Why have Singing Lessons?
I mean, why bother? Most people that wish to sing can already do so, to a fashion. Very few people come through my door with no ability at all, so most who start this amazing journey already have the ability to ‘carry a tune’. Of course, if you wish to sing opera then you need a very strong vocal technique. There is a certain amount of physical stamina needed in the body, and of course the delicate folds of the vocal cords need to be able to phonate after many minutes of sustained singing. There needs to be a learnt and innate response from one’s body to the music. Very few people are able to make a sound with the correct balance of harmonics etc that would allow them to be heard over an orchestra without amplification. So all opera singers must have singing lessons!
But around half of the people I teach will never sing in an opera. They sing in musicals. They throw themselves into the giddy world of lights, dancing, spoken dialogue and SINGING. Why would one need to develop an intricate and sophisticated technique to do this? Especially when so many of their colleagues in the amateur world don’t seem to bother with weekly lessons and daily practice yet still get principal roles?
Today’s blog is my plea to these folks to have singing lessons. I want to show that being able to sing with skill makes you a better singer, and of course allows you to sing for longer. I see people of all ages for lessons. Young people are the easiest to teach. As I wrote about last week, being able to lay strong and proper foundations into a young singer allows them to develop throughout their lives. Developing a ‘grooved action’ that is repeatable no matter what you’re doing on stage makes for a lifetime of happy singing. Of course, there will be work needing to be done throughout a singer’s life. Having lessons as a kid and then letting them go will only take you so far. It is daft to have a few lessons and think you’ve cracked it! But it breaks my heart when an older lady comes into my studio for lessons, has an impressive chest voice register that cracks into a tiny, thin head voice around a B-making it impossible for them to sing an actual piece of music in one register! We can repair and correct, but many of my pupils reading this will attest to the difficulty in this task. The easy road taken early in life can ruin an instrument later on. Bad teaching is as bad as no teaching-often worse!
Last week it was my enormous pleasure to go to a show in Hinckley (Made in Dagenham) where seven of my pupils sang. Some in the ensemble and some in principal roles. I was so crazily proud of them all! They sang six shows in a row (Monday to Saturday) and on the Friday night I was there sounded as fresh as proverbial daisies. The hours of work paid off handsomely. And the whole cast did a wonderful job. All of them delivered and we cheered at the end-they were uniformly excellent. The week before I heard my pupils sing an immensely difficult opera Il Trovatore in Leicester, and was again so proud. Without amplification and with an open orchestra pit they sang brilliantly. The week before that, Rent in Hinckley blew me away! Strong production, amazing direction, characterful singing!
But… And this is a gentle But. When my pupils had to sing in the Dagenham show they were able to carry on the nuance and acting that they were able to give when they were speaking. When ALL of the singers in the Opera in Leicester sang they were able to shape and colour the lines with expressive and artistic intents (I taught three of the five principals, but the other two are brilliant singers with impeccable techniques). In the two amateur musicals I have just seen-despite doing brilliantly-the singers with no vocal technique rather needed to speak their singing on a pitch, and while they are still able to make effects and colours they almost appear accidental and lack finesse. They look (at least to a seasoned old pro) like the (admittedly) brilliant amateurs that they are.
A couple of years ago I was asked to work with six girls from a Drama School. The first time I heard them sing was in a little gig for some elderly folk at Christmas. They all exhibited nice voices, but looked like total beginners. Because they were passionate about what they were doing, and all of them burnt to make the stage their lives, they worked very hard. It took a couple of years of basic, fundamental training to make a difference. And what a difference. It wasn’t so much as in the sound they made but rather HOW they made the sound and how they LOOKED when made it. When we sing, either with a microphone strapped to our cheeks or not we should use our whole bodies. The in-breath/support is established by lowering the diaphragm. That process involves a physicality of all the supplementary muscles, how the in-breath lowers and anchors a larynx and keeps it there through the sung phrase etc. That total involvement in the sound is learned, and without it it makes the sound appear as if it just appears in front of the mouth. The great drama teachers talk about how we project our emotions from our ‘Appogia’, of how on stage our faces are a reflection of the emotions from our hearts, bodies, soul, source of Chi etc.
What does this mean in our context? Simply when a singer sings and doesn’t understand on a basic level how to use their bodies to sing, they give less grounded, less moving performances than they could do. Their bodies aren’t in the drama. It doesn’t move as it should. Never in a theatre situation.
