Speaking for singing
ONE - SUCCESSFUL SINGING
‘A song makes words kinder.
Enfold your heart into the soul of another and leave a legacy of kindness. This is no small thing’.*
Leaving this legacy, is the mark of successful singing. To leave something behind, to have an impact on someone’s life, to move the heart and mind of another is the ultimate and by far the most compelling reason to sing. Such is the power of music and storytelling.
In this ongoing Singing Class Blog I shall unravel the secrets to singing success that I have learnt and explored over 35 years of performing as an actor and a singer. I will reveal my own process or method for singing a song. It is a much more complex act than most realise or understand and it requires intense deliberation if you truly want to have singing success.
The complexity lies in the pressure to be impressive and the need to be honest and authentic. And this is the hard bit and it feels counter intuitive. Many singers become obsessed with the desire to produce sound that is above all impressive. Often the result is simply that, impressive or worse, a produced noise.
To have a real impact on an audience and move people to feel, requires a complex combination of truth, technique, authenticity, emotion, purpose, thought, leadership, storytelling, vulnerability, courage, – I could go on. And goes far beyond the technical production of sound and 'beautiful' tone.
Beautiful singing has less to do with beauty of tone and more to do with the beauty of truth. And truth is the most illusive of all, especially for singers.
The method to practice and the secret to discover is - how to sing a song so that it is a true reflection of your Imagination, Experience and Personality = your voice. This also implies the expression of who you are, your values, beliefs, background, dreams, relationship, family = you.
You see, ultimately the secret to singing success is you. And therein lies the challenge. As artists, actors singers, writers, we spend a lot of our time getting in our own way and challenging our self belief our self confidence and as a consequence everything begins to unravel.
I shall reveal the fundamentals of The Method to “singing a song’. I will help you discover a true and emotional connection to the music and storytelling inherent in a song. The Method will also help to enhance your self belief and confidence to transcend technique. It will help to achieve success.
It is a revelation and life changing when you discover the artistic truth you can develop in your singing performance. You learn to express authentically for the first time. This is no small thing. Singing is a very difficult form of expressing ideas. It is incredibly hard to make a lyric believable. In other words getting the listener to forget you are singing and focus totally on the ideas. This requires the listener to suspend their disbelief to a greater extent than say an acting performance on stage or film. It requires you, the singer to express the content in a way that transcends the form. I know this sounds complex and it is. It is a sophisticated approach. But it is also thrilling to achieve and will set you on a path to singing fulfilment you have yet to experience.
I shall introduce a range of processes, techniques, practice, ideas and exercises that constitute my Method for singing a song that will fundamentally change the way you approach a song and give you the tools to truly and successfully impact the lives of your audience. It will help you leave a legacy of kindness.
Come to my Masterclass it would be great to see you there. Find out more - Here
*Jenny Lee reworked