Diya Jain, (New Delhi), Kaamaakshi Bhat, (Zirakpur, Punjab), Rupali Teresa Kujur, (Ranchi, Jharkhand)
On 22nd May 2021, an online vocal workshop was organised by KFANZZ Entertainment where they invited the renowned vocal trainer Mr. Kim Young-min from OTT Entertainment who has worked with groups like SEVENTEEN, NU’EST and many more. This event was made possible by The Honorary Consulate General of the Republic of Korea and OTT Entertainment in collaboration with Hallyuism and several other Indian fan bases. Special guests like Siddharth Nagarajan, who holds the Guinness World Record for most drum beats in a minute using drumsticks, also made an appearance in the workshop. Our Contributors, Ms. Diya Jain, Ms. Kaamaakshi Bhat, and Ms. Rupali Teresa Kujur have penned down their review and exprience of attending the event on behalf of Hallyuism.
Workshop Details
Mr. Kim begins with introducing a basic vocal warm-up exercise called Lip Trilling that every idol-in-practice uses. Lip Trill is the action of blowing air through the lips making the ‘burr’ sound, similar to that of a motorcycle. The mouth is almost closed, lips buzzing or flapping together as you phonate or make noise, and release air. He further demonstrated how through different sounds like O, MUM, HEE, and PUP the lip trill can be helpful in warming up and, with regular practice, can help in mastering any song as well.
The workshop also included an interactive session and after each lesson Mr. Kim Young-min would select volunteers and spend time till they were able to follow along smoothly. A point emphasised throughout the workshop was that as a note changes from lower to higher, one must feel a change or tension at the lower back of one’s head and take it as a guiding hand through changes in tones.
He explained the same with SEVENTEEN’s song, Don’t Wanna Cry and how feeling the ‘change’ means one is going on the right track. Some major points, as highlighted by the expert vocal trainer, that a singer of Korean songs or, in fact, any song should keep in mind are:
To feel the change at the back of your head as the note goes from low to high.
As one progresses towards higher notes, the voice should become lighter and sharper.
To stay true to one’s own voice and not to sound like someone else.
Q&A Session
As the session was coming to a close, Mr. Kim entertained a Q&A session with the participants. Following is an excerpt from the session:
Q. What should be done when we feel out of breath while singing?
Mr. Young-min: To increase lung capacity, practice first with ‘H’ sound words like he, ho, hu, etc. That is, replace the lyrics of a song with such sounds and then practice .
Q. How to hit low notes?
Mr. Young-min: Use chest voice! The key is to make a sound that sounds similar to a yawn. Start high and then go towards low notes. Pressure should be felt on the throat.
Q. Breathing techniques?
Mr. Young-min: Lip trill exercises are very important!
Q. Whose songs to practice for beginners to Korean songs?
Mr. Young-min: For female singers, Anne-Marie, Beyoncé, Jessie J and for male singers, Shawn Mendes Jonas Brothers, some K-Pop Songs to practice are Flower May by Kim Se-jeong, and Panorama by IZ*ONE.
Q. Tips to take good care of the throat?
Mr. Young-min: The trainer personally drinks warm water instead of cold as cold water stiffens the throat muscles. Cover the throat with a scarf etc.
Special Remarks
Mr. Kim Young-min ends the workshop by saying that no one is born a fantastic singer, practice is what makes one perfect. It is okay if you cannot do it at the first attempt, but that should not be discouraging. Failures should be treated as stepping stones to success. Anyone can do it, as long as one tries.
Experience of Attendees from the workshop
“It was a wonderful experience to attend this vocal workshop. It was the first time I took a vocal lesson. Although, I like singing I never had a chance to properly learn it but today’s workshop helped me a lot. I learnt the basic things I need to check out while singing a song. It also made me realise that breathing exercise is a must for enhancement of vocal abilities. I am thankful to KFanzz Entertainment for arranging this workshop.” –Kaamaakshi Bhat, Zirakpur, Punjab
“Thank you for the session, It was a great opportunity to learn from the expert himself. Looking forward for more sessions like this.” –Hanshika
“Thank you so much KFanzz Entertainment and Hallyuism team for organising this for us. It was an immense pleasure to learn techniques from a K-Pop trainer. I would definitely practice the techniques that was taught yoday while singing. I would love to attend more of these sessions in the future. Not just songs but also dance. Also, thanks to the person who translated. Thank you so so much.” –Archana Guruswamy,
“Thank you so much for conducting such an event and providing us such a platform to explore more about K-Pop vocal trainings. I’m very very glad to be a part of this. I hope I could look forward to be a part of these events.” –Roshnee Acharya, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha
“It was the first time that I attended a vocal training workshop. I have been singing since childhood without any training. After today’s session, I could clearly feel the difference between a non-trained voice and trained one. The trainer explained everything beautifully and in an easy way. I was able to follow him and correct my mistakes. This session will be a memorable one for me and I’m looking forward to attend more workshops related to vocal training in the future too.” –Rupali Teresa Kujur, Jharkhand, Ranchi
“I have always been shy about my singing so I was a bit hesitant about attending but the way it was conducted eased me into. Seeing the coach give some individual time as well, I was eager to be a part of the experience as well. It was exciting and fun and I would love to do it again. Huge thanks to the admins for organising this wonderful workshop.” –Diya Jain, New Delhi
We hope you liked reading about the K-Pop vocal workshop experience. KFanzz Entertainment has also recently organised an online dance workshop too. Click here to read about that as well. We look forward to many such events to be held in India when fans all over the country can get a chance to connect with and enjoy such experiences.
Do let us know what kind of events do you all wish to participate in the future? Tell us in the comments.
The workshop was awesome! Would like to attend more vocal workshops by them. Had fun learning❤️
Sadly i missed the workshop but got to know about the key points from this article 🙂🌿
Though I am not good in singing but reading the article,I think the workshop was really good for those who wants to learn singing,nice article.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Woww this sounds like an interesting workshop!😍
sir was truly amazing and gave individual attention as well! Definitely worth attending 🤩
It was a wonderful experience indeed. It was my honour to contribute in writing this article. I hope many people will learn about basic Vocal training through this. ^^~~
The article provides detailed info👍 looking forward to more such workshops ❤️
Even tho I was not present at the workshop, this article gave all the details and it sounded like it was such an interesting workshop
Thank you for organizing this workshop and giving us this wonderful opportunity to learn from progressionals.
It’s a great article.
Thanks so much❤
More like this is required ☺️
Another great article 😍
Thank you!
Wow😍 It seems like session was enjoyable and learned many things as read in article. Hope to get many sessions like this in future.
❤❤