What creates the star quality of voices such as Usher, Beyonce, or Carrie Underwood?
Although each of these artists have chosen different vocal styles to sing in, they all have some things in common too.
First: they sing with good pitch or intonation, without relying on the assistance of digital pitch correction in the studio. This is the basic and fundamental skill every singer must acquire. This means you have to be a good musician, singing with good intonation (also referred to as having good pitch, or singing in tune). Almost everyone these days can tell if a singer needs a lot of “auto-tune” provided in the studio, and it detracts from the authenticity of the singer’s vocal quality. So, work on singing in tune by singing intervals and scales with a piano. Learning to match pitch to a keyboard is fundamental.
Second: these singers all have large vocal ranges of at least three octaves. This means that they can sing from very low pitches in the lower register to very high pitches in the upper register, but it all sounds like one voice. Beyonce sings a very low F sharp in “If I Were a Boy”, but she can also sing powerful high notes in “Listen”, for example, and you don’t hear a break in her voice anywhere. That is a result of good vocal technique. All these singers work with voice teachers and do vocal training and technique exercises to keep their voice in shape. Just like an athlete, a singer needs good professional training.
Third: Usher, Beyonce, and Carrie Underwood have developed their own unique vocal quality or sound, and they have a flawless command of the style that is appropriate for their genre of music. Style refers to certain notes, runs, licks, (groups and patterns of notes) that make one singer’s vocal interpretation sound different from another singer’s interpretation. For example, country music has a very unique musical language that makes it sound different from R & B or rock music. If you want to sound authentic in a particular style of singing, you need to imitate the artists who are singing in that style, until you have acquired the “language”. Its just like learning to speak in a foreign language- first you learn words, then little phrases, and as you become more proficient, you are able to use those phrases in your own unique way. And that is exactly how you learn to sing with style.
If you want to sing like a star you need: good intonation (pitch), extended range, a unique vocal quality, and a flawless command of the musical style or language that is appropriate for the kind of music you want to sing. Develop these and you may be the next superstar!
I wish you all the best as you reach for your dreams! Tricia Grey, MM
