Vocal Tips – Janet Planet: Recent Episodes
None
I often tell my students of voice to “record! record! record!” Why? Because you never know when you’re going to capture the moment that documents the connection between music, musicians, emotion and audience. This moment was the collective soul of: Tom Washatka (saxophone), Tom Theabo (guitar), Ryan Korb (drums) and Doug Hayes (bass). I contributed the prayer. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all who worship the good.
A good friend of mine asked, “have you ever heard Anita Wardell?” The internet is a fabulous tool and within minutes, I found her, listened and was blown away by her beautiful voice. A jazz voice. A jazz singer. A true improviser. In tune and in time. AND she covers the changes. A great scat singer knows the chord changes and like a great jazz instrumentalist can sing over those changes. A great jazz singer will sing those notes with precision and a good tone creating a musical thread from one chord to the next using melody, harmony, rhythm and soul. This is very difficult to do well. My own skills in improvisation are ever evolving. I personally continue to study and I feel I’ve found someone to help me with that endeavor. Anita is my newest teacher and newest friend. For the past year and a half, once a month, we converge on Skype. Anita lives in London and continues to perform worldwide. She also continues to reach out to singers sharing her zest, her knowledge and passion for jazz singing. She’s a giving, upbeat and encouraging person. The kind of person that continues to hold true the art […]
Below is the demo of Adele’s “Hello” as sung by me and arrangement availed by Hal Leonard. This kind of singing requires a bit of “character voice”. You want to grab on to some of the nuances of the original voice. For a recognizable song like this, I went for some of that. I got permission to give you a sneak preview. This is pre mix and mastered recorded at Steel Moon Recording in Oshkosh. Adele is a mega star. She’s improved her technique and hopefully, will continue to grow as a singer. Her star shines bright and with a healthy attitude and smart musical choices she can sing well in to her middle age. This vocal range covers three octaves. The Bb to C (above middle C) are chest voice but the embellishments that go to an Eb (with word) are in what we call a “blend” the Ab riff is in middle/head. What really matters in that voice are the words! If you’re writing something that crosses over in to mid voice, try to give yourself a consonant or more of a forward vowel placement to grab on to (pop singing v.s. classical or choral is different when […]
All of us have a singing voice, but not everyone has developed proper vocal techniques in order to be sure where to find or how to use that voice. Not convinced? Head out to a Karaoke Bar one evening. Chances are you’ll witness a variety of passionate singers out there. All of them showing their confidence and courage to express themselves publicly. But let’s be honest, some are less pleasing to the ear than others, and we love them anyways! The point is, that there are also many naturally good singers as well. Even these with proper training could very easily, not only raise their level, but also reduce the amount of effort involved in sounding great. Read more here: http://www.vocaltips.net/vocal-techniques-for-beginners/