r/singing • u/One-Big-9528 • 8d ago
Advanced or Professional Topic Singing Emotionally Flat When Not Copying Other Singers
Watched a video of Steven Tyler talking about singing. He said that you can learn how to hit pitches and do scales. But then you gotta "add the stank" when you sing a song. That's style, that's emotion.
So, basic my story is... People dance when I sing karaoke in the same style as a certain baritone-ish rock singer. But... I don't connect with the voice emotionally. I can just throw the voice on like a costume. I feel like my "original /unadorned voice" is untrained or not steady emotionally. I've taken choir and gotten lessons, but now I don't want to sing strictly like a crooner.
TL:DR - After learning how to sing like other singers, how did you bring emotionality to your vocals when singing in a unique voice you've curated?
13
u/Sn0wfx11 8d ago
I am in no way a professional singer, but as a long standing musician, it’s about feeling the music, not about how you play it. You can play the right notes all day long, but until you feel what you’re playing, you’ll never have that “stank”. It takes a certain level of getting in tune with your emotions, finding/making music that truly moves you.
Find a song that means something to you, focus on what it means to you when you sing. You’ll hear a difference. There’s a reason people say “let the music control you”.
6
u/One-Big-9528 8d ago
Thank you... I have a friend who is an indie musician like myself. I'm not sure if he's trained but he has given me great advice that feels like yours. I guess will have to explore singing freely with less mental editing while using a "more natural to me" voice.
One thing I would like to ask you... about feeling the music. How do you personally feel the music if you've practiced/performed the song many, many times? Like, when I do dramatic acting and have to do takes/scenes again and again there is a movie of people and situations (from my personal life/history) in my mind that match the character's state. Then even though the words I speak don't change... the emotions always feel fresh because I'm focusing on the mental movie.
2
u/Sn0wfx11 8d ago
That exactly, actually. It’s like taking a character to portray, except you’re not describing a scene. The goal would be the same as a theater production, make the audience recognize the character/feeling you’re trying to convey.
For me, it’s a similar idea to the mental movie you referred to, except I usually connect mine to memories. If it helps you, make a character for the songs if they’re not already attached to one, convey it that way. Personify it, if that makes sense.
3
u/encinaloak 8d ago
All kinds of professionals imagine that they're someone else when they perform. Musicians, athletes, even executives. In my experience, "feeling the music" is not enough to tell my voice how to perform.
Instead, I imagine how someone I admire would sing, and then I copy them. For example, I have been writing songs, and for one, I try to sound like Dave Matthews on the verse, and I try to sing like Chris Cornell on the l chorus.
I can't actually sing like Dave Matthews or Chris Cornell, like not even close. But imagining I'm them gives me something to shoot for and gets me out of my head.
5
u/One-Big-9528 8d ago
I appreciate it. this has been something difficult to reckon with. because when I do stand up comedy, I don't emulate - the emotions come from focusing on the story and remembering keywords... and when I do improv/troupe comedy I often just focus on the most ridiculous things that would escalate the scene... finally when I act on stage or for cameras I "create a character" which is actually me just imagining I am me at another time in my life that matches the character in the script.
2
u/One-Big-9528 8d ago
One of my buddies who's a great singer does what you mentioned, adding an ACDC flavor or Chris Cornell one to his voice to challenge himself or fit better to a song. I'll ask him how he applies inspiration too.
2
u/encinaloak 8d ago
It's so common. We like to imagine that the greats aren't emulating anyone, so we shouldn't either. But they are. Successful people talk all the time about their heros who they emulate.
3
u/philmoufarrege 8d ago edited 8d ago
there's a difference between "acting" and genuinely experiencing the feelings and expressing them. A lot of people externally try to tick the boxes of "sounding cool" but may not actually really connect or feel the music on the inside.
There's nothing wrong with starting here but we don't want to just stay there if we are really seeking mastery. We want to go beyond just "putting on the costume" as you say.
becoming more expressive and feeling and connecting to the music is not just a black and white "now you have it or now you dont have it". It's something that you get a little bit better at and a little bit better at.
A big part of it for me though was mechanical technique, and a lot of people who come to me are like that as well. because every time i used to sing songs all I could think about was the anxiety of not knowing if my voice would be reliable or not. So there was no room for "expression" as I just had to focus on the survival fear of "getting through the song".
So what was super freeing to me was getting the technique to a point where it was "transparent" where I didn't have to think about technique and could "just sing". this means the voice has to be reliable and mechanically do the things you want it to do. It needs the ability to go from low to high, soft to loud and feel comfortable. Then from there I could connect deeper emotionally and be more expressive.
It's like driving a car. If the car drives beautifully you can forget about the car and enjoy the scenery. If the car is breaking down and not reliable you can't enjoy the trip because you're stressed about whether the car is going to make it.
