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How to Make a Cover Song Your Own

All singers will undoubtedly end up covering songs written by someone else. Think of the holiday songs or religious songs like hymns if not the songs by your favorite artists. Here's how to make them fresh and put your own unique spin on a classic tune.

1. The first thing to do is make sure the range of the song suits your voice. Check on the highest and lowest notes. If those are not well within your range, change the key to suit your voice. Maybe your topmost comfortable note is a D and the song goes up to an E. Have the song transposed by 1 full step down. You will sing the song with more confidence and comfort knowing that every note will be easy to reach. You want every note in the song to be one you can hit accurately, with power and richness in the tone.
2. Next, listen to the tempo and see whether that suits the atmosphere you want to create. Uptempo songs keep the party going, slower, dreamier tempos create calming vibes. Keep the song moving forward though, you don't want it to be so slow your audience is looking for the exit or falling asleep. To get an idea of appropriate tempos for different genres of music, check out this reference chart titled Common Time Signatures and Tempos for Many Music Genres
3. Think about singing the melody as written before applying any of the modifications suggested below. You want the listener to know the original tune and be able to appreciate the way you can play with it.
4. Consider adding rolls, grace notes, and/or an improvisation section. Here are some brief examples.
1. Rolls can increase interest during notes with longer time values. Is there a whole note at the end of a phrase? Start the whole note then go up or down a step briefly before returning to the original note.
   
   Roll Down Example
   
   
   Roll Up Example
   
2. Grace notes are usually one or two quick notes that lead into a held note.
   
   Grace Notes Example
   
3. Slides can be up or down. A slide is a smooth, continuous rapid glide through intermediate pitches between two notes.
   
   Slide Example
   
4. Or you can insert an improvisation section where you either scat (nonsense syllables often used to mimic an instrument like a trumpet) or repeat some portion of the lyric and change the note progression and timing to create something completely unique.
   
   Scatting Example
   
5. Change the timing of notes. This can be particularly interesting in any repetitive run. For example, if the original score calls for a sequence of eighth notes, try dotted eighth with sixteenth notes. Or change part of the sequence to triplets.
6. Add an instrumental solo. You can insert an instrumental solo in the beginning or the middle of a piece. Most jazz bands do this to highlight members of the band. You can choose to have a single instrument perform a solo or band members can hand off the solo to each other until everyone has had a chance to shine. Go back to the singer for either a final verse or chorus and close it out.
7. Change the ending. Do the opposite of the current ending. Does the current version end with a fade out? Change it to no repeats and just a single held note. Does the current version end with a single held note? Repeat the final phrase once or twice or do a fade out.

Any or all of these modifications will make the song different from the original and recognizably yours. Play around with each concept to find a combination that suits your voice and your idea of how the song could sound. You can make a cover song not only the recognizable tune that everyone enjoys but also a song that showcases your particular voice and talent.

Celia Webb, President of Pilinut Press, Inc., publishers of advanced readers for children and ESL students. Check out http://www.pilinutpress.com for more free articles on developing reading-related skills, word games and puzzles, and activity sheets for the company's entertaining and educational books.