Song Selection for Recording Artists - Tip #2

Again, I can't stress enough that song selection for recording artists is extremely important! Picking the perfect songs is half the battle in becoming and remaining a top-selling hit-recording artist. So how do you choose which song to record? Remember in tip #1, content is key: Pick a song with great lyrics! Second, in trying to decide which songs to record for your upcoming CD release:

Tip #2 - Make sure the hit song you choose to record suits your vocal range. In fact, you want a song that shows off your vocal range. This tip is true even if you are a soprano and have a very high singing voice or you're in a rock band or gospel group that does a lot of belting: you don't want a song that starts at a high pitch or at a high point because then you have no where to "take" your voice or the song itself. Mariah Carey and her very first single, Vision of Love, is a perfect example of a top-selling artist, who knowing her range and voice, recorded a song that beautifully showcased her range and introduced us to notes we never knew we wanted to hear, or could hear before. Mariah Carey's success is built on picking the right songs for her amazing voice. The same is true for you: every song you record should build and be perfect for you.

Note that you also don't want to have a "flat" sounding song either: one that starts low and simply stays low with no peaks and flows in the melody and background vocal arrangement. The song should challenge you vocally, and the listener, audibly. There are certain notes that our ears just naturally want to hear.

On the other hand, this tip also means that you don't want a song that is too high for you that you sing a lot of falsetto notes at the very peak of the song or is too low for you that you sing inaudible notes or words. There are some exceptions to every rule (e.g. some R & B male artists such as Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake to name two, sing most of their songs in falsetto). However, in general, hit songs that MAKE an artist and hit songs that are recorded over and over are songs that have range, color, build, and resolve (terms which will be discussed in another blog). It's these songs, the right songs, i.e. hit songs, which show off an artist's vocal abilities, that will be chosen not only by you but by many other artists as cover tunes. These are the types of hit songs that songwriters strive to write and artists should strive to find and record.

Stay tuned for my next tip on song selection!

Thedy B, Hit Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
Hitsamillionmusic.com