What Lovely Vowels You Have!

Here are some technical things I listen to in a singer, not necessarily in order:

1. Tone. This is perhaps the hardest thing to describe. Adjectives: warm, harsh, pure, dark, light, clear. It probably has to do with wave forms, and if I were a sound engineer I might be able to say something more impressive about it. Basically, it's your vocal fingerprint. This is what separates us from instrumentalists. No two voices can sound exactly the same. Two electronic keyboards can.

2. Intonation. There is some cultural variation for pitch -- some cultures tend to be sharp or flat according to American ears. These days there is the AutoTune phenomenon which, when abused, results in recordings that are impossibly flawless. Studio recordings magnify your pitch problems, and while it's good to fix them, it's also good to realize that live performance is less about the accuracy of every single note and more about the accuracy of the important ones.

3. Breath control. Oft-ignored. Those who have a flair for endlessly holding notes and even growing from piano to forte on them (or vice versa) flaunt it: Rachelle Ferrell, Kurt Elling.

4. Rhythm. Again, depending on style, are you behind the beat (jazz, funk), on top of it (salsa) or even at the leading edge of it (samba)? Do you have a sense of the ground beats (2 and 4, or 1 and 3, for example) that are key to the groove you are singing to? Is your rhythm consistent?

5. Articulation. I have been complimented on my articulation. To be honest, I wasn't sure what that meant, vocally speaking. Upon investigation, it means how clearly you can be understood. It does not mean enunciating things in an unnatural or exaggerated way. But do test your vocals on others to make sure they are hearing most of what you are singing about. To be sure, a listener is not going to grasp an entire complex lyric in one sitting, but if they can't pick out a single word or don't get the words to the chorus or hook, you're not articulating. (I like this essay I found on the topic.)

6. Pronunciation. Similar to articulation in that it has to do with being understood, pronuciation is different in that it adds emotional and locational content to the song's message. Think country twang, urban rap, Irish brogue. Consistency and authenticity are critical. Don't switch characters mid-song, either by making sure you have practiced consistent regional pronunciation or by staying true to your native accent. When singing in foreign languages, you may unknowingly adopt a specific regionalism. That's not always a problem, but it's something to be aware of.

7. Vowels. Think back to school or church choir -- this was one area your choir director was right about. Rounded vowels are beautiful. Flat, nasal ones, less so. The A sound in apple is one of the hardest. We all have a vowel or two that cause us problems. Experiment with vowels to find the most beautiful ones, if the song needs to be beautiful.

8. Vibrato. It should be natural. Some have a very wide vibrato, others have none at all. Varying use of vibrato is one of the aspects that most defines musical genre (opera, pop, gospel, R&B). It's good to be able to turn it on or off for effect. Over the years it can become more noticeable. If you get lazy or bad vocal habits form, widening vibrato can interfere with tone production and obscure pitch.

9. Connected voice. The holy grail of singing is no clear demarcation between falsetto, middle voice and chest voice -- yodeling in country music being one exception. Well, there's also the gospel wail and the Eastern European high chest voice. Speech-level vocal technique aims to keep all tones connected without altering the level of the larynx or involving the muscles of the neck, jaw and tongue. I can't say I'm an expert here, but I have read some books on the technique.

10. Range. To some extent, you can increase your range through proper techique, "freeing" your voice to go lower or higher. However, we all lose range (especially high range) as we age. Also, our repertoire may affect and define our range. If you begin singing jazz tunes all in an alto range, you may lose your soprano tones and have to redeploy them through exercises if you need them. However, you also have to choose your songs and keys carefully. Limited range is not the worst thing in the world. What's more important is how you use what you have.

11. Style. I'm going to say too little about this. Style relates to the musical genre, the famous singers whose unique approaches have defined music (jazz, gospel, pop, R&B, country, classical), personal taste and inventiveness. Too few of us are unique. Think of Bjork. No one else sounds like her. Then think of all the cliches we mindlessly employ: growls, crying tones, runs on a blues scale, certain pronunciations. The effects can be useful where appropriate, but there needs to be something beneath them that makes the singer not just a copycat but a vessel for song unlike any other.

These are all technical points. They are all meaningless without emotional content and expression. I'll cover those in a separate post.

Do you agree with these? Have I missed some? Who are you reading online about vocal technique? Please comment and post links below.