why. I try to present this material in easy-to-understand terms so you can get results right away without having to do a lot of vocal exercising. My methods are based on knowledge of what to do to make a change or improvement or to solve a vocal problem.
What is the one skill that has the most impact on the voice? Support. I’ve found that when you do this precise support method I’ve developed involving the chest, the ribs, the upper belly, and the lower belly, you can do almost anything. I can wake up in the middle of the night and sing a high C with no trouble. Precise support allows me to take chest voice up high comfortably, easily. It can help pitch. It increases the ability to hold things out for a long time. It’s sort of a one-stop fix for vocal problems.
How long does it take to warm up a voice so that it's ready to sing freely? Not as long as one might think. My approach is that stretching the body is a very important warmup, so I teach a whole stretching series just for singers. I like to establish posture and warm up my support muscles. That takes 30 seconds. Then I'll do a few simple exercises to see how my voice is feeling, a diagnostic rather than a precise list of exercises. I make sure my register transition is smooth going up and down. I'll warm up with some hums or light lip trills and then check my vibrato. If it's too slow, that tells me I need to warm up more, and I'll sing some short phrases. Then I have a little exercise to diagnose my belting sound. If it's easy to do, I'm good to go. I'm from the “save it for the stage” school of thought when it comes to vocal warmups. I think that healthy speaking, adequate vocal rest, and knowing how to diagnose and fix problems are key in deciding how much or which kinds of vocal warmups would be good.
What techniques do you use for performance anxiety? Personally, I don’t have performance anxiety, but for my students who do, I have used a method for 30 years which is nothing short of miraculous. It’s a tapping method using acupressure called Thought Field Therapy (TFT). I also use some elements of an offshoot of TFT called Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and another approach called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). It works in as little as 30 seconds and as much as eight minutes. It works on most people, and it allows people who love to perform to do it without all those nervous feelings. In one of my workshops, I'll demonstrate it. It’s just stunning how it works.
How does singing change lives? Singing has the potential to build people’s confidence and can enhance their charisma. It allows people to unload their emotions. Many singers with whom I work, young singers in particular, just must sing. They need to sing to self-soothe and to feel loved and to love themselves. Singing has a very ancient and deep root in community. There’s a divine element to it, a ‘connection to the universe’ feeling, a kind of ecstasy, that is important to all of us so we don’t feel alone and so we don’t succumb to sadness. I think singing brings joy, and that’s a good thing.
How have you weathered the pandemic as a singer/vocal professional? Since the beginning of the COVID lockdown, I’ve focused my energies on teaching private lessons solely on Zoom and Skype as well as presenting numerous webinars and livestreams on topics of interest to other voice teachers. I’ve also produced a number of instructional videos for my YouTube channel and for Singdaptive, an online multi-teacher course for singers. International voice conferences went gang-busters these past two years, and I’ve kept busy doing presentations in far-flung locales such as Chile, Turkey, Poland, and the UK – all from the comfort of my dining room in Southern California! I am crossing my fingers that I can present in the flesh next summer in Estonia and Austria. Fingers crossed! Even though my voice research projects are ongoing, I can’t wait to revisit some of my favorite laboratories so I can experiment with their medical equipment in order to discover new things and either prove or disprove my theories.
What are some things your class attendees at IES 2022 can expect? I’ll be presenting four separate workshops at IES 2022 on a variety of topics such as what makes singing more beautiful to the listener (and to the singer!); how to incorporate precise abdominal breath support for control, ease, and vocal stamina. Other topics will include a definition of what the term “resonance” means and how singers can add or reduce specific resonances for different vocal effects and to help groups blend better. One of my favorite topics is the analysis of what makes different styles differ from one another; I’ll be comparing and demonstrating pop, jazz, country, and gospel styles. Last but not least, I’ll share with participants methods I’ve developed to help singers safely and beautifully take one’s chest voice higher, also known as belting. Lots of information coming your way!
April 2022 |
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