Quote Of The Day:
“If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow why oh why can’t I?” -Dorothy from The Wizard Of Oz
This past week I was tempted to give my opinion on a facebook post a friend and fellow singer made who wasn’t impressed with Pink’s performance of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” during a tribute to Judy Garland on the Oscars this past Sunday, March 2nd. My friend said she thought the performance “stank” and “who breathes that much in a ballad and in such odd places?” Then she posted a link to Eva Cassidy’s version of the song, something I will address in a minute.
Well if you read any of my blogs or follow my tutorials on youtube, you’ll know I am a big advocate of breathing often. I have to agree that Pink’s choices of where she took her breaths were odd a few times, but the main reason she has such excellent pitch is because she had all that air to work with. Also, breathing often will keep nervousness at bay. She may have breathed in those odd places for that reason exactly. She may have felt a little panic starting to sneak in and took in air to help quell the shakes. I’ve done it myself in high pressure situations. Can’t deny it was an amazingly emotional performance, which breathing often and, sometimes in odd places, helped to project. Personally, I think she did a magnificent job overall. Here’s the link if you missed it http://youtu.be/DDgTbx9u-fo
Now let’s chat about Eva Cassidy. Amazing singer technically and emotionally. But, I have an observation about her from a vocal coach perspective. I realized that she is a singer that runs on one breath a long time and creates an emotional angst by eeking out the last bit of breath by, what I hear, sounds like pushing from her throat. Hmmm, seems there was another singer recently who had the same style… her name, Adelle. Most of you will remember that Adelle had to take a year off and had to have surgery on her vocal cords from what I believe was her infrequent breathing and lack of diaphragm support connection, thus using her throat to push out the sound. Regardless of stylistic and technical vocal approaches, Eva Cassidy, who left us far too soon at the age of 33, could deliver a song on an emotional level most singers strive for. Here is her version of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. Enjoy. http://youtu.be/ccCnL8hArW8
One last note, sometime in recordings of songs the engineer or producer think it’s a good idea to remove the sound of the singer taking in their breaths between phrases. I have never liked this approach as I feel hearing the singer breathe gives a human and even more intense emotional element to the song. The removal of breaths can’t be done in a live performance and perhaps we all notice them more because of this.
In closing, the above blog is just one small woman’s opinion…mine. But I have been a professional singer for 35 years and a vocal coach for over ten years. If you are going to sing, I really hope you breathe often (in what feels like the natural places in the song) and support from your diaphragm as to not hurt your voice. This technique will help you deliver a song with not only great pitch and power when you need it, but also a level of emotion that will make people weep.
Until next time… Breathe and Happy Singing!
Angela
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