'Kiss From A Rose' written by Seal

Acoustic version

After last months song "Dream A Little Dream of Me" how did you do?  Did you manage to have a go of singing along with Cathy?  Well we have a new one for you written in 1987 by Seal, not allowing anyone to hear it for several years until he played it to his producer Tony Horn who he gives the credit to for producing it and getting it out into the world and making history in 1994, selling over 8 million copies.

It is well documented online that Seal was never really proud of this song, he threw the tape into the corner after writing it, feeling embarrassed by his efforts.  What is fascinating, is how Tony Horn heard something in it that made it the classic song it is, even today 28 years later.  It is quite fascinating to know, that even song writers like Seal don't always know which songs will be the ones to hit the charts and become famous world wide.

The beautiful thing about an iconic song like "Kiss from a Rose"  is that you can add you own style to it.  The original piece produced has lots of in house production musically and has a feeling of being very mysitcal and ethereal. It allows you to decide what you want the song to be about, something Seal insists that you do anyway.

Contemporary songs are really useful to learn to gain your own style. Listen to how Cathy has adapted this song to suit her voice and create an atmosphere that she is designing using this song. Follow her instructions to help you to create your own way of developing your own style. Then share your findings with us.

Relaxation is Key!

The more relaxed we are physically the easier it is to sing. This fact sounds like an odd one. How can we relax when the very thought of learning to sing is so unsettling, no nerve wrecking?  Before vocal practicing times, learn to get into the correct posture, shoulders back and down and use the 4-4-4 method, breath in for 4, hold for 4 and breath out for 4. When holding your breath, check your posture.  Mentally relax your shoulders back and let the breath flow out of the mouth, pushing from the lower lung, allowing the next breath to flow into the lungs gently. Put some nice soothing music on and spend 5 minutes doing this before starting to do any vocal practice. I call it getting into the singing zone.