Popular Singing Styles: Developing Your Sound

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Authored by Jeannie Gagné

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Course Code: OVOIC-252

Next Semester
Starts April 3

Level 2

Level 2

3-Credit Tuition

$1,515

Non-Credit Tuition

$1,265

You’ve been studying the greats, working on improving your vocal skills, and building vocal technique. Now it’s time to take the next step as you put yourself out there. You want to shine as a vocalist. You want to have something really special; something that stands out as uniquely you. This course will help you define the music that you want to make: What is your message? How are you different from your favorite artists? What makes you who you are?

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Through the curriculum and a healthy amount of personal exploration, you will find the answers to these questions, while developing a keen ear for style to develop your sound. You’ll learn how to shape your voice for tone and style, and learn which keys suit your voice best. You’ll become more skilled at vocal technique, including breath management, placement, belting, soft singing, and other proficiencies to bring out the very best in your own voice. You’ll learn how your voice actually works anatomically in different registers. You’ll gain more mastery over your singing voice, enabling you to make artistic choices as you develop and refine your sound. You’ll learn how to work with a live rhythm section, and how a vocalist should run an effective rehearsal.  

Throughout Popular Singing Styles, assignments combine interactive exercises and singing opportunities. We listen closely to songs to find out what makes them pop. We learn how to get comfortable with different accompaniments. We shape your vocal to bring out the best elements in your style, such as when to belt, or not to belt; how to use vibrato, or straight tone. We also demystify the vocalist’s secret weapon: mix voice. We explore genres such as rock, pop, R&B, and jazz, as you decide where in the spectrum of popular music you want to land as a singer.

After 12 weeks you will have built your own style toolkit, creating an individualized final project that will help you launch your singing career.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

  • Define and launch your personalized musical style
  • Sing with more confidence, skill, and expression
  • Lead a rhythm section confidently and effectively
  • Train your ear for more accurate singing and listening skills
  • Improve your vocal technique, including breathing, and belting
  • Understand anatomical facts about how your voice works
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Overview Syllabus Requirements Instructors
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Syllabus

Lesson 1: Essential Listening Skills for Learning Contemporary Songs

  • How to Listen to a New Song That You Want to Learn
  • Listening More Closely to the Song’s Arrangement, Beneath the Vocal
  • Vocal Types
  • What is Real, What is Fake
  • Assignment 1: Song Analysis

Lesson 2: Training Your Ear

  • Ear Training is Essential for Developing Your Sound
  • How Vowel Shapes Affect Pitch and Musical Style
  • Matching Pitch
  • Observing Your own Singing for Accuracy and Style
  • Assignment 2: Singing with a Changing Accompaniment

Lesson 3: Vocal Styles and Tone Quality, Part 1

  • How Vowel Shapes Affect Tone Quality in Contemporary Styles
  • Breathing Techniques
  • Using Consonants and Percussive Singing for Effect 
  • Using Legato and Staccato, and Vibrato or Straight Tone for Effect
  • Assignment 3: Singing Your Style Preference

Lesson 4: Vocal Styles and Tone Quality, Part 2

  • Clean and Breathy Tones
  • How Microphones Affect the Quality of the Voice
  • Using Dynamics for Style
  • Beginning to Identify Your Style
  • Assignment 4: Clear and Breathy Tones Performance

Lesson 5: Mix Voice: A Key Ingredient for Mastering Contemporary Singing

  • What is Mix Voice
  • Practicing Singing with Mix Voice
  • Learning When to Best use Mix Voice
  • Continuing to Identify Your Style
  • Assignment 5: Mixed Voice Performance

Lesson 6: Singing Powerful Styles Healthfully, Part 1

  • What is Powerful Singing (Belting)
  • The Vocal Anatomy of Belting
  • Understanding Vocal Registers
  • Agility and Flexibility
  • Assignment 6: Using Powerful Singing in Your Own Style

Lesson 7: Singing Powerful Styles Healthfully, Part 2

  • Approaching the Passaggio or “Break”
  • Learning How Best to Practice Powerful Singing
  • Artist Examples of Healthy Powerful Singing
  • Implementing Powerful Singing into Your Style
  • Assignment 7: Powerful Singing Performance

