Top 6 songs Every Singer should know!
Every song presents a new vocal or artistic challenge that every singer should know how to overcome and grow to be a better singer and artist.
Throughout my years as a vocal coach I found the following 6 songs helpful for my students with their vocal journey.
1) "Ave Maria" | Schubert
Great classical piece which teaches you how to sustain longer phrases and sing long and pure beautiful lines with no added vibrato or vocal effects.
2) "Amazing Grace"
Similar to "Ave Maria" is originally a religious piece however, you can interpret it in any style you want. It has those beautiful long lines and melodic movement but the repetitive melody forces you to make different choices with your voice and find your unique approach to it.
3) The National Anthem
Any national anthem will work. Not only it is very useful to know your national anthem for the obvious reasons :) but, I was singing it in many basketball games or other events and it was a great way for me gain more performance experience. Definitely not easy but very useful!
4) "L'ho perduta" | Mozart
"O mio Babbino caro" | Puccini
Those two short arias from 2 different operas is a great way to learn projection, breath support and sing in foreign language. Classical singing is the basic for all singing. to be able to sing it will teach you how to use your breath support and projection to the maximum of your abilities and will introduce you to acting and using your voice as a dramatic tool. Fun hah? :)
5) "Fly me to the Moon" | Frank Sinatra
Any standard jazz piece will work as well. To learn flexibility and improvisation with your voice will give you freedom and confidence. I love these simple melodies and making them my own. It is crucial for a singer to gain confidence and have the ability to 'play' with their voice and not be afraid to sound silly or God forbid making a mistake ;)
6) Any Rap Song
Yes I know many people thing rap is not real music or have any vocal challenge but let me tell you it will teach you a thing or two about pronunciation and freestyle.
Using your articulation muscles and be able
to think and sustain long phrases of constant speech will help your singing voice as well. Try it! trust me it's A LOT of fun. And... next time your rap song hits the radio and you will be rapping along, the reaction of the people around ups will be priceless. Mic drop!
Of course there are many more songs that can teach you this things but this is a good start. Please feel free to comment with your favorite song and checkout my related YouTube video!
xox,
Natalia.
