Real Name: 宁艺卓 (Ning Yi Zhuo)

Age (at the time this post was written): 19

Group: aespa (에스파)

Position: Main Vocalist

Voice Classification

Gretchen says, “For any young singer, it is simply too early to judge vocal classification.  The voice is changing and growing every day, including both vocal range and sound quality.” However, she suspects that NingNing “could actually be a light lyric mezzo-soprano vocal type.”  There is much power and beauty in the middle range, without any sign of the voice becoming tired.  These are some of the main factors considered, when determining voice type.

GOOD PITCH AND INTONATION

GG: One of the greatest attributes of her impressive natural talent is her highly accurate musical ear.  She sings very naturally and almost perfectly in tune.  (And I’m extra critical of this one, because singing with great intonation is so vital to communication with your audience.)

VIBRATO AND GOOD VOCAL HEALTH

GG: Her use of vibrato shows that she understands the voice must not be held too long in a straight-toned fashion.  NingNing’s voice is in a very healthy condition.  My impression is she knows how to take care of it properly, and this is rare today!  One concern: When belting in the middle of the range, NingNing has a tendency to sing with too much nasality, which causes the sound to become thin and not as beautiful as she is capable of producing, in a natural way. Hopefully, as the voice matures and with continued good healthy development, NingNing will begin to enjoy a rounder, richer sound throughout her range.

LOWER REGISTER

GG: The voice is displayed as round and rich in this particular range of NingNing’s fine voice.  In just these few seconds of her singing, there is so much color and great character in the actual timbre of her vocal sound.

When hearing how comfortable NingNing’s voice is in this exact range, it strikes me this is the real core or “home base” of her whole great instrument.  She uses her voice here in an especially clean way, with a lovely crystalline sound.

LACK OF PROPER SUPPORT

GG: Unfortunately at this time, NingNing is not utilizing proper support in her singing. She is a marvelously talented young singing artist.  In order to preserve her great voice, so she will be singing well for years to come, it is necessary for her to begin breathing low and using proper breath support.

When we watch closely, we see that she is unfortunately breathing very high, in her throat.  And frequently she is lifting her chest and shoulders to breathe.  This is what happens when we breathe too high and ultimately there will be strain upon the singing voice, unless we breathe very LOW.  This means we breathe by allowing muscles in the abdomen to expand.  We cannot merely breathe into our throats, as this is a sure recipe for tremendous strain upon the delicate vocal anatomy.

It is crucial to preserve each of their great talents by ensuring that they have proper training.  At this time, unfortunately, it’s clear she lacks the information she needs to fully utilize great singing technique, which is the only way to preserve the talent and to protect the voice from tremendous strain.

SUMMARY

Vocally expressive young singer with great pitch, solid intonation, and heaps of potential.  Lower register might be the core of her voice.  At this time, however, she lacks proper support.  (EXPLANATION ABOUT SUPPORT BELOW)

GG: The parts of our bodies that make sound (the larynx, the vocal folds, etc.) are very delicate and fragile.  The larynx and vocal cords especially are subject to much strain and even permanent damage, if the voice is not properly cared for.  At the heart of proper vocal care is the need for the singing technique to include breathing low and using the lower body muscles for proper breath support.

Even the most talented singers in the world are at risk of failing to preserve their great talent, if they do not receive the proper training and then carefully practice using good breath support.  This is the entire foundation for singing technique, to prevent straining and damaging the delicate vocal anatomy.

The first step is optimal body alignment.  The spine should be slightly elongated and stretched up so that the head is comfortably positioned atop the neck.  The correct posture for singing is not like a military officer standing at attention.  Instead it is about freedom and flexibility in the entire body, and this all starts with the spine being tall and slightly stretched upward.  In fact as we sing, we need to constantly have a feeling that our spine and had our gradually gently being stretched and lifted upward.  This is why yoga is so wonderful for singing technique.  There is also a fantastic area of body work called the Alexander Technique.  And it is all about freedom in the movement of the whole body, based upon the slight stretching up of the spine and the head being comfortably positioned on top of the neck, always gradually lengthening up.

The way we learn this body alignment is detailed in some of the blog posts on this website.  It is not difficult.  It’s just something for which we all need this specialized information, so we can understand how good singing technique works and what it relies upon.

The miraculous thing is that when we use good body alignment, automatically the breath will be taken flow, and we absolutely must breathe LOW for singing!

When we take our low breath in, we preserve the health of our vocal cords and larynx.  And breath support is all about using the muscles in the lower torso to hold back the breath pressure.  There are lots of exercises to achieve this fundamental goal in singing technique.  If we do not hold back the breath pressure with the muscles in the rib cage and the abdominal muscles, then we risk our vocal health to a great extent.  At this time, NingNing’s voice is in wonderful condition, which we hope and trust will continue, so we can all enjoy her great singing for many years!

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