Wearing The Song

Everybody has a favorite pair of jeans, just the right cut and perfectly broken in. We reach for them when we want to be comfortable. Singers need to create a wardrobe full of songs that fit as naturally as those jeans. Forcing and squeezing yourself into the current vocal trend is the surest way to highlight your weaknesses. Not surprisingly, with every new singing style, vocal therapists like me see an emergence of new complaints.   Often, the problem is not the singers, but the songs.

Two important aspects need to fall into place before singer and song become one. The first and most obvious is range. When singing cover songs, this requires finding the best key. Be prepared for some heated arguments when searching. Guitarists will fight to the death to play chords with open strings. Adjustments should always be made in favor of the vocals. (Tip: leave this article out where your band will read it.)   It won’t matter how well the guitar is resonating; if the singer is struggling, the band will be passed over.

To find the best key, sing the song a cappella for a few days. Without a musical reference, you’ll naturally adjust. Before settling on a new key, factor in performance adrenaline. If you’re too comfortable, you’ll miss the physical connection on stage. To find the right key in a hurry, isolate the highest and lowest notes of the song. The general range between the two is called the tessitura. Sing the phrase with the highest pitches several times in a row. If you’re fatiguing after two or three repetitions, drop down a half step and try again. Don’t forget about the lowest pitches. Are they difficult to project? If a compromise can’t be found, drop the song. Remember, singing covers is like wearing someone else’s clothes. They won’t all fit perfectly.

Original material is different because you can, and should, custom tailor the melody to your abilities. The most common mistake is the “bedroom voice.”   (Translation: Singing softly while writing a song late at night only to find that, next day with the band, you can’t reach the same pitches.) The solution doesn’t have to disturb your neighbors. The best way to learn about your instrument is to sing gibberish while your band is jamming. Once you get past the silliness of it, you’ll find notes slipping out which are usually strained. This will break down restrictive psychological barriers and allow you to discover what pitches, and which vowels, sound best from you.

The second most important factor in custom fitting a song is the lyrics. All too often, singers fail to dig deep enough when putting pen to paper. I’m not talking about changing the world with a chorus line, but inspiring yourself. Pitch and projection are muscle related aspects of singing; emotion is the all-important third dimension. The physical challenge of singing a song is not enough to sustain 1,000 memorable performances. (How many times has Mick Jagger sung, “Satisfaction?”) The lyrics have got to stir something inside you.

Screaming is no substitute for a potent lyric. The combination, however, of a heartfelt sentiment sung at the threshold of physical ability is too powerful to ignore. So, if there are songs in your set list that you either fear their tessitura or must oversell the emotion, get yourself in rewrite mode. To access the full potential of your voice, your songs have got to like your favorite pair of jeans.