I have a female client who has been training with me for the past year. She has lovely sound. A very pretty voice.

However, she is not happy with her sound. She wants to sound more like a radio singer (she names examples likeTaylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Rhianna).

This young lady had previous classical singing lessons. Her breath control is wonderful. Her head resonance is crisp and present, and her glottal onset is precise and clean……so beautiful, so lovely………and she hates it.

This young lady is so well trained that she is having trouble undoing her perfect classical sound.

What can she do to sound more contemporary?

1. Change the vocal cord set-up. She currently has a seamless onset where her breath and cord closure meet with smooth connection. There is not much edginess. We have been working on her “speech level” closure in her chest voice with wide vowels.

2. We have been working on changes at the vocal cord level in her speech level chest voice. She is doing exercises that keep her in stronger mix of chest voice versus head voice with lots or oral twang and mouth resonance.

3. I have suggested listening and copying other singers. One of the best ways to explore and grow your voice is by trying new co-ordinations. When you do this, you need to pay special attention to how your throat feels. It should never hurt, but the co-ordinations may definitely feel “different” from what you are familiar with.

Questions? Comments? Please leave a message below.