Dave Dobbyn is a New Zealand singer-songwriter, guitarist, and national icon. He started his music career in the late 1970s as the frontman for the band Th’ Dudes and has been creating music and performing solo for over 40 years since. He has a unique vocal talent with beautiful emotional resonance and employs different registers and a broad range to create powerful and moving melodies. One of the secrets of his vocal technique is his ability to mix the different registers seamlessly. He uses his chest voice to form a solid foundation for his singing, while his mix and head voice expand his range and give his singing a beautiful warmth. Dave's voice exhibits a very subtle vibrato, which creates a smooth and easy flow throughout his phrases.

If you want to learn to sing like Dave Dobbyn, here are some practical tips and exercises, as well as some Singing Carrots resources that could help.

Practice Exercises

• Chest voice and voice registers: Dave Dobbyn frequently uses chest voice and head voice for different purposes in his songs. To practice your chest voice, start by singing along to your favorite songs using only the chest register, projecting your voice and feeling as if you were trying to talk to the other end of a large room. To start exploring your head voice, use humming exercises, or vocalize a melody, transitioning to soft falsetto on higher notes.
• Open mouth and throat: Dave Dobbyn creates a lot of space in his throat when he sings, allowing his voice to resonate fully. Try singing with a straw in your mouth as a tool to help you achieve this. Alternatively, practice singing "ah" sound while imagining your mouth and throat are an open tunnel, letting the sound pass through your face and head.
• Breath control: Breath support is crucial for achieving Dave Dobbyn's emotive and powerful performances. Practice breathing exercises and visualize the air reaching the lower part of your diaphragm and expanding your lungs. Try singing songs with long sustained notes, holding each note until you run out of air. This helps to develop good breath support and control.

Singing Carrots Resources

• Singing Courses: Singing Carrots offers a comprehensive introduction to singing courses with effective practice tools, tutorials, and more to build a solid base. Start here to develop good singing habits from scratch.
• Vocal Range Test: Take the Vocal Range Test to identify the range of your voice and compare it with Dave's range. This test provides a clear understanding of what your vocal range is and how to use it effectively.
• Pitch Training: Singing Carrots' educational games and tutorials teach you how to sharpen your pitch accuracy and better express your musical ideas.
• Song Search: Find songs by genre, vocal range, and difficulty that suit your voice. Try to learn Dave Dobbyn's songs like "Beside You," "Language," and "Welcome Home."
• Artists and Vocal Ranges: Discover vocal ranges of famous singers and learn techniques from them. Take a look at Dave Dobbyn's range, which spans from a low C3 to a high F#5.

Dave Dobbyn's techniques showcased in his music

• Lyrics and melody: Dave Dobbyn's music is characterized by beautiful and emotional lyrics, accentuated by his unique vocal range and technique. Listen carefully to the melody and pay attention to how he uses his voice, mixing different registers, and vibrato to convey the emotion and mood of the song.
• Belting in "Beside You": In his song "Beside You," Dave Dobbyn uses belting techniques to express his emotions and to make the song more powerful and intense. Listen to the chorus and notice how he employs a chesty and robust belt at the end of the phrase on the highest note.
• Head Voice in "Divebomber": "Divebomber" is a beautiful ballad, where Dave Dobbyn uses his head voice for the verses and transitions smoothly to his chest voice when he sings the chorus. Listen to how he blends the two registers seamlessly