Welcome

Do you know what is a great stress reliever but it doesn't require too much work? Yes, that's right! Its singing! Well, you have come to right place to learn the basics! I will "pass on" the expertise I have gained throughout the years. Its quite simple, really. You just need to put the time and effort into singing.

Overview

Although singing encompasses many styles and types, this blog would only be focusing on choral/classical signing. Singing is just a manipulation of speech. So, if you can talk then you can sing! But there are many things you must learn before you can sing correctly.

Here is an overview of the do and don'ts of choral singing:

• warm-ups
• posture
• reading the music
• vowels
• expression

Warms Up

In sports, athletes need to warm up before practicing to prevent injuries. This concept works the same for singers too. Warm ups are essential in preserving the vocal cords for years to come!

Here are someways a singer can warm up before singing:

• S T R E T C H I N G
• YAWNING
• SCALES

The Secret Behind Warm-ups!

There isn't a secret behind warm-ups! Warm-ups are not designed to trick you! So do them!

S T R E T C H I N G

Stretching allows the body to relax and relieve the tension you might have gained throughout the day. Obviously, we know that we use our vocal vocal cords to sing. But, did you know that we have to use the diaphragm to sing also? This is why we have to stretch the torso area too. If you do this every time we sing, then the diaphragm will become stronger. If you stretch over time that your voice will become stronger and you can sing longer with only one breath.

YAWNING

Choir class is probably the only place where you can yawn and the teacher won't give you dirty looks. This is because yawning is considered a warm up because it opens the throat and works the throat muscles. In singing, especially choral singing, an open throat is needed because it creates an open sound.

SCALES

After you are all warmed up, then you can start singing by practicing scales. A scale is a group of music notes that are in ascending or descending order. When you practice scales at different notes, it allows you to recognize where notes lie and the different tonal sounds associated with it. You can also hum or sing on a neutral syllable up and down the scale which also helps a lot too.

These are just some of the basic warm-ups that you need to know. If you warm up every time you sing, then, over time, it will preserve your voice.

Posture

After you have learn the warm ups, the next step to singing is having the correct posture. With correct posture, you will have more air because your diaphragm is open and in perfect singing position. Not only will you sing longer but it will also create a better tonal sound. Good posture is essential because without it then your voice will be weak and it would not use its full potential. Here is a mental checklist I use every time I sing:

1. Make sure your feet are positioned hip distance apart.
2. Stand up straight with your chest out so your diaphragm would be open.
3. Make sure your head is parallel to the the ground.
4. Hands should be relaxed and still at the sides because you want the attention on you not your hands.
5. Knees should be flexible and not locked.

That is it but when you are up singing on stage it is hard to keep track of this because people are watching you. When I began to sing a long time ago, I would always forget about my posture because I was nervous. It just take time to get use to the mental checklist. But I guarantee you that it will help you become a better singer!

Sight Reading

Here comes the hard part! Of course, reading music is part of the singing process. But it can be complicated because it takes a lot of time to properly learn how to sight read. When I was in high school choir, my teacher would tell us this:

1. when the note goes up, sing higher
2. when the note goes down, sing lower
3. when the note stay the same, don't change

She said that this was the simplest she can make it. She is right? Isn't she? I thought so. It gets more complicated as you progress in your sight reading and we will not address in this blog. But this website is really helpful if you want to learn more about sight reading!

Do Re Mi

Every note is given a label such as G A B C D E F or do re mi fa so la ti do because then it would be easier to be identified. In choir, we use do re me fa so la ti do because it easier to remember than just plain letters.

A good way to remember where the notes is to apply acronyms to them like the ones shown above.

What Appears on a Sheet of Music...

When you first look at a sheet of music, you think that it is all mumbo jumbo and it doesn't makes sense to you at all, right? But I am here too help! Here is a brief overview of what appears on sheet music:

1. music bars
2. a treble or base clef
3. a time signature
4. notes

Here is a sample sheet music:

Bars and Clefs

1. Music bars or staffs- Of course these bars are the foundation of music composition.

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

2. Treble and Bass Clef: In choral singing, a clef indicates where a note should be placed on the staff. The treble clef tells you that the note on the second to the last line is a "G."

Treble/Bass

Time Signature and Notes

3. Time Signatures- A time signature is indicated in the beginning of a piece of music right after the clef. In this case, it appears after the treble clef. A 4/4 time signature means that each measure gets four beat and a quarter note gets one beat. A measure is indicated by the the vertical bars. So, if a time signature is 3/4 then three beats are assigned to every measure and a quarter note gets one beat.

4. Notes- The way that notes look indicates how long you have to hold the note. The following beat divisions are in common time which is (4/4):

whole note= 4 beats

half note= 2 beats

quarter note= 1 beat

eight note= 1/2 of a beat

sixteenth note= 1/4 of a beat

Vowels

In choral/classical singing, vowel shapes are essential because that is what gives choral singing its unique tone. Without proper vowel shapes, the tone would loose its classical feel to it. Vowel shapes must be tall. To do this, you must drop your jaw towards the ground and form the shape of the needed vowel. You must breath in on that vowel before your sing. As you sing, try to not let the vowel go wide or it will create a different tonal sound. To practice this technique, my teacher would always tell us to disregard the consonants and only sing the vowels. She did this because consonants would cause your mouth to go wide and create that undesired sound. After we got the vowels down, then we could add back in the consonants. Just practice singing only vowels, and it will help you sing more classically.

Expression

Music and singing is all about expression. It is another way to express yourself and your feelings. Also, expression in signing makes it more interesting because if you sing about love with a blank face then people will not believe you. Make yourself believable but acting out the lyrics or using your face to show the emotion in the words. This is why you don't just memorize the lyrics, you have to know what it means so you can effectively convey it to the audience.

The End?

Nope. Its not the end yet. You only have begun your journey towards a better singer. I hope all the tips and tricks I have taught you will help sing your first song. It can be challenging but once you give it time and effort, I believe that you will be a great singer!! Thanks for your taking the time to read this blog! Have a nice day! :D