» Slice of Singing: Vocal Blog

Well with the new iPhone out. I thought it would be nice to showcase the video the NY Times editorial staff made for the “I want an iPhone” viral video. I like that in the middle of the clip people standing in line give a shot at their singing abilities for their passion of technology.

Very Funny Singing Video FOR SURE! Enjoy!

Well the BP clean up is a mess and while fixing the problem is the best solution… so is Obama’s song dedicated to BP. The video is made by the team at Auto-Tune the NEWS that do great skit videos. I would have to say that although they use autotune in the news, the anchors themselves are great singers. See for yourself…

With the whole Kanye West and Taylor Swift drama its good to know that Taylor Swift’s music is still going strong. A lot of people still have not seen this video of her song “You belong with me” that got all that attention. Well here it is and if you want to see more singing tips of “How to Sing” like Taylor Swift click here: http://www.singlikeyouspeak/how-to-sing-like-taylor-swift

It’s like American Idol with the only difference being that dogs and cats are always in perfect pitch.

Everyone loves Tucker (Sally Morgan’s dog) and Tucker’s favorite show happens to be “Animal Idol.” You can say singing passion runs in the family. Check out the best animal singers in this video, the contestants in this years “Animal Idol” are going for the glory.

Ultra Kawaii - Animal Idol @ Yahoo! Video

@ Yahoo! Video

Hey All,

Start your weekend off right with the great song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by Hippo and Dog.  This is a cartoon that is a great funny and uplifting song. It’s a great song to sing too. Try it sometime,  Singers have a great weekend!

Sally gives us a detailed free video on how to sing like the pop star Taylor Swift.

How to Sing like Taylor Swift? A great singer songwriter, Taylor Swift is a star but be you should not try and be her but be yourself! That’s what makes you unique as your own star qualities. Taylor Swift writes her own songs so she knows her voice and writes in her range. What makes Taylor Swift voice special is that she nails every pitch; Taylor uses her constantans and lets the breath come through very wide and almost girlish. Sally goes in depth for a free vocal detailed voice lesson. Most importantly… Sally tells singers to be themselves and stop imitating other artists.

Well sometimes people forget to check out the AFTRA website and I think its worth mentioning to everyone on Sing Like You Speak about the great information, news and services AFTRA does for singers in the industry.

About:

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) is a national labor union representing over 70,000 performers, journalists and other artists working in the entertainment and news media.

AFTRA’s scope of representation covers broadcast, public and cable television (news, sports and weather; drama and comedy, soaps, talk and variety shows, documentaries, children’s programming, reality and game shows); radio (news, commercials, hosted programs); sound recordings (CDs, singles, Broadway cast albums, audio books); “non-broadcast” and industrial material as well as Internet and digital programming.

AFTRA’s membership includes an array of talent - sound recording membership includes artists who bring pop, rock, country, classical, folk, jazz, comedy, Latin, hip hop, rap and R&B to the world. AFTRA members perform in television and radio advertising, non-broadcast video, audio books and messaging, and provide their skills for developing technologies such as interactive games and Internet material.

Well with that said… Please visit them today. Sally has done many panels relating to singers, singing and voice panels to help these creatives with their voice.

http://www.aftra.org/

Sound is vibration; sound has to vibrate to stay alive, so any tension living in a singer’s instrument (body) interferes with sound production and quality. Unfortunately, we have some pretty strange concepts – that in general we are unaware of – that interfere with the free flow of sound and artistry when we are singing.

Ideally, we want breath and sound to move through the body with freedom, abandon and most of all,energy. The unfortunate concept that I see all the time in my voice clients is that they feel they must use effort to create a great sound instead of simply releasing energy.

Singers are usually perfectionists – I’m a recovering perfectionist myself. In the pursuit of perfection (which does not exist) you try harder and harder. I say to a client, ‘ That’s it! That’s the easy release of breath and sound you want.’ And you know what s/he usually does? Tries harder to do it ‘more better’, thus undoing the easy release of energy by replacing it with effort.

Effort involves tension in the body. Energy flows through the body. Effort holds, energy moves. Effortstrangles creativity; creativity is energy. Effort makes an audience uncomfortable. Energy excites your audience.

Is your singing full of energy or does your audience worry about you because you are putting so mucheffort into your performance that they can’t enjoy themselves?

How do you create an exciting performance full of energy and without effort? Here are a 4 top tips.

1. Trust your instrument.

Your whole body will vibrate with the resonance of your voice. The instrument of yours is brilliantly put together. Given half a chance: body aligned so the instrument can function; vocal tract open on inhale and sustained open during phonation; then release the sound!

2. Release your breath and sound instead of forcing it out.

How do you release a butterfly you are holding in your hand? You give it an escape route, right? You open up your hands and allow it to fly away. It’s the same principle with your voice.

3. Practice as though you have no mouth

What? Are you crazy? No mouth. Yes. No mouth. If you have no mouth you have no jaw or tongue tension. Use the space above the hard palate to form your words. In the absence of tension, your brilliant instrument will perform brilliantly.

4. Talk to your audience conversationally

Take the pressure off yourself and speak on pitch. Say every word clearly to someone. Your audience will gladly engage with you.

Yes! In this series of bands we like who better to start it off than “Evanescence.”

What a great BAND and her voice is amazing! Here are a couple of their most recent videos. For you to see. Stay tuned because Sally has a special “Evanescence” video being released next week of what makes Evanescence such a great band vocally.

It’s been 6 months since the tragedy of HAITI. Please don’t forget there are still many needs in HAITI. Please watch this video that all these great singers did for “We Are The World 25 For Haiti”

The human voice can reach and impact millions so please enjoy the video and continue with your prayer and help to HAITI.