‘Teacher – Singer’ Partnership
An article by Gilles Denizot

Many aspiring singers do not understand the process of vocal studies. They do not know how to respect and enhance the partnership between teacher and student, yet they expect the teacher to fix almost everything in an hour. Renata Tebaldi said in 1991: ‘In one hour, one cannot accomplish miracles, and some people ask you to rebuild a voice.’ No one is forced to study singing. Then ‘how can I gain full benefit from my vocal studies?’ and ‘how can I provide a better voice instruction?’ The answer is ‘by improving and allowing a more respectful approach of the teacher-singer partnership.’

Investment of Time and of Energy in the Process

Building and training a classical voice takes years. This process requires investment of time and energy on both sides. The student and the teacher both have to learn patience, identify the goal, and work towards it. Let me repeat the most important word: PATIENCE. Some students genuinely think they can achieve ’stardom’ or teaching skills after a few lessons. Other students want to sing in great international venues but will not consider traveling for lessons. They want to find the ideal teacher right around the corner. This is living in fantasy. Best results come from consistent study and quiet yet constant determination. You will certainly experience various levels; you will even have the feeling that you are not improving. If you trust your teacher’s competence and your personal investment as well as the reasonable goal you have decided upon you should not doubt to be achieving it. But it won’t happen overnight. As Regina Resnik said in 1992: ‘I am very interested in the young singers that one pushes in the career in an atmosphere of total indifference, without the support nor the advices of the old Maestri. They do not possess the patience and the necessary discipline anymore, they believe to open up the paths of glory with 1 or 2 years of studies’.

I often see students wanting to change teachers as soon as they have failed an audition or a competition rather than questioning their choice of repertoire or amount of self-preparation. This is an immature attitude. Professional singers are able to quietly admit the existence of a problem, to establish the issues to be addressed and to work with their teacher and coach. I am amazed at the numbers of messages written on various Internet discussion groups by distressed students who ask the opinion of complete strangers. When they have a panel of answers (without having sung for their correspondents) they choose the easiest solution and think that they have been helped. This is irresponsible. The student lacks trust in the process and the teacher apparently is not committed enough in the student’s problems. Obviously the ‘teacher-student partnership’ must be inadequate, if such questions are raised on the Internet and not in the voice studio. Antonietta Stella said in 1999: ‘I can always tell some singers that they are on the wrong track, they will always find a sufficiently dishonest professor to accept them while letting them believe in a future.’ A true vocal training requires trust, and trust requires time.

Being Punctual and Ready to Sing

It might seem odd to mention that being punctual and ready to sing or to teach is a basic condition. I know and fully understand that anyone can occasionally be late. What I am referring to are students who come late, always, and are not ready to sing. When they’ve arrived, they apologize, hang their coat, install their recording device, prepare their scores and pencil, drink some water, quiet their breath down because most of them have rushed to the studio. When we start vocalizing, half an hour might well be gone. Too bad. Teachers also have to respect their student’s time and give them their full attention. I know teachers who answer phone calls while ‘teaching’ or can’t stop sharing their career memories. I strongly disapprove these behaviors and I pity the students who are forced to deal with such ‘teachers’.

Preparing the Lesson

Being punctual and ready to sing or to teach also means that one has prepared the lesson. When I am teaching I have carefully thought about each student prior the lesson. I am ‘ready for them’ when I greet them. I am looking forward to seeing them and to resuming our vocal work. I am convinced that some students notice and appreciate this approach. Those are the ones who also prepare their lesson. Those are the students who progress rapidly and securely towards becoming responsible and independent singers.

Defining Schedule and Priorities

Vocal training has to be somewhat planned. You should not stick to a rigid program, but you should also know what you have achieved and what needs to be accomplished. Students and teachers stay focused on their goal. They reach new levels and move forward. Before my own coaching sessions I always analyze the situation (by listening to recent recordings) and decide what needs to be improved. I narrow the list to the most important aspects and I work on these. I also inform my coach of what I would like to develop and train and, if appropriate, we work on my suggestions as well as his. Committed teachers prepare lessons. When the student meets the teacher, they really have defined their schedule and priorities.

