How to Sing Like Margaret Bonds

Margaret Bonds was an American composer and pianist, whose music was known for incorporating traditional African American spirituals and blues. Learning to sing like Bonds involves studying her unique style, incorporating spirituals and blues into your repertoire and perfecting the vocal techniques that she used.

Vocal Technique

Learning to sing like Bonds involves perfecting your vocal techniques. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Breathing: Bonds was known for having excellent breath control. To develop your breath control, check out Breath support and Active and passive breathing .
• Voice Registers: Bonds used a range of voice registers to create her unique sound. Explore some of these in What are voice registers .
• Pitch accuracy: Singing along to simple melodies can help you develop pitch accuracy. Check out Pitch accuracy test and Pitch Training for more exercises.
• Articulation: Bonds' music often involved intricate articulation. Learn more about it in Articulation .
• Resonance: Learn how to use resonance to create a full, vibrant tone in Resonance singing .

Margaret Bonds' Music

Bonds' music is characterized by its incorporation of African American spirituals and blues. To learn her style, listen to and sing along with her songs, including:

• "Troubled Water": This is Bonds' most famous piece, which incorporates the spiritual "Wade in the Water." Try singing along with the sheet music and audio .
• "Three Dream Portraits": This song cycle sets Langston Hughes' poetry to music. Try singing along to the sheet music and audio .

Singing Carrots Resources

Singing Carrots offers a wide range of resources to help you develop your singing like Margaret Bonds:

• Vocal Range Test: Determine your vocal range, comparing it with famous singers. Test here .
• Pitch Accuracy Test: Assess your pitch accuracy. Try now .
• Vocal Pitch Monitor: See your sung notes on a virtual piano. Open it .
• Pitch Training: Interactive vocal warm-ups and exercises for range and agility. Learn more .
• Search songs: Find songs matching your vocal range, difficulty, and genre preference. Search songs .
• Artist Vocal Ranges: Discover the vocal ranges of over 5000 famous singers. Explore .
• Singing Course: A 21-lesson program covering singing theory and practical tips. Check it out .

Learning to sing like Margaret Bonds takes time and dedication, but with these tips and Singing Carrots resources, you can begin to develop the same vocal techniques and musical style.