Monday, November 09, 2015

How Do I recognize which singers have VOCAL FREEDOM?

When a singer has true VOCAL FREEDOM, a number of physiological aspects of his or her singing will be evident to the trained listener. The singer’s vocal mechanism is not overcome with years of phlegm buildup. The singer’s breath, vocal cords and resonators will be operating in effortless synchronicity with one another. The singer will move about the full register of his or her voice without stumbling at the "bridge" (in Italian "passagio"). These are all very technical aspects of singing, but I must tell you with all earnestness that you will not notice these physiological aspects when a singer with true VOCAL FREEDOM performs.

When a singer has true VOCAL FREEDOM he or she won’t give a thought to a single technical or physiological aspect of singing during performance– not even a fraction of a thought. And neither you nor I would notice the technicalities, either.

When a singer has true VOCAL FREEDOM, the first thing that you or I would notice is that the singer has immediately caught the attention of the audience and touched them deep within their hearts. That singer is focused on TELLING THE STORY, and we are hearing that story without anything getting in the way.

VOCAL FREEDOM allows the singer’s true art to come through to the listener. VOCAL FREEDOM is achieved by allowing the subconscious mind to coordinate the singer’s physiology without having any effort of the conscious mind (and especially the self-conscious mind) impede the flow of expression.

Monday, October 26, 2015

KNOWLEDGE Is Power

Singing is not about your VOICE. It is about how you USE your voice. Everyone can learn how to USE his or her voice. This knowledge is simple to acquire, and it is fun to learn. It is KNOWLEDGE that will set your voice free to sing what is in your heart!

KNOWLEDGE gives you relaxation and confidence. It allows you to express yourself fully. KNOWLEDGE allows you to be the human being that you really are, without feeling tempted to imitate another person.

The KNOWLEDGE that the gift of singing is within you that awakens your singing instinct– You will find yourself opening up with a little song as you go about your daily routine, driving down the road, washing the dishes, taking the family dog out for a walk, and so forth.

I find that when I am feeling out of sorts just singing a little song will set me right much better than any pills or medicine would do. So I ask you– Why have you let yourself be deprived of such a wonderful gift??


Come with us and sing the story that lives within your heart.

Monday, October 12, 2015

The Right Kind of Knowledge

Most people mistakenly believe that singing is a daunting technical and complicated task that only highly trained and educated persons can master. Nothing could be further from the truth, and the first thing that I do with new students in my singing school is to break them from that mythology.

For example, a middle-aged man from the town of Clare had always been interested in singing, and he set an appointment for me to give an assessment of his voice at the Bel Canto House School of Singing. When he sat down with me in my studio I asked him what he was expecting for me as a singing teacher to do at the first meeting. He answered matter-of-factly: "Well, I expect you’ve got a magnifying glass of some kind here in your office so that you can have a look down my throat there, and that will let us know whether or not I can sing!"

Of course, I didn’t look down the fellow’s throat at all! I asked him to sing a little bit of what was in his heart and we used that as the foundation of our work together. The human voice is a mystery and you will best be able to USE your voice when you embrace the mysteriousness of it, rather than trying to cut it up into little pieces that can be explained away.