• Music is just dots on a page - what's the right way to sing them?

What’s the right way to sing?

What genre really means, and why taste and context matter

What’s the right way to sing?

That was the question we asked at the start of the Joining The Dots session for the British Voice Association training day recently.

We opened the session with an image of dots on a page (see above). What people saw – a fish, a moustache, a sad face – depended on how their brain tried to connect them.

What do you see?

We followed the image with two acapella audio clips of the same song: Jessye Norman’s opera/gospel crossover interpretation, and LeAnn Rimes’ country/pop crossover rendition. Both performances were highly stylised, deeply personal, and instantly recognisable as belonging to different musical worlds.

Both were “right.”

Here’s why that matters.

You don’t just hear a song. You hear a gestalt system.

When you hear Jessye Norman sing, you hear:

  • A widened and elongated vocal tract

  • Large breath intake with low outward airflow

  • Italianate vowels

  • Portamento

  • Text delivered through long vowels and consistent vibrato

  • A rhythmic approach that allows the line to bloom

When you hear LeAnn Rimes, you hear:

  • Breaths in the middle of words

  • Diphthongs fully expressed, not modified

  • Frequent use of breath onset and offset

  • Rhythms that are almost impossible to write down

  • Country flips, dips and fry (also the ingredients in my favourite meal…)

  • A different kind of emotional weight – looser, more speech-led

Both singers are performing the song Amazing Grace. But your ear is interpreting their style, vowel shape, rhythm, ornamentation, and sound quality through a genre lens. And that lens is doing more than you think.

The brain wants to make sense

The same thing happens in singing. If there’s no clear context, we make one up.

And context is everything. Jessye Norman’s performance was recorded live on French television, following a film of Martin Luther King’s “Free at Last” speech. The moment, the intention, and the sound design are all connected. If you don’t know the context, you might miss the point. Or worse, mislabel the style.

Genre isn’t about musical notes. It’s about meaning.

Every genre brings a set of vocal assumptions with it. You can hear it in vowel length, ornamentation, phrase direction, and rhythmic feel. You can see it in notation too.

We compared two notated versions of Amazing Grace: one transcribed from Jessye Norman, the other from LeAnn Rimes. Both are unrecognisable from the simple hymn you’ll find in most classic scores. They’re not “off-script” – they are the script, for their genre.

Teachers trained in one tradition (especially classical) often find themselves asking why a student “isn’t singing what’s written.” But in many styles, the writing follows the performance – not the other way around.

So what does this mean for your teaching?

Start by letting go of the idea that there’s one right way to sing a song. Instead, ask:

  • What genre does this performance belong to?

  • What are the typical vocal features of that genre?

  • Is the singer matching those features with technical integrity?

  • Does the performance feel like it belongs?

A good singer in any genre makes you feel something. They make you say, “Now I get it.” That’s your test.

Not the notation. Not the original key. Not the score you’ve used for exams.

Just the connection. Does it land?

And if it doesn’t?

Don’t start with correction. Start with curiosity. Ask yourself:

  • What context is this singer operating in?

  • What’s their taste and background?

  • What version of the song are they modelling?

  • Are you judging them through your own training?

Because most of the time, the problem isn’t the singer. It’s the map you’re using. There isn’t a single map that will show you the right way to sing.

So let’s make sure we’re joining the dots for each singer in the room.

If this resonates, you’re not alone.
We’re talking to singing teachers from all over the world as we shape Cohort 26 of our Teacher Accreditation programme.
Book a Discovery Call with Gillyanne and see where your teaching could go next.

This blog forms part of the training day we gave for the British Voice Association in 2025, called Joining The Dots. Contact us to find out more about our public presentations and live appearances