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Applying Vocal Exercises to Songs

All right, so now that you've successfully gone through all the exercises, what we want to try to do is apply them to songs.

Example: "Boomerang"

I'll be using my song "Boomerang" for this example. We can throw on any one of the exercises onto the melody of the song.

Lip Roll Exercise

Let's say the lip roll. The melody of my song starts off:

"Trust in me if you let me go,
Don't hold too tight, just give me a chance to show,
You'll see I'm right, my love only grow."

Let's start with just that line.

So we're just going to go:

"Trust in me if you let me go,
Don't hold too tight, just give me a chance to show."

This way, we're able to carry over what we learned from the exercise to the voice. The idea is to try to keep the same ease and relaxation we have in the exercise as when we sing.

Higher Range

Next, we can try doing it on something a little bit higher in my range.

So I'll sing:

"I'll be your boomerang, your boomerang,
I'll fly right back to you."

This can be applied to any of the exercises. I do the exercise first, and then I do the song:

"I'll be your boomerang, your boomerang,
I'll fly right back to you."

The key is to try to keep that same feeling going.

Staccato Notes

This next exercise works really well for my chorus because it has a lot of staccato notes. We go:

"Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom,
Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom."

Try to keep the same "oh, oh, oh" feeling.

Just a Note: I'm using my song as an example, but any song will work for this. It's really about what you're interested in and what you want to sing.

Your Project

Your project is to take the song you're working on or pick a new one. Pick a few, try them out, and do your favorite exercise over the song.

Fitting Exercises to the Song

There are certain exercises that will work well for different parts of a song. For example:

• The staccato exercise might be harder to do and just doesn't quite fit.
• However, the "mum, mum, mum" fits better for that part of the song.

For the rest of it, because it's legato, it makes more sense.

Does that make sense? So, we want to try to fit the exercise to the song. Allow the exercise to guide your voice in the right direction.

Once you feel comfortable, jump into the song and you'll notice immediate improvements.

Consistent Practice

This is a stepping stone, really. We want to continue to do our exercises regularly. Aim to practice those exercises for about half an hour a day to see strong improvements.

I hope this helps! If you have any questions, let me know, I'd be happy to help!