Vocal Advice

This is not a popular subject, because anyone who is called or known as a charlatan has to live down a tainted reputation.  However, with regard to voice teaching the subject has to be addressed.

The term charlatan refers to someone who falsely claims to have special skill or expertise.  Applying it to our area, it is someone who advertises himself/herself as a voice teacher who does not have the education, knowledge or skills required to teach in this area with a modicum of credibility or integrity.

Regrettably, it is fair to say that there are many “voice teachers” who are really charlatans.  A number of these are singers who have either had a concert career or made recordings, whether it be in opera, country music or on the rock scene, and therefore, feel justified in putting themselves forward as teachers of singing.  Others who frequently fall into this camp are college graduates who were either voice performance majors, or who at some point in their college career studied singing with a voice teacher, but who at no point had any specific instruction in vocal pedagogy.  These are the teacher “wanna-bes”.  Then there are others who simply have the “desire and ego” to lead, conduct and teach with no formal preparation at all other than lessons on one instrument.

Such organizations as the National Association of Teachers of Singing exist to ward off the above kind of fraud, and bring to the public some semblance of credibility and integrity.

A young man in his late teens who, I’m sure, had honorable intentions, but who had little vocal training asked me for advice on how to coach a student of his with a perceived vocal problem.  This teenage “teacher” helps his church music program by conducting their ensemble.  It would be well for me to share with you my edited response to him.

The kind of question you ask … is not something I can credibly answer without hearing [your student].  I would not do you a service (nor would anyone) by guessing the real scenario.  I don’t know her age, her vocal maturity, etc.  …Forgive me, but I’d also not do you a service, for, as far as I know you are not qualified to teach someone else, since I do not have evidence that you’ve had courses in vocal pedagogy or have been under the tutelage of a master teacher who has witnessed in you a talent/aptitude for listening, diagnosing and correcting vocal problems.  Another way of saying this is that my attempting to actually help the person you are coaching based on your description and your experience and without hearing her myself is not wise and probably unethical.

Let me explain it with an anecdote.  I went to college in Philadelphia - a huge and wonderful cultural center.  I was in college for six years earning two bachelor degrees, one of them in music - vocal performance.  I had performed in many recitals and successfully completed the junior and senior recitals and performed the solo roles in some major oratorios.  (I preferred oratorio to opera then.)  The year after I graduated I worked and saved money to go to graduate school (in music).  But during that year I also studied voice with a renowned (famous) voice teacher paying a lot of money to do so.  Now, I had by this time received an earned degree in music, vocal performance.  But when I admitted to my teacher that I was teaching voice to a handful of high-school students, her unhesitating response was “You charlatan!”  While I took her reaction in good humor at the time, I have, with advanced education and experience, since come to see and agree with her perspective knowing more the reasons for her instant assessment.

So, I think it’s great that you have the desire to become a voice teacher.  But, know that it takes a good deal of concentrated instruction - much of which is necessarily not procured solely from books - over a period of years of preparation and oversight from a master teacher.  I know this is not the answer you had hoped for.  However, I would not do you or the person you are coaching a favor by attempting to answer your question under the current circumstances.

I hope you can receive what I’ve said, knowing that it is for your ultimate good.

Typically, a credible voice teacher will not only have studied singing for several years—at least four and usually many more—with a voice teacher, s/he will also have taken courses in vocal pedagogy, mastering an understanding of the nature of sound especially as applied to the voice, posture, breathing and support, phonation, registration, resonation, articulation, the speaking voice, coordination and vibrato.  A voice teacher will have spent time under a master-teacher honing his/her listening skills and abilities to accurately diagnose a vocal problem and devise appropriate remedies during a time of apprenticeship.  Not everyone who learns to sing also has the ability to teach singing!  When consistent success is observed by the master-teacher in the apprentice, then and only then, can the young voice teacher receive written recommendation as a voice teacher by an experienced one.  The “nubee’s” studio will usually consist of a homogeneous group of students, until experience warrants students of wider age ranges.

My warning is not meant to discourage those of you who want to teach.  My purpose is two-fold.  1) Watch out for quacks, frauds, and well-sounding “teachers” who really do not know the craft.  Some are only in it as a means of income.  2) If you want to become a teacher of singing, invest the time and effort to acquire the knowledge and the skills to assure that you have integrity that can be approved by all observers – particularly by those with experience in the craft.  Your students will be the ones to reflect beneficially, or detrimentally, on your preparation.

