Good teaching should make a difference straight away and progress should be continuous. It should enhance what is already there and these discoveries should make it ‘even more natural’ if anything. Simply put, you should discover a better version of your voice via quality training.
The question of ‘what is my natural sound’ is something that I get asked a lot. It’s a good relevant question and I’m pleased when people make this inquiry into themselves.
I regularly use the same analogy to answer this. When we consider your ‘natural’ sound consider, ‘who is the natural (or real) you?’ Are you the real you with your parents? Your partner? Your work colleagues? Strangers? Your role models? All of us are many different versions of ourselves and yet sometimes one version can be almost unrecognisable from another. So, which one is the ‘natural us?’ The answer is, they all are. If we are comfortable with ourselves we can adapt our ‘naturalness’ appropriately.
Rather like a chameleon, our ‘colour’ may change to adapt to our environment but everything else remains the same. Our fundamental roots, our values and beliefs ground the core of ‘ourselves’ whilst other factors such as language and level of formality may change. We, as humans, can be flexible and authentic simultaneously, this is us being us. So, how do we do this as vocalists?
In the world of singing how can we be ourselves when performing songs we didn’t write? Or singing songs originally sung in a different accent to our own? Or singing songs in different genres??? Should my rock sound be different to my Musical Theatre sound, or my folk sound be different to my classical??? Is that fake??? If they all sound the same am I being true to myself (natural) or am I now being inappropriate or inflexible??? Aaaaarrrgghhh, it’s a minefield!!!! Or, as an former colleague of mine once remarked ‘It’s a mindfield’!!!!! Oh dear.
So, yes, they should always be different but the question is ‘How different? How do we know it’s ‘natural’ if it’s different? If YOU can’t be sure and you doubt it then how can you commit properly or be truthful, entertaining or authentic?
Clearly, you can’t, and this indecision will render your performance unconvincing.
The solution to this is to establish a fundamental core that you CAN be sure of and refer back to. This is the root to your ‘natural’ voice and the first job is to uncover it. High quality teaching will guide you towards this and away from copying your teachers sound, other artists or ‘affecting’ unusual sounds to try and fit in or stand out. You are the best person at being you so don’t fight it, discover it and use it – this is how you can be appropriate but stand out. Training which veers from this may well ruin your natural sound because you will be very confused.
Establishing core elements in breath, posture, efficient/appropriate use of the larynx and vocal tract are essential in this pursuit. When you do this you will the have the best, most authentic, natural version of your voice. From here you can work into specific genres and you will always have a reference point which you can return to. This will give you technical security and much confidence.
So, yes, good teaching (unfortunately rarer than we would like ) will help you uncover and establish your natural sound and it will give you the ability to be yourself in a variety of genres/musical situations. This is not easily gained. To go back to the social analogy I used earlier, establishing this core is a bit like establishing yourself as a person, knowing who you are so that you can be flexible and authentic at the same time.
We do this in our formative teenage years, where opinions, values and life philosophies are laid down. This can be uncomfortable and challenging as you discover many things for the first time. However, these foundations will last you a lifetime and you will laugh, love, experiment and experience with much colour – in some ways, it’s the most fun and a very inspiring part of the process. This is also the case with your initial vocal discoveries.
It shouldn’t take too long to get something established and progress should be felt both ‘in’ and ‘in between’ sessions. It does take longer than watching a YouTube clip on ‘how to sing higher etc’ but then again, it is also about a 1000 times more effective!!
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Can internet singing lessons improve my voice? Who should I watch??