THE FIVE “C’s!”
Somewhere in the
seventy’s, I think it
was, a student of mine
was really having major
problems understanding
exactly what was the
meaning of “support.”
“Support”... you know,
that word that the voice
teachers throw out into
the ether, in the
direction of their
students, in a multitude
of languages throughout
the world? It’s “just a
word,” in most cases
because, while most
teachers who have had
professional careers of
some consequence–those
blessed with all the
necessary requirements
to be paid for a
performance–and who have
some understanding that
their job is to “get the
voice out there” to the
audience ... most have
no idea what it actually
entails ... actually! So
... in later years when
the voice begins to fail
them ... they
immediately blame
advancing age ... and it
removes them even
further from the concept
necessary to keep their
voices hummin’ at their
accustomed, respective
level of professional
sound. (You might find
my Testimonial page of
interest.)
All my students learn
the “breathing/support
technique,”™ I developed
for myself, through my
many performances at the
Metropolitan Opera, the
New York City Opera and
elsewhere ... and by
working with my many
students throughout
those years ... the
technique of “flexible
breath-pressure, on
demand!”™ They all learn
this in the first 15-20
minutes of the first
lesson. However, not
unlike learning how to
hit a topspin back hand
cross-court put-away
shot into the Let court
... it takes a bit of
time and practice to
master the coordination
of the technique!
Remember that on which I
keep harping ... “the
voice is a
wind-instrument” and it
takes a strong, flexible
body to fully support
the many and changing
breath-support demands
of challenging
repertoire, from Hard
Rock ... to Grand Opera.
Think on this ... just
because you have a mike
in your hand, for the
former category ...
beside the talent of the
individual ... it is the
energy output that makes
the star!
Meanwhile, back to my
“‘70's” student, I
spontaneously drew a
circle of about a
six-inch diameter and,
within it, drew a
diamond on point! At
each of the four points,
I put a “C.” The first C
was for the action,
“Commit!” the second C,
in a clockwise direction
was to describe how you
should Commit ...
“Crisply.” (a kick in
with the belly-button to
Instantaneously start
first tone of the
phrase, in the center of
the pure vowel …
growing!) The third C
answered the question
“to what are you
Committing Crisply ...
“to the Coordination!”
When that is done
properly ... it gives
you “Confidence” ... to
Commit Crisply to the
Coordination ...etcetera
... Thus was born my
Four C concept!
While affective, it had
always nagged at me as
being incomplete, was
never completely
satisfying, those Four
“C’s.”
Providentially, one day
the missing “C”
amagically manifested
itself ... Commit,
Crisply, to the
Coordination, and you
will gain “CONSISTENCY”
... which will give your
Confidence ... ad
infinitum. “Consistency”
... the magical, missing
ingredient had been
found ... which the
begged the question:
“Can you sing a phrase
with-every-single-vowel-spinning-effortlessly
into the next,
seamlessly, without the
Ah, Oh–or any derivative
of either–falling out
line, falling out of the
honk?”
While I have written
about this before ... it
is of such consequence,
I am rewarded daily with
fruits of my labor. This
last week alone, the
technique has brought a
baritone from a talented
youngster
studying—struggling--with
a “name” singer in the
mid-west ... into a
focused entity who now
has high notes and is
able to sing operatic
arias ... instead of
just Art Songs ... just
like I did with all the
students I to whom I
fell heir, at USC. My
new tenor, Florian
Stollmayer, who just
moved here from Germany
to study with me ... has
a whole new middle voice
with which to complement
his extraordinary high
voice ... full out high
C’s, D’s ... even an F.
Next month ... I will
once again give you the
concept of how all this
comes together ... and
why it prompted Cynthia
Munzer to jump up at the
Voice Juries at the
Thornton School,
USC–after my nineteen
year old student had
sung a full out “Avant
de quitter ” from Faust,
with all of the high
G’s–to ask ... “Richard
…how ... uh ... how do
you get your students so
physically
involved in their
singing?” What she was
actually asking is,
”What is support?” You
must always remember
that “the body is a
strong, flexible
platform of energy,
which allows you to sing
in a seemingly
effortless manner,
through all the ranges
and challenges of the
voice! (I put her tape
of my concept in her box
two days later.)
Between now and next
month, why not scroll
down to the archives and
read some of the past
“Tips” you might have
missed ...