I am 19.  I vocalize everyday and have NO TRACE of vibrato! I am very sad, that people tell me once I sing with no strain my vibrato will come, but I see so many singers out there sing with their chest voice too high (straining) or really bad technique ( you can even HEAR it) yet they HAVE vibrato? I have an open throat, proper breathing, wide range, I am a baritone, but not ANYWHERE in my range do I have a SINGLE trace of vibrato, and I can sing completely tension free throughout my range. Some people tell me “it will come” others tell me “you have to be born with it” …. I love vibrato! I do not have it! what should I do?? And also thank you for letting people ask questions in this blog it is really helpful!

Dear Jorge,

Please bear with me as I attempt to address all that you’ve said.

You obviously love to sing, and that’s wonderful.  I understand your frustration in not being able to perceive any vibrato in your voice when you sing.  At 19, you are at the right age and stage of vocal development to find a trustworthy voice teacher and study with that person - taking private voice lessons.  I encourage it, partly because vocal development, including the commencement of vibrato in one who has not experienced it is probably best done under the guidance of a good voice teacher.

Also Jorge, at 19, while it is all right for you to be aware of the absence of vibrato, don’t panic about it.  Forgive me if I receive your self assessment “I can sing completely tension free throughout my range” with some doubts- unless that is the assessment of your experienced voice teacher.  My experience is that young singers don’t have an accurate knowledge of their own production without first having studied rigorously for some time.

First to allay your fears, let me also say that it is just as important that others perceive a vibrato in your voice - that is unobtrusive.  I say that because many young folk are simply not aware that they sing with vibrato.  If your own vibrato is obvious to your ears, the likelihood-frequently-is that there is too much.  So, don’t fret.  The extent and rate of vibrato should be the subject of another note.

Vibrato is normally an indication of good coordination between the breathing mechanism and the voice (the larynx where you make sound).  Still, having said that, in the course of 35 years of teaching, I have had two students who either 1) preferred the straight tone and resisted anything else, or 2) retained too much tension (poor coordination) to produce vibrato and thus always retained the straight tone sound.  Obviously, you are not in the first category.

Until such time as you are studying with a teacher, let me offer a couple of suggestions to “break the ice” that may be keeping you vibrato-less.  First of all, play with your voice.  Be willing to make funny sounds and do odd exercises with it.  Lose your vocal inhibitions.  Then,

1.      my first recommendation is to begin voice lessons with a reliable voice teacher so that you can be assured that you are singing with good coordination and good habits.

2.      Practice trilling.  Choose two notes that are a whole step or a half-step apart (in the middle of your range).  Begin, singing on a vowel, alternating between the two notes very slowly.  Then double the speed of the alternation, then double it again.  You’ll reach a speed fairly quickly at which you will not be able to keep the tempo accurate.  When this happens, intentionally maintain the “shake” between the notes as fast as your voice can perform them.  Interestingly, the word “shake” is what the Italian masters originally called a trill.  Repeat this exercise on different neighboring notes throughout your range.  Do this exercise for 5 to 10 minutes each day.  What you are doing by this exercise is introducing your brain, psyche and muscles to the possibility of swift (playful) alternation of notes.  This is not the end product, but there are useful feelings to get used to when this happens.

3.      Place a hand on your epigastrium (the area immediately below your breast bone and above your navel).  First “laugh” the way you would imagine “Santa Claus” would laugh with a good “Ho! Ho! Ho!”  Notice that there is large-muscle movement there at that time.  Then, while keeping your hand on your “tummy” give a good hearty laugh - the way you would when you’re laughing uninhibitedly with your friends.  Notice that while the muscles experience some tension, the movement is much smaller and faster.  Now, if you were, the third time, to imitate a girl’s giggle (tittering), the coordination between body and voice is even faster.  You may or may not discern any movement in the epigastrium area.  This too is not the end product.

4.      However, over a period of weeks as you practice these two exercises, you should notice that both can happen simultaneously.  However, the “movement” and “sound” should not be large or slow … the movement may not even be discernable and the sound of the vibrato barely a shimmer.  Frequently, young singers experience this first on the LAST note of a sung phrase. WHEN YOU EXPERIENCE/HEAR IT - welcome it!  Memorize how it feels.  Notice, I did not say “reproduce the sound.”  No, memorize how it feels.  Then, reproduce that feeling every time you sing.

5.      If your voice isn’t cooperating after several weeks of doing these exercises, as a last resort clench one hand into a fist and shake your fist as quickly as possible (back and forth in quick small movements) as you sing. This is truly a last resort … because that arm movement is simply translated up to your voice muscularly - and with the accompanying tension in your arm which you do not want to retain when you sing!  What this does accomplish for you is an imposed movement on the voice that kinesthetically gets it introduced to something other than straight tone.

Again let me say, Jorge, this matter of coordination and vibrato may take time, and usually takes place best in the environment of voice lessons with a dependable voice teacher.

All the best.