JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum What is the most important singing qualitty

I think it is phrasing.

Tom

It is "feel." Feel trumps everything. Someone with excellent phrasing, perfect pitch, balanced tone and power will not compete with someone who has emotion, empathy and character. Bob Dylan is more recognizable than Michael Bible...Johnny Cash more so than George Strait...Louis Armstrong More than Pavoratti, and Janis Joplin more than Madonna.

No, no, Guys,
It is showing up on time ! You've heard of No Show Jones. Case closed.

Ray's right!

A recognizable “signature” voice.

John

tiny tim!

Sincerity.

Passion...Or what The Foot said, "Feel"...A lot can be forgiven if you sing like ya mean it....To paraphrase the Country song:

Sing like you were dying.

Midnite

I'll add "Uniqueness"...

There'll always be BUNCHES of Elvis Impersonators...yet just One Elvis.

There'll always be Clones...yet Listeners'll most-always prefer The Real Deal. (Dead or Alive..I'll add!)

You are all correct!!!

Guess this is measured by the listener in terms of individual taste, though the number of record sales the artist enjoys can certainly point to someone who has a large fan base, etc.

Some love Dylan yet some say his voice sounds like a wasp stuck inside a mason jar. So if his voice is almost "irritating" to some, he still obviously has a large fan base who don't see (or should I say "hear") things the same way. Perhaps they are taken w/his style or phrasing or caught up in the lyric so much they aren't focused on his voice. Again whatever floats one boat.

Some love Streisand. She seems to put attention to every syllable of a word and definitely has that Streisand style of phrasing and yes extraordinary vocals. Sinatra isn't the world's greatest singer (or is he??) but he has that casual, comfortable style of singing with that distinct and quintessential Sinatra phrasing.

I think the answer lies with what standards one uses to measure as well as who is doing the measuring.

Voice/vocals/range/sound
Phrasing
Style
Uniqueness/Distinctiveness
Feel/Passion


any more???

okay adding

Sincerity

Remembering all the lyrics, without cheat sheets.

Well, maybe not. I usually make up my own words if I forget. I have only been questioned about my lyrics once in 40 yrs.

Many of my favorite vocalists do not have what most people would call great voices, but they do have distinctive voices....Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Janis Joplin. You can identify any of them after one line.

OTOH, I do not like people like Frank Sinatra at all. Some say he had a perfect voice but it does nothing for me.

I agree that phrasing is important, as is pitch. Emotion is very important too, but without decent pitch and timing, I can't listen.

Don't forget one of my favorite distinctive voices Colin - Jimmy Durante. I mean, who else had a better version of Frosty the Snowman, September Song, or I'll Be Seeing You?

John

Hi Lynn!!!

I'll add a vote for Lisa's "Sincerity"...

All ya gotta do is listen to Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman"..& then Michael Bolton's "Cover" of it....& see what "Sincerity" means...

Best Wishes & Big Hugs
Stan

I think ALL of the basic qualities of Pitch, Timing, Phrasing are necessary components, but then the Feel is where the Artist Shines.

and what type of voicing is subjective to the listeners preferences -- I Personally Love Real Clear Tone --in a voice - but I am also drawn to unique voices.

jm

IMO, and take this with full knowledge I'm no expert, what is most important is that the artist must choose\have material that showcases their abilities.


Even a relatively less talented singer can shine if the song allows their voice to communicate it with "feeling", "passion", and the right "mechanics and dynamics" (ie pitch, breathing, phrasing etc)


So I certainly do not disagree with what has been said, I just think that even with all that, the artist can bomb if the song does not allow them to showcase their vocal abilities.

Personally speaking, timing and phrasing are qualities that serve me well.
I'm not a strong singer and I have yet to get serious about exercising my vocals but I do try to write to my strengths or rather, not to accentuate my weaknesses.

I believe, if you have timing and phasing, which I feel is key to comfortable breathing, in the pocket,your foundation is set.
Tweaks to things like pitch and energy or style, can help in making the vocal more enjoyable. Pitch is one of my weaknesses.

I think I'll go with Timing and Phrasing.

It is a whole bunch of things most of which have been covered already. That said I would add light and shade to the mix....a clever singer knows light and shade, when and how to use this volume/emotional control to show off the song.
It is easier to say what makes a bad singer than a good one. I hear nasally pop singers all the time that have poor tone, pitch and control......and lack most of the skills mentioned in the previous posts......I especially hate it when you cannot make out the words they are supposed to be singing. They rave about Adele and Emele Sandi.....I just do not get it...they both have voices that annoy the hell out of me....in every way.

As Big Jim says "It is a whole bunch of things".
A friend of mine who had a great gravelly tone and perfect pitch was being coached by an older pro.
The guy asked him to sing a song to him, which he did.
When he'd finished the pro said "thats good but now sing it to me like you love me".
Vic

Ah..."Sincerity" Again....heh!

And fellow songwriters, lest we forget, the singer needs that very special song to sing and that's where we come in. Get writing!!!!!

my first instinct is to say PITCH...
personally...even if you're emoting well,,,and have a great "sound" (whether that's crystal clear...or colorful ala Janis or Rod Stewart) if you're off key... I cannot tolerate listening to you for very long.
But with autotune these days... it seems less of a concern (and that's a pity) in which case I'd have to echo Mike... and say a great singer will make you believe that they actually believe what they are singing. I've heard too many singers (very skilled singers) sing like they are thinking about yesterday's dinner dishes and not really connected to the song. show me the appropriate emotion.

Singing from the heart gotta have heart.. glyn

I'll also add when a singer gets lost in their song and they are "in the zone". That may fall under passion though passion can sometimes be quasi artificial if they are in fact emoting without really feeling it. When they are truly in the zone they pull us in. Not every singer/artist goes "into the zone".

Here is an example:

http://youtu.be/2KcO0MHytH4

I agree Lynn... they have praised other songs highly this season... (how many times have they said "the best this season"?) but I still believe this is the best performance of this season. You can hear the emotion...you can see it... you can believe the heartache........ AND darn near perfection in quality.. (mistakes kind of fade away with passion like that)

I must have been watching the wrong clip.....I saw nothing worth watching...heard nothing worth listening to and the girl has nothing much to offer....pity she had to sing about having nothing and drawing our attention to the fact. Having heard both Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey sing this song to perfection and listened to it being crucified often on karaoke I was sorry to see it murdered on TV as well.....If this was the best AI performance this season I would hate to have to suffer listening to the rest.

To me, it is the quality of the voice, the way it hits my ear. Among the women I like Shania Twain and Karen Fairchild.

The only - and that would also make it the most important one, as well - quality a singer needs to have is being able to get a person's attention and thus transforming them into a listener in the first place.

Everything else follows from and relies on that one quality.

Once the attention has been got, the 'promise' needs to be fulfilled. For that you need skills... musical skills, lyrical skills, acting skills, empathy skills, people skills... you name it.... the more of and the better balanced they come, the better.

Some find a different mix than others to suit their needs and abilities; Cash was maybe not as much a vocalist as Michael Bublé would be - but then how many stories have you heard Bublé tell, that you remember, or that would have touched you... (genre doesn't come into play as much... just take "Hurt" for example, a genreless, eternal masterpiece of performance and understanding of the song as a song.)

Everybody has a voice. And if not crippled with being tone deaf or outright un-musically talented, they have some kind of quality that seperates them from others - their individuality. If it catches a person's attention, it turns them into a listener. The rest is skill.

So yeah, Mr Dunbar.... you're right. Of course. You just don't beat around the bush as much as me...

Mike