Legato is a fancy music term for playing/singing music smoothly and in a connected way. It would be the difference between something along the lines of ha ha ha ha and ahhhhhhhh when sung on several notes. There is more to legato than that though, as even one vowel sung along several notes can end up not quite sounding as connected and smooth as is required for very legato songs.
In order to create a good legato, you must control your air. The air needs to leave your body in one consistent stream without and sudden increases or decreases in speed or quantity. This is a big difference between singing and speaking as speaking will often put small stops in between words. A great way to practice this is an extension on SOVT straw singing. Sing through a straw and into a nearly full cup of water. The cup should be about an inch shy of full. Singing through the straw and into the water, watch the bubbles. The bubbles should not stop, get larger, or get smaller. Note the feeling of steady and consistent airflow. Try to replicate this feeling on several notes using a single vowel. If you are able, try extending this to singing words into the straw and note the difficulty in getting "B" and "P" or any plosive consonant to be consistent as well as the difficulty in keeping the words connected. Maintain this feeling without the straw and you've got yourself a strong legato.
The next step of this is to work on legato at different volumes, but that is for a future post. If you want help with legato right now or need help with another area of your singing, sign up for singing lessons with me by clicking here!
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