The Sense of Continuity

Defining schedule and priorities both in studying and teaching allows for ‘continuity in the process’ to occur. When I tell a student: ‘last week, we have addressed this specific technical point and now I think it would be appropriate to address that subject’, I show them that we are in the middle of a highly structured process. A student has to understand and visualize the ‘pyramid of vocal training.’ It is important to see what has been accomplished. It is as important to see what remains to be explored. This prevents disillusion: ‘I am 21, I have been singing for 2 years with 4 different teachers and I still don’t understand why I cannot sing this aria.’ Maybe this aria is out of your reach because you have not yet acquired the essential skills to sing it. You have a problem on this high note, have you trained your Passaggio for a healthy and reliable vocal production? Do you feel the continuity of vocal studies when changing teachers so often?

Recording Work Sessions

A very important part of vocal studies and teaching is to listen to one’s sessions. I always record my sessions with my coach. I often record the lessons I give to my students. It is of the utmost importance that singers listen to their tapes and connect what they hear to what they have felt and done during the session. This is the only way to KNOW your sound and to reproduce the healthy singing and avoid the unhealthy one. Vocal concepts need to be established and it takes time. I once used a trick that helped me: I decided to listen to one tape a day, to sing over my own voice and to listen to my teacher’s comments. I pretended that I was indeed having a daily lesson with my teacher. I kept intact what I had learned until I met with him again. This was a temporary trick, I don’t need to use it anymore but what would I have done without the tapes?

Listening to Previous Sessions

When I work with my coach, I record every session and then listen to them. On the next session, I know what has already been achieved and I move further very quickly. It allows me to really match my sensations with the correct and healthy sound. We don’t hear ourselves as others do and there is no other solution for a serious singer, whether professional or amateur, than to record and listen to work sessions, and move further. Being an active and committed teacher, I am absolutely convinced that recording and listening to specific sessions allows for the adjustment of teaching tools. I take notes on my students’ progress and write down what should be done next as well as repertoire suggestions. Evidently when I meet with these students again I can quickly summarize and comment our previous session. I also choose the most adapted exercises for them based on a cold analysis of their voice on tape rather than on the excitement of the lesson.

Daily Practice

There cannot be progress, at least a reasonable one, without practice. Ideally we need to practice daily, at least three twenty-minute sessions. On a year-round basis there must be a technical routine of at least ten minutes daily. Committed singers will always find this minimal time to work on their voice. You cannot expect to use your voice if you don’t train it. In order for proper and efficient muscular reactions to happen, you literally need to discover and train the muscles. This does not happen while sleeping. Without practice, there is virtually no purpose attending voice lessons because nothing new will happen. Teachers cannot practice for students and they will merely be repeating what was previously said. A dedicated teacher will try to find new approaches and ideas, but they will all inevitably fail to produce results. Amusing enough is the fact that lazy students often blame the teacher for the absence of results. This situation rapidly evolves towards sterility and it is best to quit studying altogether.

Appropriate Study Material

Vocal study is also about researching vocal scores, articles, and recordings between lessons. The Internet is an invaluable source of knowledge. You can study facial postures of great singers on videos and listen to their recordings, print scores and read articles. This is of great importance as it feeds the student with information. Discovering your own repertoire, studying a complete operatic score rather than your isolated aria, reading poetry (preferably in the original language) will not give you a trained voice, but it is part of being an accomplished singer. I often have to explain the plot of the opera, or the meaning of the poetry, to students. Although I enjoy doing this it nevertheless shows a lack of involvement on the student’s side. I remember an anecdote when working on Wagner with Sir Donald McIntyre. I was about the start when Sir Donald asked me to explain the opera. When I began, Sir Donald stopped me and said: ‘I see that you clearly know what you are going to sing!’ and we started working on the music.

A great Master in Philosophy once wrote to a disciple: ‘After having granted your friendship, it is necessary to have confidence; it is before that one should judge. One reverses the natural order of duties, when one judges after having given friendship instead of giving friendship after making one’s opinion. Reflect for a long time to know if you must choose someone for friend. But when your decision is taken, love your friend with all your heart: speak to your friend as freely as with yourself.’ Seneca was not wrong, and one could very well apply this advice to the ‘teacher-singer’ partnership.

© OperaLab Gilles Denizot – All Rights Reserved

©2010 OperaLab.. All Rights Reserved.

An article by Gilles Denizot

Since my solo debut in 1985, I have been fortunate to collaborate with great artists. This has allowed me to observe their preparation from the studio to the stage. I would like to share this experience about the operatic world, which is often wrongly considered as magical, shiny, or easy.

