[Vocals and First Year] 36. The Freedom of Expression Created by Stable Vocalization: The Process of Finding One's Color

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

A vocalist's heart always desires to sing in front of people.

However, if a voice that worked well yesterday fails to come out today, and it is difficult to predict one's vocal condition on the day of a performance, even the opportunity to sing can become a burden.

When the experience of songs that were easy during practice not going as planned on stage repeats, it becomes difficult to trust one's own voice. For singers, the ability to consistently reproduce their skills is just as important as demonstrating exceptional talent.

There are several reasons for fluctuations in vocal performance. While fatigue, lack of sleep, health status, and psychological tension play a role, imbalances in vocalization technique also need to be examined. There are cases where the voice sounds good in certain registers but loses power in others, or becomes unstable during transitions between chest voice and falsetto. Such issues disrupt the flow of the song and limit the singer's ability to realize their intended expression.

When evaluating vocal ability, attention often focuses on dazzling high notes. However, a song is not made up solely of high notes. It is also important to maintain sufficient resonance and clarity in the mid-to-low range and to possess the ability to flexibly transition between chest voice and falsetto. Even for singers who excel in high notes, if their mid-to-low sounds are hollow and scattered, or if register transitions are not smooth, the overall completeness of the song may suffer. This is why it is essential to examine not only how high one can sing, but also how stably each register can be utilized.

The stability of the mid-to-low range and falsetto goes beyond merely supplementing vocalization technique. Even with the same melody, the impression given differs entirely depending on which timbre is used at the start, where power is reduced, and at what moment one transitions from chest voice to falsetto. Sometimes, a lightly transitioned falsetto is more effective than a powerful chest voice, and a restrained mid-to-low tone may better convey the mood of a song than a flashy high note. The more stable the vocalization, the more freedom the vocalist has to choose timbre, dynamics, and phrasing in accordance with the flow of the song.

This choice of expression is also connected to a singer's musical individuality. In popular music, being called "the second [someone]" is not necessarily a compliment. Analyzing and imitating the singing style of an outstanding singer is a good learning method, but one's own musical identity is not created by that alone. Even when singing the same melody, each singer reveals different characteristics depending on how they handle rhythm, where they connect or break notes, and the moments of transition between chest voice and falsetto. Singing a technically difficult song well and interpreting a song in one's own way are different abilities.

That said, individuality does not emerge only once stable vocalization is achieved. Even if one already possesses their own timbre and expressive habits, there are cases where they cannot utilize them freely. Vocal training should be a process that helps realize desired expressions more stably, rather than a process that changes one's individuality into a uniform sound. When the characteristics of a vocalist's voice are understood and the options for expression are broadened, their unique color can become even clearer.

Recently, a student in a lesson said this: "After hitting high notes, my voice would float and I couldn't handle low notes well, but now low notes come out easily and it's also easy to connect them with falsetto. Lately, singing feels enjoyable." The student was already good at hitting high notes, but gaining stability in the mid-to-low range and falsetto increased their enjoyment of singing even further. The results of vocal training can be seen not only in producing higher notes that were previously unattainable, but also in being able to express familiar songs more comfortably and diversely.

Of course, even seasoned singers cannot maintain the same condition every day. Vocal stability does not mean eliminating fluctuations entirely; rather, it refers to the ability to utilize learned techniques as consistently as possible under changing conditions. Training the mid-to-low range, falsetto, and register transitions evenly is one of the methods for enhancing this stability.

In popular music, what is important goes beyond how closely one can imitate someone else; it is about creating one's own color. Individuality as an "Only One" is just as important as the competition toward being a "Number One." And to be able to express that individuality at desired moments, stable vocalization must serve as a foundation. Discovering one's own color and freely realizing that color—vocal training is a process that develops both of these together.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original