Same song, different vocal style...

As part of the listening exercise in the Core Training course (see previous post) I thought it was really interesting to play Lea Salonga (creator of the title role in Miss Saigon and a musical theatre singer) and Christina Aguilera (pop/R&B diva) singing the same song.

"Reflections" appears in two guises in the same film, Mulan. Lea Salonga sings it during the film itself in the character of Mulan. This is a musical theatre performance. Christina Aguilera sings the same number over the end credits, in the style of a pop ballad.

Same song, same key (mostly), same words, different vocal styles, totally different performances. One person on the Core Training course didn't even recognise that it was the same song! In this particular comparison, it is not just the choice of voice quality that is different - the beginnings and endings of notes and phrases, the emphasis on text and/or emotion, even the melody itself differed between the two performances.

Different approaches really are valid in different genres, and this was a great demonstration that musical and vocal styles are not simply about the sounds you make. In my singing coaching I work not only with different sounds, but also with different approaches to notes, more or less freedom with the written notes, changes of articulation and pronunciation, different onsets and offsets, different architectural structures and different emotional journeys.

I love my job!