What Is Your Vocal Superpower?

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If you’ve been to the movies this season, you have probably run into at least a couple of super-powered heroes. Whether it’s Ironman or the bumbling Hancock, they all have some secret. To become something special in this whole music realm, you’ll need to find out YOUR strength and work it into the centerpiece of what you do.

WHAT IS YOUR STRENGTH?

The singers I’ve met (both newbie and famous, even the one in my own mirror), have convinced me that we are all a bundle of insecurities…with songs leaking out every once in a while. Often when we look for our strengths, we either get down on ourselves (”I have no strengths.”), or we experience a strange denial (Like the artist that had no VOCAL LICKS to speak of, but told me, “I’m like a new version of Mariah Carey.”) So look at your abilities honestly and look for these strengths:

1. I Can Communicate Honestly–You’ve heard me beat this drum before…because it’s the most important thing…communicating with an audience. Even coach Dave Brooks, who can do more vocal gymnastics than a mockingbird always tells his students, “It’s all about communicating the song.” My best advice to develop this strength is to think of every song you sing as a conversation with ONE listener. Sing it like you are talking to ONE person. If you have chosen a song that requires a lot of vocal licks or trills to make the song seem real, then you better learn the necessary licks and trills…or change songs. In the Singing Success Program, Dave Brooks will teach you how to develop just such licks and trills. Check that out here!

2. I Have a Huge Range–If you have worked on and developed a good healthy 3-plus octaves to use, then for heaven’s sake, don’t sit around and sing songs that don’t equal you. Either sing them a step higher (thus adding new energy to the song–but only if it sounds good up there), or pick songs that cover more range (thus stirring the emotions of the listener). A big range is NOT for the purpose of massaging your ego. It is to give you more colors to paint with. More emotional impact. If this is your strength, use it. To singers who have never used the Singing Success program to increase their range, being able to sing up above your “break” seems like a super-power. Little do they know that it can be developed by anyone, using the right exercises.

3. I have a “BIG” voice–If this is you, I’m jealous…but I’ll get over it. This likely has to do with how your body (vocal tract) is built more than anything else. But you CAN develop power, even if you have a tiny, delicate physiology. I’ve done this myself using Brett’s method. If you have a BIG voice, KNOW THIS: Your strength is not your BIG voice. It’s the beauty of having more dynamic range to play with… you can go from louder to softer than most, and this, my friend, translates to that all-important element..EMOTION. I’ve known singers with big voices who never get softer than a constant yell. It sounds AMAZING for at least half of a verse. Then it begins to grind on the listener’s nerves…and that’s just boring and unpleasant. Use the BIG hammer, then use the tiny one, then switch back. It’s about using all you’ve got to take the listeners on a journey.

CONCLUSION

One of your main goals as a singer should be to find and present what makes you unique. That
uniqueness is what listeners respond to. If you try to become some other artist, you’ll always
be just an imitation.

So find your strengths, build them stronger, and
NEVER stop giving your audience your best.