How to Sing Contemporary Songs With Your Middle Voice
A lot of singers who have been classically trained have a hard time singing contemporary music such as pop, rock or country.
These singers have trouble mastering modern music because they have been trained to use their head voice but not their middle voice. They can get their head voice which reverberates in their head high enough to sing classical material but they can’t get their middle voice which alternates between chest and head high enough to hit the notes in a lot of today’s songs.
The reason that classically trained singers don’t have the middle voice necessary for contemporary vocals is that they haven’t strengthened the set of muscles that works their vocal cords. This means that they physically can’t use their middle vocal cords.
A classically trained singer can train his/herself to use the middle voice by staying in the lower register when s/he does her vocal exercises. This develops the middle voice but it can lead to some problems including cysts on your vocal cords because of strain. Improper voice training will lead to health problems and it can wreck your voice.
The best piece of advice that any singer should follow when trying to develop middle voice is to avoid voice strain. Stop singing the minute you feel sort of voice strain and rest your voice. When you feel strain it means you are pulling your chest which is a bad habit that will hurt your voice. You should be able to reach your middle voice without strain.
Leaning forward while doing your vocal exercises is really bad for you because it puts too much strain on your vocal chords. A great way to avoid doing this while working on your middle is to stand straight against a wall during practice. This keeps your body straight leaves your chest and throat open. Don’t slouch or lean against the wall stand straight when you do this.
Adjusting your head, your body and your breath during vocal practice can be helpful. Don’t try to sing everything in the same way because that will cause vocal strain. Singing in the same tone that you use to talk will also help because you use your chest when you talk.
One of your major goals when you are developing this voice is to undo some of that classical singing training. Classical singers are taught to sing in a methodical and very artificial way that emphasizes high notes. Many of them are trained to pull their chests and strain their vocal cords to hit the highest note possible.
Contemporary singers try to sing in a natural voice that sounds more like their spoken voice and resonates from their chests. Using this natural voice is actually better for you because it puts less strain on your vocal cords. A properly trained chest voice can enable a singer to easily hit a wide variety of notes in a relaxed manner.
Remember relaxation is one of the keys to contemporary music because modern music is supposed to be fun. If the singer isn’t relaxed and having fun the audience won’t and they’ll have no reason to listen to it. Developing the middle voice is the key to mastering the pop sound that sells songs in our modern world.