How to Sing Like Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman is famous for her huge "Broadway Belt" and signature song "There's no Business Like Show Business." In the days before Broadway performers sang with microphones, Ms. Merman had an advantage with her powerful voice. She has been called the leading Broadway performer of the twentieth century. If you follow these steps and can project your voice, you can learn to sing like Ethel Merman.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Support your voice properly, so that you can project, producing powerful notes. Lie on the floor, and breath naturally. Watch how your stomach rises when you inhale, and falls when you exhale. When you take a breath to sing, expand your ribs and abdomen in the same fashion. You will be unable to produce Ethel’s trademark power, if you take shallow breaths, or breaths that solely fill your chest, rather than your diaphragm.
-
2
Learn to belt. If you are used to singing in your “head voice,” you will need to re-think where you place your notes. Place the notes in your “chest voice.” Belting is often called singing in your chest voice, because it should feel as if the notes are resonating in your chest rather than your head. Most of Ethel Merman’s songs were relatively low. When singing the higher notes, place the notes so that the sound resonates in the front of your face, so that you are on pitch.
-
-
3
Improve your diction. Ethel Merman sang with impeccable diction. Open your mouth wide when singing, and drop your jaw. Be sure to fully articulate your consonants.
-
4
Add lots of vibrato. Vibrato is the pulsating sound you hear on the end of notes. Ethel usually sang in a musical theater style, which meant lots of vibrato. Keep the vibrato relatively slow, as opposed to a fast machine gun vibrato style, such as Cher’s.
-
5
Focus on the lyrics. Ethel Merman did more than just sing songs. She delivered performances. Many of Ethel’s most famous songs were musical theater songs. Sing them in character. The lyricist was trying to express the character’s emotions. Your performance will be very powerful if you can capture the essence of each song, in addition to belting out the notes.
-
6
“Play to the back of the house!” Pretend your voice has to be heard at the back of a large theater. Playing to the back of the house, means to physically play big as well. Ethel Merman never played anything small. Theater performances are always broader than film performances, because they have to be seen and heard from a distance.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Never strain your voice. Ethel had a huge voice. Do not push your voice so hard that it hurts. You could do irreparable damage.
