Singing Technique

[Rudi]

Singing style.

There has been a change in the way people sing. It’s been evident for some time but the change seems almost entirely complete now.

You can hear it not only in pop songs but in the way children sing hymns & carols too.

The change is this. Everybody now is using a ‘lead in’ to sung notes. I’m talking of the first note of any sung phrase (& some within it too). Instead of going for the correct note straight off, singers will now precede it with a small rising tone.

Do you know what I mean? It that fleeting note that begins about a semitone down from the desired note & slides up (like a rapid portomento) to meet it.

I suspect we all do plenty of this. I do, but having now recognised it, I often try now to nail the note first go.

I don’t know if this technique has a name or not, but I will refer to it as the ‘Seeking-Tone’.

Starting to sing using a seeking-tone is much easier. You know the note you want to sing, so you begin it slightly low and then home in on it. Unless you are an accomplished singer, this makes for better pitch (more accurate). It also adds a sort of percussive edge to the sung note.

I strongly suspect that this technique is of American origin. I hear it used by some pop singers of the 40’s at least. Frank Sinatra used it a lot, so too does Michael Jackson. All modern day ‘soul’ artists seem to use it exclusively.

It’s a fine invention, but it’s quite overused now. It sounds awful used in a choir music.

[john]

Hey Rudi

generally it's lack of training in singers. there are exercise to help singers hit pitch. It's not just at the begining of lines either. A good example of where it commonly happens in David Bowies "Star Man". When you sing "Star" and change to "Man" a lot of singers will bend into the note for "Man".

Cheers

John

[Rudi]

Certainly. How many people get training anyway? There is a cultural change also though. When I was at school no-one used to do this. Now every kid does it, so there is a generational difference.

[john]

Well kids follow what their favourite singers do. As they don't sing bang on, neither do the kids. Unless you are suggesting the bendy-note gene has suddenly surfaced.