The blues is a mystifying genre of music. On one hand, it’s simple–12 bars, in most cases, usually the same form. On the other hand, it’s incredibly complex and soulful. Nowhere is this more evident than in blues singing, where someone can have perfect tone and rhythm and yet fall completely flat as a blues singer.
If you’re a singer looking to explore the blues, here are a few tips to help you stay on track and develop your own style.
1. Don’t emulate famous blues singers. You’ll sound like you’re ripping them off. It’s okay to take lessons from classic blues singers on how to emphasize certain words or sing with a lot of energy, but don’t try to sound like them. The worst insult that a singer can receive is, “oh, you sound just like (famous singer)”. You don’t want to be the next Eric Clapton or Muddy Waters, you want to be the first you, so don’t be anything but unique. There’s something unique about everyone’s voice, and you’ve got to find what’s different about yours and really work on developing it.
2. Blues singers usually use a lot of vibrato. You can work on your vibrato by simply going between two notes a half-step apart, back and forth and faster and faster until you’ve got a rich vibrato sound. It will take a lot of practice to get this down, but as blues music is intensely emotional and evocative, good, solid use of vibrato can be very important. Now, there are a few blues singers who don’t use vibrato, but if you choose not to, be sure that it’s because it’s your style, not because of a limitation of your singing voice–you can learn to sing with vibrato if you give yourself the chance.
3. Record and listen to yourself. You’ll be able to hear what you need to change, and what sounds bluesy and what doesn’t. It’s going to be very difficult to hear yourself singing the first few times you try it (if you haven’t before), but stick with it–the best way to change your singing style is to actively listen yourself and try to figure out what you need to be doing differently. Don’t just listen to tone and whether you’re on key, listen to the way that words are phrased and pronounced.
4. Get a little sloppy. Way too often, I’ll hear a blues singer with a great voice who’s concentrating too much on trying to make sure his or her words sound “right” and can be easily understood. That’s not what the blues is about. It’s an emotional art form, and needs to sound conversational and a little bit wild to work right. Don’t worry about how the lyrics sound, worry about how they feel.
Do you have any other tips for singing the blues? Post them in the comments section below.
