There’s a very good chance that at some point you have belted out one of your favorite songs possibly while driving with friends, or in the privacy of your home. You might not be of professional standard, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy singing along with the radio, or your iPod.
While many people have imagined themselves up on stage, in front of a packed stadium. The closest to singing from the heart that most people will get will be in the shower.
What does singing from the heart actually mean?
Singing from the heart could refer to the emotional transfer of the lyrics and music through the vocalist’s performance. Some singers exude raw energy when they sing, and others write lyrics that are true to their hearts, moving, and powerful.
You could simply say that singing from your heart means that you are giving everything that you can and that you are showing your passion and enthusiasm. Vocal coach, Brett Manning, has helped a number of famous singers deliver their best performances, and this could be described as singing from the heart.
How can you sing from your heart?
You can sing from the heart if you are genuinely passionate about singing, and the music you are performing.
Choose the right songs for you
Either write your own lyrics or choose music that you can relate to. Bruce Springsteen displays true passion when he is on stage, but would he be the same if he was performing something by Christina Aguilera?
Use vocal coaching
Singing from the heart also means being able to give your best. To do this you need to practice, and even the best singers use coaches and take lessons sometimes.
A vocal coach can help with the following areas, and this will let you sing from the heart.
- Improved range;
- Reach higher and lower notes;
- Understand the importance of vibrato;
- Help with harmony;
- Training your ear.
A professional vocal coach can help you add an extra octave, and give you exercises and advice to improve your pitch and range. You will understand the physics of singing vibrato and train your ear to recognize notes and pitches.
How do you add emotion to your singing?
Smokey Robinson was responsible for some of the most emotive long songs, with “Ooo Baby Baby” being another hit for him and The Miracles. What made Smokey Robinson so unique was his incredible falsetto voice.
Learning head and chest voices, and falsetto will help you to sing from the heart with emotion. To sing from the heart you will have to connect your vocals to the emotional range of a song.
But, there are other aspects to singing from the heart. Reducing strain on your voice, and warming up properly will help you to perform with energy, and sound good too.
You need to add feeling to your performance, and ideally understand how to engage with your audience. Different styles of music require different skills to sing from the heart, and training your ear is essential if you want to become an outstanding jazz singer for example.
What barriers are there to singing from the heart?
A lack of training could lead you to strain your voice when you try to convey emotion. Plus, you might not be capable of hitting the notes you desire. You might also find your posture, lung capacity, and singing skills are not up to par.
One of the barriers to being a singer as an adult is that your throat muscles, vocal folds, and lungs become weaker.
Stopping smoking, performing aerobic exercises, and visiting a vocal coach, can help you to perform at your peak, and this will lead to you truly singing from the heart.
A vocal coach will help you to understand the importance of breathing, how to control your voice, and what exercises will help your voice to develop and your potential to be reached.
Many people would love to get into the music industry and it is the dream of many to get paid for singing and possibly develop a career. If this is your dream, you’ll need to sing from the heart to connect with your audience.
Audiences know when an artist is genuinely passionate, and this is the moment where a singer connects emotionally with their music and their fans.
Summary
Only a singer who is at their peak can really sing from the heart. Of course, any singer can display emotions through their performance, but to do this in a controlled way means understanding areas such as vibrato, controlled breathing, and falsetto.
Choosing music that is meaningful to yourself and that you can connect emotionally with will add authenticity to your singing, and audience engagement is a must when singing from the heart.