If you want to sing like Virginia Woolf (played by Nicole Kidman) in "The Hours" movie, here's a guide on how to achieve her unique vocal technique and songs showcasing it.

Virginia Woolf's Vocal Technique

Woolf's unique vocal style is characterized by the contrast between her breathy voice and strong accentuation. To achieve a similar effect, you should focus on the following aspects:

Breathing and Support

Breathing is one of the most crucial elements of proper singing technique. To sing with Woolf’s unique vocal style, you need to create a breathy tone. Active breathing helps in creating that effect. Consider active-breathing, instead of passive breathing, to achieve the breathy voice.

Accentuation

Another leading characteristic of Woolf’s voice is accentuation. Accentuation is the emphasis on certain words in a phrase. Woolf's accentuation adds an authentic and unique element to her musical interpretations.

Register Breaks

Finally, Woolf's voice smoothly moves through different registers, including the low chest, the high chest, the middle, and the head register. In contrast, she pauses and emphasizes her voice transitions between registers. Using a distinct transition between registers can produce an unusual sound.

Songs Showcasing Woolf's Vocal Style

Virginia Woolf’s unique vocal technique is best showcased in the following songs:

"What a Waste" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads

This song will help you work on your accentuation, register breaks, and breathy voice technique using its empowering lyrics.

"Sunny Afternoon" by The Kinks

The Kinks’ song is a great one for targetting Woolf‘s accentuation and transitions between registers. It is easy to sing along to by following the lyrics closely.

Practical Advice

To achieve Woolf’s vocal style, I strongly recommend Singing Carrots’ course on vocal health, posture, and how to sing and play an instrument at the same time. Contemporary vocal techniques involve elements of Heavy Modal, Twang, and Belting. Review the skill-related videos provided to learn how to implement these practices better.

Singing Carrots' Resources for Learning Woolf's Vocal Technique

• To start, take the Vocal range test to compare your voice with Woolf's.
• For breathing, breath support, and exercises to unpack and develop both, go through Breath Support and Respiration.
• For accentuation, visit the Articulation blog post with simple but effective excercises such as the Fingerbite technique.
• For register breaks, check Voice Registers and Vocal Break.
• For songs matching with Woolf's vocal range, search for suitable songs on Singing Carrots.
• To learn more about contemporary vocal techniques including "Heavy Modal, Twang, Belting", you can visit the Contemporary Vocal Techniques post and watch the videos on Twang and Belting.

Conclusion

Singing like Virginia Woolf is an artistic challenge worth taking on! By focusing on accentuation, register breaks, and breathiness of voice, you can develop a unique vocal style. By applying these principles to the suggested songs above and going through helpful Singing Carrots’ resources, you can achieve Woolf's vocal style!