SINGING WITH EMOTION: Part Two

Different Ways to Add Emotion into Singing:

Adding emotion to a song can be done in so many different ways that it’ll make your head spin. You can use variations of dynamics and tone, you can speak the words in different ways focusing on the vowels or consonants, you can color the tone by using vocal fry, growling, breathiness, cracking, the list is endless.

But here’s the deal, if you have to manufacture it, it’s fake.

Said differently, if you create these different tones and colors in the voice, but there’s no emotion behind it, then your listeners will know and you can kiss that connection goodbye. Think about it has someone ever told you that they loved you, but you knew in that moment what they were saying wasn’t genuine? Same thing.

We can go through the process of manufacturing these sounds all day long, but without us genuinely feeling what we’re saying, it’s all for naught. That’s why it’s so important for the artists to wear their hearts on their sleeves.

Wearing Your Heart On Your Sleeve:

This can be one of the most difficult things for an artist to do. In order to be successful, they have to make themselves vulnerable in a way that shows people how they really feel.

Honestly, not everyone can do this. Not everyone can let the world in. Not everyone is willing to give others a window into their soul and show them what it’s like when they’re not wearing their everyday “everything’s alright” mask. But, not everyone can touch their audience in a real way either.

Good singers are a dime a dozen. Great singers that connect with their audience in a real way are rare indeed. To me, Singing with Emotion is one of the biggest differences in the two.

So, how do we share that emotion?

There are songs that you have first hand experience with, in other words you’ve experienced nearly the exact same scenario discussed in the song. It’s by far easiest to connect emotionally to these songs. All you have to do is go back in your head and relive that experience in your mind. But don’t just visualize what happened feel it in your body. Make it as real as possible to you. Once you’ve done this, your voice will naturally take over.

However, there are some song plots that you haven’t experienced directly. In this situation, it’s easiest to define the main emotions, and try to feel them in your body as well. You can do this by reliving another experience that may have made you feel a similar way, or simply imagine what that emotion would feel like and take it from there. To me, the biggest key is finding a way to physically feel it within your body. If you can do this, you’re golden.

Application:

All of this is worth nothing if you don’t take the time to apply it to your singing. So, go now and find a song that you can connect with. Analyze it so that you know specifically how every line should make you feel. Start making yourself feel those emotions and sing through it a time or two and see what comes out. Play with the dynamics, the color of the tone, different inflections, and the length that you hold different notes until you’ve created your own version of the song that is so contagiously emotional that your listeners become putty in the palm of your hands.

Follow these guidelines on singing with emotion with each song you perform, and if you really allow yourself to be vulnerable (and you choose songs that will connect with your audience), then you’ll see a huge difference in the response the crowd gives you.

God bless you all.