Singing For Dummies (3^rd Ed.)

Go from singing in the shower to taking your audience?s breath away

Whether you picture yourself as the next Ariana Grande or just feel like picking up a new hobby, Singing For Dummies walks you through the surprisingly straightforward steps you?ll need to take to develop your voice. It?s a practical guide to every important aspect of singing, from vocal techniques to performance tips.

You?ll learn exercises and practice songs that gradually improve your craft and receive instruction on the latest technology and recording devices to capture and play back your songs. Singing For Dummies also shows you how to:

• Understand and use important singing techniques, improve your tone, upgrade your posture, and maximize your breath
• Maintain your voice with preventative self-care that keeps your vocal cords in tiptop shape
• Sing with instrumental accompaniment or with a partner in a duet

Perfect for men, women, boys, and girls, Singing For Dummies is the most intuitive and accessible resource on the market for anyone who hopes to find their voice.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 3

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond This Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Exploring Singing Basics5

Chapter 1: Preparing to Sing 7

What You Want to Know Right from the Beginning 7

Determining your voice type 8

Locating the notes on the staff 8

Considering posture, breath, and tone 10

Developing Your Singing Voice 10

Working the Different Parts of Your Voice 11

Applying Your Technique 12

Having Fun 13

Chapter 2: Determining Your Voice Type15

Sifting through the Ingredients to Figure Out Your Voice Type 16

Identifying the Fab Four 17

Highest range of the dames: Soprano 18

How low can she go: Mezzo 20

Highest range of the dudes: Tenor 21

He’s so low: Bass 23

Comparing voice types 25

Chapter 3: Aligning Your Body for Great Singing29

Evaluating Your Posture 30

Creating Ideal Posture 32

Feeling grounded on your feet 32

Engaging your legs 34

Releasing your hips 35

Lengthening your spine 36

Balancing your head and shoulders 36

Releasing Tension 37

Letting go of tension in your upper body 37

Opening space in the head 38

Walking with ease 39

Projecting confidence through posture 40

Chapter 4: Breathing for Singing 43

Tackling the Basics of Breathing 43

Inhaling to sing 44

Exhaling to sing 44

Posturing yourself for breathing 46

Practicing Inhalation 46

Opening your body 47

Breathing, slow and steady 51

Catching a quick breath 52

Practicing Exhalation 54

Blowing in the wind 54

Trilling for exhalation 55

Recognizing resistance and suspending the breath 57

Testing Your Breath Control 58

Releasing abs and then ribs 59

Singing slowly 60

Chapter 5: Toning Up the Voice63

Defining Tone 63

Creating unique tone 64

Identifying factors that affect tone 64

Considering tone, pitches, and notes 65

Flexing Your Singing Muscles 66

Discovering your own bands 66

Making the first sound 66

Dropping the jaw 67

Matching Pitch 71

Sliding up and down on pitch 72

Developing muscle memory 73

Recording yourself and singing along 74

Releasing Tension for Better Tone 74

Checking for neck or jaw tension 75

Bouncing the tongue and jaw 75

Part 2: Improving Your Singing79

Chapter 6: Acquiring Beautiful Tone81

Creating Tone 81

Starting the tone 82

Creating back space 83

Coordinating air with tone 83

Sighing your way to clarity 84

Releasing Tone 85

Inhaling to release tone 85

Letting your throat go 86

Sustaining Tone 86

Connecting the dots with legato 86

Trilling the lips or tongue 87

Working your breath control 87

Finding Your Vibrato 88

Moving from straight tone to vibrato 89

Imitating another singer’s vibrato 90

Chapter 7: Exploring Resonance91

Understanding Resonance — Good Vibrations 92

Identifying resonance in different styles of music 92

Exploring your resonators 94

Ringing it out 94

Eliminating Nasality 95

Getting the feel for soft palate work 95

Coordinating your soft palate and tongue 96

Moving air through the nose 97

Debunking Common Misconceptions 98

Misconception: Tone resonates in your sinuses 98

Misconception: You have to place every tone in the same location 99

Misconception: You’re supposed to keep your tongue completely flat 99

Misconception: You need to open your mouth as wide as possible 100

Misconception: The more forward the sound, the better 100

Misconception: You have to smile to stay on pitch 100

Chapter 8: Shaping Your Vowels for Clarity 101

Getting Your Backside into Shape — Back Vowels, That Is 102

Exploring the shape of back vowels 103

Lipping around your back vowels 104

Singing the back vowels 105

Mastering the Front Vowels 106

Exploring the shape of front vowels 106

Speaking the front vowels 108

Singing the front vowels 109