It is crucial to state immediately that being an opera singer (just like any other artistic profession in fact) may be a fascinating path, but it is not an easy one. Being a professional opera singer (the artist who makes his living through singing), or what is commonly called career, is ruled by a simple word: WORK. The operatic world these days, because of the importance given to appearance, communication, and advertisement, unfortunately suggests that one could be “a star” after just a few voice lessons. It is true that numerous careers (in any art) are built on nothing but powerful advertisement campaigns. The taste of the general public is fooled by a shiny envelope and an insipid content, as well as by violent publicity which only tends to increase the sales of a recording without educating the audience.

The writer Rainer Maria Rilke recommended to enter in oneself and to ask oneself if one could live without the practice of the Art and to take this artistic destiny and to carry it, with its weight and height, without ever asking for a reward that might come from the outside (in Letters to a young poet, Feb. 17, 1903). Great artists are completely immersed in their art, to the point that it not only becomes their life, but also that it is simply impossible to ask them to change their path. When an artist is inspired by such a powerful conviction, he is able to see through numerous deceptions which are inevitable in such a career. This is an invaluable asset. On the other hand, we find amateurs (from the Latin word amare, or to love), those who love an art to the point that they practice this art form without being professionals. Amateurs have a life outside of the artistic path. They find, in their own practice, a healthy and nourishing balance that should be supported to a reasonable extent. It is however indefensible to let someone believe that a career is possible when obvious necessary qualifications are missing. This robs the singer of a happy path, loads of concerts as an amateur, and will probably turn him into a bitter and sad person because success will not have happened as planned. Being a professional singer in a world of constant work is determined by a cruel selection, the rarity of one’s voice and excellence of style, choice of repertoire, personal discipline, technical study with the voice teacher, repertoire and style-study with the coach, and confrontation with stage directors. One should also mention auditions, agents, competition, foreign languages, public relations.

Technical Work with the Voice Teacher

One of the most delicate steps on the path of the professional singer is the choice of a good voice teacher. How can one value a type of teaching, when precisely one needs to learn new concepts? Identifying several points is crucial. During the very first lesson: the teacher must be able to diagnose a vocal problem at once (or as quickly as possible), he must offer effective solutions and be able to explain – in several ways – a technical concept, he must show academic and psychological qualities, and most of all one should never feel the slightest bit of tension in the throat area during or at the end of the lesson. This may sound absurd. Unfortunately it is common to meet a singer who complains about pain in the throat (due to teaching methods) and still he/she goes back to that particular teacher thinking that it is normal. Feeling any kind of vocal tension or fatigue at the end of a lesson is the utmost warning. It is my experience that one can sing for an hour or more (according to the level and resistance of the singer), and feel that vocal training is a warm-up, a massage to the vocal cords, a healthy physical activity for the entire body.

It is essential that the teacher be able to explain technical points in a simple, effective, and obvious way without using too much obscure or scientific language. The philosopher Seneca once wrote, in his Letter XL to Lucilius: the speech which holds truth as a goal must be simple and straight-forward. In fact, I have noticed that the more one uses words that are immediately accessible, the deeper their meaning echoes in the singer, and the sharper and clearer the singer responds. I don’t think that speaking of open velar port or reduced first formant intensity or any similar terms can spontaneously help most singers. There are too many teachers who talk well and sing poorly (I don’t mean the beauty of the voice, but the way it is used). The main purpose of a voice lesson is not to show off one’s scientific knowledge, but to help a singer move forward. Using simple and powerful vocabulary, linked to well-known emotions or organs, allows for a clear understanding. The other major advantage of a straight-forward teaching style is that one connects singing to daily life. Numerous daily actions are close to singing. Coughing and laughing, for instance, are directly related to concepts like cord closure, lumbar muscle support, breath management. Laughter also has beneficial virtues on several levels and it offers a more enjoyable work environment that is more effective.

This leads me to mention an essential element which is the basis of the teaching once given by Alan R. Lindquest: to consider the singer as not simply a voice, but a complex person. A true Master teacher must be able to teach beginners, amateurs and professionals, female and male singers, young or old (each of these categories have specificities and pedagogical tools). A Master teacher identifies at once what causes a vocal problem, offers a solution in simple terms, understands the difficulties of a singer, psychologically supports him and helps him grow vocally and humanly. All of these elements are offered in a positive and joyful environment. These conditions narrow the number of high-level teachers. When a teacher possesses and uses these rare qualities, the singer finally meets a true partner who guides him on his professional path. Teaching becomes a passionate sharing between a Master teacher and his student. Teaching can only be understood as  team-work, with its ups and downs, but always as a team. Alan R. Lindquest said in 1980: you see, it is not just teaching the voice or the instrument, it is molding the person as well, all you can. You cannot separate this. This is why it is a spiritual and eternal gift. A true Master teacher passes on more than technique. He allows the singer to become his own teacher.

