Learning to Sing “California Dreamin'” by Diana Krall
The song “California Dreamin'” performed by Diana Krall presents a unique blend of pop and jazz vocal techniques. One of the highlights is her use of the vibrato – a slight variation in pitch which is natural to human voices. Diana Krall’s vibrato adds color and emotional intensity to the song.
Similar to “California Dreamin'”, songs like “The Look of Love” and “Fly Me to the Moon” also use vibrato. However, note that vibrato is a result of good vocal technique and relaxation, not a technique in itself. You may reference Beggars Bounce and Diaphragm Bounce exercises for learning vibrato, if it’s not natural to you.
Prior to learning “California Dreamin'”, first and foremost, we’d encourage you to analyze your own voice and determine your vocal range to make sure this song suits you naturally. For anyone learning this song, understanding the difference between Pop/Jazz and Classical singing can be influential. This would include exploring the idea of resonance, and experimenting with the mix of chest and head voice in your sound to achieve the desired effect.
Apart from this, you may also want to pay close attention to articulation. Understanding the lyrics, feeling their meaning, and then clearly conveying them can make an enormous difference in your performance. Practice enunciation exercises like Finger Bite for enhancing your articulation.
Remember, capturing the essence of a song not only requires technical skills, but also emotional connection, and thinking. Refer to this article to learn more about these four dimensions of singing with intuition, skills, emotion, and thinking.
Lastly, don’t forget that Singing Carrots offers several tools that can assist you in your practice. Our Pitch Monitor can be useful to visualize the pitch you’re singing and self-correct if necessary. Practice makes perfect, so use the Singing Carrots Pitch Training tool to train your ear and become more accurate during singing.
Good luck with your practice!