Learning Center
Pop Singing or Pop Vocals
A lot of people feel that singing is difficult. Some of the difficulties include: not being able to hit high notes, being tone deaf, not having enough breath when singing, unable to project our voice, and much more.
Most of these problems can be resolved through proper training and guidance, and yet other problems are not as serious as perceived. For example, for someone to be tone deaf, it would have to mean that he or she would be singing at monotonous pitches throughout the entire song. This is so rare that one could possibly have a higher chance at winning a lottery!
The basic components of singing can be listed as follows:
- Breath
- Voice
- Vocal Register
- Diction
For the 1st component, Breath, the main points to note would be that one should not raise your chest when taking in a breath. On the contrary, the chest should remain relaxed when breathing, and the area that would be moving is the area around your abdominals or waist, somewhat like an expanding and contracting balloon inside your stomach. (Although technically, air does not go into your stomach, or you would feel really terrible…)
Breath works hand in hand with Voice, which refers to our set of vocal cords, housed in what is commonly labeled as the “Adam’s apple”. Our vocal cords help to produce sound when we sing and also when we talk. Our Voice and our Breath have to be properly balanced when we sing or speak, as over-usage of either will either result in a very airy sound, or an extremely tight voice that will tire out the vocal cords very quickly.
The 3rd component, Vocal Register, refers to the various notes and vocal positions that we may utilize as we sing various songs. It is commonly acknowledged that there are 3 main vocal registers: Chest, Middle and Head Registers, although there are many bridging registers between these 3 main registers. Different pitches resonate well at different registers, and as singers, it is our task to understand these vocal registers well so we can utilize them properly when we sing.
The final component, Diction, shapes the sound that we produce with our vocal cords, into intelligible words that people can understand. This is very important, as singing is essentially an act of communication between the singer and the audience. Also, an adjustment in diction may also help us to hit certain high notes that previously could have been unreachable to us.
These 4 components are only the basic components of singing, and serve as a summary guide to the complete set of skills one would learn when one undergoes a singing programme or a vocal training class.
Find out more about singing at this educational website set up by our very own Vocal Director, Aaron, with many musical resources as well as knowledge on developing a great set of vocals!
Learn Other Lesson
- Pop Keyboard Sing and Play
- Pop Songwriting (coming soon...)
- Music Arrangement (coming soon...)