The Art Of Marking & Matrixing Your Songs

Cari Cole

Want to improve your vocal approach to songs?
Prepare your material for performance or recording?

The following outline is a process I take all singers through as we work on their songs. The results speak for themselves! Dig in!

1. Memorize

Memorize your melody and lyric first. Write out your lyrics to fit on one page if you can. You will use this sheet to make notes.

2. The Right Key

If you aren't singing in the right key of your voice, no amount of rehearsal is going to do it for you. How can you be sure? If it feels good and shows off the height of your voice it's probably right. One half step in either direction can make the difference in how your voice sounds. Sometimes I write a song in one key and end up recording it in a higher or lower key depending on where the melody sits. I like the key to suit where I sound best. The best way to determine this is to try several keys close to the original key and get some feedback as to which key sounds best on you!
Tip : A little bit of wisdom - when you perform a song over a band or in a live setting, you will sing it out more than if you are in your living room and therefore need the key to be a half step or two higher.. Be sure the song is not too low, for once you sing it live, you will usually want it in a higher key!

3. Marking

Marking is a technique for rehearsing in a light but full voice. It is a miraculous under-rated technique that trains the voice to accurately execute the intervals of the melody line without strain and to find the center of pitch. When we constantly rehearse the song at the volume we would sing it at, we tend to refer to bad form and lack of accuracy. This is then rehearsed in to your voice's muscle memory. There is another way.

Each song has it's own melody line different from any other. Follow the steps below to improve your skills with the technique of Marking.

Sing through the song lightly but with a full focused sound. A full focused sound means a clear sound that is not breathy or pushed. Another way to explain this technique is to sing "small but clear". If you can't get the notes small at first, this is not uncommon. Continue to practice this way trying to be as accurate pitch wise as you can. Use your ear to match the pitch and don't worry about the quality of your sound. You may switch early into head or falsetto, don't be distracted by that. Just continue to execute perfect pitch.

4. Breathing

Knowing where to breathe in your song can make all the difference in making it sound easy and effortless.

Give a good listen through the song once. If it's a cover, make a mark on the lyric where the singer takes a breath. If it's your own tune and it's never been recorded, then mark down where you think the breaths are best taken.

Practice singing through the song a few times paying attention only to the breath marks. Note any spots that you are running out of breath and take another look at another place to put a breath. Don't be afraid to put a breath in the middle of a line. Try to put it in a natural place by speaking the phrase and noticing where you might naturally pause or break up the line. A more unique phrasing and stylizing can come from doing this.

5. Phrasing

Phrasing is how the vocalist decides to let each phrase "sit" within the song. Every great vocalist has their own twist on phrasing which plays a large part in their "sound".

Step #2 in the prior breathing section is actually a phrasing exercise. Repeat the step several times to discover different ways to phrase. Try putting the breath in different parts of the phrase. How does it sound?

Then speak the lyric again putting an emphasis on one word in the phrase. Repeat the phrase again putting the emphasis on another word. How does it sound? Notice the different words being emphasized brings a different feeling to the line. Reflect on the saying "It's not what you say but how you say it".
Try the sequence below speaking slowly :

Imagine if you could fly
Imagine if you could fly
Imagine if you could fly
Imagine if you could fly
Imagine if you could fly

6. Making it Yours

Here are some steps to developing your own sound and making the phrasing yours.

One of the keys to making a song yours is to let your own voice be the guide. Start noticing what your voice wants to do. When do your voice want to take a breath, when do you want to hold a note out or not hold a note out. Copying another's phrasing can limit your own sound tremendously. Learn to listen to your own voice. Pay attention.

As you sing through the song, notice where you run out of breath and/or might want to put an extra breath..

Now speak the song lyric as an actor would. While you are speaking the lyric line be sure to take it out of the established meter of the sung lyric. In other words, get completely away from the rhythm of the melody line you sing in the song, and speak the lyric as if you were talking to someone. Notice the spots you would naturally pause as you emphatically speak the lyric.

