ARCHIVE of Signing Advice

Need advice on singing?

This is your chance to pose your questions to David Laudat, The Vocal Authority. Contact us and he will do his best to reply. Each month we select two questions to share with all our website visitors.

Vocal Counsel Jan 2006

Dear David,

I want to audition for the next series of X Factor. What do you think the judges will be looking for this time, and how many voice lessons do you think I will need to be good enough? I have sent you an MP3 of my voice to listen to.

Michelle.

Firstly Michelle, it is very difficult to listen to one produced track and be able to immediately assess whether you would be able to do a good unaccompanied audition. When you sing without any musical backing the voice is totally exposed, and so are all the flaws.

When I coach singers I look for a number of things; breathing, posture, tuning, confidence, to name but a few. Without seeing you personally it is hard to tell what areas of your voice need the most work, and everybody learns new things at their own pace. Therefore I can't honestly give you an estimate of how many lessons you would need. What I would say is that the more work you put in, the more you will improve. There are no exceptions to that rule. I can't wave a magic wand and make you a world class singer. I can only tell you what to do, and let you practise it.

In the next couple of months I will be launching vocal workshops in London , and I will email you the details. These workshops will be much cheaper than hiring a vocal coach for a private session, and for somebody as young as yourself, I'm sure that money is a consideration. During a year's syllabus we will be covering pretty much all you need to know about singing, performing, and going into the music business. You can always book the occasional private session if you need to.

As for what the judges are looking for this year on the X Factor – who knows? I am not personally involved in the audition process, I am merely hired to knock into shape the artists that are selected. Simon, Sharon and Louis will each have their own ideas of what they are looking for, based on what they think will make the most money. But it is important to stand out in some way. Whatever you do, don't be boring, and don't be a carbon copy of another artist. Before the judges even get to see the auditionees, the producers will pick out the people they think will make good TV, whether good, bad or ugly! Some good singers never get to sing in front of the judges because the TV people can't see an “angle”. So, don't be disheartened if you don't get through, or too ecstatic if you do.

Sing with confidence – after all, the judges are only people; but don't be arrogant – they are people who might take a dislike to you. Look at Chico as an example. Whether you liked him or not, you certainly noticed him. Also, despite all the criticism and bad press he had to endure, he took it with grace and dignity, and as a result the public saw him for what he is – a genuinely nice man with great presence, and yes, that little spark of something called the X Factor! Good luck Michelle, and let me know how you get on.

David.

Dear David,

I sing in a rock band, and we do gigs every week. I have to sing hard to be heard, and the smoky atmosphere doesn't help. The morning after a gig I can hardly speak, and I have to rest my voice for a couple of days. Our manager is starting to book us on some festivals this summer, but that would mean a gig practically every day. How am I going to manage to get through it? Please help.

Alex.

It sounds very much as if you are damaging your voice Alex. Most pro singers will sympathise with your situation, because we've been there. You are having to push the volume level of your voice to be heard over the level of the band, and you are hammering your vocal cords in the process.

The first thing to look at is your foldback system. You should be able to hear yourself clearly in the monitors. If you can't, turn them up. If they begin to feed back before you can hear yourself, then your band are too loud on stage. A singer has to hear themselves in order to tune the note, we can't just press a key and the note comes out. We also can't just turn a knob to make ourselves louder, we have to physically create our own sound. Therefore a soundcheck should always be sympathetic to the singer. No other member of the band runs the risk of ruining their instrument if their volume levels are too low. If your band moan and groan, try drawing this to their attention. No compromise – you are the front man, and you set the tone for the gig.

