SINGING FOR DUMMIES.

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
	About This Book
	Foolish Assumptions
	Icons Used in This Book
	Beyond This Book
	Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Exploring Singing Basics
	Chapter 1 Preparing to Sing
		What You Want to Know Right from the Beginning
			Determining your voice type
			Locating the notes on the staff
			Considering posture, breath, and tone
		Developing Your Singing Voice
		Working the Different Parts of Your Voice
		Applying Your Technique
		Having Fun
	Chapter 2 Determining Your Voice Type
		Sifting through the Ingredients to Figure Out Your Voice Type
		Identifying the Fab Four
			Highest range of the dames: Soprano
			How low can she go: Mezzo
			Highest range of the dudes: Tenor
			He’s so low: Bass
			Comparing voice types
	Chapter 3 Aligning Your Body for Great Singing
		Evaluating Your Posture
		Creating Ideal Posture
			Feeling grounded on your feet
			Engaging your legs
			Releasing your hips
			Lengthening your spine
			Balancing your head and shoulders
		Releasing Tension
			Letting go of tension in your upper body
			Opening space in the head
			Walking with ease
			Projecting confidence through posture
	Chapter 4 Breathing for Singing
		Tackling the Basics of Breathing
			Inhaling to sing
			Exhaling to sing
			Posturing yourself for breathing
		Practicing Inhalation
			Opening your body
			Breathing, slow and steady
			Catching a quick breath
		Practicing Exhalation
			Blowing in the wind
			Trilling for exhalation
			Recognizing resistance and suspending the breath
		Testing Your Breath Control
			Releasing abs and then ribs
			Singing slowly
	Chapter 5 Toning Up the Voice
		Defining Tone
			Creating unique tone
			Identifying factors that affect tone
			Considering tone, pitches, and notes
		Flexing Your Singing Muscles
			Discovering your own bands
			Making the first sound
			Dropping the jaw
		Matching Pitch
			Sliding up and down on pitch
			Developing muscle memory
			Recording yourself and singing along
		Releasing Tension for Better Tone
			Checking for neck or jaw tension
			Bouncing the tongue and jaw
Part 2 Improving Your Singing
	Chapter 6 Acquiring Beautiful Tone
		Creating Tone
			Starting the tone
			Creating back space
			Coordinating air with tone
			Sighing your way to clarity
		Releasing Tone
			Inhaling to release tone
			Letting your throat go
		Sustaining Tone
			Connecting the dots with legato
			Trilling the lips or tongue
			Working your breath control
		Finding Your Vibrato
			Moving from straight tone to vibrato
			Imitating another singer’s vibrato
	Chapter 7 Exploring Resonance
		Understanding Resonance — Good Vibrations
			Identifying resonance in different styles of music
			Exploring your resonators
			Ringing it out
		Eliminating Nasality
			Getting the feel for soft palate work
			Coordinating your soft palate and tongue
			Moving air through the nose
		Debunking Common Misconceptions
			Misconception: Tone resonates in your sinuses
			Misconception: You have to place every tone in the same location
			Misconception: You’re supposed to keep your tongue completely flat
			Misconception: You need to open your mouth as wide as possible
			Misconception: The more forward the sound, the better
			Misconception: You have to smile to stay on pitch
	Chapter 8 Shaping Your Vowels for Clarity
		Getting Your Backside into Shape — Back Vowels, That Is
			Exploring the shape of back vowels
			Lipping around your back vowels
			Singing the back vowels
		Mastering the Front Vowels
			Exploring the shape of front vowels
			Speaking the front vowels
			Singing the front vowels
	Chapter 9 Exercising Consonants for Articulation
		Saying Voiced and Unvoiced Consonants
		Making Tip Consonants
			Shaping tip consonants
			Singing tip consonants
		Making Soft Palate Consonants
			Shaping soft palate consonants
			Singing soft palate consonants
		Working Lip Consonants
			Shaping lip consonants
			Singing lip consonants
		Working Combination Consonants
			Shaping combination consonants
			Singing combination consonants
	Chapter 10 Crafting a Practice Routine
		Knuckling Down to a Practice Plan
		Getting Answers to Your Practicing Questions
			Where should I practice?
