Singers: Your style is an ecosystem. (And your voice is just one part.)
If you’re hyper-focused on your voice as the primary way you’re going to experience success as a singer, you’re not alone. You’re surrounded by messages that your voice is the thing. You hear it in choir class as a kid. You hear it on reality singing shows. You hear it in academic singing degrees. You hear it from well-meaning people who are impressed by your singing and recommend voice lessons to help you get to the next level in your career.
Your voice is part of your style. And it’s important. And working on your voice with a voice teacher may very well be the only thing you need to experience the singing life you want.
But I would bet a lot of money that you’re neglecting a lot of other parts of your style that also need to be worked on.
And if you’re one of those people who’ve already had many years of voice lessons and you’re still chasing down that one perfect technique to finally unlock your career, I would bet a lot of money that what’s holding your career back isn’t your voice.
Your style is an ecosystem.
Your voice is one part of your personal style ecosystem.
Nothing in an ecosystem exists in isolation. Everything is affected by everything else.
Your voice affects the other elements in your style system, and the other elements affect your voice.
Since this is how it works, it doesn’t really make sense to wait until your voice is “ready” before working with other elements.
Some Musical Elements of Your Style
- vocal style
- songwriting style
- instrumental playing style
- vocal arrangements
- instrumental arrangements
- production style
- sound engineering style
- harmonies
- chord structure and voicing
- rhythms
- melodic shapes
- songs you cover
- roles you take on in music making
- artists you collaborate with
- artists you’re influenced by
Some Non-Musical Elements of Style
- values (the stuff that shapes your daily decisions)
- mission (the stuff your music is doing right now)
- vision (the stuff you want your music to do in the future)
- purpose (the stuff that makes your life worth living and music worth making)
- your story
- emotions you express
- your personality
- your neurotype
- your nervous system responses
- what you sing/talk about
- visual aesthetic
- the way you use and move your body on stage/screen
- what you wear
- preferred venues/platforms
- your stage setup
- the way you interact with listeners
- the listeners you prefer to interact with
- non-musical interests and skills
- overall mood/vibe/energy
Work with your style’s whole system.
Your voice will respond to the other elements in your style’s ecosystem.
Become aware of the system as a whole as much as possible, and develop the elements that want and need your attention.
Watch your voice respond to the other elements, and then watch the elements respond to your voice.
Example
A singer came in wanting to belt higher because a teacher in her past had told her that she would never be respected unless she could belt up to a certain pitch. This singer was already a beloved and respected singer in her region, but felt she needed this skill to go to the next level in her career.
Elsewhere in her style ecosystem, there were songs that wanted to be written, visual style elements she hadn’t noticed before that made her feel more powerful when she tapped into them, and a singer-songwriter persona she was afraid to pursue due to some old, toxic messages.
We worked with belting, but we also gave these other elements attention. As we did, the singer was able to see that belting up to that pitch (and impressing that old teacher) was far less important and necessary to her style ecosystem than writing songs, playing with those visual elements, and creating a serious plan to record herself singing originals and covers with just her and the piano.
Those high belting notes weren’t actually necessary to the system, especially when she realized that teacher’s opinions had no place in the system. She allowed herself to spend time enjoying the belting notes that were already accessible, and even found them easier to sing when she was using them in her original songs and surrounding herself with the empowering visuals she had identified.
I’m here.
If you’d like to become aware of more of your style ecosystem and help it work better all together for you, I’ve written a Guide that’s currently only available to clients in one-on-one sessions or in a small cohort of fellow artists that will start meeting in August. Registration for that cohort opened this week, and early bird pricing ends May 31. You must complete an interview first.
