Vocal Music Advice

Richard Alderson, Parker Publishing Co., NY, 1979.  240 pages of body content.

• This text references the early scientific voice studies by a well established voice teacher at Northwestern University’s School of Music.
• Useful for a discerning voice teacher, or voice student studying vocal pedagogy.  I use the word “discerning” because there are definitely questionable items that should not be ‘swallowed hook line and sinker.’  Look for them, you will find them.
• Chapter headings include: Seven key principles of voice training; How to develop breathing as the foundation for singing; How to make proper sound; Develop a rich voice; How to form the best vowel sound; How to train singers to change registers smoothly; Making Sense out of sound—how to teach the communication of ideas, emotions and situations; strategies and techniques for developing a rich choral sound; effective procedures for choral rehearsals; an individualized approach to class voice; How to train changing voices.
• Except for the warning above, quite practical.

Johan Sundberg, Northern Illinois University Press, 1987.  About 195 pages of body content.

• Sundberg is a well known Swedish voice specialist.  In this text Sundberg avoids prevalent voice teaching “jargon” and uses terminology related to phonetics, acoustics and medicine.
• According to Sundberg’s preface, “this is an attempt to present and discuss research on the human voice in singing as compared with speech.”

Richard Miller, Oxford University Press, 2004.  About 250 pages of body content.

• This book is a compendium of short answers to questions, not dissimilar to this instructor’s blog.
• With ten large headings, there follow a list of questions/answers under each division title.

A Practical Guide to All Aspects of Teaching, Joan Frey Boytim, Hal Leonard Corp., 2003.  174 pages.

• Widely published, Joan Frey Boytim provides a most helpful guide to the beginning voice teacher with sensible helps to establish his/her own voice studio.
• I consider this volume essential for the second semester of Voice Pedagogy (supervised applied teaching) on the college level.

Madame Boytim has done a thorough and helpful job.  Here is a list of some of the chapter topics: Finding my space; What do I need in my studio? Getting organized; New students; Practice, practice, practice; Musical and vocal fitness; Anthologies of adolescent and novice singers; Going public; Vocal techniques; When your student is your age or older; Business 101; The inevitable Uncle Sam; Nuts about NATS; Thou Shalt Not Photocopy!

Robert Thayer Sataloff, Plural Publishing Inc., San Diego, CA, 2005(?).

• While Dr. Sataloff is a major contributor to this book, he should probably be considered editor in chief, since many chapters are a collaboration with other experts or written entirely by his colleagues.
• “Voice Science is one of three student editions prepared for speech-language pathology students (medical students) and clinicians who are new to the field of voice care from selected chapters of the third edition of Professional Voice: The Science and Art of Clinical Care to provide relevant information in an affordable format.” [inside flap]  In the preface Sataloff indicates that “Voice Science is part of a 5-book student edition of selected chapters from the third edition of Professional Voice: The Science and Art of Clinical Care.”
• Content is medical and highly scientific.  Note the intended audience in the previous bullet point.
• A helpful glossary follows the content body.

Michael Benninger and Thomas Murry, Plural Publishing Inc., 2008, 175+ pages.

• There are 17 contributors to the chapters and articles in this book.
• Chapter 1, “Introduction” states the intended audience: “This book serves as a concise reference for the otolaryngologist or speech-language (voice) pathologist who wishes to focus their practice on the evaluation and care of vocalists, particularly the professional singer.  It also provides a strong foundation in the understanding of the singer’s voice for singers, teachers of singing, pedagogues, and those who contract and produce vocal performances, and others who have already developed a foundation in voice and wish to become more familiar with the intricate principles of the performing voice…”
• In Part 1, space is given to the anatomy and structure of the voice, how the voice works, and in what styles professional singers use their voice.
• Part 2 is devoted to the assessment and diagnosis of vocal (medical or pathological) problems.
• Part 3 explains various “treatments” for possible problems found in singers’ voices, including: medications; alternative medicines; therapy, especially for those recovering from vocal damage; how to deal with vocal tension; treatments for injured singers; performance anxiety; vocal surgery.
• The book’s chapter 1 “Introduction” should be required reading for every college student studying voice.
• This volume also has a helpful Appendix “Vocal Hygiene” and Glossary of terms.
• As one who has a bent toward the “medical ramifications” about vocal use, this voice pedagogue would require this text as a supplemental for graduate student singer/voice teachers.

