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Sessions VOIX individuelles avec Gilles Denizot à OperaLab Paris les 8-9 octobre 2010.

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Bookings close on August 27.

Sessions VOIX individuelles avec Gilles Denizot à OperaLab Genève le 10 septembre 2010.

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Sessions VOIX individuelles avec Gilles Denizot à OperaLab Paris les 3-4-5 septembre 2010.

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Learning To Sing Via Internet
An article by Gilles Denizot

Internet offers a considerable quantity of resources: articles, scores, sound and video files. Anyone may see the fantastic value of it. As always, the web provides the best and the worst. The specificity of vocal training (and the beauty of it) is that there must be a real contact between teacher and student. Fundamental issues like breath management and Passaggio training can only be taught in the studio. It is impossible to diagnose a vocal issue in a thorough manner and to cure its cause at distance. A sound file may give indications, but nothing more. Students who wander on the net looking for miracle remedies definitely take considerable risks.

Choosing a Voice Teacher
The most important task a voice student will bear is the choice of a competent vocal tutor. It is foolish to apply vocal advices received via Internet without having sung for the professor. You need at least a lesson (rather three) to have a precise idea of his/her technical knowledge, his/her human qualities, his/her vocabulary, his/her way of working. Not every Internet users are capable of giving relevant advices (this however does not prevent them by no means from doing so). Most of them have no professional experience whatsoever. The recommendations will thus be at best ineffective and at worst harmful.

Working in Partnership with the Teacher
Some voice students look for answers via Internet to avoid the cost of a voice lesson. Others question their teacher’s method by asking the approval of perfect strangers met on Internet forums. I have already spoken about the partnership which should exist between the student and the teacher. It is simply about the confidence in the capacities of the teacher and about being certain of the legitimacy of the work process. Without this partnership, no real progress is possible. When one chooses a professor, one should rely on him/her and let him/her be the guide. It is beforehand that it is necessary to enquire and be sure to make the good choice. Students often ask crucial and legitimate questions on Internet forums. Do their professors not answer them or in such an unclear way that students have to look elsewhere? Are those students trying to obtain more accommodating answers? Giving my opinion behind the back of the official professor is always uncomfortable. To consult a teacher via Internet or to follow in secret the instruction of a professor proves the distress of these students. You have the right to an excellent education, which answers all your questions. You have the right to a privileged contact with your professor. If you think that you are not getting the instruction you deserve, it is better to change teacher than to ask strangers for vocal recipes.

Most Common Voice Topics on the Internet
Vocal category, vibrato, larynx activity and breath/support are some of the most common topics discussed on Internet forums. One must be clear: there is NO way to teach laryngeal activity, breath and support via the Internet.

• Vocal Category

It is impossible to indicate someone’s vocal category without having heard the singer. Yet it is one of the most frequent questions. One needs to hear the voice and observe how the singer produces the sound. Why should I tell a student to train his voice as a tenor when he describes his timbre as light and tells me that he can easily reach the G above Passaggio? Perhaps his mouth opens horizontally on the ascending scale. A young man once sent me a sound file and assured me that he was perfectly mastering his Passaggio. It was rather the opposite: what he believed to be a high voice was really a pushed voice, more and more open, and a total loss of resonance and timbre. When I mentioned my doubts regarding his vocal situation, he sent me another file of the same quality. He also asked another teacher for a second opinion. The teacher’s opinion was identical to mine. Internet users often point out that a specific aria gives them troubles implying that they belong to another vocal category. It is indeed possible that the repertoire is unappropriate, but it may also be a technical problem. Misunderstanding the Passaggio is in this respect significant.

Case Study: Lirico spinto tenor singing baritone
A few years ago, a young singer was (rightly) asking himself questions about his repertoire. This thirty-year-old young man was to sing a concert with orchestra in Paris. His programme included Morales (Carmen), Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Publius (La Clemenza di Tito). This repertoire is respectively intended for a high baritone, a bass-baritone, and a bass, on no account the same vocal type. This singer described himself as a “light baritone or a big tenor who extends his high range bit by bit”. His professor also thought that he might be a tenor but not knowing how to train him, he preferred to train him as a baritone “until the voice would be ready!” This attitude is irresponsible and dangerous. One should at once train each student in his/her true vocal category. Allowing precious years to pass without training proper muscles and reflexes is only slowing down the singer’s development. In some cases, it can even definitively prevent him/her to have a career. Let me specify here that I speak only about the main vocal category (soprano, mezzo, alto, countertenor, tenor, baritone, and bass) and not about Fach categories (for example dramatic soprano, Heldentenor, or Verdi baritone). If your voice is that of a tenor, you should be trained as a tenor by your professor, not as a baritone under the excuse that the high range will come later (C.f. The Beginner Singer). You should also not be given baritone repertoire, but appropriate tenor study material.