I have a confession. I hate amateurism. I hate going to see shows and seeing rubbish up there, excused by the brush of “They are only amateurs, having fun…!” I don’t want to see others having ‘Fun’ when I pay to go to the theatre, nor do I want to witness their pain, sadness etc when they play dramatic roles. I want to FEEL their pain. I want to take part in their fun. When last week in the show Beryl declared that she “Looked like a *&^ing Dinner Lady” we all laughed WITH her, not at her. Because she was a brilliant performer, not an amateur clown. I am enormously blessed to live in an area with such an incredibly strong amateur theatrical scene. I rarely witness anyone romping home a show in a clumsy, amateur fashion. Last week, and the Rent two weeks prior, could almost have been full professional. The two shows were THAT good! We should all strive to be the best we can be. Developing a vocal technique with a trusted teacher should be a MUST for all of us performers, whether we get paid or not.
The last, and shortest reason to have lessons is this-it makes everything more fun for the performer. Imagine being able to explore colours, explore inflections when you sing? Hearing my amazing pupil Luan colour the word ‘Love’ as Barbara Castle was wonderful. That’s skill, mostly lost on the audience in its minutiae but hugely appreciated in the whole. Being able and equipped to sing like this-and the knowledge of one’s abilities-diffuses the obvious and natural nerves. It makes successful performances almost a certainty, not a hope. And when one isn’t singing, but speaking on stage it gives one poise. Poise-the holy word. Having poise on stage is everything! My pupils have it in spades! And I am so proud!
Thanks again for reading. It means such a lot to me when you read and give feedback and share. I love teaching and feel this need to give back a little of what I have been so fortunate to have learned. Somehow or other I have been able to work and learn from some of the greatest musical and theatrical minds out there. Through my private teaching I try to cram as much of this into the souls of my students, but I am hoping that this blog can give out some of that. Little of what I write comes purely from me, I am merely a conduit.
My blog last week seems to have ruffled a few feathers, and for that I say tough. I care not a jot for the feelings of a charlatan singing teacher. Our jobs as teachers of a skill so delicate and important are sacred for our pupils. We should care more for them than our own feelings.
If you have any ideas for me to ramble on about, please let me know.
Have a great week!
Mike
I mean, why bother? Most people that wish to sing can already do so, to a fashion. Very few people come through my door with no ability at all, so most who start this amazing journey already have the ability to ‘carry a tune’. Of course, if you wish to sing opera then you need a very strong vocal technique. There is a certain amount of physical stamina needed in the body, and of course the delicate folds of the vocal cords need to be able to phonate after many minutes of sustained singing. There needs to be a learnt and innate response from one’s body to the music. Very few people are able to make a sound with the correct balance of harmonics etc that would allow them to be heard over an orchestra without amplification. So all opera singers must have singing lessons!
But around half of the people I teach will never sing in an opera. They sing in musicals. They throw themselves into the giddy world of lights, dancing, spoken dialogue and SINGING. Why would one need to develop an intricate and sophisticated technique to do this? Especially when so many of their colleagues in the amateur world don’t seem to bother with weekly lessons and daily practice yet still get principal roles?
Today’s blog is my plea to these folks to have singing lessons. I want to show that being able to sing with skill makes you a better singer, and of course allows you to sing for longer. I see people of all ages for lessons. Young people are the easiest to teach. As I wrote about last week, being able to lay strong and proper foundations into a young singer allows them to develop throughout their lives. Developing a ‘grooved action’ that is repeatable no matter what you’re doing on stage makes for a lifetime of happy singing. Of course, there will be work needing to be done throughout a singer’s life. Having lessons as a kid and then letting them go will only take you so far. It is daft to have a few lessons and think you’ve cracked it! But it breaks my heart when an older lady comes into my studio for lessons, has an impressive chest voice register that cracks into a tiny, thin head voice around a B-making it impossible for them to sing an actual piece of music in one register! We can repair and correct, but many of my pupils reading this will attest to the difficulty in this task. The easy road taken early in life can ruin an instrument later on. Bad teaching is as bad as no teaching-often worse!