Musical work with the coach

Let’s imagine a professional singer who has worked technically and vocally on a part or a score with the teacher.  The singer is capable of modifying correctly and healthily upon request his/her way of singing. Now is the time to work with a coach. This musical work is imperative in order to refine one’s style and to prepare oneself to meet agents, opera managers, conductors and directors. A singer should only meet with a coach when he/she has secured a reasonable part of his/her technique. I insist on this because the coach is going to ask the singer to prefer this or that tempo, to emphasize this or that note, and because each of these modifications should be accomplished in the most correct way technically speaking. There are coaches who allow themselves to give technical suggestions, for instance to sing a pure ee vowel in the highest register in order to understand the singer more clearly. These coaches simply ignore basic vocal and technical principles. When a young professional singer adopts these opinions, he/she suffers vocal consequences. I have been fortunate to work with two of the most eminent coaches in Paris, Callas’ former pianist Janine Reiss (Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Geneva Grand Théâtre), and Irène Aïtoff (who coached me for Carmen and Don Giovanni). Both of them clearly told me that vocal technique was not their specialty and that the technical preparation had to be accomplished beforehand. When a coach asks for a change in interpretation, the singer must be able to produce the expected result on his/her own. This is why it is preferable to work with a coach when one’s technique is already well settled. One must also mention the necessity for a singer to train his/her pronunciation in various foreign languages. Listening to recordings cannot replace the true preparation with a coach. It is only through proper coaching that the singer will display flexibility, professionalism and self-assurance that will appeal to the conductor.

Stage work with the director

The singer has now worked technically and vocally with his/her voice teacher and has prepared his score with a coach. Now comes an audition for an agent, an opera manager, a conductor and/or a director. Physical appearance and dramatical characteristics are important to cast specific operatic roles. More and more directors have the power to decide on the choice of singers. A professional singer must be able to convince that director that he/she is the character. It has been my experience that a well-prepared (technically and musically) singer is more ready to achieve success in an audition. He/she will not always be hired (for appearance reasons for example) but will leave a strong impact of his/her audition. Singing a poor audition is one of the worst things that can happen to a professional singer. He/she often needs to wait for six to twelve months and might then be offered another chance by the same jury. In addition, it is most likely that the mediocre results of a previous audition has been made public, thus reducing the chances of getting auditions in similar or larger theaters. I have mostly prepared each role, each aria, each audition with a stage director just like I did technically and musically. You must read your text, work on it like an actor, improve acting skills by using technical exercises, play your audition arias. The result is stunning: the paralyzing audition fright that happens when lacking preparation vanishes totally. Furthermore, singing during an audition consists merely in reproducing the mental image of what has been built on stage. The voice becomes more impressive because singing is fed by dramatic images. The specificity of a role is immediate and powerful which is particularly useful when one is only allowed a few minutes to convince the jury. I can only recommend that every professional singer work in depth on acting skills with actors, directors, choreographers, and dancers.

When the singer has been hired and has learned the part, he/she meets with the conductor, the director, and his colleagues in the cast. It is commonly requested that the singer has memorized the music before the first rehearsal. Here again, meeting with the director and the conductor means that the singer must be able to react at once to musical and acting indications: to sing while lying down, to run on stage right before hitting a high note, to sing with one’s back to the audience, to dance, to fence etc. A singer must also respect the director and the conductor’s indications, even if he/she has already sung the part in another production. It takes humility, respect, and professionalism.

It seems clear now that the path of a professional singer, from studio to stage, leaves little if any space for improvisation or amateur behaviour (in the pejorative sense). Becoming a professional singer requires specific and high artistic standards which do not grace every singer. A beautiful voice is not enough. I often meet colleagues who complain about the fact that they have no career. They are convinced to be great artists on the verge of being discovered. Yet they never question themselves and often accuse the rest of the world to be responsible for their stagnation or failure. They forget that competition is harsh. There is no other way but to respect:

1. a high-level vocal and technical training;
2. a solid musical and stylistic preparation;
3. a deep and intense work on roles and acting skills.

© OperaLab Gilles Denizot – All Rights Reserved.

©2010 OperaLab.. All Rights Reserved.