Tip of the Month

APRIL 2013

MY HIATUS

As you may have noticed ... I took a bit of a hiatus from my Tips ... for several months. It was as a result of my having skimmed through the “fruits of my monthly labors of love,” first begun on August, 2007 and having realized there are only so many ways I could verbalize a given subject, while still maintaining the freshness I feel every time, every day when I teach it!  It was amazing ... I understood every word that I wrote ... and, it all made sense! However, my biggest realization was that, while I had virtually laid out all of the aspects of my precise technique-the very technique I have used for all of my professional career-as a vocal “blueprint” in a clear and concise manner, interspersed with a number of pertinent anecdotes that moved the subject along, I felt I had written it all ... but it somehow seemed, incomplete. I had felt that-if a student is really motivated and yes, has the various gifts of musicianship and musicality, desire and perseverance-he/she can very probably become a pretty good singer just from the information contained in all those of those Tips ...

 

Then I recalled my having once turned down a firm offer from a publisher’s rep, to “put your (my) 334 page book on the shelf for $27." I had turned it down because I felt it needed a DVD of my demonstrating my technique, to infuse the text with my personal energy ... and he declined. (That’s one of the dumbest things I ever did. It hadn’t occurred to me, at the time, that I could have put a rider in there to contact me for a DVD ... It simply hadn’t occurred to me and ... I felt another offer would come along ...

But there it was, the one vital element missing from the equation; it is the personal energy and immediacy my presence brings in a lesson, as well as my seemingly intangible “sense of moving through the music” that enhances the student’s opportunity to utilize yet another facet of his/her talent; to begin to imitate all that I demonstrate both facially and with respect to my bodies involvement in the support process. In a relatively short time, they are able play off my energy and my voice, which has its full sound and the high notes with which I sang at the Met and all my other venues.

After spending fifteen or so minutes explaining my Breathing/Support technique (August, 2007), I make a resonant, focused sound instantaneously, lifting and growing through the first sound and get my student to join in. I have them vertically open their throats with a yawn (AW vowel), mouth long and narrow, to raise the palate and then have them sing a full sound ... it takes a few shots, but very soon, they have joined me ... and the student’s voice easily doubles in sound within minutes. After the first half-hour or so, they are not as intimidated as they were at first and soon they are just singing along with me. (For the ladies, I sing in a full falsetto up to an F, an octave and a fifth above middle C, and their hearing me in the pseudo soprano, they join me, quite often in a part of their voices they have not previously been able to use.) Most had never before had that much Flexible Breath-Pressure ® support available so had never been able to open their throats that fully, their soft palates that high. The results often are startling to both of us ... and their respective sounds have grown fuller, bigger and brighter ... in the first forty-five minutes of their first lesson.

I reiterate ... The answer is just too simple; they are playing off my vocal and body energy as well as my sound and ... instead just standing there alone, trying to sing what I have asked … all by themselves, self-conscious and timid! They are singing with me in a fuller voice, with much longer phrases than have ever done before, because I am singing with them. And ... they simply don’t quit; they sing as long as I do, with much more breath control than they had ever before used! It all happens relatively fast because I don’t really give them much time to think too much about it ... as they essentially are too busy making better singing sounds than they had ever made! Yes ... I said all of that stuff twice ... because it is what happens! First time students with natural ability are singing their first song by the end of the first session, those not quite so gifted ... it takes a bit more time. With those who have been singing with bad technique, it takes longer ... especially if they are breathing backward and distending their Belly Buttons, in an effort to support. But … they always go out the door singing better than when they came in. That’s my cast-iron promise, my mantra! I had two of them last week ... but all is on the way to being better. Twenty years ago, it took me quite a bit longer to get that kind of result ... Not any longer!


CLICK LINKS BELOW TO VIEW PREVIOUS TIPS...
 

OCTOBER 12 - BACKWARD BREATHING (CONTINUED)

SEPTEMBER 12
-
BACKWARD BREATHING

MAY 12- WHY GOOD SINGERS GET INTO TROUBLE (And retire early!)