Last week it was my enormous pleasure to go to a show in Hinckley (Made in Dagenham) where seven of my pupils sang. Some in the ensemble and some in principal roles. I was so crazily proud of them all! They sang six shows in a row (Monday to Saturday) and on the Friday night I was there sounded as fresh as proverbial daisies. The hours of work paid off handsomely. And the whole cast did a wonderful job. All of them delivered and we cheered at the end-they were uniformly excellent. The week before I heard my pupils sing an immensely difficult opera Il Trovatore in Leicester, and was again so proud. Without amplification and with an open orchestra pit they sang brilliantly. The week before that, Rent in Hinckley blew me away! Strong production, amazing direction, characterful singing!
But… And this is a gentle But. When my pupils had to sing in the Dagenham show they were able to carry on the nuance and acting that they were able to give when they were speaking. When ALL of the singers in the Opera in Leicester sang they were able to shape and colour the lines with expressive and artistic intents (I taught three of the five principals, but the other two are brilliant singers with impeccable techniques). In the two amateur musicals I have just seen-despite doing brilliantly-the singers with no vocal technique rather needed to speak their singing on a pitch, and while they are still able to make effects and colours they almost appear accidental and lack finesse. They look (at least to a seasoned old pro) like the (admittedly) brilliant amateurs that they are.
A couple of years ago I was asked to work with six girls from a Drama School. The first time I heard them sing was in a little gig for some elderly folk at Christmas. They all exhibited nice voices, but looked like total beginners. Because they were passionate about what they were doing, and all of them burnt to make the stage their lives, they worked very hard. It took a couple of years of basic, fundamental training to make a difference. And what a difference. It wasn’t so much as in the sound they made but rather HOW they made the sound and how they LOOKED when made it. When we sing, either with a microphone strapped to our cheeks or not we should use our whole bodies. The in-breath/support is established by lowering the diaphragm. That process involves a physicality of all the supplementary muscles, how the in-breath lowers and anchors a larynx and keeps it there through the sung phrase etc. That total involvement in the sound is learned, and without it it makes the sound appear as if it just appears in front of the mouth. The great drama teachers talk about how we project our emotions from our ‘Appogia’, of how on stage our faces are a reflection of the emotions from our hearts, bodies, soul, source of Chi etc.
What does this mean in our context? Simply when a singer sings and doesn’t understand on a basic level how to use their bodies to sing, they give less grounded, less moving performances than they could do. Their bodies aren’t in the drama. It doesn’t move as it should. Never in a theatre situation.
I have a confession. I hate amateurism. I hate going to see shows and seeing rubbish up there, excused by the brush of “They are only amateurs, having fun…!” I don’t want to see others having ‘Fun’ when I pay to go to the theatre, nor do I want to witness their pain, sadness etc when they play dramatic roles. I want to FEEL their pain. I want to take part in their fun. When last week in the show Beryl declared that she “Looked like a *&^ing Dinner Lady” we all laughed WITH her, not at her. Because she was a brilliant performer, not an amateur clown. I am enormously blessed to live in an area with such an incredibly strong amateur theatrical scene. I rarely witness anyone romping home a show in a clumsy, amateur fashion. Last week, and the Rent two weeks prior, could almost have been full professional. The two shows were THAT good! We should all strive to be the best we can be. Developing a vocal technique with a trusted teacher should be a MUST for all of us performers, whether we get paid or not.
The last, and shortest reason to have lessons is this-it makes everything more fun for the performer. Imagine being able to explore colours, explore inflections when you sing? Hearing my amazing pupil Luan colour the word ‘Love’ as Barbara Castle was wonderful. That’s skill, mostly lost on the audience in its minutiae but hugely appreciated in the whole. Being able and equipped to sing like this-and the knowledge of one’s abilities-diffuses the obvious and natural nerves. It makes successful performances almost a certainty, not a hope. And when one isn’t singing, but speaking on stage it gives one poise. Poise-the holy word. Having poise on stage is everything! My pupils have it in spades! And I am so proud!
Thanks again for reading. It means such a lot to me when you read and give feedback and share. I love teaching and feel this need to give back a little of what I have been so fortunate to have learned. Somehow or other I have been able to work and learn from some of the greatest musical and theatrical minds out there. Through my private teaching I try to cram as much of this into the souls of my students, but I am hoping that this blog can give out some of that. Little of what I write comes purely from me, I am merely a conduit.
My blog last week seems to have ruffled a few feathers, and for that I say tough. I care not a jot for the feelings of a charlatan singing teacher. Our jobs as teachers of a skill so delicate and important are sacred for our pupils. We should care more for them than our own feelings.
If you have any ideas for me to ramble on about, please let me know.
Have a great week!
Mike