Even Amateur Carolers Can Make a Joyful Noise
There’s something about the holiday season that makes even the most amateur singer want to join in when it’s time for traditional Christmas caroling.
/Tennessee News Articles/ - Renee Grant-Williams, the voice coach for some of Nashville’s top-name stars, says caroling should be a joy for everyone -- even the most unlikely singers among us.
“The point of caroling is to celebrate the season, so relax and have fun,” says Renee Grant-Williams. “Who cares if your pitch is off? And who can remember all the words to ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ anyway?”
Grant-Williams offers basic tips to give your singing voice a little boost:
1. Breathe by relaxing your throat and lower diaphragm muscles. Picture air falling through your throat and below your waist. Don’t fill up with air. Too much air in your chest creates pressure around your neck.
2. Stand with a solid grip by pressing onto the ground with the balls of your feet. This takes strain off your throat and supports your tone.
3. Always keep your jaw loose, but don’t necessarily open your mouth as wide as you can. Try to feel the song vibrate in the top of your head instead of in your throat.
“I can’t guarantee that you’ll get a recording contract if you use these tips, but it might make singing carols just a little less intimidating and a lot more fun,” says Grant-Williams.
Grant-Williams says it’s important to protect your throat anytime you sing. For outdoor caroling, she encourages taking a scarf to keep your throat warm, a thermos of something
-more-
warm to drink to soothe your throat as well as your soul. But she says don’t overdo it with the spiked egg nog because alcohol dries out your throat.
“When you sing, think about what the words really mean,” says Grant-Williams. “That’s probably the most helpful tip of all. It always amazes me how simply thinking about the words can improve the tone.”
Grant-Williams offers more advice in her book, “Voice Power: Using Your Voice to Captivate, Persuade, and Command Attention” published by AMACOM Books, New York. This book is endorsed by Paul Harvey and was selected by “Soundview Executive Book Summaries” as one of the 30 best business books of 2002.
Grant-Williams coaches business executives, sales professionals and celebrities including Faith Hill, the Dixie Chicks, Linda Ronstadt, Randy Travis and Huey Lewis. She presents communication programs to business organizations throughout the United States and has been quoted by Cosmopolitan, the Associated Press, Business Week, United Press International, the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Globe and the San Francisco Chronicle. She has appeared on numerous broadcast outlets including ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Bravo, Bloomberg, MTV, BBC, NPR and Voice of America. Grant-Williams is a former instructor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as well as the former director of the Division of Vocal Music at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Renee Grant-Williams
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Nashville, TN
USA 37201
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