed.
  • Your face works best when your mouth and jaw can open and close easily and freely, your facial muscles can move without tension, and your eyes are relaxed and alive.
  • Your mind needs to be harnessed to the lyrics of every song you will ever sing. You need to truly understand not just what the song says, but what it means and what it implies.  You must also allow the words to have an effect upon you in a way that is vivid and expressive.  Just understanding it in your mind without allowing it to show up in your body and on your face isn’t enough.
  • If you do not believe yourself when you sing, no one else will either.
  • Your throat should never squeeze, tighten, feel tired or choked up when you sing, NO MATTER WHAT IT IS.
  • The choice of songs is as important as what you do with the song in performance. Not all songs are appropriate for all people or all voices.
  • You need to understand how to put the song in the proper key for your voice. A song sheet is printed in a certain key because it makes the sheet music easy to play on the piano, not because it is the appropriate key for you to sing.  Not all songs that you sing will be in the same key.  In fact, that is highly unlikely.
  • There is no one way to learn to sing that is THE ONLY correct way, but all methods of singing should make sense physiologically (in terms of the way the vocal cords actually work). Doing things that are contrary to normal vocal function for musical purposes is never necessary.
  • Remember that the point of singing is to enjoy making music in front of (and sometimes with) others. You might need to work very hard in order to learn how to make this happen every time.  That is the purpose of studying – to improve not only your skills, but your ability to enjoy being a singer.