Having read several messages from this young man and various opinions from forum’s members, I exceptionally made a technical suggestion. By giving a mere hermetic statement, I made sure it would cause no vocal damage because there was no directions on how to use the suggestion. A brief private correspondence quickly began followed by a consultation session. Indeed, it is possible to discuss theory only during a short period, then it is necessary to move to actual singing.

Because I was supposed to train a baritone, I selected vocal exercises for medium voice and in a medium key. The medium and low range had absolutely no ring. We immediately abandoned the bass vocal category. While rising up in the scale, the voice began to naturally alter itself at the tenor break. It became obvious that the baritone vocal category had been chosen because of a) a false and hollow color produced largely by the tongue depressing the larynx and by an obstructed pharynx, b) because of the impossibility for the larynx to pivot and reach the tenor high range. Within minutes of appropriate vocalizing, a gorgeous tenorial sound came out of the young man’s throat. Carefully, I shared with him what I believed his voice was. He then told me that he always thought he was a tenor! His relief was obvious, as if he could at last be himself. What had been wrongly categorized as a baritone (and trained as such for eight years!) was in reality a pure lirico spinto tenor. This error in misdiagnosing the voice led the singer to experience vocal nodes and forced him to go through vocal surgery before we met! It took us a year to recover his voice thanks to the switch in vocal category and appropriate tuition.

• Vibrato

I remember the message of a teenager who wanted to know where he could “buy a vibrato for his voice!” It is amazing to read all the vibrato recipes on the Internet. They are as good as saying that “vibrato will surely come later.” The absence of vibrato always causes a legitimate worry amongst voice students (especially amateurs, and quite particularly female singers). Any vibrato problem indicates without the slightest doubt a vocal dysfunction and should be considered a red light alarm at once. When the support muscles do not regulate breath pressure, vocal cords cannot freely oscillate. When the tongue is retracted and depresses the larynx, vocal folds cannot properly function. Only when the singer accomplishes a balanced breath management does the vibrato naturally appear. However, all of this takes time and has to be trained. Without precise training, nothing happens. I once taught two singers who complained of a lack of vibrato. Their vocal folds oscillated during our first session. They were certainly encouraged, but it is really only after several months of patient work on breathing and support that they were able to consistently sing with a vibrato. The golden rule the more one pushes breath through the larynx the less the voice rings is highly difficult to apply.

Absence of Supervision
The major problem as regards our subject is the absence of supervision. By definition, asking for vocal and technical advices on the Internet gives no real contact with a vocal tutor. There is no example and no possibility of control. Besides, the instruction is not adapted to the specific situation of the singer. Every student is a particular case which demands a personalized instruction. The specific characteristics of the singer may otherwhise neither be revealed nor developed. Without supervision, the student deliberately exposes himself/herself to vocal damage. You might understand an article on vocal technique, nevertheless you need a correct explanation by a professor. This includes seeing and hearing your teacher correctly apply this principle (often by touching the professor’s muscles in action). The teacher’s supervision is crucial.

Conclusion
These examples show that it is impossible to learn to sing from a book, a CD and via Internet. The web provides additional information, which enriches our understanding of singing. But on no account does it replace the antique form of teaching. The human contact between a teacher and his/her student was, is and always will remain the only way of passing on this ancestral knowledge, whatever the evolution of technologies.

© OperaLab – Gilles Denizot. All Rights Reserved.

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Sessions VOIX individuelles avec Gilles Denizot à OperaLab Genève le 18 juin 2010.

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Bookings close on May 21.

Sessions VOIX individuelles avec Gilles Denizot à OperaLab Paris les 4-5-6 juin 2010.

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By Gilles Denizot

Within the tenor vocal category, there is a voice that some call light lyric tenor. This type of singer must be appropriately taught. One cannot reveal or develop his specific vocal characteristics when trained as a lower-voiced tenor (even as a lyric tenor). One must pay extra attention to the singer’s body shape, his exact Passaggio notes, his fitting repertoire.

