Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method Teachers' Association

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I’m Good Enough Already

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I just encountered this again. Sadly, there are people, even professional people, who think this. They get to a place they like and they stay there, sometimes forever.

What kind of artist thinks, “I’m good enough already?” What kind of  singer has the idea that there is no further place to go? A bad one, I would say.

Being an artist comes with the responsibility to always be looking for the next discovery and if you sing, that discovery should be at least partly in the voice itself. As you grow, and later as you age, the body is constantly changing. Working to be the best vocalist you can should be an on-going journey for all the time that you sing. It should continue if you become a teacher after no longer performing, as not to keep digging will make you a less dynamic, interesting guide for others.

There are a lot of reasons why people do not continue to work on their singing, most of them not good. Unless there is some kind of debilitating illness or a change in life circumstances that warrants a period of withdrawal from vocal study, a singer who is lazy, complacent, disinterested, lacks confidence, afraid, bored, or simply an egotist, should be addressing the voice as a life task. I have been asked by students, “Why should I work on my voice any more? I like it the way it is.” The answer to that is always the same. “How do you know that you have found all of what your voice can do? How do you know the voice that you like so much couldn’t be even more wonderful? How do you know if you are doing something that isn’t good which could be improved by working with a true expert?” Really, who are you, who is anyone, to think, “I’m already good enough.”

I have been blessed in my life to work with some of the top vocal artists in the world — people making their livelihood by performing as singers — and none of those people (zero) was “content” to rest upon his or her laurels. The more professional they were, they more willing they were to work on being not just good  but excellent.

If you have run out of ways to work on your voice and on your singing, you need to acknowledge that it is completely unnecessary to be stuck there. Skilled teachers will find ways to take you to the next place, to challenge you to grow and to find new ways to be artistic when you sing. You might have to look to find the right instructor, but if you seek, you will find.

Never rest on your past or current accomplishments. Doesn’t work.

Branding

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Some recent articles about the profession of teaching singing have strongly protested branding. Seems a few people are outraged that singing teachers have brands and give out certifications. These critics say that all the information anyone ever needs has been for around for years and that nothing else is necessary.  They are condemning and suspicious of branding. They believe that what you need, of course, is a doctorate (in classical singing).  That’s better than anyone’s brand or certification. ? Right.

I guess these people have never heard of The Alexander Technique®, Feldenkrais® work, Suzuki® training, Montessori® schools, The Lee Silverman Method®, or dozens of other branded methods of training in different fields that are educational in nature. They may not have heard  of copyrighting a book or article that addresses a specific pedagogical point of view.  Haven’t all the good pedagogy articles and books already been written? Who needs another “expert” opinion on breathing or formant/harmonic tuning? Don’t we all already have that information? Since a few of these people think you can teach belting by “matching up the right numbers”, even though they can’t sing a belt song under any circumstances, I wonder how clearly they grasp anything else.

If operatic training prepared you to sing metal rock, all opera singers would be able to sing metal rock. If metal rock prepared you to sing opera, all metal rock singers would be good opera singers. (After all, they are both loud.) If singing in mix was a great way to sing either metal rock or opera, then no one would need lessons and everyone would, indeed, sing every style of music with equal ease. Guess that’s not true, huh? Maybe someone should point that out to these experts who may not, in fact, be as expert as they themselves think, particularly when it comes to the actual singing and not just the “talking about” singing. ?

Being outraged that some teachers have discovered a successful way to organize singing training that isn’t based on breath support, resonance or formant/harmonic tuning only shows profound ignorance. Being against branding is like being against high speed rail trains……useless. Sooner or later, all trains will be high speed. Some countries are already using them. Sooner or later, the most successful methods of singing training will be recognizable brands. Some already are.

Yes, there are some really crazy teachers of singing out there and yes, they have methods and give out certifications but not everyone is in the noodnik category of Mr. and Mrs. Outrage’s articles. Some people who have brands actually have the endorsement of high level voice scientists, speaking voice pathologists, medical doctors, award-winning singers, highly experienced singing teachers (with doctoral degrees) and university music departments who are open to learning new things from someone else. If you lump everyone with a brand into the same “lousy” and “suspect” category, you are simply showing your own prejudice and exposing that you have not done your investigative homework. It’s like saying McDonald’s is bad because the food you get in every McDonald’s all over the world is exactly the same. No, that’s actually one of the strengths of McDonald’s. It may have problems, but that’s not one of them.

