You must develop the ability to imitate vocal tone and inflection. This lies at the heart of singing in tune like a rock star (or even just getting a good vocal tone). For today’s example, we have the song That’ll be the Day by Buddy Holly.
If you listen closely to the video below, you can hear him doing a lot of vocal inflections. Generally, on the song as a whole, he sings with a hyper extended soft pallet. This gives the song that early rock ‘n roll sound.
In the chorus, on the words “yes” and “cry” he does a little vocal ornament. He augments this by dropping his jaw and bringing it up very quickly twice.
In the first verse, he sings very lightly, but still with his throat wide open in the back. Also, he has his voice catch on words and phrases: “turtle doving,” “all your hugs and kisses,” “well,” and “still.”
Now your turn – listen to the rest of That’ll be the Day and try to absorb how Holly sings the song. When you think you’ve got it, record yourself performing the song. When your recording sounds like Holly’s, you’ve mastered it.
Listen to artists like Axel Rose, Elvis, Michael Jackson and his sister Janet, they all do these sorts of things. When you listen to singers, ask yourself questions about their tone and vibrato. Do they use any special inflections or breath effects? How do they phrase the song, i.e., where do they take breaths? Think about how they sing the vowels and consonants. Drink in the entirety of the sound.