Fach Characteristics

The light lyric tenor or tenore leggiero was known as tenore di grazia during the eighteenth century. His main vocal characteristics are the purity of line, the evenness of timbre, the frequent use of an exquisite mezza voce. Also typical are the extreme ease to access the highest register (often sung piano) and the stunning vocal virtuosity. These qualities may not be there yet at the start of vocal studies. The young singer can nevertheless be indeed a light lyric tenor. Remember that Alfredo Kraus began choir singing as a second tenor.

Two Light Lyric Tenor Examples

1. Tito Schipa (1888 – 1965)

Tito Schipa, born in Italy in 1888, saw his professional debut as Alfredo in La Traviata (1909). He premiered Ruggero in Puccini’s La Rondine at the Monte-Carlo Opera House in 1917. He was a phenomenal technician with a flawless use of the mezza voce. His limited operatic repertoire – a typical feature among all light lyric tenors – allowed him to sing past his sixtieth birthday.

2. Alfredo Kraus (1927 – 1999)

Giacomo Lauri Volpi, the legendary high tenor, described Alfredo Kraus as “a perfect example of the classical tenore di grazia“. Like Schipa, Alfredo Kraus restricted his operatic repertoire to a mere twenty parts from the Bel Canto, Verdi (Alfredo, Duca di Mantova, Fenton), and from selected French operas. Alfredo Kraus, born in 1927, was still singing in 1998 (one year before his death). Kraus used to say: “Of course I would have loved to sing Lohengrin, Radames, and Calaf. But it would have been dangerous for my voice, and unfair to the music”.

Vocal Specificities

• Passaggio Notes

One of the main dangers for the light lyric tenor is to be taught by a professor who considers that all tenors share the same vocal specificities, the same Passaggio notes. Each voice is different and a light lyric tenor’s Passaggio notes obviously are not those of a Heldentenor. The light lyric tenor voice clearly reveals two specific breaks: the first on E flat (or even E) when entering Passaggio, the second one being on A flat (respectively A) when entering the high register. Under no circumstances does the light lyric tenor’s voice change on F (as a dramatic tenor) or F# (as a spinto tenor). Forcing the voice to behave like a lower one is an error. Alfredo Kraus would otherwise have sung Otello or Radames. In fact, Kraus only sang Cavaradossi twice (in 1956). He experienced vocal strain when studying lirico-spinto repertoire and felt fine when he first sang Duca that year. Light lyric tenors will find proper repertoire suggestions below, to help them develop their voices and reveal their specific vocal qualities.

• Head Voice, Mezza Voce and Falsettone

A genuine light lyric tenor often “cracks” when he begins to train his high register. Luckily he is unable to “push” his chest voice as high as most tenors unfortunately can. When he reaches A flat/A, his voice suddenly shifts because he does not know how to use the light mechanism or because his body won’t allow him to. He is being told that he is singing in Falsetto, that it is inappropriate, and that he cannot be a tenor because he has no hight notes. This “crack” is an unexpected benefit and a very healthy reaction of the instrument which requires a different use. It is time to give this singer a very appropriate training. How many beginners have unfortunately been wrongly directed to baritone or even bass repertoires!

The young lyric tenor is not singing in Falsetto (provided there is body support and no breathy sound). Actually, he just discovered the light mechanism, which he must use primarily on all of his vocal range, and which defines his vocal category. In the low register, the young light lyric tenor must learn to sing “with modesty” or “reserve”: volume is not what we expect from him in this area. Even a Heldentenor should not be adding weight to these notes, as in Siegmund scenes I,3 or II,4. In the middle register, the light lyric tenor must refrain from using the heavy mechanism. This often happens when the singer does not master the breathing or when his body lacks flexibility. It is paramount to develop a healthy light-lyric voice. Recommending more physical strength at that point will deprive the singer from a spontaneous use of his natural light mechanism. One can inevitably expect problems in breathing management, high notes, vibrato or timbre. An adequate technical training includes teaching the A flat/A Passaggio and learning to connect the head voice to the specific register called Falsettone. At that point the singer can easily reach an F above high C. He can then begin the study of selected Bellini and Rossini arias and make good use of his high register extension. These extra notes are needed, both vocally and stylistically. This is not exceptional, it is the obvious result of an appropriate training.

Physical Specificities

Being flexible both vocally and physically is crucial for the light lyric tenor. He is unable of great vocal and physical efforts because of his slender, relatively slightly built figure. His rib cage usually is rather underdeveloped in the early stages of his training. Forcing the voice and the body, suggesting more support is counterproductive. In most cases, the body will stiffen (and so will the voice), fatigue will appear, and finally the singer will “crack”.

