By Jeannie Deva

Musical Genre

How do musical genres such as Hip Hop, Pop, Rock or Jazz blend with your personality and vocal skill to establish your personal style? Since these vary from singer to singer, there is no one answer. You can use what we have covered in this and earlier blog tips as well as the Singer’s Guide to Powerful Performances, to guide your journey to your own unique vocal style.

Sing What You Believe

Ultimately, you’ve got to sing what you believe in. If you don’t believe in what you are singing, can’t relate to the message or don’t like the musical style, there will be no passion. The legendary Classical composer Ludwig Van Beethoven said it best – “To play without passion is inexcusable!”  So first and foremost sing genres that you like and which resonate emotionally with you. Within the genre select songs with lyrics and messages you believe in.

Pronunciation and Style

Stylistically speaking, regional pronunciation or an accent will influence your singing voice. Similarly to how languages have accents or different pronunciations, musical genres tend to involve vocal inflections that effect how you use your tongue, palette and throat muscles to articulate vowels and consonants.

Some musical styles have been defined, in part, by regional pronunciation. For instance, the elongation of certain vowel sounds from the American South has helped define both Blues as well as the Country music styles. Accents while singing can be either more or less intense than during conversation. Many British Rock performers have more of an accent when they speak than when they sing. Perhaps this is the influence of the music. However, their accent still contributes to their individual vocal style.

Accents and Singing

The point is that the interaction of your own accent and that of the musical genre will influence how you sound singing that style. Sometimes it just doesn’t work and sometimes a unique new sound results. When choosing genres in which to sing, stay mindful of how your natural speaking and singing voice either clashes or blends with the musical style.

(For complete information on Style see The Singer’s Guide to Powerful Performances eBook and visit the YouTube channel Powerful Performances created by Jeannie Deva to show examples of everything in the book.)