If you can hear yourself perfectly, and you are still straining your voice, you need to look at your technique. Vocal abuse, along with drinking and smoking, is a major cause of vocal nodules. These are hard pieces of skin rather like a corn on your toe, that form on the vocal cords, and prevent them from closing together to make a clear sound. If you have a breathy raspy sound to your voice you may have nodules. In which case get your doctor to refer you immediately to a throat specialist. If the damage you have done is great you may have to have an operation to remove the nodules, and then you will have to rest your voice for six months. I know because many years ago I had to have the operation myself. I didn't learn how to change my abusive vocal technique, and within six months I had to have the operation all over again. I wouldn't advise that to anyone. So I took lessons to improve my singing technique and have had no problems since.

If you have only the beginnings of nodules, you can get rid of them without surgery if you change your technique of both singing and speaking (yes, you might be speaking or shouting incorrectly too), rest your voice as much as possible, and keep the cords lubricated. Drink lots of water and avoid alcohol and cigarettes as they dry the vocal cords. Also remember to warm your voice up gently before a show, and down again gently afterwards.

If your technique is good, there is no reason why you can't sing an entire set every night. I can't mend your voice right here and now, but my CD of vocal exercises entitled 21 st Century Vox is great for building your voice without damaging it. The accompanying booklet gives you information on diaphragm breathing and placement, understanding both of which is essential for good singing technique.You can buy it online here at vocalauthority.com.

All the best,

David.

Dear David,
I have been writing my own songs for about a year. I have now been asked to perform at an event where there will be people I know watching and listening to me. The closer it gets, the more scared I get. I’m seriously thinking about pulling out, but I know if I don’t get over the fear, there’s no point in continuing down this career path, and it’s what I really want to do. What can I do to get rid of these nerves? - Jade.

Dear Jade,
You are not alone. Everyone gets scared the first time they sing in front of an audience, especially in front of people they know. Some performers get terrible nerves throughout their entire career. Nerves aren’t necessarily a bad thing, as they keep you alert enough to do your best, but from a physical point of view, too much tension can seriously affect your performance, in particular your breathing. If you don’t breathe, you can’t sing, simple as that.

First of all, take some deep breaths, not just into your chest, but right down into your abdomen, like filling a bag with air. Then try to relax the muscles in your face, neck and shoulders. Any time you feel the nerves coming back during the performance, remember to relax and breathe again.

Next, you have to remember that when you perform on stage, you are not being you, the person your friends know, you are superyou! A good singer, a confident performer. If you believe it, so will your audience. Keep talking to yourself to convince yourself you can do this. Nobody will die if you make a mistake, it’s only singing. Most people won’t notice anyway, and the best performers are not always the best singers, they just give the impression of being calm and comfortable with themselves. Instead of imagining that your audience is a hostile mob just waiting to tear you apart, see them as friendly faces, who actively want to enjoy your gig, and are proud to know you. After all, it just might be true.

David.

Dear David,
I want to be a singer, and recently I have joined a crew who are laying down some tracks in a studio. They like my voice, but the songs they’re writing have notes that are just a little bit too high for me. I know they’re not that high, not like big diva notes or anything, but my voice keeps breaking when I try to hit them. Can you help me before my crew start to look for another singer! - Rhianna.

Dear Rhianna,
So many people think they can’t hit high notes. And yet, when we speak we use a whole range of sounds, from high to low. If we can speak at a high pitch, we can sing there too. So often, people think that singing is completely different from speaking, and they start to stretch up for notes with their chins, or throw their head back. Try doing this while you’re speaking and you’ll feel how difficult you’re making it. It’s like trying to push something heavy up from underneath. You don’t need to do this. You don’t do it when you’re speaking.

Practise standing in front of a mirror and sing up and down a scale as if you are talking, keeping your head completely straight when you sing. Stop when it no longer feels like speaking. As long as you take a good breath and think the note in your head you will be able to hit it. Make sure you have enough breath to carry the note. A note is like a kite - if there is no air it cannot fly.

So, breathe, think, sing like you speak. It’s that simple.

It might help to imagine that instead of pushing the note up from underneath, you are flying onto it from above. Suddenly it seems much easier. Sometimes we make it all much harder than it has to be. Good luck with your recording.

David.