Sing with Structure

It’s easy to lose the plot when discussing singing technique. It’s too easy to focus on high notes and volume and forget why we want to sing well in the first place.

The techniques are about making music, and for the classical singer that goes back to singing with structure.

I like using the term structure, because it communicates the hierarchical challenges of good singing. But I also like legato or “line” since they offer additional clues for how to solve musical problems.

But if you’re singing, then you have lines within lines. Individual melodies have their own best structure, but so do individual words, and so do sentences or verses or stanzas. And underlying it is the subtext and broader story you’re telling.

The task of the singer is to combine these disparate lines and combine them into a whole structure.

And of course that means knowing something about the language and the style of the music. It’s useful to have some sense about what the composer wanted beyond what’s written, but sometimes you have to make it your own. And it has to be in concert with your collaborators who need to fit your story into the bigger story.

Your technique has to be up for the challenge. But don’t wag the dog with your technique. Determine your musical goals and then apply the technique to that structure.