HOW TO FIND OUR "TRUE VOICE"

Finding our “true voice” as singers is a very important matter. All of those singers we love have created such a unique style that even if we have never listened to the song before, we are able to recognize immediately who is singing it.

But how can we create our own style? How can we be unique?

Did you know that it has been demonstrated electrographically that like fingerprints no two voices are exactly alike? That’s right! Your voice is absolutely unique. This should make everything easier, don’t you think?

But as the most common learning process is imitation, we usually make a big effort to try to sound like somebody else and get rid of our natural sound. This generally happens because when we are studying our voices for the first time, we usually hate how our voices sound. Everyone I know, including myself when I first started to sing, has had that moment when we listen to our recorded voice for the first time and say: Is that me?

And it’s absolutely normal because the voice that we hear is completely different from the one that everyone else can hear. This is because you are hearing your voice coming out of your mouth, travelling through your auditory canal, your middle ear to finally reach your inner ear; and also you are hearing the sound inside your own head resonating through your bones. The voice that you hear is deeper. Nonetheless, as you listen more and more to your recorded voice you’ll get use to your own sound.

As we go through all this discovering process, which is a beautiful stage, we also discover our biggest influences. Have you ever noticed that when two people spend a lot of time together they kind of start to sound the same? Everyone we meet has an influence on us.

The same happens when we sing. We all have a favorite singer and a favorite style. The more you listen to your favorite artists the more you learn from them. Influences are totally great, and they will help us to create our own style.

We all have different personalities and styles, it is what makes us different from one another. Therefore, what I recommend to my students is simply to add their personality to the song.

- Read the lyrics of the song.

- Understand the lyrics: give a meaning to it and feel what you are saying. How would you express those feelings? How would you say that?

- Sing the song adding those feelings to it.

- Study the song and add style to it with ornaments that go with the feelings that you want to express.

- Don’t be afraid: Don’t hold your voice back, experiment with your voice and let it be free.

Remember that as singers we have only 3-4 minutes to tell a story and make the audience feel what we want them to feel. So just be yourself and add your personality to the songs, but most importantly have fun.

Practice, practice and practice some more!

Have a lovely day!

See you soon!

Yourvocalcoach: Erika Karoline.

Visit our website: www.ejyourvocalcoach.com