5 Secrets for How to Sing With Your Own Unique Sound + Style

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5 Secrets for How to Sing With Your Own Unique Sound + Style

Encoded in each singer is their unique signature sound. This blog will explore how to discover your own unique sound and style to align your voice with your authentic artistry and expression. 

To develop a signature singing voice, focus on understanding your unique tone, phrasing, and emotional expression. Experiment with different styles and techniques while training your vocal control to enhance your natural strengths and create a recognizable sound.

To strengthen your voice and step into your true potential, click here to: Learn more about the Cole Vocal Method

Here’s a quick outline of the topics covered in today’s blog:  

• Discover Your Own Sound + Vocal Features
• Embrace Your Own Unique Sound
• Strengthen Your Weaknesses
• Explore Your Own Voice 
• Build Your Vocal Sound + Elevate Your Strengths

Let’s dive in!

1. Discover Your Own Sound + Vocal Features

It’s fine to copy elements from other singers’ voice that you admire, but put the main focus on developing your own unique sound. Mimicking is okay for learning, but not for creating your own sound. You want to have your own unique sound to stand out.  

A signature vocal sound is a unique and recognizable quality that singers develop through practice and self-exploration. It involves owning one’s distinct sound, putting personal spins on songs, and continuously working to improve vocal technique, style and using vocal arranging to pull out signature features in your sound and style.

Think of the drawling quality of Leonard Cohen’s voice, the fast vibrato of Stevie Nicks or Antony + the Johnsons, or the raspy breathy vocal sound a la Macy Gray or Mazzy Star. The trick is not to copy others, but to find your own unique natural distinctive sound to build on.

Try this:  

• Notice what is unique about your voice. Part of it is listening with objective ears as if you were analyzing another voice. 
• Ask a friend or fan to describe the sound of your voice.
• Make a list of features you hear in your voice. Include them all good and not so good!
• Get a professional analysis of your voice. A professional can help identify what is unique about your voice to help you confidently cultivate those characteristics. Click here to learn more here: https://caricole.com/vocal-analysis-session

2. Embrace Your Own Unique Sound

One of the most important things you do as a singer is to embrace your own voice. Sometimes in search of our best voices, we fall into wanting what we don’t have and those qualities seem to echo louder in our heads than the sound we do have. 

It’s easy to overlook qualities that come naturally to you and brush them off. But what if you don’t? What if you embrace your own voice and lean more into your own sound?

Try this:  

• Analyze a recording of one of your songs.
• What do you like? 
• What are you hiding or shying away from that you could feature more? 
• What do you want to work on more? Don’t be afraid to work on your voice. 

3. Strengthen Your Weaknesses

Strengthening the areas of your voice that are weak will help you step into your true voice as well. Sometimes weaknesses hold you back. 

For instance, if you don’t have a lot of power in your voice, you might shy away from big notes, but maybe it’s just a technical weakness in your voice?

It’s better to develop the areas where you are weak to have more choices in delivery. 

Try this: 

• Work on your vocal technique to strengthen your voice and develop more power. 
• Practice mapping the notes of your songs into your voice so you can sing them more confidently. Use a piano to identify the vocal road map and program the intervals and notes into your voice more solidly.
• Use your body to support your voice so you can sing more powerfully. Keep your chest lifted so it doesn’t drop as you sing weakening your sound.

4. Explore Your Own Voice

Exploring your voice can lead to discoveries that enhance your vocal style. I remember during the recording of my Circle of Fire record I was struggling to figure out how to sing one of the songs. Exploring different options led to a discovery that opened up my sound for the whole record. But if I hadn’t been open to exploring I would have missed it.

Try this:  

• Try different approaches to songs. Sing one lighter, or stronger. Experiment with volume and performance delivery.
• Try different pronunciation elements. I discovered on my record that if I sang a harder “r” it sounded better for the project. 
• Try different interpretations and phrasings to heighten your voice and discoveries. 

5. Build Your Vocal Sound + Elevate Your Strengths

The best ways to build your vocal sound is to train your voice with technique so you build your strength and vocal options. Then to work on exploring your sound in rehearsal and in recording with experimenting with vocal arrangements. 

I recommend 20-30 minutes of vocal technique training five days a week. Vocal rehearsal 3-5 x a week for 30 – 60 minutes. And vocal demoing and recording to work on arrangements 1-2 x a week.

Try this:  

• Vocal Technique will strengthen your overall voice and sound to give you more options in styling. 
• Vocal Rehearsal is a great time to explore different sounds and styles. 
• Vocal Arranging: Studying vocal arranging techniques will help you strengthen your vocal delivery. Record your voice trying different approaches, notes and phrasing to solidify your ideas. Or work with a vocal arranging. To learn more about my vocal arranging sessions click here: https://caricole.com/private-11-vocal-arranging-session-with-cari-cole-60-min/

Join me on YouTube – where I discuss content on the blog, voice, and artist development. Feel free to leave a note or question in the comments that I can circle back to. 

This post helps you get started, but it’s only the beginning. What would it feel like to finally reach your vocal potential and feel an actual transformation in your voice in 8 weeks? Come join the thousands of singers who have already transformed their voice and vocal health with the Cole Vocal Method™. Set your voice free in only 20 minutes a day with these transformative vocal techniques found only here! Click here to find out more.

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