Singorama:
How To Avoid Being An American Idol Reject
I admit it.
My favorite part of American Idol is when they do
the auditions.
I realize that many of the people trying out just
want to get on tv. They aren't singers; they only
came out to meet Paula or to stick it to Simon. But
then there's that other special group of people auditioning
who THINK they can sing well. They usually have an
attitude. You know who I'm talking about, right?
These people never really learned the basics of
singing. If you watch when Randy tells them, for
example, that their singing is pitchy, they look
at him like he's talking about physics. Like they
have no idea what pitch is. This article will look
at a few music terms you should know before you audition
for American Idol.
Pitchy
In
music, people talk about sounds being "high" or "low"---meaning
high-pitched or low-pitched. Pitchy means off-key.
It means the singer wandered off key in places and
was "off" on the notes. The singer didn't
hit the right notes.
Key
A key is the scale on which a piece of music is
written, think of a key as the solar system... the
sun being the key, and the planets are the rest of
the sounds of the scale.
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Nasally
When Simon says a singer sounds nasally, it generally
means the singer is pushing too much air through
their larynx, which causes a closed throat. This
puts a lot of tension on the back of the tongue and
also makes their jaw jut forward. With their jaw
in a forward position, they can't fully open their
vocal cords.
There is a lot more to each of these terms. But
basically, pitch and key, are rooted in learning
how to read music. And nasally has to do with positioning
your mouth so you sound your best. If you want to
impress anyone with your singing, not to mention
Randy, Paula, and Simon, you have to learn these
things. Cold.
Find yourself an accomplished vocal coach or consider
buying an online singing program. It depends how
far along you are with your singing. But however
you master the singing basics, you have to master
them to avoid being an American Idol reject.
by Rachael Francis