Since the profession has been completely unwilling and unable to organize itself to have even the smallest amount of agreement about what singing training is or should be in any style including classical, it leaves it open to individuals who have been willing to take a stand to do so. The educational vacuum left by the professional associations will be filled. The profession cannot, then, be angry when that is done. Individuals who protest branding should look at why such training programs are so successful when they are.

Those who write to vent should take care. It doesn’t work. I would say to Mr. and Mrs. Academia, “A majority of your information seems  to be about things that have existed for 200 years. Maybe it’s time you had the humility to explore the new things you have dismissed as being beneath you and find out why other people want a certification. A method based on solid premises and a long established public history might be well worth your exploration. Who knows, if you actually see it with open eyes, you might learn something. Wouldn’t that be an illuminating experience?”

 

 

So You Want to Stage a Choral Pop/Rock Concert!

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by Jeffrey D. Costello

Not a concert where each choir sings one or two songs to a CD accompaniment track, but a real pop/rock concert with a real pop/rock backing band. How does one go about accomplishing this? What is involved? What are the things one should do to achieve a successful performance, and what are the things one should not do?

I have been the Director of Choirs at Creekside Middle School in Zeeland, Michigan since 1996. I’ve also been a professional drummer, vocalist, and guitarist since 1985, with extensive performing experience in the pop/rock field as a member of the Michigan-based bands Paris Blue and Cos & Cos.  Paris Blue toured the Midwest from 1991 from 1995, playing venues in 14 states as a regional touring rock act, performing 300 nights per year in 200 to 1,700 seat venues. I’ve also worked as a live sound engineer for 20 years, and a recording studio owner/operator for 14 years, recording, mixing, editing, and mastering local talent, including everything from hard rock acts to church choirs.

My school choirs sing a balanced repertoire, but due to my extensive performing, arranging, and composing of Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM,) I tend to program more CCM material than most choir directors. This article will serve as a “how to” for choir directors interested in staging a full-blown live rock concert with their choirs.

 Voice Training

It all starts here. The vast majority of public school choir directors are classically trained musicians who have little experience singing, teaching, and in many cases, even listening to CCM styles of music. In order to properly train vocalists to sing CCM styles, I recommend that teachers seek additional training beyond what most colleges and universities offer. In order to truly understand a musical genre it’s vital to be immersed in it, first by listening. A choral pop/rock concert sung all in head register, with tall, dark vowels would be stylistically inappropriate. Just as singing Handel, Bach, or an art song in a belt sound with bright, spread vowels would be equally as inappropriate. I train my choirs and private students to sing in, and respect, all vocal styles. The tool I use to achieve this is Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method. Ms. LoVetri’s method of voice teaching is both intuitive and science-based, training the ear, the body, and the mind to change styles seamlessly as deemed by the repertoire. It is registration-based training, meaning the vocal muscles of head voice and chest voice are coordinated and strengthened in a systematic fashion with specific vowels, tonal patterns, and dynamics.

One way I apply The LoVetri method to my work is in the process of teaching middle school choristers who are just learning to sing in harmony. If, for example, my altos are accidentally singing the soprano part, I ask them to check which vocal register they are using. If the music calls for the altos to sing around middle C, and they are singing in head register rather than chest register, chances are good they are not singing their part, but are singing the head-register dominant soprano part by mistake. In that moment I remind the altos “It’s a register thing!” and, as they develop, they learn to match the feeling of the registration to find the correct pitches in the lower range.

Another benefit of Somatic Voicework™ is that it teaches singers to mix, or sing in a

blend of chest and head registers. Singing in a mix is crucial for CCM vocalists, both male and female. Most CCM singing between E4 and B4 uses some form of mix. An exception to this is the belt sound, which refers to carrying chest register above E4. Somatic Voicework™ is also a great tool for teaching a healthy belt. Establishing in all singers’ minds that registration is a vocal fold event, and that vowels occur by shaping the pharynx and articulators differently is important to understand. From there we can move toward exercises that work all elements. Some exercises address bright or dark vowels, others address registration or articulation, and many address all components. The teacher must be able to discern a vowel change from a registration change in order to properly demonstrate and teach it.

I focus on bright vowels for CCM material and dark vowels for classical material before addressing registration at all. A typical warm-up for the choir would have them singing a five-tone scale (ascending and descending) on “ah” as in “father” for the bright sounds. I then have them switch to “aw” for the dark sounds. We go back and forth every other half-step. These types of exercises keep the vocal instrument moving and flexible, which is a core principal of Somatic VoiceWork™.

