|
The terms vocal coach and voice teacher, theoretically, mean two completely different things. A vocal coach is often a pianist or conductor, with expertise in a specific genre of music, whose sole purpose is to help a singer understand the stylistic requirements of a genre. A vocal coach may or may not give advice on the vocal instrument.
A voice teacher, on the other hand, is interested in improving the voice. A voice teacher does have expertise in a certain area of music, but focuses primarily on the mechanical delivery of the music, not the style. Obviously, the lines are very blurred. Excellent voice teachers will know the style for certain genres of music, as well as dispense acting advice, career advice etc...Visa verse, top-notch vocal coaches will often have a strong understanding of how the voice works and can give strong technical advice. Ultimately, what matters is that the student is getting the advice that he or she needs. DWS One of the primary goals for all my students is to develop a better ear - helping them differentiate between a bright vs. dark sound, a clear vs. breathy sound etc...
There are numerous reasons to develop a singer's ear. First, it makes singers more critical in their listening. Singers can explain why other singers sound different and why they like one singer over another in an objective way. Second, if you can hear different styles of singing, you can start to reproduce and incorporate their stylistic ideas into your own musicianship. And most importantly, a strong ear allows you to hear your voice critically, and allows you to make informed decisions on how to work on a certain technique, high note, etc.... To start developing your ear, pick a genre of music you like. Then pick several singers from that genre and start listing the qualities of their sound. Is it clear, raspy, breathy, strident, nasal, bright, dark? The list goes on and on. Then see how each singer's list differs from the others. By doing this, you start to build a critical ear that will help your own vocal studies. DWS While not as applicable to my female students, I often sing a phrase to my male students in order for them to understand a concept and reproduce it on their own. Oftentimes, students will understand a vocal concept far quicker if they hear the sound, rather then a vocal exercise.
This is one of the primary reasons why you want a voice teacher who performs professionally on a regular basis. If a voice teacher can produce the sounds you want, they PROBABLY can teach them. In music, good teachers don't just teach, they do! DWS Just an update: I will be singing with Masquerade Theater, one of the premier Houston musical theater companies, this coming Fall. The two productions I will be in are Galveston, the musical and My Fair Lady. I do not know the parts yet as the company is on break right now, but I will let you know as soon as I know. I'm excited!
DWS According to many voice pedagogy books, you should not sing when you are sick. While understandable, this advice is simply not practical. There are many times when a singer HAS to sing "under the weather," whether that be an important audition, concert with no backup singer, or demonstrating for your voice students.
That being said, there are some precautions one should take when you are sick and need to sing. 1) Do not practice during the day. Warmup right before the audition, but keep speaking and singing to the absolute minimum. 2) Keep your throat healthy. LOTS of fluids. 3) Try to avoid warming up the highest and lowest part of your range. 4) Focus on breath support while singing. When you are sick, your technique must be superb. Unless you are absolutely hoarse, a bad cold should not prevent you from providing a great sound when you need to sing. DWS |
Archives
March 2024
Categories |
RSS Feed