APRIL 12- THE FIVE “C’s!” (REVISITED AND MARGINALLY UPDATED)

MARCH 12- PROACTIVE

FEBRUARY 12- PROACTIVE

JANUARY 12- PROACTIVE

DECEMBER 11 - THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN (Revisited)

NOVEMBER 11 - THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN

OCTOBER 11 -  MY CORDS AREN’T WORKING
 

SEPTEMBER 11 - HELLO FROM CRESTON, BC, CANADA

AUGUST 11 - PERSEVERANCE THE OTHER SIDE-(RESPONSE)

JULY 11 - PERSEVERANCE THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN

JUNE 11
- PERSEVERANCE

MAY 11 - ENERGY!

APRIL 11 - EXTERNALIZING SUPPORT

MARCH 11 - THE IMPORTANCE OF DICTION

FEBRUARY 11 - RESPONSE TO LAST MONTHS TIP

JANUARY 11 - LET'S TRY THIS

DECEMBER 10 - THE FUNCTION OF THE MOUTH... IN SINGING

NOVEMBER 10 - BOY SOPRANO TO YOUNG MAN’S VOICE

OCTOBER 10
- TOOLS OF THE TRADE (i.e. LEARNING REPERTOIRE)

SEPTEMBER 10 - TOOLS OF THE TRADE

AUGUST 10 - JOIN A CHORUS (Addendum)

JULY 10 - JOIN A CHORUS

JUNE 10 - HI THERE SINGERS!
 

MAY 10 - SINGING IS WORK

APRIL 10 - THE FIVE “C’s!”

MARCH 10 - LEARNING REPERTOIRE

FEBRUARY 10 - THE TIGHT JAW

JANUARY 10 - BALANCING THE VOICE

DECEMBER 09 - LOVE CAN REIGN - LINK

NOVEMBER 09 - ABSENCE OF EXCESSIVE TENSION

OCTOBER 09 - YOUR OTHER BEST FRIEND - YOUR MIRROR

SEPTEMBER 09 - EVERYONE CAN SING!

AUGUST 09 - LATENT HERNIAS AND OTHER SUPPORT PROBLEMS

JULY 09 - PRINCE IMRAN RAZA STATESMAN/ROCK STAR

JUNE 09 - ANOTHER NATURAL SINGER - DAVID BURKE

MAY 09 -DISCOVERY OF VOIC
E

APRIL 09 - I'M SICK, BUT I HAVE TO PERFORM TONIGHT  Part 2

MARCH 09 - I'M SICK, BUT I HAVE TO PERFORM TONIGHT

FEBRUARY 09 - SINGING IN ENGLISH

JANUARY 09 - GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 4)

DECEMBER 08 - GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 3)

NOVEMBER 08 -
GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 2)

OCTOBER 08 - GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 1)

SEPTEMBER 08 - HEAVY BREATHING ADVISED FOR JOCKS

AUGUST 08 -  THE VAGARIES OF AUDITIONS AND AUDITIONING (Part 3)

JULY 08 -
THE VAGARIES OF AUDITIONS AND AUDITIONING (Part 2)

JUNE 08 -
THE VAGARIES OF AUDITIONS AND AUDITIONING (Part 1)

MAY 08 - ABSENCE OF TENSION

APRIL 08 -
THE FLAT TONGUE TECHNIQUE AND HOW DO YOU MAKE A VOWEL

MARCH 08  - THE VOICE COACHING THAT  MADE MY CAREER

FEBRUARY 08 - WHAT ARE YOU SINGING?

JANUARY 08 -
VIBRATO/WOBBLE

DECEMBER 07 - BREATHING REVISITED

NOVEMBER  07 - HOW TO KILL A COLD IN FIVE DAYS

OCTOBER 07 - A BIT MORE SUPPORT

SEPTEMBER 07 - MORE SUPPORT

AUGUST 07 - INTRO & BREATHING/SUPPORT