Can your choruses make a house cat yawn? Read on… NEW: I’m experimenting with creating this audio version of the post. Let me know if you find it helpful: So we all understand the value of a repeating ‘hook’ line in songwriting. But how do you repeat the same words multiple times without boring yourself… Read More » about Repeating Lyrics: How to Turn Boring Into Mesmerizing
Messaging
The Writing Voice: Punctuation Communicates!
Ron Oates Hi all… In keeping with my theme for this blog “All Things Vocal”, I want to address the writing voice today. It matters. Music makers also need to be able to communicate in non-musical ways, and be assessed as somewhat intelligent to be taken seriously. I am stunned at the bad presentation of… Read More » about The Writing Voice: Punctuation Communicates!
Singing Soft Powerfully – Make Light Phrases Zing!
Singing soft doesn’t have to mean communicating weakly. Getting this right can make the difference between a soft passage that no one pays attention to and one that subtly but surely sucks the air out of the room and demands attention! First verses, breakdown choruses, light bridges, tags are some common places that can be… Read More » about Singing Soft Powerfully – Make Light Phrases Zing!
When Voices Aren’t Heard
Voices need to be heard. When they aren’t, not only is the individual somehow compromised, the world is, also. I woke this morning to the horrible breaking news of another mass shooting of innocent, random victims, this time in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Because one of my precious sisters lives in Colorado, it… Read More » about When Voices Aren’t Heard
The Voice Of Kony 2012 …Double Edged Sword of Fame
It was with great sadness that I watched Jason Russell, the voice of Kony 2012, the incredibly successful video put out by Invisible Children Organization, experience a now-also-famous complete mental breakdown. This is a powerful example of the double-edged nature of fame. Voices need to be heard. It’s the reason they exist; it’s the reason… Read More » about The Voice Of Kony 2012 …Double Edged Sword of Fame
Finding Your Voice: Vocal Uniqueness
When it comes to finding your own vocal uniqueness, you have to create your own vocal art. Very much like painting your own picture or writing your own novel, you take the color palate and alphabet of other vocal masters and create your own vocal work of art. It’s a process; most people start by… Read More » about Finding Your Voice: Vocal Uniqueness
Digging Deep for Songwriting Gold
Real songwriting, like real singing, is not for the squeamish. Got a great question about the sometimes perilous activity of digging deep for songwriting gold from a very dear friend. He is a singer/songwriter who is also an Army veteran of the recent Middle East wars. I have noticed a bit of a trend with… Read More » about Digging Deep for Songwriting Gold
Music As Mentor
I’ve been reading a great book a dear friend gave me called “Athena’s Disguises” (thanks, Kim! finally getting to it!) Author Susan Ford Wiltshire, a professor of Classics at Vanderbilt University, published it in 1998. The book uses the multiple disguises of the Greek goddess Athena in Homer’s classic epic “Odyssey”, to show us where… Read More » about Music As Mentor
Why You Should Sing “All Of Me” Without Actually Giving It
Sometimes you need to keep it zipped! A great question was just emailed to me: “Could we discuss more the idea of letting your audience know a part of you without feeling like you have given them all of you. I think this is a problem for me..” OK, lots of times athletes, singers, public… Read More » about Why You Should Sing “All Of Me” Without Actually Giving It
Singing Authentically: Participant Instead of Spectator
My old friend and songwriting mentor, hall-of-fame songwriter Dave Loggins, once chided me that I was writing like a spectator instead of a participant. He was right. I took his advice, dove down deeper and came up with a song I wrote from the center of my soul. It was like automatic writing… I wasn’t… Read More » about Singing Authentically: Participant Instead of Spectator