The following are the core Principles of SVW™ , and some of the basics of the approaches used in SVW™ CCM training:
- The vocal mechanism needs to be strengthened and made flexible in order to work optimally.The process is best done slowly and gradually with an eye and an ear to detail.
- Singing is a craft, learned as a physical skill, increasing in virtuosity as the physical body strengthens and the voice coordinates with it.
- Healthy, free singing requires good posture (alignment).
- Proper breathing requires strong upper body and abdominal muscles.
- Singing requires strength and coordination in both the ribs and the abs together to sustain the pressure of air during exhalation.
- The purpose of functional vocal training is to prepare the physical instrument to stand up to full, free expression of emotion through text and music.
- The primary goal of functional singing training is freedom of sound making in any application and expression of meaning through song.
- Some individuals have more natural capacity than others in various areas of the process of making sound while making music. (We call this “talent” but it may just be good coordination and sensitivity to music.)
- Anyone with normal speech and hearing can learn to sing.
- Anyone who can sing can learn to sound pleasing.
- It is possible to sing healthily in a wide variety of styles and vocal qualities.
- All vocal skills can and should promote vocal health and hygiene.
- The human voice is capable of making a wide variety of sounds, qualities, textures, pitches and levels of volume (intensity) freely and healthfully.
- A healthy sound is a free sound, and vice versa.
- Singers are only able to sing a song to the level his or her physical co-ordination and skill allows them to. Technical limitations become musical and expressive limitations.
- The purpose of singing is to express deeply felt, authentic emotions through various kinds of music.
- When a student can’t sing something the problem lies with the instruction, not with the student or the student’s ability.
- You can’t sing what you can’t hear.
- Pitch problems are almost always problems of physical coordination, not of the mind’s ability to hear pitch accurately.
- The physical body can contain blocked or deadened areas, which lack awareness of sensation, and these areas must be awakened and developed in order for the sensations and emotions to be available.
- The process of developing singing in this manner is a way to help each individual be more authentically who they are. It is meant to enhance each individual’s intuition about what is right with his or her voice and body.
- Singers can and should hear themselves at all times and must be encouraged to develop the ability to listen functionally while singing.
- Each person is always doing his or her best.
- Everyone is capable of greatness.
- The singer always knows best about their own body and sound.
- The body has its own wisdom and always goes toward health whenever possible.