Principles Of Good Singing Pt. 2: Believability

A singer’s goal is to vitalize the passions and imagination of her listeners;
this could happen only if the listener trusts that the singer is genuine—that is, if the emotions in her voice, words, and delivery are felt to be honest. This is why a foundational principle of good singing is believability. A singer’s challenge consists in weaving together—into one emotionally compelling, aural presentation—music, voice, and quasi-poetic descriptions. But let’s be frank; isn’t there something unnatural, unrealistic, and even bizarre, about bringing together these disparate elements to express highly personal truths? One could candidly
ask how it is that singing is believable at all?—it certainly isn’t our normal way of communicating; far from it! Yet, as inexplicable as it may seem, we are naturally inclined to suspend all disbelief for the sake of singing, and to allow ourselves to be seduced by the sounds of the singer’s voice and the emotionalized words
that she sings. It is for this reason that singing’s intoxicating effect must be counted as among the great mysteries of human existence, for, despite its apparent awkwardness and strangeness, it can still illuminate our lives in ways unmatched by any other form of communication—that is, as long as the singer is believable. So how does a singer become believable?

Singing experts have tried to describe what, in fact, a singer must do to be
believable. Once we get past the requirements of building a voice, and acquiring
the necessary technical skills for singing musically with personal style and
confidence, we come to the most difficult challenge of all: to “sing from the heart.”
This colorful phrase has been used often in the history of singing to describe
the power of the greatest singers—from the greatest operatic castrati of the 18th
century like the astounding Farinelli, to modern R&B sensations like Marvin Gaye,
to rock icons like Robert Plant, to jazz immortals like Billie Holiday. Let’s try to
unfold this idea by describing what happens when an artist sings from the heart.

Singing from the heart, first of all, requires that a singer, ideally, is able to
project to her audience the same emotions (in quality and intensity) and meanings
that she herself feels when she sings; this is the greatest challenge that a singer
faces. There are both psychological and physical barriers that could inhibit this
effort. Consider the following possibility: many of us are trained as children
to “keep our mouths shut” when our feelings and thoughts are in conflict with
those of others—especially our parents. The psychological effect of this oppressive
mentality on childhood psychology could be severe—from anti-social behavior, on
the one hand, to the development of communication disorders, such as introversion
or emotional insecurity, on the other. And many of us—because of unfortunate
childhood experiences—often have difficulty saying what we feel and think, and
often resort to anxious silence instead.

Outside of emotionally inhibiting experiences in childhood, living in society
requires that we control and monitor what we say, lest we offend other people and
even incline them to do us harm. It’s for this reason that “biting our tongue” is a
way of life. Clearly, how to thrive without saying exactly what we want is not only
one of our greatest challenges, but is also one of our greatest frustrations.
It’s not surprising that we elevate artists to the very highest levels in our
culture: they have escaped and transcended the slave mentality that has victimized
the rest of us to varying degrees. Artists have freed themselves to be defiant, so
to speak—to say exactly what they feel and think without compromise; indeed,
we judge the artistic quality of their singing to the extent that they are seen as
uncompromising in emotional expression and truthfulness. By singing from the
heart, the great artist is, in effect, reclaiming our natural birthright to express
ourselves freely, honestly, and without shame or fear of retribution. Authentic
artists, in this sense, are doing exactly what the rest of us would like to do.

Singing from the heart has two dimensions: a psycho/emotional one and
a muscular one, and the two are intimately interconnected. Learning to sing
from the heart involves a sort of meditative self-reflection in which a singer
slowly becomes consciously intimate with the feelings, moods, and thoughts that
she is trying to express through her voice; when this artistic habit is cultivated,
singing convincingly for the audience should become a natural reflex. Singing
from the heart also requires that one’s vocal musculature is strong, flexible,
and coordinated, so as to be able to respond instantly to emotional, mental, and
musical commands. These two worlds—artistic and physical—must work together
harmoniously for exceptional singing to emerge; and I have witnessed a number
of my students make the exciting transition from a cold, unexpressive, and distant
vocalist, to heart-felt singers by addressing and integrating both dimensions with
relentless dedication.

Unfortunately, many gifted students of singing never become exceptional
singers because they fail to master both the psycho/emotional and physical
aspects of singing. Once I was listening to a renowned artist and I thought how
fantastically she sings high notes with such great intonation and agility. Then
later that night I heard on the radio a song by pop singer Sarah McLachlan, and
I quickly found myself emotionally caught up by her voice and performance, and
I thought to myself, “I really feel what she is singing about.” While the former
experience may have been entertaining and impressive—the latter was emotionally
moving and what singing from the heart—what believability—is all about.

Image source: Angela Waye /Shutterstock.com