Hey gang welcome back again to Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy where the proof is in the singing.
I'm continuing my series on taking these epic, legendary isolated vocal tracks. I'm doing a vocal
analysis, a vocal tutorial, I'm talking about the writing process, the musicianship. I'm continuing
doing Styx and next up is "Renegade", the singer of this particular song is Tommy Shaw and
we just came off of doing "Lady" also which was Dennis DeYoung so I'm not sure you know when iIm
gonna release all these but it's awesome because everybody in the banks, band sang and everybody
played great, it just was absolutely a stunning, amazing band. So I want to just dive right in. Now
what's cool about this is we talked a little bit about how it was Styx and Kansas and Queen and
all these bands that had these beautiful harmonies, you know they're all kind of competing for you
know that sort of sound with a really unique and different flair and this is certainly no exception
and this beginning part kind of sounds barbershop quartetty like right, really listen to this. So I'm
going to start with this. Here we go.
You hear how sweet and sensitive (sings)
right. So it's just really pristine, crystal
clear. Check it out one more time. I'll let it play through and then the harmonies build and build and
build which is awesome. Check it out.
Cool. Now what's interesting
about this harmony when it comes in is it's not belted it's real (sings)
right. Let me play it and sing it for you. I'll show you what I mean.
Right. So it's just real sweet real airy and so it gives like a real sensitive you know uh-oh, but then all of
a sudden all hell is going to break loose in a minute (sounds) the jig is up right which is kind
of cool because they're setting you up for like, Have you ever seen those those videos early on
where they kind of, look closer, closer and you kind of go what does he want, what does he want
and then this creepy guy goes ah and he like screams at you and you're (screams). That's kind of what they're doing
musically here right now. So but anyway they also do something else that's interesting for
you musical nuts out there, is at the end of the phrase the whole, this whole harmony is all in a
minor key until it gets to the end and it kind of shifts it so you get this lifting sensation. Watch.
(sings) So instead of (sings) it's (sings) right and he
goes to a major third right there which is really interesting. Check it out.
right (sings). Instead of (sings). It's (sings) right. It's cool.
Cool now before we go on,
I did a version of this I forgot to mention. So I did my own version and as we're going through
these I'm trying to you know just not be one of these guys that just is a bobble head talking
on the internet, telling you well you know buy my course and this is how you do it but I can't do
it myself but I'm gonna show you how to do it, but I can't do it myself, but I'm gonna tell you how
to do it. Guys just run from that, if guys can't do it themselves they can't teach you how to do it okay.
Let's just be clear on that. So I went ahead and put a version of this in the description. Check
out my version. Tell me I suck, tell me I'm cool. Tell me it's somewhere in between I don't care
you know you won't hurt my feelings I promise but I am trying to give you the goods to show you that
I'm not just a talker, I actually, you know. Einstein said something really cool. Einstein said that,
that to teach or literally to demonstrate, that demonstration isn't a way to teach, it's the
only way to teach. So what I try to do is with me and my students I try to demonstrate this
for you so you can see as I'm going through all this stuff that I'm giving you the real goods
on how to do this, not some tip or some fast thing and you know 15 days to great singing
or whatever. No this is a lifetime process how we go through this and the more time you spend with
good quality information the better you'll get at it okay. So anyway let's continue. Check it out now.
That's kind of interesting his vibrato is kind of all over the road and in some cases even at the
very intro in the first couple lines it's a little pitchy but it works for his voice, it works for
the track. He's an awesome singer, I'm not saying he's pitchy I'm just saying there was some you
know carbuncles left in it and that's not perfect which is kind of cool. So anyway check it out.
Now (sings) right. He's kind of you know and he does that falsetto now
he can sing those notes up there, he chose to do it that way which is cool.
It's cool.
Awesome.
Cool and then it comes up great solo and then there's this big instrumental break but I
want to go here where he kind of throws down a bit. So right here, check it out.
So the beginning was (sings)
and now it's (sings). I mean it's up there (sings).
So they just transition the whole thing up an octave, to give all this intensity
for this section that comes in and I'm going to bring in the instrumentation in a minute
so we can hear it without but I want to hear the naked, raw vocal first so.
And he repeats the verse and what not and he goes back to it. I want to go to one more section here.
(sings) right.
I got a little flat in the beginning of mine see I got humanity in me too but I do a
version of this and I'm actually crushing it at the end. I remember singing this was a while ago
where I actually add it and whenever I do a cover of something, I always try to add a
little something extra special and so I hung out this note like really crazy towards the end
in the spirit of what he did and making it even longer. So I want to add the instrumentation now
so we can check it out with the band and hear how sexy this is and how, how well orchestrated
everybody's parts coming in. Kind of like Toto. you know Toto does that too. Check this out.
Kind of makes me, sounds like a heartbeat right (sounds) right.
Here's the scary guy he's coming up.
Now it's kind of interesting so they hit you with the chorus,
a bunch at the front, then when the band (sings) right. They kind of like,
they kind of hit you with like a chorusy, heavy you know heavy, or, orchestrated vocal
thing at the front and then when the verse kind of kicks around, they break it down right here
Now I love that phrasing right here (sings). He's got that (sings). He's got this real great phrasing which is awesome right.
Right here.
Cool now I'm gonna add one more thing to this and you know stay with me you guys who are writing songs and
stuff. If I said this if I, if I actually did this line and I wrote this line out right.
If I said law man said get him dead or alive and it's for sure he'll see me dead, most people go (sings)
right and he goes (sings) like so his pocket, when he
writes out the lyric, he doesn't just sit on the groove even though the band's on the quarter
he's not doing that. He's pushing, he's swagging, he's ebb and flow, he's in and out of a really cool phrase
and that is the genius of phrase singing. So singing with cool phrases and he was notorious
for doing that with having some really interesting ways of having a lyric that he's not compromising
the lyric, he's not chopping off a word and for you songwriters or writers out there you probably know,
you know you write these songs and it just seems like a mouthful of lyrics and you just can't
figure out a way to get all those lyrics to work so you try to shorten the lyrics as much as you
can and do whatever you can. That's precisely what he's done and it's precisely how he's doing this
with the band, getting the lyric out that he wants, getting as much as he can without over
singing or having too much of a mouthful, too many lyrics going by because there's a tendency
to want to write too many lyrics because we want to say something with the song and you
know it's very creative to only have a few words to say it and he does it, check it out.
Anyway gang I'm just having a blast doing this, showing you guys all the intimacies,
intricacies, just all of the just downright dirty, raw vocals of, of what it would be like
if we heard these guys doing this for the very first time and how epic these songs became. So
definitely don't forget to like and subscribe to my channel, ring
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Don't forget I have a singing course that helps you walk through this crazy amazingness
on how to get good good at singing and definitely wait, stick around and check out my next video.