Great singing is nothing mysterious

People who are learning to play an instrument, such as the guitar, can get quite far by careful observation of their guitar heroes. 

But in the case of singers, this is more tricky. You can listen and watch closely to singers you admire. You can figure out the musicality of what they are doing well enough: the phrasing and the dynamics. But some things seem to be going on behind the scenes. There are things you can’t see, like the vocal cords, the inside of the throat… So you might be puzzled how they pull it off, and if you can even learn anything from observation.

But for singers, there is a way as well. You just have to know what to listen for and what to look for. There are visual cues. Such as jaw opening, posture.

But you have to know what to look for. Why do most good singers squint at some notes? Should I also squint? As I’ll teach you, indeed there is a way of singing which I call the ‘badass face’ and which does help you with more vocal control and a better sound. In fact, the badass face is necessary for high notes.

But just squinting won’t do the trick. Good singers combine it with other facial actions. Let's see what we can learn from singers such as Frank Sinatra and Christina Aguilera.

Once you know what to look for, you suddenly see patterns emerging. You'll see similarities between the singing technique of singers as superficially different as say Elvis Presley and Beyonce.