What Does it Mean to Sing with Proper Dynamics?
Singing seems like a simple thing to do. Project your voice, don’t mess up the lyrics, and engage with your audience. But actually, singing is more intricate than many people think and those singers who implement their skills more carefully are the ones we admire the most.
Singing with dynamics is a thing that the most respected singers do in order to create intensity in their songs and, most importantly, portray emotion.
So what exactly are singing dynamics? It is the practice of controlling your singing volume using vowels, phrases, and emotion.
Singing in a gradual crescendo and/or decrescendo on a certain part of a song is a matter of controlling your singing voice and it will take you from an average singer to an extraordinary one.
One does not just simply sing with dynamics. It takes practice and knowledge. You must know your voice and know the song you are singing. When you know your voice, you know how much volume you can project and when you know the song you know where to place that volume.
Here Are Some Tips on Singing With Dynamics:
Increase your singing volume when the most intense part of the song comes up, perhaps the bridge. Singing softer through the verses can keep a good balance when you get to the bridge or chorus.
The first song that I could think of that is a great example of this is “Bound To You by Christina Aguilera.” Notice the way she controls her singing volume throughout the song and how the emotion of the song jumps out at you.
Consider a crescendo when an important phrase is coming up in the song. This lets the audience know that the song is getting intense. You want the audience to understand the feeling of the song so by singing louder on certain phrases, you will be able to convey the songs’ message better.
Where Should You Make Your Dynamics Rise and Fall?
If one part of the song is sad, perhaps a softer tone where you actually sound sad. You don’t want your audience to just hear the song, you want them crying in their seats.
Play with the vowels in the lyrics by altering how you pronounce them. Instead of simply saying “me,” consider pronouncing it like “may.” Also elongating phrases is a great way to use dynamics, just remember to stay on beat with the song if you make this change.
You can add rests in your performance (but not too many) to make it more dramatic for the return of the lyrics. For example, in the star spangled banner there is a pause before the most intense part of the song which is “…and the rocket’s red glare…”
Here’s an Example…
Listen to the way Whitney Houston sang this song at the Super Bowl XXV and you will know exactly what I am talking about.
A song sung with dynamics adds more interest to a song and will elevate your performance. These tips shouldn’t all be used at once, it will just make the song sound messy.
When practicing your song, play around with these tips to see which one sounds best for the song. If you’re still unsure of how to use these tips you can schedule an appointment or invest in our singing kit for extra assistance.
Written by: Airis Kemp (Insta: @uloveairis)