Virtually every jazz standard has a climax built in, just like in stories. This is one of the moments of opportunity for you. Knowing where the climax is located in a song allows you to make the most of this important and dramatic moment and thus captivate your audience.
How to find the climax of your song
Most songs build towards a certain climax or several climaxes. How to find that climax? That is one of the fun parts of singing, in my view.
The climax of the song is often the highest note in the composition. If the melody is written well, you will find that the most important words are stressed by the melody. In most songs the climax is just before the end of the tune (just like in movies). So even though there may occasionally be other notes that are equally high in the beginning of the song, they are unlikely to be the climax.
If you followed all the steps, you will have located the highest notes when determining your key.
If not, a fun way of finding the climax(es) in songs is by singing the melody much faster than the way it is written. Just rush through; you will feel when you reach the highest note, by the amount of effort it takes.
And now what? How to profit? Well, to make an impact on your audience (or yourself) you can slightly stress the climax (either that word or that sentence) by singing it a bit louder, and/or holding the highest note a bit longer (stretching it), or by varying your melody a little.
Have fun trying what works for you! Expand your horizon and ideas by checking out performances by great singers like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Nancy Wilson and see how they treat climaxes.
What I’m advising you to do during the climax, is actually a form of improvising: making a variation on the written melody to emphasize it. Luckily the next chapter shows you how!
Assignment
Locate the climax of the song you selected.