In order for a singing voice to be balanced and healthy, a singer must have a strong head register and a strong chest register. My choirs sing a great deal of CCM literature, so they tend to use a bit more chest register than a typical middle school choir. I teach them to stay on the “oh” vowel above the primary passaggio and not let their vowel change to “ah.”  I encourage them to lighten their registration gradually from chest, into more of a chesty-mix, into a heady-mix, and ultimately into head register.

Registration also plays a part in choral blend. When voices are in a similar pitch range, they need to be singing in the same registration. Particularly in CCM singing, females and tenors need to utilize chest register below E4 (primary passaggio) and as high as G4, depending on the dynamic level. Between E4-G4 and B4 some form of mix should be used. Above B4 the instrument will automatically go toward head register unless we override the system. Singing louder is one way to take a chestier sound higher than it would normally go in a softer passage.

Acoustics of the Performance Space

If the choral performances you normally direct are with piano accompaniment, chamber instruments, or are sung a cappella, you may not have considered the acoustics of the space, because in those situations it is most beneficial to perform in an acoustically live space. Anyone who has attended a performance in a church where CCM (with drums and electric guitars) is performed has likely noticed that those spaces are acoustically different from older churches and auditoriums that were acoustically designed for pipe organs, chamber instruments, and choirs. When presenting a CCM performance, in order to ensure a successful aural experience for the performances and audience, the performance space must be as acoustically dead as possible. This means if your school’s auditorium has a removable acoustic shell of any type, insist that it not be used for this performance. Instead, utilize curtains (the thicker, the better) to surround the stage. Acoustic “clouds” should also be placed in the non-reflective position. If acoustic enhancing surfaces are used, and the resulting acoustic space is too live, then drums, cymbals, and guitar amplifiers will become much to loud for the performers and the audience.

 The Sound System and Engineer

In order to stage a successful choral pop/rock concert, the venue must have a high-quality, powerful sound system and qualified sound engineer. A concert like this requires much more of the sound engineer than simply turning up the solo mics, and because a Music Education degree doesn’t typically include any instruction pertaining to sound systems, microphones, or recording equipment (an injustice, in my opinion), you may want to hire a professional sound engineer if your school district does not employ one. The sound engineer will be able to determine whether or not additional equipment is needed to successfully stage the event. In my experience, most school auditoriums do not have adequate sound equipment to stage a full rock concert. If this is the case, renting of additional equipment may be necessary. In order to have it sound like a real pop/rock concert, we want all the sound the audience hears to be coming from the sound system. This is not your father’s choir concert! Everything will be miced. (The tech/production world has adopted the words “mic” and “miced” as official, correctly spelled, terms.) In other words, the miced sound of your choirs should overpower the acoustic sound that the audience typically hears. This is important because the volume of the backing band will otherwise drown out your choirs.

 The Band and Their Equipment

The professionalism of the band you hire is important, including the quality of their instruments and equipment. This is not the time to let the local high school garage band perform with your choir. If you want a professional sound, hire professional musicians who use top-quality instruments and equipment. If you don’t know where to find these musicians, speak to folks at the local mega churches who perform CCM music, and reach out to their musicians. Many of these musicians play professionally in other areas and are often consummate pop/rock performers. These musicians will obviously require payment. From my experience, school choir concerts generally do not charge for attendance, but that needs to change for an event of this magnitude. I charged $3 per person for my recent Rock of Ages concert in a 960-seat venue, and easily raised enough to pay the musicians what they deserved, as well as purchase/rent all the needed equipment.

The use of a drum shield (an acrylic or plexiglass shield surrounding the drums to reduce stage volume) is also advised. For an event like this, the sound engineer will want to mic all the drums, believe it or not. This is the only way to get that punchy feel through the sound system that we’ve all experienced at pop/rock concerts. You also want to have the sound engineer closely monitor the volume level of the instrumentalists. Generally speaking, the louder the musicians play, the more difficult (even with choir mics) it will be to get the choirs out front in the mix. If you can find instrumentalists who use computerized modeling amps and ear monitors (a topic worthy of a complete and separate article), instead of traditional amplifiers and wedges, volumes will be much easier to manage.

