Don't Sing! Act! | Brett Manning Studios | Nashville Singing Lessons, Voice Lessons, Vocal Training by Celebrity Vocal Coach

Whilst on tour with a musical in the UK, I had the fortune to work with a very talented Actor friend of mine who had the voice of an angel. When I asked her if she had studied voice she replied "I have never in my life approached a song from a technical point of view. I ALWAYS approach a song from an ACTING perspective!"

Of course, me being me, I couldn't accept that as an answer so went on to study her voice as an exercise. What I noticed was that she was able to transition through her bridges without any problem whatsoever with a balanced mix. No push, no splatting vowels to reach high notes like a lot of untrained singers. She was not a good singer, she was a good ACTOR! She played a specific character. This character had a specific accent which happened to be her own and there would be no reason for this character to change vowels shapes or lift her larynx in order to put across a meaning and certainly not to sing a higher note!

Now I'm not saying that everyone has instincts like this initially or that they have enough release or compression or whatever other components that are needed to make up a balanced mix but this is the end game that we all look for and it is one of complete vocal freedom. An accomplished singer who cannot sing the meaning of a song is in as much of a prison as the singer who cannot get by their first bridge, if not more! Some of the most poignant performances i have ever seen have not been those with the best vocal tone but those who pull you in to the song and take you on a journey.

In well written music every note is written for a reason. In well written lyrics every word is written for a reason. As actors we must interpret these words and the music to give the meaning. It must be truthful and not just a chance to show off our great vocal tone! There are no "singy" bits and "acting" bits in songs. If you go for a money note it is for a reason, not just to show off your voice, impressive as it may sound! Take the song Defying Gravity from Wicked for example. At the point where Elphaba levitates and the song reaches its dramatic climax if you are thinking "WOW! Her voice is amazing" then I'm not convinced that the actor playing the character is telling you the story! If you think "WOW! Elphaba will never be brought down!" then the actor has done their job! In musical theatre, we are actors first. In commercial music, we are story tellers first. If you are going from one vocal quality to the next just to sound good, stop and think about what you are saying! Do this and you wont even care about sounding good and guess what, THAT'S when you get your standing ovations!

Another actor friend of mine (also untrained) is a very skillful vocalist. During the run of the show we are currently in, she tells me that her voice, as the hectic run (sometimes 3 shows per day) goes on, her voice seems to protect itself as time goes by or when she hits a patch where her voice feels tired. I noticed that in fact she relies on a very solid technique which her voice seems to have figured out itself. The difference in her approach is that she changes the quality through a change of acting INTENTION rather than thinking of using less cord or not pulling chest. One thing about this particular performer is that she can "do voices" very well: accents, cartoon characters, in fact she is very good at making up characters on the spot and her whole voice changes into something completely different. Chris Keller, one of Brett Manning's Master Associates, told me in my first ever lesson at BMS that i should mimic EVERYTHING! If i heard a squirrel making a noise as i was walking down the street, he wanted me to have a conversation with it in ITS language! Try it! The best singers I've ever heard have been great actors who allow themselves to take on characters that allow them to make the most wonderful noises because that is what's REAL for the character!

So there you have it. Not everything is about technique! In fact its probably less than half the battle! Always keep singing songs - our goal as singers is not to do scales all day long. Remember why we are training our voices! Sometimes we need to let the voice figure things out for itself! And who knew this could be done by talking to a squirrel!

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Dec 09, 2009 | 5805 Comments

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