Melissa Malde, MaryJean Allen, Kurt-Alexander Zeller, Plural Publishing, 2009.  210 pages of body content.

• This text has at its heart the perspective and ramifications of the Alexander Technique and the concept of “body mapping” in particular.  Warning: I am reminded of voice juries and voice competitions where a few individual judges’ critique-notes relegate every vocal problem they saw or heard as due to “poor or insufficient breath support.”  Poor breath support, they contended, was the cause of every vocal fault, and corrected breath support would be the cure to everything.  // There was a time when chiropractic therapy was either considered anathema, or a panacea.  We know now that there is a place for chiropractic therapy – but it is not a “cure all” for every disease.  If the reader keeps in mind that the concept of “body mapping” can be useful, but is not a cure all, then s/he may avoid the imbalanced thinking that would state, as is in the introduction, “…singing is movement, pure and simple, nothing else…”  Again, there is “jargon” that the reader will need to interpret, however the authors give useful definitions so that understanding is made accessible.
• The previous warning having been noted, this text is useful in that it brings the physical science of the body and its functions for singing to the intellect, imagination and kinesthetic awareness, something every singer is better off knowing and mastering.  (My students will better realize the reason for my use of the direction to “memorize the feeling” but without the “body mapping” jargon.)
• Using this perspective, the authors address posture (chapter 2), breathing and support (chapter 3), phonation (chapter 4), resonation (chapter 5), articulation (chapter 6), communication and expression (chapter 7).  This is a text I would consider supplemental to any vocal pedagogy course.

Richard Miller, Oxford University Press, 1996.  308 pages of body content.

• Richard Miller was a regular contributor of articles to the National Association of Teachers of Singing Journal and other similar journals. This book is a compilation 95 of his articles under four main headings:

1. On Training the Singing Voice;

2. On Musical Style and Interpretation;

3. On Preparation for the Professional Life; and

4. On the Singing Voice and Vocal Function.

Each article gives his perspective on a particular issue.  A young teacher starting out might find this book useful for provoking discussion with his/her teacher about singing and teaching singing.  An experienced teacher will find areas of agreement, and other areas of departure.

Richard Miller, Schirmer Pub. 1996.  About 295 pages of body content.

• This book is the voice pedagogy text of choice for many college music departments.  Richard Miller was a singer, prolific writer and researcher as is illustrated by his 50-page bibliography.  This voice teacher does not, however, find this book a good one for students to begin their study of vocal pedagogy.  Rather than laying a pedagogical foundation, Miller seems to be building on the supposition that a foundation has already been laid for the reader. The organization of the book, while clearly identified by chapter titles does not seem to follow any logical sequence.  E.g., Strangely, Miller’s exposition of the physical structure of the larynx and respiratory system is relegated to appendices at the end of the book.  Miller’s odd organization, his attempt to be thorough, his predilection to using Italian and foreign-language jargon and flowery wordiness, makes this volume an impractical text for the first semester of Vocal Pedagogy.  The text may be a useful follow-up resource after a solid foundation has been obtained using the Vennard and McKinney texts.

edited by Michael S. Benninger, Barbara H. Jacobson, Alex F. Johnson, Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc. 1994.  About 330 pages of body content.

• While this volume does give all the major foundational information for a voice pedagogue, the slant is medical with medical doctors or medical students wanting to specialize in otolaryngology as the intended audience.  That said, a voice teacher who has a “medical bent” would benefit greatly from this resource.  I would anticipate that college or graduate student voice majors would find this book useful in giving some general medical advice regarding the use and care of the voice.  I would also anticipate that every doctoral student in voice would have this, or a similar resource in his or her personal library.