• About WordPress
    • WordPress.org
    • Documentation
    • Support
    • Feedback
  • Log In
  • SSL
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
    • Jeanie LoVetri Bio
    • Benefits
    • Origins of Somatic Voicework™
    • Testimonials
    • Core Principles
    • Strategies
  • News
    • Articles
  • Workshops
  • Institute
  • Photos
  • Join Us!
  • Members
    • Login
    • Edit Profile
    • SVWTA Member Directory
    • Archives
    • Members’ Links
    • Add Listing
    • Teacher Locator Help
  • Find a Teacher
  • Contact

Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method Teachers' Association

The Great Divide

October 24, 2006 By Jeannette LoVetri

Surely, some classical vocal training really allows a person to delve into the voice in all its aspects. It incorporates a good, solid knowledge of how the body should look and feel, and it encourages the vocalist to investigate every type of vocal quality and sound.

BUT

I had 8 voice teachers, 8 opera/art song coaches, and have also had countless encounters with other singers and teachers. I am in New York City for 31 years now. I am a Past President of an organization teachers of singing and member of two others. I have traveled the world dealing with singing teachers for more than 20 years. I have found that these teachers are very, very rare. The brave souls who are willing to work with any and all styles of music, with doctors and speech pathologists, with skilled and novice singers, with speakers, with the physically challenged and the gifted, are like rare tropical flowers, and just as hard to locate.

I always ask, if classical vocal training is good for every kind of vocal sound, why don’t opera singers get hired to sing in Rent, or Hairspray or Suessical, sounding like opera singers? Is everyone completely deaf? Don’t they know the difference between the sounds of a classical singer and a pop/rock singer? Have they no common sense?

And isn’t it the responsibility of all voice teachers to know more than their students about what they are teaching? Isn’t that what a teacher is, an expert? How do all the strictly classical teachers presume to teach rock or jazz vocal development when they have never made those sounds, don’t understand how they are produced, and couldn’t correct them if they were wrong. Saying “the students know how to sing these sounds” is just plain stupid. If the students really did know what they were doing there wouldn’t be so many of them getting into trouble after they get out of school.

It is disgraceful to think that an entire generation of singing teachers is parked in university positions with no clue as to why what they THINK they know is dangerous. It is also foolish to think that the hearts and minds of the young people whose voices are being pushed and pressed into singing music they cannot handle aren’t also involved. How many tears have been shed in my studio while I try to repair voices distorted into pitiful condition! Yes, the vocal folds may be functioning normally, (although sometimes they are not) but what about the rest of the instrument? Vocal folds don’t operate in isolation! Huge vibratos, squeezed throats, tight tongues, rigid necks, all caused by singing CCM material (mostly belt songs) without any idea of how to do that correctly. Even if the student realizes something is wrong, where can they turn for help? To the same teachers who caused the problem in the first place?

The profession will continue to be divided until these singing teachers realize that their skills are, indeed, limited. Even if some students do manage to translate basic vocal skills like good posture and breathing into usuable vocal production, that is because the STUDENT figures out how to apply those skills on his or her own. The teacher just sits back and watches.

We are far apart on this topic, like the walls of the Grand Canyon. It is the Great Divide, and it needs to end, but I do not see this happening soon.

Filed Under: Jeanie's Blog, Uncategorized

Primary Sidebar

Video: Jeanie LoVetri Sings in Various Styles



Click here for More Videos and Comments.

Authentic “Crossover” Singing: Maria Damore, Rachel Williams

https://vimeo.com/780734282?loop=0

Testimonials

  • Somatic Voicework™ Testimonials
    “I have worked with Jeanie LoVetri and Somatic Voicework™ for twenty years and have found her method to be incredibly efficient and scientifically sound. I have been able to consciously work on technique while continuing to develop my artistry and my personal style. I credit Jeannie with the freedom I feel when I sing.” Luciana Souza, ...
More

SOMATIC VOICEWORK™ TEACHERS

Somatic Voicework™ teachers believe that the body and the voice are not limited and that it is possible to train anyone who wishes to sing in a variety of styles in a healthy and responsible manner. They are caring, excellence-driven, live in the USA and 10 foreign countries, and have varied backgrounds in:

Jazz ~ Musical Theatre ~ Pop/Rock ~ Classical ~ Gospel ~ Choral ~ World Music

Many hold masters and doctoral degrees and are in positions of responsibility in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) at local, state, and regional levels.

Many are heads of departments in voice at universities and conservatories, published authors of books, research papers and pedagogy articles in voice and music journals.

Many are acknowledged professionally as singers, having performed in major venues in all styles of music all over the world.

Find a Somatic Voicework™ teacher today!

Copyright © 2023 · Somatic Voicework· Log in

Change Location
Find awesome listings near you!