			What’s the best time to practice?
			How long should I practice?
			What do I need besides my voice?
		Warming Up
			Stretching to warm up your body
			Warming up your voice
		Exercising Your Voice
			Picking exercises that work for you
			Breaking it down
		Practicing Correctly
			Recording yourself
			Applying information and exercises
			Using the online tracks to practice exercises
Part 3 Advanced Techniques to Improve Your Voice
	Chapter 11 Developing the Parts of Your Singing Voice
		Finding Your Middle Voice
			Noting your middle voice range
			Singing in middle voice
		Checking Out Your Chest Voice
			Zeroing in on your chest voice range
			Feeling your chest voice
		Aiming High with Head Voice
			Finding your head voice range
			Feeling head voice
		Figuring Out Falsetto
			Discovering your falsetto
			Experiencing your falsetto
		Making a Smooth Transition
			Maneuvering in and out of chest voice
		Mixing It Up
			Making the most of your mix, man
			Getting into the mix, gals
	Chapter 12 Expanding Your Vocal Flexibility and Range
		Tackling Register Transitions
		Working On Your Range
			Taking your range higher
			Varying the dynamics
			Moving between registers
		Taking Your Agility to New Levels
			Moving along the scale
			Picking up the pace
			Skipping through the intervals
		Improvising for a Better Pop Sound
			Mastering patterns in pop music
			Singing pop riffs with chords
	Chapter 13 It’s a Cinch: Belting Out Your Song
		Playing around with Pitch
			Talking to yourself
			Chanting and speaking
			Finding your optimum speaking pitch
			Increasing your speaking range
			Using body energy to find clarity of tone
		Defining Healthy Belting
			Comparing belt and chest voice
			Knowing your limits as a beginner belter
			Noting the difference between the sexes
			Coordinating breath and energy
		Preparing for Belting
			Speaking in a mix
			Calling out to a friend
		Moving Resonance to the Front
			Exploring vibrations of resonance
			Being bratty to feel resonance
		Combining Resonance and Registration
			Increasing your belt range
			Belting up the scale
		Advancing Your Belt
			Sustaining belt sounds
			Exploring different vowels
		Belters and Belt Songs You Should Hear
			Male belters
			Female belters
			Belt songs
	Chapter 14 Training for Singing
		Defining Training Requirements
			Crooning as a country singer
			Jazzing it up
			Making your mark in musical theater
			Performing pop-rock
			Opting for opera
			Showing your range with R&B
		Training to Sing at Any Age
			Recognizing differences between young singers and teens
			Developing long-term technique in teenagers
			Understanding that voices change with age
		Training with a Choir
			Enjoying the benefits of singing in the choir
			Singing in the choir versus going solo
	Chapter 15 Finding the Right Voice Teacher
		Searching for the Best Voice Teacher
			Finding a prospective voice teacher
			Identifying what you want
			Interviewing a prospective teacher
		Knowing What to Expect from a Teacher
			Feeling good when you leave the lesson
			Working with imagery and other tools
			Applying tried-and-true singing methods
		Knowing What to Expect from Yourself
			Developing your own practice process
			Avoiding overworking your flaws
		Making Your First Lesson a Success
Part 4 Preparing to Perform
	Chapter 16 Selecting Your Music Material
		Choosing the Song
			Finding songs at your level
			Determining the appropriate key for you
			Selecting a suitable song style
			Singing to your strengths
		Shopping for Sheet Music
			Downloading sheet music
			Ordering music books
			Checking out music at your local library
	Chapter 17 Mastering a New Song
		Tackling a Song in Steps
			Memorizing the lyrics as text
			Tapping out the rhythm
			Singing the melody (without the words)
			Putting words and music together
		Using Vocal Technique in Your New Song
			Giving voice to vowels
			Backing into phrases
			Breathing heavy: Fogging up the windows
			Changing the tone for each section
		Using Musical Elements to Create Your Arrangement
