Sorry it’s taken so long to post, but I had some time off for Spring Break and my birthday, and just haven’t gotten to it!
The ability to sing a legato line is something that seems to be slowly falling by the wayside for many singers today. A legato line is a smooth vocal line with no bumps, breaks or “h’s”. One of the most effective ways to get a smooth vocal line into a song is to practice the line on a gentle “edge” type of sound, usually on an “M” or an “NG.” Recording oneself and listening to the playback while practicing in this fashion is usually quite revealing. A singer should work on the line for as long as needed until the melody is as smooth as “oil on glass.”
The next step would be to practice the melody with the text of the song or aria (recording the practice session again, of course). The singer is usually surprised at the degree of choppiness the words have brought back into the legato line previously established. If this is the case, another very old but effective technique is to remove all the consonants from the text and sing the line from vowel to vowel of each word. Then the consonants are added back into the words bit by bit without disturbing the silky smooth line.
Obviously, if the singer has not gotten to the place in their technique where a relaxed speech-level posture can be maintained while working in the manners described above, than these techniques are too advanced for the time being. They should instead work on establishing a strong vocal technique using speech-level exercises and return to the legato processes at a later time.
This blog is not owned or operated by Speech-Level-Singing International, it is owned and operated privately by Guy Babusek. The views expressed herein are strictly his own.