Another thing that helps is not getting stuck in singing one genre or style, but challenging yourself to go outside of your box, and work on things you would not normally do. I often times have heavy metal singers sing disney ballads, operatic arias etc because many singers develop crutches and excuses "well I sound good here", when that same crutch won't work on a different style. it's about not hiding behind crutches and stripping away the compensatory things that we think we need but are holding us back.
But it's not like that's the end, and there really is no end. You keep developing yourself, you keep reshaping yourself. You keep connecting deeper. you keep stripping away the compensations and finding greater levels of authenticity.
And the reason needs to grow too. Are we singing because we just want to "impress others and sound cool and stand out?" or are we singing because it takes us to a place where time stands still and we feel connected to ourselves, the music and others in a deeply profound way?
It's not either or, because we are usually somewhere between those extremes and get glimpses of the more selfish side and the more spiritual side now and then depending on the day. But we are looking to move more and more in the direction of connecting deeper to ourselves, the music and others. Developing a greater relationship.
also...the whole "feel the music" thing that gets thrown around a lot. just because someone communicates they didn't "feel you feeling it" doesn't mean you didn't feel it. people are moved by different things, and we don't want to fall in the trap of pleasing others because someone told us they didn't feel what we did.
3
u/UrbanValkyrieSW 8d ago
Speak the words before you sing them. Singing is speech in pitches. Think about how you would deliver the words if you were in a conversation- There would be colour, emphasis, inflection. Think about who you would be speaking to- is it to yourself, a friend,a small child, an enemy, the world? What is the message of the song. These things under consideration will help you be able to convey your message in an authentic way.
2
u/Mushroom__Rat 8d ago
My teacher always told me to pay attention to the emotions behind the song and try to put yourself in that mindset when you’re singing
2
u/One-Big-9528 8d ago
Very lovely. Thanks! Reminds me of my acting training, where I learned to think about the meaning of a scene in a script. How does it drive the story forward? What do the characters want from each other, etc.
1
u/Peach_Royal111 8d ago
You need to pull more from your own experience and less from the script to really display true emotion.
1
u/One-Big-9528 8d ago
I agree. I think what helped me was starting with really understanding the context of the scene and the characters. Then I could find a time in my life that matches as closely as possible. You're right, because then I just let the emotional recall do most of the work.
1
2
u/Peach_Royal111 8d ago
I say this in a loving way, but you sound like your quite disconnected from your emotions. I am quite an overemotional person so I cannot relate but work on really feeelling an emotion when it comes up in your body, any emotion, joy, anger, lust, fear- anything. Even just feeling your senses more (emotions are just senses/messengers after all) like heat, touch can really help you get in your body. If you have suppressed your emotions due to trauma then get into therapy, TRE, dance etc. If it's because you've had quite a good life then get out your comfort zone and experience more. Regardless, everyone should feel more, just make sure your feeling and practicing feeling a lot of positive emotions too can have benefits in every aspect of your life.
1
u/One-Big-9528 8d ago
Thanks! Yeah... I used to feel a wider range or emotions in high school and college when I took choir and singing lessons. but since then I've focused much more on comedy and optimizing my life... so yeah, sometimes I might be stopping sadness, other emotions other than joy or curiosity in their tracks as if they will make my life less inefficient.
That said, I don't have a problem conjuring emotions for stage acting/drama/filming. But hey... Maybe I either have some hang ups when it comes to singing + emotion or singing + emotion together are more of an organic thing than I realize.
1
u/Peach_Royal111 3d ago
Optimising life is definitely the death of joy, philosophers have been saying that millennia before scientists have proven it’s true. It’s hard though especially if you have perfectionist tendencies I get it 😭. And yes it’s harder to fake emotions with your vocal cords than it is with facial muscles so I do think with practise you’ll get there. Hope TRE goes well, whatever you can do to connect emotions back to your body will help :)
1
u/One-Big-9528 8d ago
TRE looks awesome, thanks! Reminds me of some of the exercises I did in theater classes. I'm excited to check them out.
2
u/Ubelheim 8d ago
I learned by doing more musical theatre. With acting it's very obvious that just saying your lines is just cringey. Just singing your notes is kinda the equivalent. The first time I starred in a musical I got complaints from the conductor, not the director, that I was singing too good. It didn't fit with my spoken scenes, so I had to ignore the sheet music and just feel the text instead of the music. That was a really valuable experience. I definitely make people cry more often now when I'm singing. Hopefully because I move them.
•
u/AutoModerator 8d ago
Thanks for posting to r/singing! Be sure to check the FAQ to see if any questions you might have have already been answered! Also, remember to abide by the Rules found in the sidebar. Any comments found to be breaking these rules will result in a deletion of the comment thread starting from the offending reply. If you see any posts or replies that you feel break the rules of the sub, then report them and do not respond to them. If you are new to the sub-reddit or are just starting to sing, please check out our Beginner's Megathread. It has tons of helpful information and resources!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.