Singing Guide: Silk Stockings
Vocal technique, exercises, tips and relevant resources
If you're a fan of MGM's colorful musicals of the 1950s, then you've surely heard of the legendary voice of Fred Astaire. Astaire was an all-around talent, a skilled dancer, actor, and singer. But what made him stand out were his vocal abilities, particularly his unmatched breath control and his unique phrasing.
If you want to emulate Fred Astaire's singing style, you'll need to master some basics of singing and learn some specific techniques. Firstly, it's essential to become aware of your breathing and how it influences your singing. You can start with Singing Carrots' breath support article, where you can learn how to maximize your breathing capacity and control.
Next, you'll need to work on your voice registers, which will help produce the characteristic sound of Astaire's voice. Our detailed articles and exercises on voice registers and vocal break can guide you in understanding voice registers conceptually and enable you to recognize and work with them in practice.
Open mouth and throat techniques are also essential in emulating Astaire. Our article on this technique describes how to maintain an open and relaxed mouth and throat while singing. By executing these techniques, you'll produce a resonant, full, and clear sound, closely related to Astaire's unique vocal style.
Every singer, including Fred Astaire, has a signature vocal technique that helps them produce their unique sound. Still, some of Astaire's other artistic choices and performance styles bring life to his songs. Vibrato, a vocal technique of rhythmic variations in pitch, was one of those. His unique and tasteful use of vibrato is evident in performances like "One For My Baby," where he showed restrained vibrato in his interpretation.
Most likely, you already have a song in mind that you want to work on. If not, check Singing Carrots' song search tool and find a song suitable for your vocal range and style preferences. Then go ahead, and learn the song effectively using our guidance on how to learn a song effectively.
Other important attributes of Astaire's singing style include his fluid intonation, his soft articulation, his sense of rhythm, and his effortless-sounding vocal delivery. He was known for his light, breezy singing and often used his falsetto register to great effect.
To conclude, if you want to replicate Fred Astaire's vocal technique in your singing style, you can follow guidance available at Singing Carrots. Ensure you work on your breathing, voice registers, mouth and throat openness, vibrato, and articulation. Once you have practiced these techniques, put them together with Fred Astaire's song's musicality and phrasing, and you'll be singing like the great Fred Astaire in no time!