 Monitors

In every performance with drums and amplified guitars, the vocalists will need monitors to hear themselves, as well as to hear the accompaniment clearly. Your sound engineer should be able to assist with where to place the monitors (also known as wedges, due to their shape,) but they should be on the floor in front of the choir risers, and pointed at the singers. Solo mics should be fed to these monitors so the soloists can hear themselves. Choir mics should not be fed to the monitors because this will cause the unpleasant squealing sound we’ve all experienced. Depending upon the physical location of the band you may also need to place monitors near the instrumentalists so they can effectively monitor the singing, and make musical adjustments as needed, especially if the band is located away from the stage. (See next paragraph.)

 Location of the Band

Where should you put the band? You could employ the traditional procedure of putting them on the stage, in front of the choir risers, but instrumental volume and balance with voices likely will become an issue with this setup. If an orchestra pit is available, this is a viable, but less exciting, option. You could have them set up in the wings, but that’s also not very visually appealing. For my Rock of Ages concert I wanted the audience to see the band, but I didn’t want the band to visually overshadow the choir, so I made the decision to purchase 40” legs for our Wenger portable staging units, and I placed the band behind the choir risers (see video link.) With the band behind the choir, it provided an exciting concert-like appearance, yet allowed the singers to still be the main focal point of the visual experience. Another viable option, and one I’m planning to use this year, is to put the band on one of the “tech decks” (an elevated area in front of the proscenium.) If your auditorium was built sometime over the last 20 years, you may have this as an option. With this setup, the drums and amplifiers are far enough away from the choirs that instrument “bleed” into the choir mics should not be an issue.

 Light and Effects

In order to create the atmosphere of an authentic pop/rock concert, you will want to give consideration to lighting and special effects like fog. If your auditorium doesn’t have much in lighting, you may wish to rent additional lighting equipment, and consider hiring a lighting designer. Fog machines (hazers), moving lights, strobes, etc., greatly enhance the appearance of a pop/rock show. These effects can be rented if they are not available in your auditorium.

 Conclusion

Staging a successful choir pop/rock concert is no easy feat, but with the right instrumentalists and equipment, it is an achievable goal that will provide your singers with a real life CCM performing experience. This type of experience is similar to what some students will be involved in after graduation in places of worship and community events. There is also the viable option of utilizing pre-recorded CD accompaniment tracks for an authentic pop/rock sound. My band accompanied the choirs on ¾ of the songs performed on our Rock of Ages concert. The other songs utilized CD accompaniment tracks.

Choir directors seeking to learn more about teaching and singing in CCM vocal styles should consider attending The LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework™ at Baldwin Wallace College in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

 

Youtube link to video of my concert: https://youtu.be/GacXvkE7Nbs

Link to the local news spot:  http://fox17online.com/2016/06/13/zeeland-middle-schoolers-rocks-audience-with-rock-of-ages-show/

Jeff Costello is available for consulting in all areas pertaining to live sound for choirs at parisblue3@gmail.com

Bio

 Jeff Costello has been the choir director for Creekside Middle School in Zeeland, Michigan since 1996. He began his musical career as a professional drummer and vocalist for the band “Infynity” in 1985 and continues to perform (on drums, guitar, keyboards, and vocals) to this day. His current band, “Paris Blue” enjoyed a run as one of the top Michigan regional touring bands on the “A Circuit” From 1991 to 1995 when the band retired from full-time performing.

Jeff is a State Honors Choir Director Nominee, was director of choirs at Second Reformed Church (almost entirely classical choral literature) in Zeeland, Michigan from 2000 to 2010 and also maintains a busy private voice studio.

 

 

“Post-Truth” Singing

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It is hard to imagine but we are currently living in an age of “post-truth.” It is difficult to wrap my mind around the idea that truth is not real but whatever someone says it is, yet this is being stated every day. This is incredibly dangerous. There is also “post-truth” singing.

Hiding behind things that are lies is not new. Many have done that  since recorded history began. What’s new is that our mainstream society has become comfortable with that as a new normal. It has taken on the idea that we each “create our own reality” and grossly distorted what that means.

Let’s get something straight. Each of us is responsible for our own lives. We can choose how to react to what happens to us, or has happened in the past, and we can choose to deal with all repercussions of our existence in a positive manner, even if that is sometimes very challenging. Together, we create families, groups of friends, organizations, local and state governments, federal governments and world governments. In each of these we have groups of people who, more or less, agree to hold the same or nearly the same point of view. As the group increases in size, the power of the thoughts that hold it together magnifies. When the beliefs are held by millions or people, they get very powerful. Those who know how to harness those beliefs can be helpful or harmful, depending on their own philosophical ideas.