Typically, the young light lyric tenor engages too much support, as strange as it may seem. There is too much physical strength involved, and not enough energy or flexibility allowing him to sing in light mechanism. The more breath he inhales, the more he has to engage muscles to hold the breath back. This leads him to sing in heavy mechanism. As always, the Golden Rule of singing is not the quantity of breath but the quality of the breath management. The noble posture (see article on ‘Posture and Breath‘) allows the singer the full use of his physical abilities and to avoid tension. The solar plexus, for example, must not be rigid but allow for a reliable Appoggio; the lumbar muscles must provide an antagonistic response to the abdominal area. The hips must be flexible enough to pivot, especially when singing legato and high. Working on breathing, on staccati, and on rapid exercises will prevent excessive efforts and the inevitable fatigue. Flexibility and energy allow the young light lyric tenor to understand what support really means.

The physical image must also be briefly mentioned. The greatest tenori di grazia of the last century often looked unduly elegant, somewhat dandyish. The modern light lyric tenor is as masculine as any other, even when he decides to develop the physical and vocal aspects of his voice, especially elegance and softness of tone. To achieve this, he must see himself as he really is and understand that these are assets to be used.

Training Suggestions

1. The ‘i’ Vowel

During a 1995 Masterclass, Alfredo Kraus stated that learning to sing merely means to look for an ‘i vowel’-based natural vocal production. The “least vocally tiring vowel” – according to Kraus – “opens the throat” and avoids darkening the voice.

2. The Staccato

Since vocal flexibility is essential for the light lyric tenor, it seems appropriate to select staccati exercises. They will expand the light mechanism. Furthermore, legato singing is more difficult for light lyric tenors. Staccato is a logical introduction to a more legato and slower singing. Read Richard Miller’s notes on the topic.

Repertoire Suggestions

The Bel Canto and some French operas are ideal; here some general ideas:

• Adam Le Postillon de Lonjumeau (Chapelou)
• Bizet Les Pêcheurs de perles (Nadir)
• Gounod Mireille (Vincent)
• Massenet Manon (Des Grieux)
• Mozart Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Pedrillo)
• Rossini Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Almaviva)
• Verdi La Traviata (Alfredo), Rigoletto (Duca), Falstaff (Fenton)

The following arias are especially appropriate:

• “Una furtiva lagrima” by Donizetti (Nemorino)
• “O Colombina” by Leoncavallo (Beppe/Arlecchino)
• “Vainement, ma bien-aimée” by Lalo (Mylio)
• “Ach, so fromm” ou “M’appari” by Flotow (Lionel)

As well as songs, mélodies and Lieder:

• “Ma rendi pur contento” by Bellini
• “Die schöne Müllerin” by Schubert.

Every singer must discover his/her voice, appreciate its qualities, and learn not to sing louder and larger than the instrument permits. In addition, it is highly recommended that vocal tutors – particularly those who rarely or never sang on stage – listen to their students’ performances, possibly in a large theater. One is suddenly very surprised by the smaller size of the voice, in comparison to the sound heard in the studio, even if the voice carries well. The repertoire must be carefully and deliberately chosen. Several options exist: according to his physical abilities, the light lyric tenor can sing leading and/or secondary roles. He can be Werther or Monostatos, Pedrillo or Monsieur Triquet, and of course a superb recitalist.

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Sessions VOIX individuelles avec Gilles Denizot à OperaLab Paris les 6-7-8-9 mai 2010.

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Working with a beginner takes a similar approach at first whatever the vocal category. The basic notions of posture and breathing are almost identical. However, once the true voice type of the student is established, a voice tutor must respect it. Teaching a soprano in the mezzo range does not help at all; training a tenor as a baritone “until he gains high notes” is counter-productive, to say the least. It is of the utmost importance that a student be trained in his/her appropriate vocal category.

At the time of my debut in 1985, I had a powerful, rich, and odd mature voice. Its colour was dark and full; the range and abilities largely above normal. This voice allowed me to make my debut at the Grand Theatre in Geneva aged 18, after only six months of voice lessons. At the age of 22 I sang the Verdi Requiem in Paris and got hired as a permanent soloist by the Opernhaus in Zurich. At 24, I was invited to represent my country at the 1991 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. I did not have any real technical knowledge, and did not especially want any. I had ways to succeed in difficult music lines, and I was carefree and bold. After years of singing on an international level, I discovered what was preventing me from singing consistently.

