by Gary Powell
I have previously written about the job description of the recording session singer, but it was brought to my attention by a subscriber that I had not written a how-to-succeed to-do list for becoming a recording studio session singer on my site. Having already given you the job description, below is a list of just one possible scenario for becoming a professional recording studio session singer.
So, if becoming a recording session singer is a career path you are interested in pursuing, then tomorrow morning start working on this list and answering its questions. Feel free to skip items as scheduling permits and opportunities present themselves.
Nobody REALLY learns to sing until they start recording. – Gary Powell
Have a professional vocal coach or producer assess your talent. This assessment can be a broad overview of your vocal and musical capabilities within the context and understanding of where you want to be professionally. They may be wrong, but do it anyway. You must find out if your aptitude and talent match the job description of the recording session singer.
Determine what existing singer, if any, you most sound like in terms of tone, texture, phrasing and vocal range. Why do this? This is where your own assessment begins.
Determine what style of music your vocal instrument will most likely find work. What’s hip today won’t be tomorrow, but knowing where you most naturally fit or don’t fit stylistically is still important information for you to know about yourself.
After determining what musical genre your vocal instrument is particularly well-suited for, heighten and enhance your vocal performance skills within this vocal style! It is here, within the genre which you find most natural and in which you already excel, that you will most likely attract your first customers. Let them discover your true talent later. In the meantime, broaden your vocal stylistic repertoire to include as many genres as possible.
Have your tonal memory assessed by a music educator. If required, have that teacher develop adaptive listening skills designed for your own, very unique, instrument. This training will facilitate the most important part of your instrument, being the integration of your voice and ear. This is everyday stuff at any decent music school.
At this point, you should have made the realization that your ear is as important as your voice if not more so. If you have not of yet realized this, then repeat from step #1.
Start creating a “book” of songs that you can perform when opportunity calls. Your “book” will have all your best-suited repertoire organized with each song written in the right key for your voice. The songs can be simple lead sheets or piano/vocal sheet music, but don’t make the pianist have to interpret or transpose anything. Your “book” will prepare you for any opportunity whether it’s a gig or an audition. If the audition calls for a performance of only sixteen bars, then create the chart that accommodates that restriction as musically as possible. It also means you will never be dependent again on only one pianist for your gigs and you will also be prepared to work with an unknown auditioning or workshop accompanist with no rehearsal at all.
Sing. Sing all the time. Learn licks off the radio when you are driving. Anytime you are listening to music, begin singing harmony parts that are not even on the recording. Sing the lead guitar parts. Sing the bass line in whatever octave you can. Listen. Sing. Listen more closely. Sing again. Don’t stop this for the rest of your career. These exercises help to mature the relationship between your ear and your voice.
Never sing out of tune again. “Faulty intonation” or “singing out of tune” are the terms used to describe problems with pitch accuracy. In the old days, people used to call this “singing out of key”. Whatever you call it, singing out of tune is the fastest way for dismissal from a recording session unless your family owns the studio.
Learn the word timbre and how to pronounce it. (tam’-ber not tim’-ber)
Start recording your voice as soon as possible. Record your voice lessons. Record yourself singing karaoke. Sing into a $29 Radio Shack cassette deck or sing directly into your laptop, but start recording and listening to how others hear you. I’ve often said that nobody really learns to sing until they start recording. Start the recording process at whatever level you can afford, then repeat.
Now that you have the chops, be brave. Present yourself with confidence wherever you find opportunity, then prove yourself in person. It’s intoxicating to us professionals when your competence and confidence are confirmed in a live audition. We producers are well aware of an important piece of software called Antares Auto-Tune and its ability to correct any singer’s pitch problems. Therefore, we tend to not trust recorded auditions anymore as an accurate measure of a singer’s abilities regarding pitch accuracy.
If the singing career does not work out for you, sing anyway. It’s what humans do and it will always enrich your life regardless of where you do it or how much you are paid or not paid. Be human. Sing!
Thank you to the newest session singer in my studio, Faith Greve, for her talent, her wonderful attitude and for the use of her photo.
