Learning to Sing “Coffee and TV” by Blur
“Coffee and TV” by British alternative rock band Blur features a distinct vocal style characterized by a Heavy Modal technique. The lead singer, Damon Albarn, makes use of a centered, grounded voice and a relaxed larynx to create the song’s distinctive sound.
Understanding the Heavy Modal Technique
The Heavy Modal technique, also known as ‘chest voice dominance’, involves a forward placement of the voice and a significant amount of chest voice. This means engaging the chest voice even at higher pitches. This gives the singing style an assertive, bright, and robust quality. Learn more about this technique in this article.
Examples of songs where this technique is used abound, including “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes and “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele.
Steps to Learning the Song
Before you begin learning the song, take the vocal range test to understand your voice better, and ensure the song is within your comfortable singing range. Alternatively, you can use our song search to find songs in your vocal range.
Next, listen to the song multiple times until you can anticipate the melody, rhythm, lyrics, and the unique vocal technique used. This process is well documented in our how to learn a song effectively article.
The next step is to sing along the song while following the lyrics to perfect your articulation, practice your voice registers, and correct any pitch inaccuracies using our Pitch accuracy test and Vocal Pitch Monitor.
Lastly, implement the Heavy Modal technique by keeping your voice forward and the larynx relaxed. For better results in mastering this technique, you can also try out tips from our Singing Comfort Zone video.
Remember, practice is key! Frequent practice ensures better results, and our Pitch Training can also aid in mastering your singing skills.