Although I strongly believed to be a tenor, I got trained in the wrong vocal category. Being a Heldentenor, my instrument was heavier and darker than a lyric tenor. It sounded a lot like a lower voice and I did not know how to access the high tenor range. I needed to be trained as a tenor, and not as a bass-baritone. My voice therefore became larger in the areas where a tenor’s voice must be narrow. My muscles never learned to support the tenor tessitura. This litteraly robbed me of my true vocal nature for over 15 years.

Detecting Vocal Category

Sometimes, the vocal category is not clearly audible. A soprano or a tenor may not have the appropriate support to access high notes. A mezzo or a baritone may sound like an upper voice by using a high larynx. When I start teaching a beginner, I make sure that the posture and the breathing are addressed. As the voice releases, I may detect the passaggio notes. With the correct training, the result is a balanced voice whatever the range or category. It has been my personal experience that true passaggio notes only reveal themselves when specific requirements of singing are achieved (posture, breath management). However, passaggio notes give a certain indication. So does the evident sensation of ease and comfort in a certain voice line, or area within the range. Some singers like to sing high, others don’t. This sensation is often interesting to observe among beginners. I have once taught a singer whom I immediately identified as a possible tenor. Passaggio notes were not obvious, particularly because some tenors can have a dark colour and easy low notes. However there was a definite change of colour around high F#4, a typical pivotal note amongst numerous tenors. I knew that as soon as certain crucial technical notions would be absorbed and used by this singer, the high register would be allowed to develop more easily above this passaggio note.

Detecting Passaggio Notes

We have to look for differences in sensations and colours in the unbalanced raw voice. Detecting the low passaggio note can be somewhat tricky, mainly because some tenors may have a strong and dark voice, and a lot of chest resonance in the low register, even resembling the low register of a baritone. One can be fooled by the colour of the voice. This is why I often prefer to look for the upper passaggio, where it is difficult or almost impossible to cheat. When dealing with a dramatic voice such as mine the passaggio note is an excellent indication. One has to recall that dramatic sopranos and Heldentenors have a second passaggio or upper passaggio on a lower note than their higher colleagues. Example: my lower passaggio (first passaggio) is around C4 and my upper passaggio (second passaggio) is F4. These are the typical pivotal notes of a Heldentenor or a drammatico/robusto tenor (C.f. Frisell’s Tenor Voice; Baritone Voice; and Miller’s Structure of Singing; Training Tenor Voices). Higher tenors (spinto, lirico, di grazia etc.) have a higher passaggio, around F#4 or G4. Light lyric and Rossini tenors may even a higher upper passaggio. It is therefore unconceivable to teach all singers the same way.

Choosing Keys in Music

It might also be a good idea to choose easy and comfortable keys for the beginner within his/her vocal category. I once worked with a student on Schubert’s Ave Maria. He immediately told me that he felt ‘at home’ in the tenor key (which goes up to F4) compared to the baritone key. This certainly is not the usual reaction of a baritone, even less so of a bass. One should remember that male singers share moreless the same medium range (this also applies to the female medium range). The real difference lies in the repertoire as a tenor/soprano sings a third above a baritone/mezzo. Vocal categories therefore must be respected in choosing repertoire. I sometimes prefer a higher and brighter key, particularly in Schubert Lieder (written for pianoforte which had a clearer low range than modern pianos), whereas Mahler Lieder require an absolute control of the mixed and head voice, utterly-balanced registers (which I surely did not have when in 1991 a famous agent sent me to Germany to sing Die fahrenden Gesellen with orchestra).

Explaining Vocabulary

I usually begin the very first lesson by providing the student with an anatomical worksheet describing the larynx, the upper body, and the vocal cords (closed and open). The student has to know the basics of his instrument. He also will be hearing various vocal terms, and the vocal tutor must explain them when appropriate (C.f. Of Vocal Registers).

Posture and Breath

These are the very first notions to teach a beginner. The great Italian Masters of the Bel Canto era always devoted a great amount of time for that purpose. The postura nobile (‘noble posture’) ensures that the instrument is available for vocal studies. Once this is achieved, breathing must be explained and trained so that the student may use it to his own benefit. Proper breath management will release tension in the larynx and pharynx areas, thereby allowing for a better sound (C.f. Posture and Breath).