Only those beliefs which are uplifting are worth holding. All negative beliefs lead to pain and suffering, to harm and to deterioration. That which is dark, hidden, distorted and twisted produces the same. The only counterbalance to this is light, openness, honor, and yes, truth. That which is redeeming and uplifting is worthy and that which is degrading and condemning is not. A choice. A necessary choice, in every human being, every day. As Yoda would say, “Beware the dark side. It will overtake you if you let it.”

In singing, there have been individuals who have decided that what they believe, others should also believe. Some have done research (if you could call it that) on their own throats, assuming that what holds true for them automatically holds true for others. With hubris, these people decide that everyone else should cause the same movements within their throats that they see in their own. They dictate that these manipulative movements, whatever they may be, are good and useful. This ploy is powerful particularly to those who know little about the voice and who are easily swayed by any argument.  We in our Western society have for hundreds of years rested upon the belief that science is based on truth, on data, on findings which are shared in order to be replicated without bias by others. Those who use science to build their case by manipulating the data to favor their own ideas are dangerous, as this is not science at all. It is “post-truth” information.

Only by observing a wide range of behaviors in a wide range of singers and comparing them, one to the other, can there be any science, valid and provable by objective measures. And, without a context in which the data is evaluated, the importance of it cannot be known. If I study gorillas in a cage in a lab, what does that tell me about gorillas in a rainforest? If I study “belters” in African bush culture is that the same as studying “belters” on Broadway? How can any valid conclusions be drawn?  If I study myself, and I assume that all singers do exactly what I do, is that even possible to assume? By what means can we determine that?

Beware those who claim something based solely on their own experience. Beware people who would make themselves more powerful than others by declaration. “I am the only person who can tell you the truth” is never truthful. No. The only things that cannot lie, that will never lie, are the body itself and the throat as part of the body. Therein only lies the truth of freedom, of expression, of being alive as a human being.

Now, more than ever, it is necessary to take only that which can be found to be objective, and proved by objective measures, to be true. Beware all those who tell you they have the only answers. Do not be fooled by the noise, the packaging, the show, the marketing, the media circus. Trust, instead, your own voice and body, your own wisdom and your own heart. In singing and in life.

Conscious Singing

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Most people do not fully understand the power and depth of sound as a creative force in the universe. Conscious singing, that is, being  a conscious sound-maker, or being one who brings forth the primary creative energy of the Universe, is an extraordinary experience. It is  simultaneously transformative to do and to hear.

Someone singing from the depth of his or her soul, pouring all mental and emotional energy into the sound and the intention of the words and music, is aligning with the energy of life itself. In the beginning was the Word or the Sound is real. Particularly for those who do not process the voice through any type of  electronic amplification, sound uttered in this manner carries an irresistibly riveting  magnetic energy.

In some traditions such as Indian, Islamic and Hebrew, the people who are the “keepers” of the sound understand this and are trained to be able to encompass it. It takes years of dedicated work to be able to “get out-of-the-way” and let the sound sing you. In order to be able hold and use such sounds, made through the physical body,  a singer must develop an exquisitely prepared mechanism, one that is both pure and strong.

Sometimes these people become famous singers, recognized in the world, but not always. Some are known only to small groups, some are never known. Those who dedicate their lives to generating sound as this level are moving the sub-atomic particles of the universe (as we understand it now). This requires the purest heart and the most profound willingness to serve the highest good with nothing asked in return. That there are people who do this could be hard to imagine but they do exist although they are very rare.

At this time, when our entire planet is being challenged by energy that is dark and forbidding, conscious singing is needed to help strengthen everything that is of love and light. If you respond at all to these words or if they seem to stir in your heart any awareness or desire to know what the words truly mean, you must listen to your intuition. Singing not for fame and fortune, not for recognition in the world but to transform daily life, asks for many spiritual qualities: dedication, perseverance, humility, courage, insight, clarity, open-heartedness, sacrifice and many other qualities. Singing consciouly  becomes a force for healing and for good. It lifts up those who hear it and it carries the vocalist on a stream of energy that is indescribable.

