Creating Your Own Style

Lisa Popeil

Question: Are you the kind of singer who can imitate with great accuracy a whole array of great singers? Or do you have a unique voice and sound like no one else on the planet? Many singers wonder whether they should develop their own vocal style and if so, how might one go about it?

Creating a unique style is actually only necessary when your professional goal is to be a recording artist, in which case uniqueness is a virtue. Being unique doesn't always mean however that you're good technically! Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger and Joe Cocker, for example, may be terrific showmen, write or have access to hit songs and can really connect emotionally with the audience, but their uniqueness is based more on vocal limitation than skill.

Technically good singers meet certain criteria such as: vocal range (low notes and high notes), ability to sing loudly and softly, and ability to sing with straight tone and vibrato. One can be an effective singer without these skills and can actually be quite memorable with even greater handicaps like sounding gravely, being extremely nasal, straining and choking while singing.

But let's assume you've got decent technique, the question still remains, are you a mimic or a unique artist? Most singers fall into one category or another. Remember, it's not better to be one or the other; it all depends on your gifts and aspirations.

If you're a mimic, karaoke, session singing and Top-40 bands are the right outlets. If a producer needs a country sound like Garth Brooks, you've got it; a rock sound like Bruce Springsteen, you're the man. (Ladies, please insert your own favorite examples.) On the other hand, if you're making a record, as I mentioned, you need to pick a sound and stick to it. Elvis was one of the few singers who could change vocal sound tremendously from song to song. Everyone else seems to be consistent, year after year.

Personally, I've found myself in the mimic category. In the early 1980's, when pursuing a recording career, I decided to sing with a very young sound, bright and somewhat whiny. In the late 1990's, if I had to choose one specific style to focus on, it would be a combination of jazz and R&B, very dark, rich and sexy. But I acknowledge that it's a choice. I much prefer singing different styles with completely different sounds. I get a real kick out of singing like an altogether different person when I change styles.

So let's say you've been a mimic but you want to specialize. You need a game plan. First, ask yourself who your top three vocal role models are. Study them, imitate them. Then record yourself and listen back to make sure no one role model is recognizable in your own voice. Play around, throw in a few gimmicky things which sound unique. Ask yourself which part of your personality you desire to exhibit. Easygoing? Sexy? Been around the block? Angry? Silly? Depressed? Mature? Sweet? Then play out one or more of these psychological traits in your singing style.

Creating your own style is somewhat like cooking: you choose your ingredients, you blend, let the best stuff rise to the top and add decorative garnish, and voila, a masterful creation.