Blend
Beautifully as a Backup
Singer
-by Bob
Pardue
Want to get
started with some real voice
lessons from a pro?
Go
here now
to start your singing
lessons
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Backup
Singing is not as Easy as it
Looks
Being a
soloist or singing lead is often
much easier than singing backup.
Why? Because you have to follow
someone else's lead and blend
your voice with theirs. When you
lead, others have to find ways to
blend with you. With the simple
techniques below, you can be a
great backup singer and blend
beautifully with the lead singer
every time.
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Listen
to the Lead Part and the
Music
Before
you can blend properly,
you should listen
carefully to the lead
part and to the music.
Listening carefully will
help you distinguish
parts in the music.
There
are some parts that you
might find easier to
sing than others. One
song can have several
parts such as lead
(melody) or harmonizing
parts such as alto,
tenor, baritone,
soprano, and bass.
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If you have
trouble distinguishing parts, ask
the instrumentalist if they can
play certain parts for you.
Single out a couple of parts on
the instrument and follow along
with your voice until you can
recognize these parts when the
entire song is being
played.
Editor's
Note: I certainly hope you are
enjoying this backup singing
training and I also hope it helps
you the next time you are called
upon to sing backup for a musical
chorus or band.
Singing
Position
When you
sing as a backup singer, position
yourself where you can glance at
the person singing lead at all
times. You should be able to look
at them to tell where they are
going with a verse or chorus and
to see when they are going to
start and stop a verse or line.
This is
important so your timing will
blend with theirs. It can be very
embarrassing as a backup singer
to start before the lead singer
or to stop singing after them.
You'll want everything to be
synchronized
perfectly.
Start
Singing Quietly and Blend
Gradually
When the
lead singer starts singing, try
to start your singing quietly and
gradually get a little louder to
blend with the lead part. In
doing so, your part won't come on
too strong. Also, begin ending
your singing by getting a little
quieter before the lead singer
reaches his/her ending. Doing
both of these allows the lead
singer to come in strong at the
start and end strong at the
last.
Consonants
Too Obvious
When
singing words that start with
consonants, try to sing the
beginning consonant silently so
there aren't multiple strong
consonant sounds. When more than
one person sings a word that
starts with a consonant, it can
cause multiple sounds that can be
unpleasant to the audience. For
instance, singing the letter "p"
can sound like 2 or more loud
"puhs" to the audience. Leave the
first consonant off of words or
say the beginning of a word
quietly and then get louder
toward the middle of the
word.
Always
remember that being a backup
singer enables you to bring your
talents to a song in a unique and
very important way. You are to
blend, not stand out. You can
make or break the song in how
well you blend with the lead
singer.
Practice
blending with songs you hear on
CD at home so when the time comes
to be a backup singer, you'll be
ready to sing and maybe even
check into some singing careers
!
Learn to
Sing Backup or Lead
If you want
to learn more about becoming a
backup singer or even study to
sing lead, you can find plenty of
speech
level singing
courses
online by enrolling in singing
training lessons with a
professional
singing lessons
trainer.
If you feel uncomfortable singing
in front of a group of people,
speech level voice training might
be just what you need to overcome
your singing fears!
Start your
career in backup with these
singing lessons
Act
now and Check
out
our complete line of
speech
level singing
lessons.
Bob Pardue is
the owner of Vocal
Sphere.
Have some fun and learn to sing
by visiting Voice
Lessons
Online
today...
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