Singing Guide: Blue Valentine
Vocal technique, exercises, tips and relevant resources
Blue Valentine is the perfect archetype of a crooner, with his rich, mellow tone and relaxed phrasing. With a voice that exudes sensitivity, he sings heartbreaking ballads that touch your soul. To learn to sing like him, you need to master the art of phrasing, vibrato, control, and emotion. Most importantly, you should create an intimate connection with the lyrics to convey deep emotions nonverbally.
Phrasing and Control
Blue Valentine's music is simple but sophisticated, which means he gives considerable emphasis to timing and his virtuous control over intonation. When singing, he balances breath control with his natural instincts, never overpowering his vocal ability, which leads to expressive and nuanced phrasing. Achieving Blue's phrasing style requires good breath support, solid vocal technique, and understanding how to modulate the sound's intensity level. The articles on breathing basics and breath support will teach you how to achieve good breath support.
Vibrato
Blue Valentine's signature is his beautiful vibrato, which brings to life classical and contemporary. It all comes down to his singer's control and the relaxation of the diaphragm. Vibrato is not easy to achieve, and there is no substitute for consistent singing practice. However, the videos on Beggars Bounce and the Diaphragm Bounce offer good advice on how to develop vibrato.
Emotions
Blue Valentine's singing was less about hitting notes and more about conveying emotions. His voice was full of vulnerability and sincerity that resonated with fans universally. Achieving that level of emotional subtlety is no easy feat, but practising empathising with the lyrics and creating a personal connection with the song is essential. The article on singing with intuition, skills, emotion and thinking has some great insights into learning how to convey emotions.
Song Choice
When trying to emulate a specific singer, it's essential to study their song choices and the signature vocal technique. Blue Valentine's approach was to keep it simple, focusing on singing songs that suit his voice and style. By finding the perfect song, you can work on specific techniques like tone, vibrato and phrasing. The article on how to learn a song effectively includes some great tips to help you prepare a song so that you can hone in on the techniques that you need to master.
Resources
Singing Carrots provides an array of useful exercises, articles, and tools that can help you channel your inner-Blue Valentine. The pitch accuracy test and vocal range test can help you identify where you need to focus on your vocal abilities. The pitch monitor will display your correct pitch on a virtual keyboard, enabling you to monitor your progress, and Pitch Training will provide interactive vocal warm-ups and exercises to improve your range, tone and agility. The search songs tool will help you find songs to match your vocal range, difficulty and genre preference. Finally, the educational singing course includes 21 lessons covering singing theory and practical tips.
Conclusion
To learn to sing like Blue Valentine, it requires learning his particular vocal technique, understanding how to evoke emotions using his style, and practising control. It takes time, patience, and training from resources like Singing Carrots. Implementing the practical advice from exercises and articles is a great starting point for any aspiring singer trying to emulate the effortless style of Blue Valentine.