Then sing the lyric without the music putting an emphasis on one word in the phrase. Repeat the phrase again putting the emphasis on another word. How does it sound? Remember the sequence below and try the same technique with the song lyric as you sing it.:

Imagine if you could fly
Imagine if you could fly
Imagine if you could fly
Imagine if you could fly
Imagine if you could fly

I recommend repeating the above step while recording yourself and listen back to hear how the different phrases sound. Which emphasis sounds the best with your voice?

7. Emotion and Expression

Let's take look at another element of making a song yours. Every singer has their own way of expressing, their own way of saying things. So do you. The key is to not get in your own way and get on the road to revealing your own unique expression. A lot of people run into difficulty here because they are afraid to step out on their own. It is easier to "copy" someone else's phrasing and expression. It seems like the "safer" route. However, stepping out on your own and doing it your way is what gives singers recognition and their own style.
Follow the steps below to discover yours.

Take step #2 under Making it Yours to a new level. Let's speak the lyric again but before you do, let's take a look at what the lyric means. Answer these questions.:
A. What is the song saying?
B. What emotions are present in the song?
C. Envision a scenario that just happened that the lyric is a natural reaction to.
D. How would you have to feel to sing this lyric.
E. Once you have fully answered these questions, then speak the lyric aloud, very slowly, emphatically, infront of a mirror until you are convinced that what you are saying is real.
F. Then sing the song with from that place.
Tips :
You can't go too deep on this one. Here is where the examination of the lyric is particularly key to triggering your own vocal style. The unique expression of your voice will come from your "truth" of expression. This is a way to find it.

Sometimes this process will stretch out over weeks or months as I'm working on a song. I don't force it, but let the song be revealed to my emotional body as I practice it. The expression will come with a little digging.

8. Matrixing the Melody

Matrix* the melody by finding the corresponding notes on the keys of the piano. If you read sheet music you can use it, if you don't you can make your own sheet music or write the notes of your melody over the corresponding words on you r lyric sheet. (if you need help - please ask me for help directly)

This next step strengthens the singers' ear and pitch. Sing on "ah" as you play the corresponding notes on the keys of the piano. Go slowly and focus on hitting the bulls- eye of each note. Go over and over the notes that you consistently hit "off pitch". Connect that note to the note before. In other words learn to "link" the "off pitch" note to the note in front of it. Make an exercise out of the tough spots in your song. Also be sure to circle these spots on your lyric sheet or sheet music and work on these spots with your teacher until they are smoothed out.

The final step is to sing the words of the song while you slowly play each note on the piano (or guitar - however piano is easier) . Continue this step until you are consistently hitting the "bulls-eye" of all the notes in your melody line. (if you have trouble with this please ask me for help). Keep in mind to use the sound of "Marking" with this step for the best results. (See the first page)

More optional steps:
If you want to work more on matrixing, practice your entire melody line or your trouble spots 1/2 step higher and if possible another half step again. Benefit: When you return to your original key it will be much easier to sing.

This process prepares your voice technically to execute the "bulls-eye" of pitch. The "center" of pitch. Matrixing programs the neuron muscle memory to retain the correct notes. It is used in preparation for performance and especially for the recording studio where singing with good pitch is under a microscope.

9. Matrixing the Rhythm

Tap out the beat of the song with your foot. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 . Focus on centering the beat perfectly. Do not tap early or late. Get in sync with the rhythm. This seems to be easy, but rarely is. Most people's sense of rhythm is either early or late.
Benefit: Perfecting this step will help get you in the groove of the song.

Sing the song and clap your hands together for each syllable, every word and note. Be sure to be EXACT. Do not miss anything. Notice where you are off and go over it until it is right.

Combine step one and two. Be exact and work over trouble spots by slowing the rhythm down until you can get up to speed without losing the rhythm.

Notes: This process develops your sense of rhythm which all good singers have. It develops a singer's soulfulness and makes the song 'feel good'.