Quote Of The Day
“When I’m Calling You -oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo”
Jeanette Macdonald from the movie Rose Marie, 1936
Okay, by now you are used to my obscure retro performer references and are aware of how much I adore 20th Century pop culture. The line from the song above is from a classic film from the 1930’s where Nelson Eddy plays a Mountie and Jeanette Macdonald his love interest. While he is tracking her brother down for murder in the Canadian Rockies, they sing this song to each other as it is legend that two Indian lovers from rival tribes (much like Romeo and Juliet) found each other amongst the canyons by singing this way. When I started researching the line for the song to use as the quote, some other interesting facts came up. The song is actually called “Indian Love Song” (political correctness did not exist in those days) and has been recorded quite a few times over the years by various artists, Chet Atkins, legendary guitar player, being one of them. It was even used in Tim Burton’s movie Mars Attacks in 1996. But, the song is not the theme of the blog today, the “calling” part is.
In all my years of vocal coaching I have had a lot of students come to me asking how to get more power out of their voice. Power comes from the interaction of two things. Singer’s Breath and Diaphragm Support. A great way to get a singer quickly connected to that power is something I describe as “Calling Voice”.
Do you know what the Heimlich Manoeuvre is? It’s when someone quickly forces your diaphragm back towards your backbone expelling whatever you are choking on by the sheer force it creates. Well, essentially, we do the same thing with a note to achieve power. Here’s how to do it, take in your Singer’s Breath, (air in/tummy out) and then pretend to call to someone across a busy street with the word “Hey”. What was your body doing to create that huge sound? If we analyze it, we took in a big breath and quickly pulled our abdominal/diaphragm muscles back towards our backbone creating this incredible power and big sound being careful to keep the throat nice and open and not “yell” but “call”. This is how you get more powerful as a singer especially in our upper mid-range or Diva/Rockstar notes and also to achieve correct placement of your voice. You must be sure to take in a big singer’s breath filling up your tank and then engage substantial diaphragm support to achieve what I deem “Calling Voice”. If you miss one part of this equation, that is the breath or the pull, you won’t get the power you desire or you will default into Mask Area placement (head tone) which most often won’t be the right treatment for the song (you can’t sing R.E.S.P.E.C. T. by Aretha in head tone). So, remember, in order to sing like a Diva or Rockstar you have to breathe and engage your diaphragm support. If you are lazy with either one of those things, you won’t get the power. Practice the “Calling Voice” exercise on it’s own and then apply the mechanics of it into your song. You’ll be amazed at the power you have.
Until next time… Breathe, (pull in your diaphragm) and Happy Singing!
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