If you’ve been hard at work on your technique but are not getting the results you desire, the solution may await you at the gym rather than in the studio. Come to my workshop, Be a Better Instrument: A Singer’s Fitness Regimen, Monday, March 24th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the National Opera Center and learn how to optimize your alignment, breathing and stamina for singing.
Great art will always be mysterious, but great vocal technique shouldn’t be. With patience, dedication and good instruction, voice students should be able to master the biomechanics of singing.
However, in the studios of even the most celebrated voice teachers, some students progress by great leaps while others do not. Singers with tremendous talent, intelligence, creativity and commitment sometimes fail to fulfill their potential.
This makes success in vocal technique seem mysterious: given tremendous talent and superb instruction, why do some singers get it while others don’t?
It’s due in part to the fact that there are some components of singing technique that cannot be effectively addressed or even assessed in the voice studio.
Postural distortions limit laryngeal mobility. Your level of cardiorespiratory fitness plays a major role in determining how long you can sustain a phrase. These issues can be detected with a fitness assessment but are likely to go unnoticed in the studio.
When your range, resonance, breathing and/or articulation are compromised by your posture, no amount of expert instruction and focused practice will perfect your skills in these areas. You’ll improve up to a point, but you’ll fall short of your potential because you have limited access to your own instrument. The same goes for your breathing – when alignment problems prohibit full expansion of your ribs and your oxygen consumption needs improvement, hours of vocal exercises will never get you where you want to be.
It’s not your teacher’s fault. They’re giving you the benefit of expertise that has yielded success for many singers over the years.
It’s not your fault – you’ve been diligently applying their instructions and advice.
Your instrument may just need some simple adjustments in order to be able to carry out those instructions.
You’re doing everything you can to make sure your technique is state-of-the-art. Join me on March 24th to make sure the instrument you’re playing is, too.
I offer one-on-one fitness assessments and program design on an ongoing basis. Email me for more information or request a fitness session on my Appointment Quest site.
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