Singing Guide: Billy Ray Cyrus
Vocal technique, exercises, tips and relevant resources
If you want to sing like Billy Ray Cyrus, you need to develop the ability to balance powerful deep vocals with a country twang. Cyrus' music is heavily influenced by country music, which demands a specific vocal style that blends traditional country with rock.
To get started with singing like Billy Ray Cyrus, you will need to practice some of the following techniques:
- Breathing Technique: To control the quality of the sound and tone, Cyrus emphasizes steady diaphragm breathing. The Farinelli breathing exercise can help with this.
- Open Mouth And Throat While Singing: Cyrus' singing style requires an open mouth and throat, especially in the back of the mouth. This helps to create country twang and allows for a full and rich vocal sound.
- Vocal Warmups: For best vocal results, you should perform vocal warm-up exercises daily. Singing Carrots' 3-minute warm-up video is an excellent place to start.
- Voice Registers: Cyrus is known for his use of the chest voice to create a deeper, richer tone. Check out this Singing Carrots’ educational video about chest voice explained. It explains how to locate a proper chest voice register.
- Twang Technique: This technique is prevalent in country music. For those unfamiliar, twang is a method that Cyrus utilizes in his songs' verses. Check out this Singing Carrots educational video about how to twang.
To master the vocal style of Billy Ray Cyrus, practice singing his songs while focusing on each of these techniques. The following tunes are ideal for practice, as they highlight Cyrus's unique vocal style:
- "Achy Breaky Heart."
- "Somebody Said a Prayer."
- "Ready, Set, Don't Go.”
Don't forget to lend your voice to Singing Carrots' tools, such as the range test, so that you can keep track of your progress! It will be great to see how you progress as you learn to sing like Billy Ray Cyrus.