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Where Do I Start if I Want to Be Able to Sing A Cappella - Women Singing

Where Do I Start if I Want to Be Able to Sing A Cappella?

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Estimated reading time 4 minutes

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Learning to Sing A Cappella #1: Good Tuning and Vocal Blend

Do you want to be able to sing with an a cappella group while having both great tone and tuning? An a cappella group is an ensemble that performs without instrumental accompaniment. This allows your group to lock in the harmonies, which helps achieve the distinctive vocal blend you find in this style. How do you do this? Through ear training and physical skills instruction. Keep reading Where Do I Start if I Want to Be Able to Sing A Cappella? to learn the essential skills you’ll need.

Be sure to check out the video at the end of the post that demonstrates these skills using a Christmas a cappella song.

This post uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the article.

Where Do I Start if I Want to Be Able to Sing A Cappella - Microphone - What’re the Key Differences Between Contralto and Alto Voice?

Learning to Sing A Cappella #2: Proper Breathing Technique

 If you want to perform great a cappella songs, you need to sing with a supported tone.

All singers must have proper breathing technique:

  1. Find a comfy couch and lay down.
  2. Rest your hand on your stomach right below your ribs.
  3. Can you feel yourself breathing as your stomach rises and falls?

The diaphragm muscle in your torso expands and contracts your lungs, allowing you to breathe:

  • The power in your singing comes from here.
  • In other words, a cappella choir members need to sing from the gut.
  • This means your stomach should move as you breathe, not your shoulders.

Breathe at the phrase endings (the commas and periods in the lyrics):

  • This ensures you’ll have enough breath, so your pitch won’t sink, allowing you to stay in tune.
  • Also, where you breathe will impact how the phrases in the lyrics connect together.
  • This is one reason why a cappella groups should plan out where to take breaths.
singing chromatic solfege using shape notes - sheet music and red rose - Where Do I Start if I Want to Be Able to Sing A Cappella

Learning to Sing A Cappella #3: Sing with a High Soft Pallet

If you want a good tone, you need to sing with a high soft pallet.

Let’s explore the space at the back of your throat:

  • Slide your tongue from front to back along the roof of your mouth.
  • The hard part in front is, not surprisingly, called the hard pallet.
  • The flexible part in back is called the soft pallet.

When you sing vowels, you’ll need to keep your soft palate high:

  • However, be careful to avoid hyper-extending the soft pallet.
  • In other words, you’ll need to keep your soft pallet high but relaxed.
  • If you do, you’ll be one step closer to the type of tone you’ll hear from the best a cappella groups and in the great a cappella songs.
How Do I Write Good Songs Using Metaphors and Similes - Woman Enjoying the Sunset - Where Do I Start if I Want to Be Able to Sing A Cappella

Learning to Sing A Cappella #4: Harmonizing in Tune

Well-tuned harmonies are the foundation of an a cappella group’s sound.

You need to listen for these three things when tuning up your a cappella group’s harmonies:

  1. Beating
  2. Buzz
  3. Note Fusion

The sing along song tracks will help you work on your harmonizing skills:

  • Use the Ah vowel to sing along with the specially tuned Melody & Keyboard soundtrack (below) while paying attention to your tone.
  • Be sure to sing from the gut and plan out where you’ll take breaths beforehand.
  • After singing with the first track (while securely maintaining your pitch) try singing with the second track that has just the keyboard part.

These soundtracks will help anyone who wants to be an a cappella singer, but who struggles with pitchiness.

Melody & Keyboard – Learning to Sing Exercise:

Just Keyboard – Learning to Sing Exercise:

The sing along song track uses synthetic voices rather than actual voices. Research has shown that this will help with the ability to identify and produce absolute pitch information. For more information:

Learning to Sing A Cappella #5: Good Vowel Production

To achieve a good tone, your need to be in tune and produce good vowels. For more information on how to sing the vowels in your a cappella songs:

These posts will help you learn how to achieve good vocal tone and blend in your a cappella group.

In addition, the voices in this style of music usually have no vibrato, except for sometimes a little bit in the lead vocals. For more information:

As an example of the different types of vocal blend, I’ve provided a video of the a cappella group Straight No Chaser singing The Twelve Days of Christmas a cappella song.

Video: Straight No Chaser Singing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” A Cappella Song

This video shows the type of control a professional a cappella company can have over their tone, pitch, and vibrato.

Learning to Sing A Cappella #6: Final Thoughts

To summarize, if you want to sing great a cappella songs, you must:

  1. Sing with a supported tone.
  2. Plan out where to take breaths.
  3. Sing with a high soft pallet.
  4. Harmonize in tune.
  5. Have good vowel production.

If you do this, you’ll be well on your way to achieving good intonation and vocal blend. Which will in turn help you toward the goal of singing great a cappella songs (including great a cappella Christmas songs like the one above).

For more articles with sing along soundtracks:

Relate Posts:

© 2024 Geoffrey Keith

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