Teaching Philosophy
The gift of creating song and the potential of sharing our thoughts and emotions through the voice rests in all of us. The process of developing singing technique is more about getting the most out of what natural gifts we have than it is the manufacturing of a sound that is not truly / naturally our own. I have always valued the unique qualities of my favorite singers and actors more than an “ impressive” sound. It is simply our job to get control of the voice and body we have…to be sure that our attributes dominate our weaknesses and with the personal sound we have, convince our audience that we mean what we say.
The process in this development should be positive, joyful, exciting, inspiring and in some ways, cathartic. The reward for beautiful singing is beautiful singing. Other more material success can follow this process, but it is important to not lose sight and appreciation of the art itself.
Integrity counts.
Neil Rosenshein
A short discussion of Vocal Technique
This wonderful process of study is delicate, personal and time consuming. The following is meant to share a few thoughts on some aspects of this process.
Technique:
The process of the study of singing is as unique to each of us as is our face, our body, our personality, and indeed the natural sound of our voices. The interaction between teacher and student in this process is just as unique. If not, why not buy a book, even a good book, and learn technique that way. The job of the teacher is to recognize the qualities and weaknesses and adjust the process accordingly. The sharing of a vocal technical /approach, clarifying the goals is key, but the application is individual.
By keeping a clear eye to the goal of using the sound for the purpose of communication rather than for the glory of sound, is a good first step. People very often get what they want and if you want to express the text, with all of the colors needed and available in the human voice, you will achieve just that.
Abilities we all share.
Breath:
Control of the breath is control of the voice. Many excellent teachers suggest that the breath be low and connected, that the chest expands with the low breath, and they suggest the pulling in at the bottom of the flap. This is sometimes referred to as the “tucked” support, and many speak of “compression.” I have been very fortunate to be on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music for some years and have seen all of these, and variations of these techniques utilized very successfully. The MSM faculty spends many hours listening to juries, and it gives all of us a chance to hear and appreciate these approaches. Depending on the students’ strengths and weaknesses, I try to combine these valid techniques into one natural physical expression starting with the free but enthusiastic intake of air, filling the potential of the body without encumbrance. The next step is a bit more difficult. As I often tell my students,” now that you’ve got it, what do you do with it?”
The control of this breath, or the sostenuto or sustaining of this breath, using many of the elements described above, is key to the free unencumbered sound. I often refer to the great athlete who takes a moment of control before throwing that ball, the batter waiting for the ball to arrive and building a relaxed compression before the controlled release. The job of the basketball player is not to throw the ball a long distance, but to throw it into the basket. That elegant control is parallel to ours as a singer.
I find this control to be the most challenging and time consuming to achieve, but as it take the pressure off of the vocal mechanism, which allows the sound to emanate without constriction. It is more than worth the time and effort.
Resonance:
Again, it is not how loud / soft / high /low one can vocalize, but the personal sound reaching it’s controlled potential….for the purpose of SINGING.
Once the process of breath is understood, one can more on to finding the potential of resonance. I have been very fortunate to observe, both in performance and at MSM the many variations in technical approach. Some clearly worked better than others, and just as important, some lasted much longer than others. Another aspect of a solid healthy technique showed in the flexibility and ability to sing many different and varied repertoires.
Most agree that as range becomes an issue, increased space in the throat is needed. I suggest that most of the space needed on a certain pitch comes from a natural adjustment. Your body is constantly adjusting to challenges, from walking up a steep hill (we lean forward and accelerate), to yawning to get more oxygen. So, we want space to allow certain pitches. That space comes from a higher pallet and a lower larynx. How we get this space is very important. If we get it with muscle, we change / lose our sound, and therefore start to move away from that all important honest communication, returning to the quest for “sound” rather than “voice”.
So, in the study we try to allow to space to adjust as much as possible, encouraging vertical space as needed, relaxing all the time. The breath and body are doing most of the work take pressure off of the vocal mechanism.
Vowels:
One must be careful that “ pure vowels” do not mean “ held / locked” vowels. In the above discussion of resonance, a key aspect to gaining full resonance potential was the free vertical adjustment of the throat. Holding a vowel in one place would not allow this adjustment to take place. The sound would get hard and usually the voice would not move freely through the passaggio (a subject for later )
The next step in the exploration of how vowels, and how it can help or hurt your vocal abilities is an appreciation of what your best sounding vowel is and how to harness whatever attributes that vowel possesses. In my experience, it is usually (but not always) the “EE” vowel that has the resonance desired in the other vowels. The EE vowel, often the favorite of many of my students and colleagues, has an efficiency and clarity that is desired in the AH vowel. Again, we return to using and connecting to the aesthetic of the singing voice, appreciating what that EE vowel has and allowing the other vowels to entry the same space…rather than trying to force on vowel into the space on another. The “ matching” of these vowels brings the gift of a true legato line…with no one vowel losing the core focus of another.
Passage / Overtones:
We all have upper, middle, and lower registers in our voices. Each, just as the vowels, has an attribute. Just as we want to share the attributes of one vowel to another, we want to share the attributes of one register to another. A “ connected” sound is the sound we all want. Play a note on the piano with the pedal up and you will hear one note. Play the same note with the pedal down and you will hear the entire soundboard of the entire instrument with all of the overtones available. The same principle applies to the voice. Placing your voice in one spot and getting just one focus of resonance will be at the expense of all the rest. Every note, every sound must have the connection of every other note in your body. This is the thrilling potential of the human voice. This is what every other instrument tries to emulate.
The change from register to register is called “ passaggio”…or passage, and just as in life, transitions can be difficult. Gradual transitions are desired. Keeping a voice held and therefore usually “open” and then “ turning” the voice on one note (F or F# is often mentioned by men) is not healthy, usually unsuccessful and unnatural sounding. Allowing the gradual verticality to enter the process is key. Referring back the discussion of vowels, the vowel cannot be held or locked and must be free to modify. I did not say, modify the vowel, but allow it to freely modify.
Repertoire:
As individual as the development of vocal technique is, the choice of repertoire is even more so. My students and I explore song, opera, cabaret and Broadway literature based on works that will develop technique, connection, language skills, artistic and intellectual challenge, auditions needs, and many other elements. When a student arrives and tells me that he or she is great with French repertoire, but not so good at German repertoire, we focus on German repertoire…filling in weaknesses.
Crossover:
My Broadway / Crossover singers utilize their base classical technique in their crossover songs. Adjustments are made as different repertoire demanded different approaches. Our goal is that every sound is connected and healthy. If straight tone is used, as is the case in much Broadway repertoire, it is by choice. If a song is belted, it is by choice, not because there is only one possibility. This serves my pop / crossover artists very well…separates them from the crowd the same way a great jazz dancer who is classically trained seems to have a higher level of performance quality.