How do I sing brighter?

Question

My singer/music teacher say i have a great voice, but i need to be brighter because i sing to dark.

My sinning teacher said that in Italian, theres these words that stands for light and dark (this is to do with sinning). To achieve a good voice you must have equal balance, too dark sounds boring, too light sounds screechy.

She said that i still a little too dark, but i don't know how to be in between dark and light.

Can anyone teach me how?

Answer 1

Good advice from above... i just want to add that simply smiling when you sing will brighten up the tone.

Answer 2

Well, as the previous response said, warping your face may help--but in my experience directors often tell you to quit making odd faces, it tends to wreck the mood of the performance.

Tone color is a matter primarily of voice placement. A darker tone belongs to those who resonate mostly in the throat and chest; a brighter to those who resonate in the nasal cavities and front of the mouth.

You can brighten your tone by doing humming exercises and trying hard to focus the vibrations on and around the "vocal O" area that surrounds your nose and lips. After/during warm-ups, hum hard and try to make your lips and nose tingle with the vibrations. Move your note up and down the scale while trying to maintain that front-of-face tickling. Keep that up for several minutes, then try singing with some of that same focus.

I'm a little concerned that your voice teachers (sinning coach LOL I didn't need anyone to teach me how to do that!) are telling you 'sing brighter' but evidently aren't telling you HOW. Are you paying these people? Maybe you need a better coach.

BTW, why are you taking voice lessons--I mean, what sort of singing do you want to do? If it's opera and classical, then they're giving you decent advice. On the other hand, if your long-term goal is choral singing, show biz, or pop music, the uniquely dark tone you're generating might be worth keeping; sometimes a Kathleen Turner sound-alike is greatly desired in those mileaux.

Answer 3

have you worked at all with the position of your soft palate?
that's the spongy area on the roof at the back of your mouth.
In classical singing we try and elevate this area ( as when you start a yawn) to achieve a lot of space back there. Unfortunately, our vowels seem to want to move in with the space, and this gives the overall sound a darker color. You'll want to move your vowels forward, to that area up front where the humming and buzzing takes place.
the tricky part is coordinating the two: keeping the space at the back open while keeping the vowels forward. this takes time and patience. You'll want to eventually be able to map every single tone you make by its position in your mouth and by what vowel you are using. ( A mental image: remember learning the times tables? that's how you'll map out your sounds)
another visual aid for the practice room: hold one hand out in front of you, as if you were handing something to someone. Your arm is not stretched out fully, but there's probably 12 inches between your hand and your mouth, if not more. Now direct your voice into your hand as you sing.
You're not going to push it there, it's going to float out and away from you very easily, without too much effort. If you observe this a couple of times, you'll gradually get the feeling of your voice taking shape outside your face. This will help focus and brighten the sound as well. Once you are used to the feeling of it ( and it's something you'll need to memorize as well) put your hand back down.
I think the Italian you mentioned is chiaro for light and oscuro for dark. ( clear and obscure in English)
Best wishes and keep on singing

Answer 4

I have the same problem, my voice teacher says my voice is perfect for dark depressing songs, but that for happy songs i need to be brighter. The only thing you need to do is smile just a little, but make sure that your tongue stays at the back of your lower teeth, and your tone will be brighter without much effort. It takes awhile to remember, but after you learn people's preferences, it gets pretty easy.

Answer 5

WHATEVER U DO-- DO NOT SMILE WHEN U SING!!!!!! NEVER!

smiling will widen ur mouth, thus making ur tone and pitch not focussed- resulting in a crappy sound and yells from ur instructer. just think light and bouncy when u sing-- that should help!! lol

Answer 6

An old trick that my music teacher taught us in high school. Slightly tilt your chin up, open your mouth wider than normal, and raise your eyebrows when you sing.