“How was the concert last night?”

“Terrible!  Her recordings sound so much better than she sounds live!”

or…

“I love her voice!  She has such a beautiful tone.  I wish I could sing like that!”

or…

“He has a nice voice, but he’s pitchy.”

or…

“Her voice is so nasally.  It’s hard to listen to.”

When it comes to the art of singing, most of us — even the untrained ear — knows what we like and what we don’t like to listen to.  While singing may seem to be objective on many levels, and we may prefer one style or voice over another, most of us know good singing as well as poor singing when we hear it.  However, many of us can’t adequately define what good singing really is if we had to articulate it.  But fortunately for you, I can shed some light on the subject and help you define good singing, so you can know what to aim for with your own voice.

So, if I’m going to define what good singing is, it’s probably a lot more helpful for you if I first define what incorrect, or perhaps, undesirable singing is.

We’ve all heard her, right?  I kindly refer to her as the “Choir Lady”.  The one who sings every song to the top of her lungs in church, but she really shouldn’t.  It’s embarrassing for those of us around her, and we wonder why her sweet husband doesn’t do something.  Perhaps he’s deaf.  But, God bless her, it’s her passion, and we want to allow her to live it out.  By the grace of God.  Her voice definitely has a ring to it.  I’ll give her that.  We can ALL hear her.  But it’s more of a strident tone without balance and depth, and many times, it’s just a hair (or two) flat or sharp.

Oh, and then there’s “Guitar Guy”.  He loves to get out his guitar and play for friends after he’s had a beer or two.  He always fondly refers to the time he was asked to sing at his best friend’s wedding or the garage band he played with in high school.  He follows all the great, guitar-playin’ singers/songwriters of his genre, and he’s always working on learning something new.  We all cheer him on, and genuinely want him to do well, but it’s hard not to notice how strained he gets when his voice has to soar up into the higher part of his register.  He gets by with his unsupported middle range tones, but he sounds a little too much like a semi-trained, high school choir bass with a transitioning voice than he does like Eric Clapton.  We all wish he’d either not sing songs with notes he can’t easily reach or take voice lessons.  The beer might be helping his confidence, but it isn’t helping his sound.

Then there’s “One-Style-Sarah” who doesn’t quite know how to change things up when she sings.  When we first heard her, we were impressed.  “This girl can sing!” we all thought admiringly.  Until we heard the next song…and the next…and the one after that.  Oh, I guess she only has one trick up her 3/4 length sleeve:  choppy, extremely breathy and using wayyyy too much vocal fry*.  One-Style-Sarah can really only sing in one genre in one type of way, and while it’s clear she’s mastered that, any other genres or styles turn her upside and on her fashionable head.  Not only that, but she, more times than not, chooses repertoire (songs) that really don’t fit her voice well.  So, when she gets to the uncomfortable parts of the songs she sings, she either drops out or goes even more into her redundant, breathy style.

Now, this may seem harsh, but we’ve all heard these types of singers.  Maybe you’re even one of them.  And just to be clear, I’m not making fun.  As a teacher, I’ve seen all of these singers come into my studio, as well as many more types I won’t mention, but believe it or not, there is a lot of commonality among them.  And for lack of a better term, we’ll just say they represent the undesirable singing category.

So what exactly is undesirable singing?  So glad you asked!

Here’s a list of 10 Undesirable Singing Traits:

1. Overly breathy – lacks substance, lacks volume control
2. Overly strident – too bright and in your face
3. Overuse of vocal fry*
4. Nasal (lowered soft palate)
5. Out of tune (either too flat or too sharp)
6. Vocally strained
7. One dynamic (always too loud or too soft)
8. Too stiff (unmovable)
9. Out of control
10. Raspy

Now, wait a minute!!  Some of these traits are a matter of opinion.  I like to hear a raspy voice!  What about Janice Joplin?  What about Adele!?

Yes, I agree.  I love both of these singers…and you may love to hear some of these traits, like raspiness, in moderation, but if they are all the singer has access to, they will, over time, eventually give out.  In other words, we may enjoy hearing some of these attributes, but the singer using them needs to be aware that they are going to cause vocal issues down the road if he/she continues to employ them all the time.  Make sense?

There are many factors that cause undesirable singing to occur.  And one common thread through them all is a lack of proper breath management or support.  There are a couple, like vocal fry* that are just trendy and overly done for effect.  And the out of tune trait is one that usually rises up out of other dysfunctions like performance anxiety or lack of tuning to the fundamental as well as the harmonics in the space.  Nasal singing often occurs because of a lowered soft palate (the roof of the mouth that raises when we yawn) and singing with one dynamic is generally just an awareness or personality issue:  the singer either likes to hear himself singing loudly or is too timid or perhaps lacks the resonance to sing any other level but softly.

While this list is by no means exhaustive, it does hilight some of the most common undesired singing traits we hear from other singers and personally experience in our own voices.  And the good news is, every single one of these, outside of a medical issue, can be resolved with proper vocal training and a good, solid technique.

So, if all of those are the undesirable traits, what are the good ones?  What actually is good singing?  Well, fortunately for you, I’ve complied a list of these as well.

Here’s a list of 10 Desirable Singing Traits:

1. Balance between breath and resonance vs. too breathy or strident
2. Balance between light and dark throughout registers (chiaroscuro) vs. too bright or too dark
3. Clear and focused vs. raspy
4. Free (not strained) vs. strained; pinched
5. Supported with breath energy vs. throat singing
6. Controlled vs. out of control
7. Flexible and Agile vs. stiff
8. In tune vs. out of tune
9. Natural vibrato
10. Evenness throughout range, vowels and dynamic levels

Again, I could go on and on with desirable singing traits, but for the sake of this post, I’ll only list these as being among the most important, or most noticeable singing traits that we desire to have and listen to in other singers.  And if you don’t understand what a lot of these traits mean or how to implement them, don’t fear!  This is not an exercise in how much you already know, but rather, me trying to explain some rather complex vocal terms in a non-complex way.

The great thing about these lists is they define singing regardless of genre (singing style).  Sure, some genres have a little more of some traits than others.  For instance, country singing is going to employ more resonance (and even more nasality) than, say, an Indie folk singer might.  There’s going to be a lot more balance of resonance needed with an operatic singer than there would be in a contemporary Christian singer.  And that’s OK.  What’s important is that we learn what is correct and healthy and desirable, and then and only then, can we begin to modify and make changes depending on the style and the needs of a song.

Have you learned anything from this post?  Would you like to know more about each desirable singing trait and how to achieve it in detail?  Then, I encourage you to sign up for my FREE 2-WEEK MINI COURSE that will explain in detail what each trait I’ve listed means and how to achieve it.  The desirable ones, that is…

Hope to see you there!

xoxo,

Amy

(*) – Vocal fry refers to a singing or speaking method at the lowest possible register (if you want to call it a register) where the cords rub together and pop and rattle.  Think frog.  Think gravelly.  Think Kardashians.