The Descendents soundtrack is on repeat in your car, your room, and of course on your TV. You can’t get enough of the catchy pop songs, inspirational ballads, and passionate group numbers.
What if you could sing like your favorite Descendant at the upcoming musical audition?
You’d blow away the directors! It would be pretty cool to learn how to sing like Mal, wouldn’t it? With this guide, you’ll learn how to sing just like a Descendent and knock your next audition out of the park.
How to Sing Out Like a Descendent
It’s important to put in prep work for an audition. There are a few things to figure out before you jump into practice.
Choose a musical audition song.
Think about your vocal range and decide which of your favorite songs would best showcase your talents. For example, Mal’s vocal range is a high D5 and her lowest note is a low G3—this means she is a mezzo-soprano, Alto. In other words, high and low are comfortable notes for her (of course Mal does it all!)
If your vocal range is lower and more alto than a soprano, choose a character like Cruella de Vil or Audrey who has a solid alto range. Remember it’s easiest to impress the casting panel with a strong performance in a comfortable range instead of reaching for notes you can’t hit.
Study the vocal style.
Once you’ve selected your song it’s time to do some research. Listen to the song a few times. Take notes on where the dynamics change—when the song gets softer or louder—and where the big moment in the song might be.
Then assess if there are any unique vocal techniques that you want to add to your performance, like a growl, vocal fry, or vibrato. Figure out why the song is powerful or meaningful. Now you’ve got some areas to focus on in your practice!
Review the character’s emotions and facial expressions.
Your research isn’t done yet! Take time to watch the music videos or the whole movie—any excuse to watch it again—and take notes on the character’s facial expressions and emotions during the song.
Pro Tip: watching how other performers interpret a character can give you some great ideas, but remember to bring your own flavor and interpretation to the character too! Don’t be afraid to make different choices.
8 Steps to Learn How to Sing Like Mal in the Descendants
As you prep for the big audition day there are a few proper techniques to focus on. With these 7 steps, you’ll be singing as powerfully as Mal in the Descendants!
Warm up your vocal folds.
Every professional singer anywhere—if they know what they’re talking about—will tell you to warm up your vocal cords—or vocal folds if you’re a professional. Yes, even just to practice!
Start with a simple exercise—trill your lips while running a scale. Then move into some vowel sound warm-ups like A-E-Ah-OH-U. Once you’ve properly stretched your range you can get into the nitty gritty of strengthening your vocal ability.Don’t forget to smile.
Dove Cameron, the actress who plays Mal, is known for her bright, lifted-tone quality throughout the Descendants films. To achieve that bright resonance try smiling while you sing! This will also help you to lift your soft palate at the back of your throat to help the sound stay light and lifted.
You’ll learn where a true smile is appropriate emotionally in the song, but even during the more serious moments keep the corners of your mouth raised and the back of your throat lifted.Sing in the mask of the face.
One of the singing techniques used in most of Mal’s songs is to send notes forward. This adds to the bright resonance of her tone. Think about sending the notes through your nose and cheeks—sounds odd, but it’s effective!
A great vocal exercise to help you practice this technique is to sing “Eeee” while imagining pushing the notes out of your cheeks and nose. If it tickles you’re doing it right—which makes it a favorite exercise of most singers!Practice your vibrato.
Mal also has a pretty impressive vibrato. Vibrato is when a note changes pitch subtly and quickly—think of it like shaking your vocal cords. You can practice vibrato by imagining your notes as a straight line.
Sing a tall “ah” and push your hands in a straight line, then shake your hands while shaking the note and voila, you’ve got vibrato! For all you technical singers, vibrato is actually created by tilting the thyroid. Ask your voice teacher about this next time!
Don’t worry if this singing skill doesn’t come easily to you—vibrato takes time and practice so keep working on it!Strengthen your breathing technique.
Breathing exercises are important because they teach your whole body to breathe. Here are a few ways to practice breath control.
Take your left hand and place it on your stomach. Take a deep breath in—you should feel your stomach push against your right hand. Now you are going to pulse that breath with the sounds “ha” “ch” “he” and “ho.” For example, “ha ha ha ha” then “ch ch ch ch ch” and so on. You should sound like a freight train!
Once you’ve done a few repetitions of this breath exercise you can move to holding long vowels to practice sustaining a strong sound—just remember you should be filling up your diaphragm from your belly—don’t lift those shoulders!Practice sustaining notes.
Throughout the song, Mal sustains a few high notes for a couple of measures. You may have been taught that the diaphragm controls the rate of exhalation. In fact, the diaphragm contracts for inhalation, and then releases. It is not actively engaged during exhalation and can’t be released gradually.*
The rate of exhalation is controlled by the valve, a.k.a. the vocal folds. When the vocal folds make complete contact during phonation or singing, less air escapes and you are able to sing longer phrases and hold long dramatic breaths.
The easiest exercise to practice this is warming up with m’s—like mee mee mee ma ma ma mim mim mim etc.
Practice your phrasing.
Now that you’ve got the basic techniques needed to sing the song it’s time to practice the phrasing. Take your pencil and mark up the sheet music to tell you when you want to be soft or loud throughout the song.
Mark where you want to take deep breaths and where you want to add vibrato. Then, practice the song that way every time.
If you miss a breath or don’t do a dynamic where you marked one, review tricky sections 3-5 times to make sure it really sticks before going back to the beginning. That’s called targeted practice.
Think of your notes as a vocal guide. And remember, consistent practice really does make perfect!Add emotion.
Remember those notes you took about the facial expressions and emotions throughout the song? It’s time to put them to good use. Think about where in the song you might convey sadness or frustration with your eyes. What will you do with your hands?
All of these little details will pull your audience in and make you a must-watch contestant!
Singing Lessons—Frequently Asked Questions
How much are singing lessons near me?
Singing lessons typically range from $30 to $80 per hour, depending on location, teacher experience, and lesson length.
Are singing lessons worth it?
Yes, singing lessons are totally worth it if you want to improve your vocal technique, gain confidence, and expand your range.
How many years of voice lessons do I need?
With an excellent voice teacher, you can see improvement in a few months, but 1-3 years of music classes will help you build solid technique and lasting progress.
How long does it actually take to learn to sing?
With regular vocal training, most people notice improvement within 6 months to a year of lessons.
Get Vocal Singing Lessons at Chambers Music Studio in Worthington, OH
If you’re ready to learn how to belt like your favorite Descendants character we can help!
Chambers Music Studio provides singing education that will teach you how to master vocal techniques, strengthen your singing ability, help you practice for auditions, and learn to perform with confidence in individually tailored private lessons.
Book a trial lesson and let your singing voice soar! If you’re not ready to meet in person, we offer online singing lessons too!
*Kerrie Obert, Matthew Ellenwood, David Hoffman & The Integrated Vocal Pedagogy Workbook.
