The most beautiful sound you are capable of producing is also the one that sounds the most uniquely like you. It's the maximum amount of color, flexibility, and expression with the minimum amount of strain. Don't get me wrong. Building your voice -your instrument- is work. It is sometimes agonizingly difficult work; patience, discipline and determination will get you much further at this stage of your pursuit than fancying yourself an artist. But if you work YOUR own voice -rather than your favorite singer's, or the voice you wish you had- every step you make toward sounding more like "you" is a step toward an immensely beautiful and rewarding sound. Visit my Blog for more Singing Tips and Advice!
Bel canto (beautiful singing)
The term bel canto (beautiful singing), has probably meant
different things at different periods in music history, but its origins
are ambiguous at best. The vocal works of Mozart, as well as such Italian composers as Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini and the early works of Verdi are considered to fall under the rubric of bel canto.
These composers crafted vocal works with long, often florid, phrases
that showcase the singer's vocal prowess and pyrotechnic capabilities.
Both long, sustained legato phrases (sostenuto) and rapid passages requiring agility (fioritura) characterize the bel canto vocal line.
Thus, beautiful vocal lines are characteristic of this music; the other
half of the bel canto equation is that the art of vocal production or
vocal technique has been elevated to such a high level of skill and
refinement, that bel canto is actually a marriage of
consummate vocal technique and the beauty of composition. So both the
singing itself and the music written for the voice are "bellissimi."
Come si parla (as one speaks)
Because Italian
speakers place the vowels in a forward position, i.e., in front of the
face, it's a natural to switch from speaking to singing with ease. That
is probably why so many Italians seem to be blessed with "natural"
singing voices. As Richard Miller points out, "Come si parla (as one
speaks) is the sum total of the wisdom of the Italian school with regard
to...the formation of vowels in singing."