Lesson 8: Training Your Ear: Styles and Rhythms

  • Five Most Common Rhythmic Subdivisions 
  • Synchronized Grooves: Singing “In the Pocket”
  • Grooves
  • Counting off Tunes for the Band
  • Assignment 8: Identifying Four Grooves, and Counting Them Off

Lesson 9: Understanding the Function of the Band or Rhythm Section

  • Roles and Sounds of the Instruments
  • Recognizing Essential Elements of an Arrangement
  • Learn Band Speak: Effective Communication
  • Leadership
  • Assignment 9: Performance Set List and Production Storyboard

Lesson 10: Building Your Style Toolkit

  • Finding Your Best Key for a Song
  • Lyrical Interpretation
  • Including Improvisation and Riffing, Part 1
  • Using Movement to Accentuate Singing
  • Assignment 10: Film Yourself Singing a Song of Your Choice

Lesson 11: Developing Your Sound: Style Awareness and Integration

  • Selecting a Musical Genre for Your Stylistic Focus
  • Improvisation and Riffing, Part 2
  • Putting a Twist on a Cover Song
  • Refining the Set List
  • Assignment 11: Cover Song Performance

Lesson 12: Launching Your Sound

  • Honoring Your Inspiration, Your Voice, Your Musicianship
  • Three Song Demo, Song 1
  • Three Song Demo, Song 2
  • Three Song Demo, Song 3
  • Assignment 12: Final Project - Three Song Demo

Requirements

Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements 

Completion of Voice Technique 101 or equivalent knowledge and experience.

Students should be able to:

  • Understand basic vocal anatomy, display fundamental vocal skills, and have awareness of different contemporary styles

Required Textbook(s)

Software Requirements

  • A basic audio recording tool that will allow you to record yourself playing along with a background track, and/or live instrumentation, and save the recording in MP3 format. You will have a tool to use for this purpose inside the learning environment. Alternatively, you can use software like Audacity (Windows) or GarageBand (Mac)

Hardware Requirements

  • A low impedance professional-quality hand-held microphone (i.e. Shure SM58) 
  • XLR microphone cable
  • Audio interface

After enrolling, please check the Getting Started section of your course for potential deals on required materials. Our Student Deals page also features several discounts you can take advantage of as a current student. Please contact support@online.berklee.edu for any questions.


General Course Requirements

Below are the minimum requirements to access the course environment and participate in Live Chats. Please make sure to also check the Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements section above, and ensure your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements for all software needed for your course. 

Mac Users

PC Users

All Users

  • Latest version of Google Chrome
  • Zoom meeting software
  • Webcam
  • Speakers or headphones
  • External or internal microphone
  • Broadband Internet connection

Instructors

Jeannie Gagné

Author & Instructor

Jeannie Gagné is a world-class vocalist who has been teaching vocal lessons and performing for more than three decades. She has sung with Philip Glass, Cher, toured with reggae legend Frankie Paul, and opened for Barenaked Ladies. She has sung on movie soundtracks and on dozens of recordings, been featured on television and radio, and travelled world-wide to teach and perform. On YouTube she's known as The Vocal Genie. Her three solo albums highlight her four-octave range and unique vocal style. Jeannie also co-founded Berklee College of Music’s Performance Wellness Institute, where she is a professor on the voice faculty. She is the author of two groundbreaking books, Your Singing Voice: Contemporary Techniques, Expression and Spirit; and Belting: A Guide to Healthy, Powerful Singing.


Jamie Lynn Hart

Instructor

Jamie Lynn Hart is an award winning singer songwriter known for her powerhouse vocals and infectious melodies. After receiving a Masters Degree in Vocal Performance From Boston University in 2009, Hart has recorded three albums and maintained a demanding and packed performance schedule with award winning groups. Jamie has been coaching vocalists from all over the world at Berklee College Of Music for seven years and specializes in contemporary vocal technique and performance skills. Jamie is currently working on a new recording project while touring during the weekends and throughout the summer.

What's Next?

When taken for credit, Popular Singing Styles: Developing Your Sound can be applied towards these associated programs:

Associated Degree Major

Questions?

Contact our Academic Advisors by phone at 1-866-BERKLEE (U.S.), 1-617-747-2146 (INT'L), or by email at advisors@online.berklee.edu.

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