When ones sings from the source of sound in the Universe, out of, as it were, the heart of God, the entire planet hears and is energized, whether they are aware or not. If you are called to sing in this way, you will not find in the many popular methods of vocal training a quick answer in maneuvers to give you special effects as if you were a singing circus. You will not find answers on YouTube in the “trending” videos or on Facebook from teachers of singing who have thousands of “likes”. No. To find a teacher who can guide you on this specific path, you have to arrive at his or her studio through the guidance of the Universe itself. And do not be  quick to judge the book by the cover. Sometimes those who look least likely are the True Masters hiding their inner glory from the world. The light within cannot be seen with just your physical eyes and the information in your intellect.

Stand, if you will, in the light of your glorious, beautiful, effulgent, radiant voice. Do the necessary work to liberate it in and through your physical body, harnessing the depth and power of your breathing to the clear intention of your mind. Allow your sound to be the bridge between this world and the next, between your body and your soul. Allow the sound to be present in each moment by releasing it as it passes through you to die away after you utter it. Accept nothing less than that as truth and let what sounds you make in this way ring out to the world, if only in the solitude of your home. Be a conscious singer.

This is what is needed now on this earth. Now is the time. Are you called? If so, then seek and ye shall find.

Please share this with anyone who may be interested.

 

 

Never Too Late

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It’s never too late to find your true voice. If you are open to exploring, if you have a sense of singing, if you are willing to have that experience, age is no barrier.

Recently, in a master class, I was able to help someone find his voice in a way that he never had. In about 30 minutes we shifted into a sound that was truly beautiful, in a classical vocal production, and he was surprised and delighted. After we were done he said he felt he had found the voice he had always searched for. This man was in his mid-60s and has been singing all his life. The shift was small but produced huge results.

With my work, this happens on a regular basis in master classes and in the studio. It also happens in the studios of those who have taken Somatic Voicework™ into their own hearts and use it wherever they may be. It isn’t some “magic” that exists only in me. It works because the throat and the body function in certain ways and when you sing in ways that are in concert with those behaviors, the sound emerges. By itself.

It hurts to see people teach things that tie a student in vocal knots, or force a student to sing in a particular mode or style at an early age, or ask for the student to make the throat do things it doesn’t like or want to do, or ask the student to strive for “resonance” at any cost, or deliberately constrict, hold, move, position, force or manipulate any structure within the throat itself. Absolutely none of that is ever necessary. If you don’t believe that, go back to the home page and listen to me go from Bellini, to Carmichael, to Three Dog Night. I did not need to do any of the above things to make those changes. Live. Unedited. At 66. With a bum left vocal fold.

If you still want to force your voice in the name of “vocal technique” you need to ask yourself why. It’s never too late to come home to the voice you have always had and couldn’t find.

Accommodation

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Some people are very accommodating. They will do their best to help you, grant your request, assist you, or even inconvenience themselves so that your needs are met. This can be very important in relationships and in life.

If you sing you have to accommodate the lyrics to the music or vice versa. You have to make sure they work together well. This is true whether or not you sing someone else’s music or if you write and sing your own. You must accommodate the intention of the words — what do these words mean to you and why is that important? If you are hired to sing something you don’t necessary like or would have not chosen to sing on your own, you have to find a reason why doing it really enthusiastically makes sense. You must accommodate the work you are being paid to perform. Period.

If you work with other musicians or vocalists you accommodate them by being a good colleague, making sure to maintain a flow between you all as you rehearse and perform. If you want to make any situation work, you need to take in the largest possible picture and then work to accommodate the overall good of the scenario, even if you have to step your own expectations down.

Sadly, some people can’t be accommodating to anyone ever. They have to have their way, they have to get what they want. They view accommodating someone else as an insult to their own sensibilities. Those people don’t do well unless they have other attributes that compensate — a great sense of humor, a brilliant mind, or perhaps a generous pocketbook. Sometimes even that isn’t enough.

If you are running a singing studio, please remember to accommodate your students by being attentive and adjustable as you meet their vocal needs. Go a little out of your way to do someone a favor, to bend your policies or to offer more than you had planned. Yes, keep clear boundaries. You don’t want to end up feeling like you were used or taken advantage of by the students, but you do not need to be rigid or strict in your behaviors either.

Being accommodating is the opposite of being self-involved. It is what used to be called “the customer is always right”. It implies that the other person or the situation is more important than you are or your life is and that by adjusting to the needs of others you are doing something good. In this day of “me first” it is more difficult than ever to find someone who is willing to be accommodating. When you encounter it, be sure to be grateful.