Chapter 9: Exercising Consonants for Articulation111

Saying Voiced and Unvoiced Consonants 112

Making Tip Consonants 113

Shaping tip consonants 113

Singing tip consonants 116

Making Soft Palate Consonants 116

Shaping soft palate consonants 117

Singing soft palate consonants 118

Working Lip Consonants 118

Shaping lip consonants 118

Singing lip consonants 120

Working Combination Consonants 120

Shaping combination consonants 121

Singing combination consonants 122

Chapter 10: Crafting a Practice Routine123

Knuckling Down to a Practice Plan 124

Getting Answers to Your Practicing Questions 124

Where should I practice? 125

What’s the best time to practice? 125

How long should I practice? 126

What do I need besides my voice? 126

Warming Up 127

Stretching to warm up your body 127

Warming up your voice 129

Exercising Your Voice 130

Picking exercises that work for you 130

Breaking it down 131

Practicing Correctly 133

Recording yourself 133

Applying information and exercises 134

Using the online tracks to practice exercises 134

Part 3: Advanced Techniques to Improve Your Voice135

Chapter 11: Developing the Parts of Your Singing Voice137

Finding Your Middle Voice 138

Noting your middle voice range 139

Singing in middle voice 140

Checking Out Your Chest Voice 142

Zeroing in on your chest voice range 142

Feeling your chest voice 144

Aiming High with Head Voice 145

Finding your head voice range 145

Feeling head voice 146

Figuring Out Falsetto 148

Discovering your falsetto 149

Experiencing your falsetto 150

Making a Smooth Transition 153

Maneuvering in and out of chest voice 153

Mixing It Up 157

Making the most of your mix, man 157

Getting into the mix, gals 158

Chapter 12: Expanding Your Vocal Flexibility and Range163

Tackling Register Transitions 164

Working On Your Range 165

Taking your range higher 165

Varying the dynamics 166

Moving between registers 167

Taking Your Agility to New Levels 168

Moving along the scale 169

Picking up the pace 169

Skipping through the intervals 170

Improvising for a Better Pop Sound 171

Mastering patterns in pop music 172

Singing pop riffs with chords 173

Chapter 13: It’s a Cinch: Belting Out Your Song 175

Playing around with Pitch 176

Talking to yourself 177

Chanting and speaking 177

Finding your optimum speaking pitch 179

Increasing your speaking range 180

Using body energy to find clarity of tone 181

Defining Healthy Belting 182

Comparing belt and chest voice 183

Knowing your limits as a beginner belter 184

Noting the difference between the sexes 184

Coordinating breath and energy 185

Preparing for Belting 186

Speaking in a mix 186

Calling out to a friend 187

Moving Resonance to the Front 187

Exploring vibrations of resonance 188

Being bratty to feel resonance 189

Combining Resonance and Registration 189

Increasing your belt range 190

Belting up the scale 190

Advancing Your Belt 191

Sustaining belt sounds 192

Exploring different vowels 193

Belters and Belt Songs You Should Hear 194

Male belters 194

Female belters 195

Belt songs 195

Chapter 14: Training for Singing 199

Defining Training Requirements 199

Crooning as a country singer 200

Jazzing it up 200

Making your mark in musical theater 201

Performing pop-rock 202

Opting for opera 203

Showing your range with R&B 204

Training to Sing at Any Age 205

Recognizing differences between young singers and teens 205

Developing long-term technique in teenagers 206

Understanding that voices change with age 207

Training with a Choir 208

Enjoying the benefits of singing in the choir 208

Singing in the choir versus going solo 209

Chapter 15: Finding the Right Voice Teacher211

Searching for the Best Voice Teacher 211

Finding a prospective voice teacher 212

Identifying what you want 212

Interviewing a prospective teacher 213

Knowing What to Expect from a Teacher 217

Feeling good when you leave the lesson 217

Working with imagery and other tools 218

Applying tried-and-true singing methods 218

Knowing What to Expect from Yourself 219

Developing your own practice process 219

Avoiding overworking your flaws 219

Making Your First Lesson a Success 220

Part 4: Preparing to Perform221

Chapter 16: Selecting Your Music Material223

Choosing the Song 223

Finding songs at your level 223

Determining the appropriate key for you 229

Selecting a suitable song style 229

Singing to your strengths 230

Shopping for Sheet Music 231

Downloading sheet music 231

Ordering music books 232

Checking out music at your local library 233

Chapter 17: Mastering a New Song235

Tackling a Song in Steps 235

Memorizing the lyrics as text 236

Tapping out the rhythm 239

Singing the melody (without the words) 240

Putting words and music together 241

Using Vocal Technique in Your New Song 242

Giving voice to vowels 242