Cord Closure and Onset/Offset of Sound

The first vocal training must be based on the concepts of ‘onset’ and ‘offset’, especially with a beginner whose vocal cords might have a tendency to leak air. There is a very simple exercise in order to understand the cord closure and where the vocal cords are located. As weird as it may seem it took me 15 years of singing and a simple exercise with a teacher to feel the cord closure operate. I usually start around G3/A3/B3 with a man, going down so that the last note touches the low range but still easily. This study, combined with breath management, teaches the student the staccato ability.

The Italian ‘uh’ Vowel

This vowel elongates the throat space to a maximum, compared to other vowels. The student may also say ah-oh-uh and feel what changes in the throat and in the mouth. Basically, the uh allows the larynx to lower, thereby tensing and thinning the vocal cords. I teach all sorts of exercises on uh; they are hard but unbelievably good for quick and lasting progress. For instance I use different versions of scales in the medium and low registers, starting on B3/A3/G3. The extended versions of these scales always have to be initiated right below the first passaggio (between A3 and C4) and not above in order to avoid unfortunate and counter-productive tensions. One must remember that with singers, particularly male singers, the high register can scare. It is the responsibility of the teacher to avoid a ‘fear reflex’. I use these scales downwards so that the singer’s voice warms up gently but quickly. We stop when touching the low register; this can be a G2 for a baritone, or a C3 for a tenor.

Garcia’s Pharyngeal Vowels

The Garcia’s exercise helps a lot in identifying each vowel (its ’sound image’). This vocalise uses a five-tone scale, tongue between the teeth, then another five-tone scale, tongue in mouth, on the five ee – eh – ah – oh – uh vowels. By using this exercise, the study of legato and vowel alignment begins. I recommend to use this exercise in the middle area of the voice only. Later on, confirmed singers can practise it in the passaggio area and above.

Lindquest’s and Bjoerling’s Scales

Singing higher and faster must also be addressed. The idea is to alternate closed vowels (ee or eh) and open vowels (ah or oh) i.e. ee-oh or eh-ah. I usually offer the singer to choose the easiest combination. There are several versions of these scales, from the simplest one to the most elaborate one. This is used as a relaxed moment in the session. With a beginner who clearly is a tenor, I use a different version of the Lindquest/Bjoerling scales. It involves the pivot of the larynx and the vowel adjustment with the Umlaut. The pivot of the larynx and the vowel adjustment allows for an instant discovery of the essence of the male singer’s training: the passaggio and the cover. This subject is by far one of the most controversial of all. It takes time (and proper teaching) to understand the passaggio and the cover. When correctly produced, singing in the upper register becomes enjoyable.

Caruso’s Scales

Twenty-nine different versions of the scales Caruso practised daily are reproduced in Caruso, and the Art of Singing, by Salvatore Fucito and Barnet J. Bayer (Dover). They all are an excellent tool for the study of vowel adjustment and the blending of the registers.

The Cuperto Exercise

This exercise involves the falsetto in the male voice and trains piano singing in the high female voice range. Some men have an easy and natural falsetto, some don’t. The latter ones close the throat and push the jaw forward in attempt to reach the very high notes. There at two ways to prevent that. One is to explain every parameter before starting, basically feeling a soft, floating sensation. This is how I would describe my falsetto. Very pure, no body engagement other than proper posture and breath management. It is of the utmost importance that the shape of the mouth be as narrow and oval as the throat is wide and open. The greatest responsibility of the teacher is to select the first note so that the singer is not taken too high, close to the ‘fear reflex’ area. The other way to avoid the fear of the falsetto is to use full voice version of the Cuperto on the Bjoerling Umlaut. It seems that this version helps tenors more than baritones.

The Sieber Vocalises

Sieber was a Viennese Italian-trained voice teacher who composed these 8-measures exercises for his students, with different tunes for each voice type. These exercises, published by Schirmer, train the passaggio in a clever way by using closed and open vowels. They always make singing easy, healthy, technically correct. I have noticed that beginners find a great amount of joy and satisfaction in applying technique to repertoire via Sieber. It prevents the student to think that there is technique on one side, and music on the other.

Applying Technique to Repertoire

The main reason for technique is to memorize vocal mechanisms until they become habits. As we have previously seen, the student must be taught in the correct vocal category for this to become productive. Then one applies technical abilities to repertoire. Not the other way round. Students should realize that technique and musicality are closely intertwined. A singer who truly possesses a complete range of exercises can always go back to that ‘home base’ when facing trouble in a piece of music. The student gradually becomes his own vocal tutor, the utmost gift a teacher can give to his/her student.

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