Spotlight On Suely Mesquita

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Guest Interview by Billy Gollner

How did you get started in music?

I’ve been singing since I was a little kid, I was attracted to music; my mom signed me up for piano and guitar lessons. Many years later, I began singing in choirs, when I was 19 I began singing lessons with a classical teacher.

As a Brazilian singer, the most important element for learning and growth was singing with friends, learning and teaching informally from one another.

Where did you go to college and what did you study?

I studied Psychology. My family didn’t support the idea of going to Music School. My mother played piano and guitar, we listened to lots of music at home but music was considered something fun that people did at home; it wasn’t really considered a profession.

In my third year of studying psychology, I was certain that I did not want to work in the field. However, I finished the degree and have never worked a day in psychology. [Read more…] about Spotlight On Suely Mesquita

Spotlight On Dr. Darren Wicks

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How did you get started in music & singing?

I started as a high school music teacher, I did that for many years, and I was a Jazz piano player. I quickly realized the potential of singing as a way of effecting positive change in music education; I realized that the best tool I had was my voice and the students’ voices and I needed to get them singing but I knew I needed to become more confident in singing myself.

I studied some methods around music education and singing, most notably were Kodaly & Orff. Eventually, I became increasingly interested in choral work and made the transition from classroom music teacher to being a studio voice teacher. [Read more…] about Spotlight On Dr. Darren Wicks

Getting Your Voice Together For The First Time

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Some people have never had the opportunity to experience singing with freedom and ease, making a pleasing sound and expressing their feelings while singing. This is a terrible loss.

If singing teachers were doing a good job across the board, anyone who took regular lessons for two years and practiced in between lessons, would end up sounding better and feeling better and enjoying the process, regardless of where they started. People who had little background would begin to sound good and people with natural ability could sound really terrific. Sadly, this is often not the case with training. In some small percentage of the cases, the issue could be with the student, but most of the time it is due to inadequate teaching. There are few good ways to learn to teach singing, as even in the schools that offer degrees in vocal pedagogy, most schools do not yet have programs that focus upon how to teach CCM teachers.

In order to get into a conservatory or a college as a voice major, you have to be able to sing decently or you would be rejected. The people teaching in those institutions do not have to teach you to match pitch, or to be able to sing a song, as you wouldn’t be a voice major if you couldn’t do that. And, with students who are mostly talented, mostly motivated and mostly open-minded, even generic teaching will help them gain more ability over time. Teachers don’t have to be particularly gifted for their students to improve.

When you work with singers who don’t have great voices, or are not very expressive, or do not have natural musical acumen, the opposite is true. You must really know what you are doing. You have to be creative, resourceful, dedicated and patient and keep your expectations modest. If you are successful with these students, you really have to be a very good teacher. If you succeed in helping these people get their voices together, sometimes for the first time, you have done something monumental and should be congratulated. Does that happen? Not usually.

This applies equally to helping an injured singer regain their ability to sing, even if they do not sound like they did prior to the injury. If you have been singing all your life and then suddenly you can’t do what you have always done, it is devastating. Finding a new way to sing, however, is far better than not singing at all. Locating a teacher who can assist you to make that possible is not an easy task, as many singing teachers wouldn’t have a clue as to how to start that process, but if you are persistent, you could find a skilled expert who could re-acquaint you with your larynx and vocal folds. You need someone who can also offer psychological and emotional support as you work your way through a difficult and daunting process. Getting your voice together for the first time in a brand new way is also monumental. It is always worth the effort to try.

Coming home to the voice you have always had but didn’t know you had is an extraordinary experience. Coming home to the voice you had to cultivate to take the place of the voice you had once upon a time is equally amazing. Either way, the journey is dynamic and challenging but rewarding. Finding a guide to help you along the way is a blessing.

Remember that Somatic Voicework™ exists to help you find the voice inside and let it out. It exists to help you create a vocal path that is satisfying, happy and musically powerful, but also healthy and functional to whatever extent is possible. If you seek to be a singer, Somatic Voicework™ will help you understand how to get there slowly and with conscious awareness. There are no gimmicks or quick fixes to get to be a star, just honest, useful tools that make sense to anyone who seeks to make use of them.

My work is for elite teachers of singing who view teaching in the broadest possible manner, with an eye to detail, who believe that everyone is capable of greatness. Revealing that greatness is a gift to be shared. Don’t forget!