Singing Guide: A1
Vocal technique, exercises, tips and relevant resources
Aretha Franklin was a legendary singer who is known for her powerful voice, unique vocal style, and her ability to convey powerful emotions through her singing. If you want to learn how to sing like Aretha Franklin, there are many factors that you need to consider.
One of the most important elements of Aretha Franklin's vocal style is her ability to fuse gospel-inspired performance styles with modern soul and R&B. Her music is characterized by powerful belting in the upper register, and her use of melisma and other forms of embellishment. Some of Aretha's most famous songs which showcase these techniques include Respect, Chain of Fools, and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.
To sing like Aretha, you need to master several essential skills. This includes:
- Understanding your vocal range: Whether you are a soprano or an alto, you need to understand your vocal range to perform like Aretha. To determine your vocal range, Singing Carrots provides a vocal range test that can help you understand the notes that you can sing without straining your voice.
- Proper breathing: Aretha Franklin was known for her powerful and sustained notes, a skill acquired from good breathing techniques. Singing Carrots provides breathing basics that teach proper breathing.
- Voice registers: Aretha Franklin's music was known for a wide range of voice registers and melismas. Singing Carrots provide Voice Registers & Vocal Break to help identify them. It also includes tips and exercise to assist you to transition from the chest to head voice, (a.k.a the "mix" voice") which is an integral part of the melisma technique.
- Emotion control: Aretha was known for the emotive delivery of her music. Singing Carrots have a singing-with-intuition-skills-emotion-thinking article to help you gain emotional control over your singing.
- Warm-up and Articulation exercises: Aretha had a unique articulation style characterized by melismas and embellishments. Singing Carrots have articulation exercise videos to help you improve. Also, humming and other effective warm-ups to help you prepare for each session.
Furthermore, You can train and monitor your voice by practicing with Pitch Training and the Vocal Pitch Monitor to keep yourself in check while practicing. Singing Carrots' song search features can also help you find Aretha Franklin's songs that match your vocal abilities and preferences.
Finally, to improve your overall singing skills and capabilities, consider the Singing Carrots' comprehensive 21-lesson program called "Singing for Beginners". Through it, you will cover singing theory and practical tips on how to become a better singer.
By studying the links and exercises provided, you can master the technique and style that made Aretha Franklin a true musical icon.