Backing into phrases 243

Breathing heavy: Fogging up the windows 244

Changing the tone for each section 247

Using Musical Elements to Create Your Arrangement 248

Comparing songs 248

Articulation 249

Dynamics 249

Tempo 249

Using vocal variety 250

Style 250

Accompanist 251

Evaluating musical elements 251

Chapter 18: Acting the Song253

Seeing the Song As a Story 254

Chatting it up before you sing 254

Recognizing musical responses 255

Accounting for interludes 255

Exploring Character 256

Characterizing your character 256

Discovering your character’s motivation 258

Planning actions to get something done 258

Getting Physical 259

Figuring out where to focus 259

Gesturing appropriately 260

Movin’ and groovin’ with your song 262

Chapter 19: Confronting Your Fear of Performing265

Facing the Symptoms 265

Alleviating Anxiety through Preparation 267

Practicing well 267

Playing to your strengths 268

Managing your thoughts 268

Getting up the nerve 269

Building performance focus 270

Performing to Build Confidence 272

Devising a game plan 272

Evaluating your performance 274

Chapter 20: Auditioning a Song277

Tailoring Your Audition for Any Venue and Any Style of Music 278

At the opera 278

Onstage at the theater 279

In the club 279

On television 280

Choosing Audition Songs to Highlight Your Strengths 281

Showing versatility 281

Connecting with the lyrics 282

Avoiding the wrong audition song 283

Choosing the key 284

Making the cut 285

Marking the music 286

Rehearsing with an accompanist 287

Preparing the Music 288

Preparing hard copies 289

Taking digital sheet music 290

Bringing a recording 290

Nailing the Audition 291

Doing your prep work 291

Dressing in the right outfit 292

Knowing how to audition online 293

Greeting the audition accompanist 294

Acting at the audition 295

Preparing mentally 296

Part 5: The Part of Tens297

Chapter 21: Ten Performers with Good Technique299

Xiomara Alfaro 300

Juan Diego Flórez 300

Lady Gaga 300

Eddie Kendricks 301

Bruno Mars 301

Minnie Riperton 302

Sofia Shkidchenko 302

Meryl Streep 303

Josh Turner 303

Colm Wilkinson 304

Chapter 22: Ten Frequently Asked Questions about Singing305

Is Belting Bad? 305

What Should I Do If My Voice Feels Off? 306

How Are an Accompanist, a Coach, and a Voice Teacher Different? 307

If My Voice Is Scratchy, Do I Have Nodes? 307

Do I Have to Be Big to Have a Big Voice? 308

What’s the Best Singing Method? 308

Do I Have to Speak Italian to Sing Well? 308

Can I Have a Few Drinks Before the Performance to Calm My Nerves? 309

Why Can’t I Eat Ice Cream Before I Sing? 309

How Long Will It Take Me to Learn to Sing? 310

Chapter 23: Ten Tips for Maintaining Vocal Health311

Identifying Everyday Abuses 311

Incorporating Healthy Speech into Your Singing 313

Knowing When to Seek Help 313

Staying Hydrated 314

Getting Plenty of Shut-Eye 315

Making Sure That You’re Well Nourished 315

Preventing a Sore Throat or Infection 316

Medicating a Sore Throat 316

Protecting a Sore Throat 318

Keeping Your Emotional Life in Check 318

Chapter 24: Ten Tips for Performing Like a Pro319

Rehearsing to Beat the Band 319

Wearing the Right Ensemble 320

Finding Your Stance 321

Singing with a Piano, Organ, or Band 322

Making Your Entrance 322

Roping in Your Audience 323

Ignoring That Mosquito 323

Handling Those Hands 324

Using the Mic 325

Taking Your Bow and Leaving the Stage 326

Part 6: Appendixes 329

Appendix A: Songs to Advance Your Technique 331

Beginner Songs for Any Voice Type or Gender 332

Intermediate Songs from Various Styles for Any Voice Type or Gender 333

Intermediate musical theater songs 333

Intermediate pop-rock songs 333

Intermediate country songs 334

Intermediate classical songs 334

Songs to Practice Technical Lessons for Any Voice Type or Gender 334

Spunky songs for practicing articulation and agility 335

Songs with larger intervals to practice smooth register transitions 335

Songs to practice breath coordination and legato phrases 336

Songs to Work on Range and Registers 336

Songs for low female voices 337

Songs for low male voices 337

Songs for higher voices to expand your range for any gender 338

Songs for lower voices to expand your range for any gender 338

Songs for Working Mix, Belt, and Falsetto 338

Female mix songs 339

Songs for working on male falsetto and mix 339

Belt songs for higher and lower female voices 340

Appendix B: About the Online Tracks 343

Recognizing What’s Available: The Track Listings 343

Tackling Any Potential Issues 347

Index 349

Pamelia S. Phillips is a professional singer, voice teacher, and author. Her voice clients range from beginners to professionals, some of whom have gone on to win Grammy, Tony, and Academy awards. She also wrote all previous editions of Singing for Dummies and Singing Exercises for Dummies.