Would you agree that the singers we love the most are the ones who sing most expressively, and really communicate authentic emotion?

I definitely hear this a lot from my friends and students.

We are moved by emotion. It touches us because we resonate with it.

It wakes up feelings inside us - sometimes, feelings we're very familiar with, other times feelings we know but have buried.

That's why songs can be so powerful.

So to sing more expressively, we need to look for the array of emotions in a song and connect with them.

Once we're connected to them, we need to commit to communicating them authentically to the audience.

It does take courage.

Because we're exposing our own emotions, our own inner self.

But if you can handle the vulnerability in that, it’s so deeply satisfying and rewarding. Your audience responds with a similar openness. Openness to you, and to what you're sharing.

And I came up with a fun way to kick-start that process of expressive singing. A way that’s true to each song you sing.

Ready?

Get out your coloured pencils.First you need to make your own Key. I call it the Emotion Colour Key.

1. 🟠 Write a list of the common emotions that we hear in songs.

Here’s one I started:

Pain, loss, grief, yearning, anger, triumph, joy, love, care, disdain, dismay, hope, bitterness, resentment, jealousy, humour, arrogance, regret.

And I'm sure there's more. Add your own.

2. 🟡 Then choose a colour to represent each one and underline the word with that colour.

3. 🟢Then look at the song you want to sing. Print out the lyrics. Read through the lyrics carefully and identify all the moods and emotions that they express.

(By the way, not every line of the song is going to be pure emotion. There's often sections that are more like storytelling, scene-setting or narration. But you can still think about the overall emotional mood that this part of the song contributes to, and use that for its colour.)

What's next? It's easy to guess hey?

4. 🔵 That's right.  Using your Emotion Colour Key, underline the lyrics with the relevant colours.

5. 🟣 Now look over the song. The varied moods and feelings really jump out at you don't they? Then it becomes really easy to sing that song expressively.

You've got your visual guide to bring out the changing emotional message in your song.

When you sing it, communicating those moods through authentic connection, your singing literally becomes more colourful. And engaging.

So what are you waiting for?

Give it a try. I know you'll really enjoy this.

And hopefully you'll also go deeper with your relationship to your favourite songs.

Let me know how it goes.

And if you ever want my help to develop your singing and voice, feel free to book in with me for a Free Consultation.