I’m a voice teacher with more than 20 years’ experience helping singers learn and improve their technique. While my studio is located in New York City, I work online with singers from all over the world. I believe that with commitment, excellent instruction, a well-structured practice regimen and a sense of humor, anyone can master singing technique.
Singing is movement. Singing technique breaks down into movement patterns that can be trained and habituated. Helping singers do this is my specialty – in fact, I wrote a book on the topic, Complete Vocal Fitness: A Singer’s Guide to Physical Training, Anatomy and Biomechanics, now widely in use in conservatory pedagogy classes. I’ve dedicated my career to developing a comprehensive method for optimizing vocal anatomy, alleviating excess tension, and perfecting coordination so that singers can become capable of doing anything they wish with their singing, with minimal effort and maximum confidence.
So if you’ve been finding some aspects of technique elusive, if you’d like your technique to feel more consistent and less effortful, or even if you always wanted to learn to sing but were told that you didn’t have the aptitude, come see me for a lesson. All levels of experience and all musical styles are welcome in my studio.
If you'd like to get an idea of how I approach various vocal issues, please visit my evolving technique playlist on YouTube.
The Singer’s Audition & Career Handbook: Technique Preview
My book, The Singer’s Audition & Career Handbook,is forthcoming from Rowman & Littlefield this summer. The following is an excerpt from Chapter 3, “Technique”.
Classical singing requires the development of maximal vocal range, projection, flexibility, and stamina, as well as superb control of dynamics, registration and vocal color. Throughout their careers, singers must continually refine and adapt their technique as their bodies mature and their repertoire evolves.
All singers begin as self-taught. Because beautiful singing is still widely but mistakenly believed to be the result of natural talent rather than many years of dedicated practice, even highly advanced singers may have a poor conception of what vocal technique is. Many singers perform on sheer youth and willpower right up until the moment they can no longer get away with it. They themselves may believe that the things they do both well and poorly are built-in features of their instrument rather than skills to be developed. Fortunately, it is never too late to develop a technique that can sustain a passion that had previously been fueled by talent and enthusiasm alone.
If you wish to attain mastery, you must first have a clear concept of what mastery means for a given skill set. When defining what constitutes mastery of vocal technique, it is useful to look to instrumentalists as role models, as they generally receive more structured training and effective practice methods, as well as the understanding that excellence takes many years to achieve rather than being a consequence of natural talent.
Instrumentalists know that comprehensive mastery is a prerequisite for pursuing a performance career. They must be able to execute with great skill everything that it is possible to do on their instrument, and I would argue that the same is true for singers. While each of you possesses a voice with unique qualities and a personality with singular attributes, the vocal instrument is essentially the same for all of us, governed by universal biomechanical and physiological principles.
A professional singer should be able to:
- Access the fullest range possible and appropriate for their particular voice
- Produce a focused, consistent sound throughout their range
- Create balanced resonance on all vowels throughout their range
- Sing with organic vibrancy
- Sing with accurate intonation
- Access a reasonable spectrum of dynamics throughout their range
- Perform with consistent legato
- Demonstrate flexibility on scales, arpeggios, and portamenti at a variety of tempi
- Seamlessly navigate registration
- Possess stamina adequate to sustain long phrases
I define vocal technique as a means of developing and coordinating the physical components of your instrument, as distinct from dramatic and musical expression. While we cannot entirely separate technique from expression and musicianship, it is useful to think of technique as the application of principles of movement and motor learning to build skill in the areas of:
- Breath management
- Phonation
- Resonance
- Articulation
These are the essential elements of a comprehensive vocal technique. While approaches to technique may differ and teachers vary the ways they prioritize, emphasize and integrate these elements, an effective technique must develop them all.
No singer develops skill in all of these elements and learns how to coordinate them through natural prowess or instinct alone. Building a solid classical vocal technique requires regular instruction with a skilled teacher, supported by a consistent practice regimen.