Dear Students,
I am privileged to have the opportunity to work with students in multiple genres. In my training and in contact with other voice teachers, I have encountered a couple of commonly held “myths” regarding singing multiple genres. One is that classical singing is the best foundation for good singing. While classical singing does teach healthy singing technique, it is not necessarily the only way to learn healthy singing, nor even the best way to learn healthy singing. If you are a singer that is only interested in singing pop/rock, would it not be better to learn how to sing pop/rock with good vocal technique? Rather than spending your time learning a genre you care nothing about? For that reason, while my own singing foundation was in classical singing, I do not require it of my students.
Another common “myth” is that it is not possible to sing multiple genres well. There is some foundation to this: at the elite level, it tends to be wise to specialize. “Cross-training”, as the training of moving between genres is often referred to, is a skill in and of itself. Elite, specialized singers are better served by devoting time to their preferred genre, rather than spending time on cross-training. Furthermore, certain genres require more opposing muscular configurations at the vocal fold level; for example, the vocal fold configuration for Wagnerian opera is extremely different from that for heavy metal singing. Thus, the time spent developing muscle memory and strength in one genre might work in opposition to the muscle memory and strength needed for the other. However, this elite specialization does not apply to most singers. In fact, many opera houses regularly program Golden Age musical theater shows alongside more traditional opera repertoire. Some singers “specialize” in crossover singing and pride themselves on their ability to easily shift between genres. And many are simply singing for fun and appreciate being able to sing in whatever genre they desire!
My own training traversed the realms of choral singing, opera, jazz, musical theatre, and pop/rock. I enjoy listening to, singing, and teaching many genres! I have spent a lot of time thinking about what sets each genre apart, how to safely and easily move between genres, and how to help my students do the same. The first thing to keep in mind is that vocal anatomy is vocal anatomy and healthy singing, regardless of genre, is singing that feels good and is sustainable. In voice lessons, I use many of the same exercises, with a few shifts to vowel and tone color, across genres. Switching genres comes down primarily to intentional choices singers must make to modify the aesthetic of the sound. In this multi-part series, I will explore these choices in each of the main aspects of singing: Posture/respiration, Phonation/registration, Resonance, Articulation/pronunciation, Expression/communication. This series will conclude with best practices for training and practicing multiple genres.
Part 1: Posture/Respiration:
Aligned posture is consistent, regardless of genre, however some considerations exist based on peripheral demands. For example, in choral singing, a singer must maintain aligned posture in a relatively still position, often while holding sheet music for long periods of time. Singers must be sure to keep their knees from locking (to ensure adequate circulation and, in extreme cases, prevent fainting!) and hold their music in front of them so that their heads face forward, rather than off to one side or down.
In contrast, musical theater and opera singers will experience aligned posture much more dynamically to accommodate blocking and choreography. Body awareness while moving, whether speaking lines or singing, is very important. In the context of a show, I have seen the performers sing in a variety of odd postures, from sitting to lying down to hanging upside down!
Pop/rock singers frequently must manage singing while playing an instrument or holding/singing into a microphone. Staying mindful of posture and breath support while doing so is important. In particular, singers should beware of forward head posture while holding a microphone by bringing the microphone to their mouth or standing close enough to the microphone stand. Slouching while playing the guitar is common, so being comfortable enough playing where you don’t need to look at your hands very much will make it much easier to maintain good posture while playing and singing.
Breathing technique is fairly similar across genre: your inhales should expand your ribcage and relax your abdominals, without engaging neck or should muscles. As you sing, you should engage your abdominals and ribcage muscles just enough to stabilize the tone or provide energy for a high note.
Regardless of genre, singers should be most mindful of the needs of the individual phrase within a song; a long phrase will require a low, ribcage-expanding breath, while a shorter phrase might require a quicker, shallower inhale. Generally speaking, very long phrases tend to show up more opera and other classical styles, but you might encounter a long phrase in any genre. Most often, beginning singers find their inhales are too shallow to provide sufficient air for phrases. However, if you train yourself to always take enormous breaths, whether you need them or not, you may find your voice difficult to control and you may start to feel lightheaded!
In addition to this, athletic considerations of choreography while singing (particularly for dancing in musical theater) require additional physical conditioning to be able to connect to breath support during strenuous activity. If you know you will have to sing during a dance number, it may be worth your while to practice singing while moving (for example while walking or running on a treadmill or while doing jumping jacks). If, while singing pop or rock, you move a lot around stage, you may find similar training helpful!
One breathing scenario that I have noticed occurring a lot in contemporary pop is breathy singing. The breathy tone quality involves relaxing the vocal folds so that air escapes between them while you sing. The result is an intimate, whispery sound that is very popular right now (think Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, etc). The side effect is that, since air is escaping as you sing, you will run out of air more quickly. To accommodate this, plan extra breaths throughout your song and maintain extra awareness of breath support in the abdominal and ribcage muscles to keep the airflow steady to the end of the phrase. Additionally, breathy singing is more fatiguing than a clean tone, and singers who use it for effect should be mindful of that and plan extra rest and hydration.
Similarly, while a silent inhale is the most relaxed way to breathe, and required for classical singing, Pop/rock genres might feature an intentionally noisy inhale, or musical theater singers may choose to gasp for theatrical effect. A noisy inhale is more tense and dehydrating for the voice, however, so singers employing it for effect should factor that into their management of vocal fatigue and be sure to stay hydrated.
The bottom line with training posture/breathing for singing in multiple genres is 1) maintain good habits overall 2) be prepared for the demands of the song and any accompanying movement 3) accommodate the impact of any stylistic breathing choices on vocal health through adequate rest and hydration.
Have you noticed any differences in posture and breathing when you’ve sung in different genres? What questions do you have regarding cross-training singing genres? Leave a comment, shoot me an email, I’d love to hear from you!
Best,
Dr. Jane
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