- I Listen To Myself Too Much April 17, 2011
I have heard the comment “I think too much” many many times, coming from the mouths of singers, usually young. This comment makes no sense. It goes along with so many others that are also nonsensical like “I like to squeeze my throat”, “I like to hold on to my jaw”, “I’m not usually on top ...
- Repeating The Wrong Things April 11, 2011
Recently, I had occasion to listen to students being taught behind the closed doors of a studio in a building where there were many studios and many people singing and playing music. I have had this experience numerous times. Whenever I hear someone singing nicely I enjoy walking by, listening and taking in the great sound ...
- Taking Things For Granted April 5, 2011
It is easy to take some kinds of information for granted. We all assume that “everybody knows that”. Of course, nowadays, even basic assumptions are often wrong. Things like “all graduates of public high schools in the USA are decently educated” and “those who hold high government office know how the government was formed and ...
- Natural Ability March 29, 2011
I have written previously about talent. My definition is being able to do something very well with little effort and hardly any training. Singing is something that some people can “just do” and do “well”. Some people just have “good voices” and a few lucky individuals have “exceptional voices”. Some people can easily sing with ...
- The Cosmos March 28, 2011
Think of the complexity of most human endeavors. Think of what the brain has to do to coordinate swimming, or skiing or translating freely from one language to another in a running conversation or speech. We are beginning to understand the cosmos and what we are finding is that it is far more complicated than ...
- If You Don’t Sing Well and You Don’t Know That March 26, 2011
I have had some people come to my studio over the years with all manner of tension and distortion in their sound and vocal production and when queried, “How was that?”, the answer is “Fine.” I might have gone further,”How did it feel?” (Looking at a distorted neck, overly tense jaw, and a distorted mouth ...
- Head Down, Chest Up, Mix March 22, 2011
How do you mix if you don’t “just mix”? What do you think of to get a mix? Is it lighter or brighter or both? What is lighter? What is brighter? How do you know when you have either sound? How much lighter is the right amount? How light is too light? Is that possible? What’s the ...
- High Notes March 18, 2011
No one gets paid for low notes unless maybe he is Amonastro or a Russian Bass. People like high notes. Over the decades the fascination with high notes has grown. Higher and higher. No note is too high. No upper limit. We like to hear that “excitement”. My late colleague and nemesis, Elizabeth Howell, used ...
- Why You Can’t Dabble March 15, 2011
It’s very hard to be kinda sorta good at something and also kinda sorta good at something else. At some point, it is easier to be good at just one thing. Really good. If you accomplish this, then, maybe you can also learn to get very good at something else. Being good at several things at ...
- Head Register March 11, 2011
The natural condition of head register is that it is weak, most particularly in the lowest pitches. This means that it is typically also breathy. Since classical singing requires a high degree of head register dominance, it takes quite a while to be able to accomplish singing in a “head mix” in mid-range in most ...
- Bad Choices March 10, 2011
There is currently a new, and somewhat deadly, trend amongst teachers of singing who are open to the idea that belting is not harmful. It is this: if you want to belt, just sing loudly all the time, or sing in your nose. It is sounds bad, that’s OK, because that is what it is ...
- The Purpose of Training March 8, 2011
You can’t sing fully if your voice isn’t strong. Yelling is not a good way to develop true vocal strength. Loudness alone is not a sign of enduring, sustained strength. Strong voices can be loud, or not. A strong voice can do things a weak voice just can’t manage. A strong voice can handle a lot of ...
- The Basics of Somatic Voicework™ The Lo Vetri Method February 26, 2011
The basic principles of vocal function in The LoVetri Method, Somatic Voicework™ are very simple. They are: isolation, development and combination of chest and head registers to create a balanced mix, undistorted vowels, and strong, aligned posture which facilitates deep and easy inhalation and exhalation. If you learned and understood only this about vocal production, ...
- Caring February 18, 2011
What if you like to play piano or sing? What if you aren’t particularly good at other things, are shy and don’t really know what to do with yourself? What if you are from a middle class family of people who “have money” and are all college graduates? What if they expect you to go ...
- What is "Classical" Singing? February 14, 2011
I talk a lot about “classical” vocal training. Singing teachers generally talk about classical vocal training, with the implied understanding that this is “one thing”, that it is in some way a known entity, an organized commodity that is readily available consistently if you seek it out. That is simply not true. “Classical” vocal training can ...