Jump to content

What can singing "crooner" songs help you with?

Rate this topic


Recommended Posts

I know a lot of us here, myself included, are focused on achieving huge range, but lately I've been listening to a lot of traditional pop (Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, etc.). There was a time when this kind of singing was huge, until rock came along and male singers started pushing their voices higher and higher (maybe not Elvis).

While crooners weren't exactly singing anything technically difficult, they certainly didn't sound bad, and that kind of music is timeless. So what valuable lessons can we learn from this kind of singing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can learn to sing from the right place. Your voice will be richer sounding not so thin and will have a nice velvety tone. And take it from me its not easy to sing that stuff. The intervals are tough to hear and they have big voices lots of support. Remember these guys were singing 2-6 shows a day not a week or a month.. A day.

I sing alot of rangy stuff Coverdale, Cornell, Graham Stevie Wonder. And when i started singing the crooner stuff my voice got bigger and stronger and made the rock metal R&b easier.

My 2 cents

Daniel

www.danielformicavocalstudio.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, I definitely don't think what they did was easy. It's all very controlled and deliberate. And even as they approach their higher notes, they start to get a pleasant wispiness.

I'm honestly thinking of taking a break from trying to find mix, and practicing better fundamentals on the midrange stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i'd like to add that you vocal control and finesse. it's not easy also because this kind of singing requires a certain level of vulnerability. you have nowhere to hide in terms of smoothness, tone, vibrato accuracy, and intonation. the audience can pick up on the slightest flaw.

i make it my business to include a song of this type to stay diversified.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Employing technique to sing such songs is not easy. I agree that Sinatra never was about technique, but then again, most of the singers that "push" their voices up as you say, are not. From an objective point of view, Sinatra used his voice with confidence, with a VERY high level of quality both on studio and live, and although he had vocal problems at some point, he was able to sing very well until the end of his carreer.

This is not easy material, specially due to the interpretation lines these guys used and the quality of emission and placement, which resulted in full and rich voices (which btw, they NEEDED due to technology limitations of the time). But yes, there is great value in employing technique to sing those songs, even if you are not trainning to sing this specific material. And you will discover that many of Elvis songs are not as low as it seems, some are quite high and will require a well defined passagio to sound decent.

And in my humble opinion, to produce the level of quality they had you will need just as much technique as you would need to sing stuff that is more centered around high notes and higher larynx/less projection. Also the difference between "being able to hit the notes" and actually performing a song is huge, in this particular style, even more.

Employing technique to sing different styles surely helps. A lot. Just dont do it believing that it will replace trainning. Employing technique means that you will not learn technique from a song, at most, it will help consolidate the trainning.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think singing crooner style, while important as a focal point for technique, is also important for style.

Journey was an instrumental band doing avant garde stuff when they hired manager. He pointed out that they really needed a singer who could sing love songs, who could croon. And he brought in Steve Perry.

With crooning, you are, I think, more aware of the audience and it can lead you to focus on them, as opposed to some pieces of heavy metal or art that would seem more like an aria or operella. A lesson to be learned. Connect to the audience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mel Torme called his style "the Velvet Frog" I believe and with good reason.

Exceptional pitching, perfect rhythm and he held his audeince with his story telling.

Belting is all about passion and transferring it to the audience. ("You can tell I'm being emotional; just look at the agony on my face", sort of stuff). A little one dimensional IMHO. There are many more emotions and crooners could express them all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...