BackStage: Can Style Be Learned?

By Michael Goodrich

Can a legit soprano learn to sing like Tina Turner? Can an Aretha Franklin clone sing the role of Julie Jordan in Carousel? And can they both learn to sing like Peggy Lee? Is style innate or can it be learned? In the voice business, these questions have been pondered and debated for decades. And after more than 20 years of experience teaching voice, I have come to the conclusion that the definitive answer is: sometimes.

Consider this analogy: Can a Shakespearean actor do sitcoms? Can a comic actor do dramatic roles? If you’re an accomplished actor with a solid technique, isn’t it true you can act anything that you can authentically interpret?

If we relate that to singing, we find that two key ingredients of style are: 1) the ability to authentically interpret within a particular musical genre and 2) a solid vocal technique. Since singing is really acting on pitch, the important thing when interpreting a piece of music is to get inside the character of the piece. It doesn’t matter whether it’s musical theatre, jazz, pop, rock, R&B, gospel, or classical; the conditions are the same: You’ve got to find an emotional and personal connection with the song. In a perfect singing world, the style will not compromise the technique; rather, they will support each other. When your technique is strong enough to accommodate your emotions and your stylistic choices, your performance will be compelling. If you expect to cross over into different genres, you must have a dependable vocal technique throughout your entire range.

Let’s look at what style is and what elements combine to create it. Within any genre of music, there is a certain “feel.” This is inspired by the way the notes relate to each other in terms of timing, rhythm, and phrasing. For example, you could have a musical theatre piece done with an R&B feel, or even an operatic, gospel, or country feel. “Feel” is synonymous with style in these instances. Some of the elements associated with style are approach to pitch, timbre (vocal color), harmony, melody, rhythm, timing, accent, texture, and dynamics — plus the artistic and emotional qualities of the particular genre. Specific vocal quality is also a factor. You would not sing the title role in Evita with the same vocal quality you would use as Maria in West Side Story. Evita needs a pop quality and Maria takes a legit quality. Likewise, you would not sing Roger in Rent with the same quality as Ravenal in Show Boat. Roger requires a rock quality and Ravenal is legit. To make it easy, think of it like this: There are two distinct vocal qualities, legit and pop. Included in pop would be R&B, rock, gospel, country, and some musical theatre. Included in legit would be some musical theatre and opera.

Is a singer’s unique sound also part of his or her style? With a singer like Tina Turner, for example, the answer is no. Her sound is separate from her style. You could stylize like Tina (as long as you were using a pop quality) yet not sound like Tina. That’s because a singer’s individual sound is created by his or her unique vocal-cord structure, resonance, and many other factors too technical for our purposes here.

Developing Style

One way to begin developing style is through imitation. Let’s say you’re a musical theatre singer and you want to sing R&B effectively:

1. Research some great R&B singers and start listening to R&B CDs.

2. Imitate the singers and sing along with them, paying particular attention to their phrasing, timing, rhythm, and the way they pronounce words. Do not try to imitate their unique sound.

3. Note whether they use vibrato or a straight tone.

4. Listen to whether they bend their notes.

5. Pay attention to whether they pull the timing or sing on the beat.

6. Eat, sleep, and breathe R&B.

Another effective way to begin developing different styles is to find an accomplished vocal coach — not a technique instructor — who can play any song in any key and in any style. Watch how he or she can take a song such as “Memory” from Cats and play it in traditional musical theatre style, then add a rock beat, a blues vibe, a jazz rhythm, funk, reggae, R&B — you get the idea. As your coach plays the song in these different styles, it will inspire you as a singer to fall into that feel. It’s a great way to begin exploring a style — but you’ve got to have an excellent coach, someone who can play authentically in all these different styles. It’s worth the time and money.

Another approach is to become a musician, if you’re not one already. Playing a little guitar or piano goes a long way in aiding your style development. Learn from a musical perspective what makes traditional musical theatre different from rock, or jazz different from R&B.

Exposure to different genres is another great aid to interpreting multiple styles well. Andrea Bocelli grew up in Italy, the seat of opera, at a time when rock music was everywhere. He has operatic vocal physiology, technique, and equipment — but he has a rock and a pop feel as well, having grown up in that era. Listen to the song “La Luna Che Non C’e” from his album Romanza. It’s a great example of two styles within the same song. The first verse is done in the operatic style, the second with a raspy rock sound. As he moves from the pre-chorus into the chorus, he begins sustaining an F-sharp in the passaggio with a straight, raspy rock sound. While sustaining it, he moves from the rock sound into a resonant operatic tone with a beautiful vibrato and continues the phrase in the operatic voice and style. It’s not only impressive but also effective and something I’ve never heard anyone do before. He’s a wonderful example of someone who can sing rock, pop, and opera. He has the operatic equipment, but when you listen to some of his pop music, you’d never know it, and when you listen to some of his opera, you’d never know he can sing pop.

Although Bocelli was exposed to different styles when he was young, it’s been my experience that age doesn’t matter. What matters is a willingness to do what it takes. I have used the methods described to assist many singers in successfully developing new styles, regardless of their age.