			Comparing songs
			Articulation
			Dynamics
			Tempo
			Using vocal variety
			Style
			Accompanist
			Evaluating musical elements
	Chapter 18 Acting the Song
		Seeing the Song As a Story
			Chatting it up before you sing
			Recognizing musical responses
			Accounting for interludes
		Exploring Character
			Characterizing your character
			Discovering your character’s motivation
			Planning actions to get something done
		Getting Physical
			Figuring out where to focus
			Gesturing appropriately
			Movin’ and groovin’ with your song
	Chapter 19 Confronting Your Fear of Performing
		Facing the Symptoms
		Alleviating Anxiety through Preparation
			Practicing well
			Playing to your strengths
			Managing your thoughts
			Getting up the nerve
			Building performance focus
		Performing to Build Confidence
			Devising a game plan
			Evaluating your performance
	Chapter 20 Auditioning a Song
		Tailoring Your Audition for Any Venue and Any Style of Music
			At the opera
			Onstage at the theater
			In the club
			On television
		Choosing Audition Songs to Highlight Your Strengths
			Showing versatility
			Connecting with the lyrics
			Avoiding the wrong audition song
			Choosing the key
			Making the cut
			Marking the music
			Rehearsing with an accompanist
		Preparing the Music
			Preparing hard copies
			Taking digital sheet music
			Bringing a recording
		Nailing the Audition
			Doing your prep work
			Dressing in the right outfit
			Knowing how to audition online
			Greeting the audition accompanist
			Acting at the audition
			Preparing mentally
Part 5 The Part of Tens
	Chapter 21 Ten Performers with Good Technique
		Xiomara Alfaro
		Juan Diego Flórez
		Lady Gaga
		Eddie Kendricks
		Bruno Mars
		Minnie Riperton
		Sofia Shkidchenko
		Meryl Streep
		Josh Turner
		Colm Wilkinson
	Chapter 22 Ten Frequently Asked Questions about Singing
		Is Belting Bad?
		What Should I Do If My Voice Feels Off?
		How Are an Accompanist, a Coach, and a Voice Teacher Different?
		If My Voice Is Scratchy, Do I Have Nodes?
		Do I Have to Be Big to Have a Big Voice?
		What’s the Best Singing Method?
		Do I Have to Speak Italian to Sing Well?
		Can I Have a Few Drinks Before the Performance to Calm My Nerves?
		Why Can’t I Eat Ice Cream Before I Sing?
		How Long Will It Take Me to Learn to Sing?
	Chapter 23 Ten Tips for Maintaining Vocal Health
		Identifying Everyday Abuses
		Incorporating Healthy Speech into Your Singing
		Knowing When to Seek Help
		Staying Hydrated
		Getting Plenty of Shut-Eye
		Making Sure That You’re Well Nourished
		Preventing a Sore Throat or Infection
		Medicating a Sore Throat
		Protecting a Sore Throat
		Keeping Your Emotional Life in Check
	Chapter 24 Ten Tips for Performing Like a Pro
		Rehearsing to Beat the Band
		Wearing the Right Ensemble
		Finding Your Stance
		Singing with a Piano, Organ, or Band
		Making Your Entrance
		Roping in Your Audience
		Ignoring That Mosquito
		Handling Those Hands
		Using the Mic
		Taking Your Bow and Leaving the Stage
Part 6 Appendixes
	Appendix A Songs to Advance Your Technique
		Beginner Songs for Any Voice Type or Gender
		Intermediate Songs from Various Styles for Any Voice Type or Gender
			Intermediate musical theater songs
			Intermediate pop-rock songs
			Intermediate country songs
			Intermediate classical songs
		Songs to Practice Technical Lessons for Any Voice Type or Gender
			Spunky songs for practicing articulation and agility
			Songs with larger intervals to practice smooth register transitions
			Songs to practice breath coordination and legato phrases
		Songs to Work on Range and Registers
			Songs for low female voices
			Songs for low male voices
			Songs for higher voices to expand your range for any gender
			Songs for lower voices to expand your range for any gender
		Songs for Working Mix, Belt, and Falsetto
			Female mix songs
			Songs for working on male falsetto and mix
			Belt songs for higher and lower female voices
	Appendix B About the Online Tracks
		Recognizing What’s Available: The Track Listings
		Tackling Any Potential Issues
Index
EULA