Today i'll be talking about singing because i am a performing artiste on Kiptabut Inde Chebarbar Show. I have actually missed blogging for a while now and as thus... here i am.
Well, there's not much i can say about this on my very first blogpost. However, when I am singing, i prefer to go with it and figure it all out with repetition and my gut feeling (I am a Pisces and i own it. So far, my gut has done me loads of good).
Which may not be very helpful to everyone, as i so realized, so I am going to give you a few pointers some of which you may, or may not have heard before. Yeah? Okay, good, now here we go.
Before Singing
First things first:
Singing can be strenuous, so i suggest you do the following before you carry out singing.
Relax.
It's you having fun. You aren't doing it before hundreds of thousands of people yet. And if you are, you should note i have said yet. I usually relax by dancing, and thereafter taking a nice warm shower. Yes, you should avoid cold showers. Your body should be warm so that you don't end up catching a form of flu or something. I also noticed that letting water warm the throat from the outside during a shower helps the vocal box relax.
Dress up warmly too so that your body stops shivering. This can also affect your singing. Don't forget to wear a nice warm scarf around your throat after showering.
Drink something.
Yes, drink something and it should not be too cold or too hot. Very hot drinks can damage your throat and very cold drinks can give you health complications. Rememeber, your vocal chords are a part of your body. If it is too cold, or too hot, either way they get affected.
Avoid caffeine/caffeinated drinks.
Caffeine has been known to make your vocal chords drier than they should be. Drinks that have sugar make you thirsty, and dairy products increase the amount of mucus at the voice box. Water is your safest bet, though if you insist on tea or coffee or milk or citric drinks you have to chase them down with water. The water should be good at room temperature. Take any of the drinks 3 hours prior to your warm-ups.
Avoid cold beverages or drinks
I shall repeat: AVOID COLD DRINKS. Doesn't matter if you are sweating buckets. Yeah?
Preparations
When you have diligently followed the instructions given above, you are now ready to move to stage two. Here, we do the most important exercises that will determine how you sound during your kick-ass performance. Stay with me now. Yeah?
Breathing Patterns
Learn to breathe deeply, and hold the air before slowly releasing it. People who swim are very ideal at holding their breath. Singing is all about how you employ your breath, not how good your vocals are, or how wide your vocal range is. Breathing also helps burn calories. You should try it.
When you feel like your chest is tight, then you are doing it right )I just rhymed! Woohoo!).
Vocal warm-up
A good warm-up goes from 5 to 10 minutes. It consists of, for me at least, mouth exercise, neck exercise, jaw massage, vocal exercise and facial relaxation. Start with the musical ladder, going from the lower "do" to the higher "do" more than once. Some people then follow this up with using piano and other instruments to match pitch (can't stop thinking of Pitch Perfect now). I just recently did that and i could hit a lot of high notes... probably achieved my falsetto on that same day...!
The ladder goes from "do... reh...mi...fa...so...la...ti..do" and for me, i alternate it with "la...la...la...la...la...la...la...la..." and finish that off with singing "mamamia, mamamia, mamammia, mamamia, mamaaa-mia" acccording to the musical ladder key.
A good warm up then proceeds to do "a...e...i...o...u" repeatedly then continuously relaxing and tensing various facial muscles. Whenever you feel like you are straining, stop, and take some water or massage your throat. Be patient, rest, then do it again. Warm-up is all about easing your voice for the singing ahead. If you push too hard, you will end up with a damaged vocal box.
Remember to breath during warm-up.
Let It Go
If you are uncomfortable practicing in front of [people, then you can as well do it in a corner. Close your eyes and rehearse to your heart's content.
Performance
A good performance is only possible due to:
-good rehearsal
-good warm-up
-good health
-confidence
-concentration on task at hand
-good acting
-good diction
There is a lot of literature that i have found online on how to give a good performance. Well... i'd start with a lot of practice... and a few other things. They include:
-committment
-song choice
-vocal health
-confidence
-relatability
-love
-acting
-cardio
-breathing
-physical health
-mental health
-emotional state
-spiritual health
Join me next time to discuss how to perform and totally give the show of your life Every. Single. Time.
Thank you, and have a lovely time.
~Zainab
