Singing Guide: The Happiest Millionaire
Vocal technique, exercises, tips and relevant resources
If you're hoping to learn to sing like Fred MacMurray in The Happiest Millionaire, there are several things to keep in mind. His vocal technique is unique in his deep soothing tone and precision articulation. He smoothly blends his chest voice and head register, creating a relaxed sound. Songs from the movie showcase his style, including “Let's Have A Drink On It” and “Detroit”.
To learn to sing this way, you'll need to start by analyzing your voice and identifying your voice type. Singing Carrots has a great article on this, titled "What's a voice type? Why classify mine?".
Breathing is key in singing, so make sure to master the correct breathing technique. Singing Carrots has a great article about breathing techniques, "Active and Passive Breathing".
Once you have the basics down, you can move on to learning about vocal registers. Singing Carrots provides helpful videos, such as "Chest Voice Explained", and an article called "Voice registers & vocal break", which you can find here.
You'll also want to work on breath support. Check out "Breath Support & Respiration", an article on Singing Carrots that covers this in depth.
Pay attention to the mouth and throat position as well. Singing Carrots provides an article, “Why to open mouth and throat while singing,” which explains the importance of these while singing.
With advanced technique, you'll want to explore the nuances of articulation and resonance. Singing Carrots has articles specifically covering these aspects, such as "Articulation" and "Resonance in Singing".
You'll also want to explore the differences between singing styles such as classical and contemporary, and the respective vocal techniques. Singing Carrots features an article called "Pop/Jazz Vs Classical Singing", that covers this in detail.
If you're up for a challenge and wanting to learn more advanced techniques, you can check out Singing Carrots' other articles on contemporary vocal techniques such as growling, heavy modal, belting, and twang. For example, “Vocal distortion and Growling” and “Contemporary Vocal Techniques: Heavy Modal, Twang, Belting”.
Other aspects to consider when learning to sing like Fred MacMurray include posture, stage presence, and overcoming stage fright. "Good Singing Posture", "Tips for performing on stage”, and "How to overcome stage fright".
Finally, if you're looking for an educational singing course, you can check out Singing Carrots' 21-lesson program covering singing theory and practical tips, "Singing for Beginners".
Remember, singing like Fred MacMurray takes time and practice.