All Content of Gary Powell’s Site is Licensed Under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License
.
by Gary Powell
I have previously written about the job description of the recording session singer, but it was brought to my attention by a subscriber that I had not written a how-to-succeed to-do list for becoming a recording studio session singer on my site. Having already given you the job description, below is a list of just one possible scenario for becoming a professional recording studio session singer.
So, if becoming a recording session singer is a career path you are interested in pursuing, then tomorrow morning start working on this list and answering its questions. Feel free to skip items as scheduling permits and opportunities present themselves.
Nobody REALLY learns to sing until they start recording. – Gary Powell
Have a professional vocal coach or producer assess your talent. This assessment can be a broad overview of your vocal and musical capabilities within the context and understanding of where you want to be professionally. They may be wrong, but do it anyway. You must find out if your aptitude and talent match the job description of the recording session singer.
Determine what existing singer, if any, you most sound like in terms of tone, texture, phrasing and vocal range. Why do this? This is where your own assessment begins.
Determine what style of music your vocal instrument will most likely find work. What’s hip today won’t be tomorrow, but knowing where you most naturally fit or don’t fit stylistically is still important information for you to know about yourself.
After determining what musical genre your vocal instrument is particularly well-suited for, heighten and enhance your vocal performance skills within this vocal style! It is here, within the genre which you find most natural and in which you already excel, that you will most likely attract your first customers. Let them discover your true talent later. In the meantime, broaden your vocal stylistic repertoire to include as many genres as possible.
Have your tonal memory assessed by a music educator. If required, have that teacher develop adaptive listening skills designed for your own, very unique, instrument. This training will facilitate the most important part of your instrument, being the integration of your voice and ear. This is everyday stuff at any decent music school.
At this point, you should have made the realization that your ear is as important as your voice if not more so. If you have not of yet realized this, then repeat from step #1.
Start creating a “book” of songs that you can perform when opportunity calls. Your “book” will have all your best-suited repertoire organized with each song written in the right key for your voice. The songs can be simple lead sheets or piano/vocal sheet music, but don’t make the pianist have to interpret or transpose anything. Your “book” will prepare you for any opportunity whether it’s a gig or an audition. If the audition calls for a performance of only sixteen bars, then create the chart that accommodates that restriction as musically as possible. It also means you will never be dependent again on only one pianist for your gigs and you will also be prepared to work with an unknown auditioning or workshop accompanist with no rehearsal at all.
Sing. Sing all the time. Learn licks off the radio when you are driving. Anytime you are listening to music, begin singing harmony parts that are not even on the recording. Sing the lead guitar parts. Sing the bass line in whatever octave you can. Listen. Sing. Listen more closely. Sing again. Don’t stop this for the rest of your career. These exercises help to mature the relationship between your ear and your voice.
Never sing out of tune again. “Faulty intonation” or “singing out of tune” are the terms used to describe problems with pitch accuracy. In the old days, people used to call this “singing out of key”. Whatever you call it, singing out of tune is the fastest way for dismissal from a recording session unless your family owns the studio.
Learn the word timbre and how to pronounce it. (tam’-ber not tim’-ber)
Start recording your voice as soon as possible. Record your voice lessons. Record yourself singing karaoke. Sing into a $29 Radio Shack cassette deck or sing directly into your laptop, but start recording and listening to how others hear you. I’ve often said that nobody really learns to sing until they start recording. Start the recording process at whatever level you can afford, then repeat.
Now that you have the chops, be brave. Present yourself with confidence wherever you find opportunity, then prove yourself in person. It’s intoxicating to us professionals when your competence and confidence are confirmed in a live audition. We producers are well aware of an important piece of software called Antares Auto-Tune and its ability to correct any singer’s pitch problems. Therefore, we tend to not trust recorded auditions anymore as an accurate measure of a singer’s abilities regarding pitch accuracy.
If the singing career does not work out for you, sing anyway. It’s what humans do and it will always enrich your life regardless of where you do it or how much you are paid or not paid. Be human. Sing!
Thank you to the newest session singer in my studio, Faith Greve, for her talent, her wonderful attitude and for the use of her photo.
All Content of Gary Powell’s Site is Licensed Under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License
.
I’m not a studio session singer or in the music biz, but I sing all the time! Fabulous post. I love these how to’s.
wonderful helped me tremendously! ps imma guy!!!!!! :grin: ;-)