Jeremy Fisher, Singing coach

Coaching the Girl in 14G

2010-01-15T09:27:00.000Z

The final song we worked on (see the previous two blogs) was one of my all-time favourites. The Girl In 14G - written for the vocally talented Kristen Chenoweth.

I've coached this song with so many different people, and there are so many different ways that the song can work for you. The song requires four completely different voices (docile mouse, opera singer, jazz singer and broadway belter). So there is usually one that the singer is most comfortable with. I tend to start from the comfort zone and work outwards.

There are three different characters in this song, and when we began they weren't delineated sharply enough, so I started with the narrator. This self-confessed mouse has three distinct moods - quiet and docile, startlingly angry, and strong and outgoing. The first mood needs a small, childlike, twangy sound that stays pretty much the same whatever she is singing.

The temptation with this song is for her to get too angry too soon, so we worked on keeping the narrator small with varying levels of patience. This helps delineate her against the opera singer, who is completely oblivious to her surroundings and expressing herself in the grand manner.

The physicality of the three characters is also vital. The mouse is physically hemmed in, not moving much and with a very small, narrow body space. This contrasts with the opera singer who has a wide body space and flamboyant upward gestures. They need to be upward, as she lives in the flat below the narrator.

The jazz singer's physicality is the opposite. Into the ground, flexible and funky, and aiming downwards (she lives in the flat upstairs). Once these physical characteristics are sorted out, it becomes much easier and more fun to sing the song. Particularly when they are singing in "three part harmony".

Even within each character there is a lot of detail to be found. For example, the opera singer when we first hear her sings music from (in my opinion) three different operas - Mozart, Wagner and Rossini. Yes, I know in the score it says the third one is Mozart again, but it's more fun if you change it...

So for the Queen of the Night excerpt you can stand in the classic dramatic vengeance pose; for the Wagner, romantic desolation; and for the "Rossini" you want the archetypical coquettish heroine. The more you throw yourself into each physical characterisation, the clearer the story is for the audience, and the more interesting it is for you to do.

And you're not just relying on your vocal skills to pull off the jokes.

My singer loves the new physicality and is singing it with much more clarity and fun.

Job done.

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD
The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released
The Voicebox Videos DVD goes into its third pressing
The Vocal Process website has 300+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

Moving from opera to pop style

2010-01-14T14:01:00.000Z

Following on from the previous blog:

My opera singer client now puts We'll Meet Again in front of me. It's for the "singalong" part of a performance she's doing, and normally the idea of opera singers and singalong makes me shudder (and trust me, I've worked with enough opera singers to know what "And On The Lighter Side" actually means...)

As it happens, she's doing rather well with it, so I only put in a few style tweaks. The verse needed to be more conversational, so we experimented with shortening long final notes or dropping the volume on them.

One of the biggest and easiest changes you can make as a classically trained singer moving to more contemporary repertoire is to change the shape/volume of a line. Most classical singers are taught that sustaining is the breath of life, and that you meddle with the line on pain of death. That works for music that is written in that style (much of the classical repertoire from Gluck and Handel onwards requires it). But it really doesn't work in text-based music such as western musical theatre or pop.

Back to the Vera Lynn... We changed the volume shapes of each line from long arches to shorter, quicker volume rise-and-fall, for a more colloquial feel. It worked a treat, and she sounded much more real and more direct.

And the final tweak was an odd one. The verse was working fine, but she was sounding too energised in the chorus. So I asked her to imagine that she was singing slower than I was playing, and that the song had more breadth. She took the instruction and ran with it, and the feel changed to one of nostalgia and hope. It was almost like magic.

I always like to find out how people translate my instructions, so I asked her what she had done. She had imagined herself in a much bigger space, singing a broader, slower song "out there".

Fascinating what makes a performance work.

Moving from opera to musical theatre style

2010-01-13T18:32:00.000Z

Working in the West End coaching studio again today.

I love working with versatile singers, and the opera singer who came today is doing really well with more contemporary styles. In today's 90 minute session we had a caribbean national anthem, Jerusalem, We'll Meet Again, The Girl in 14G and a new lyrical musical theatre piece (not heard in this country yet). Normally we'd be doing Donizetti or Mozart, so this is quite a repertoire swing!

This session was about tweaking and guiding. I'm working with her on vocal style, performing tips and watchpoints, and which musical style points belong to which musical genre.

It's fascinating for me to hear someone who is so used to singing and working in one genre change to another. She is doing really well and has a natural instinct for communication. Although sometimes we have to fight the previous training!

To the lyrical musical theatre piece we added volume changes within words, breathy excitement to one section, specific diction tips to another and played around with keys until we found one that really worked for her voice. The original was apparently for a female bass (down to low E and the highest note an octave above middle C). She's an operatic soprano singing with a lyrical vocal sound, so we had to find a key that worked with direct communication and didn't "overblow" on the top notes. Apologies to the opera singers reading this blog, but I know what I mean! Just ask me if you want to find out more...

We ended up in Eb, a really warm key for the song (subtext - "please don't ask me to leave you, I love you but I'll never see you again"). Unfortunately in the middle key change we ended up in Gb major - a great key for warm climaxes, but a little devil to transpose into.

Although I prefer people to sing in the original keys most of the time, there are certain styles of music where key is less important than performance, and this style was one of them. It was far more important to get the feel of the music and the emotion across than stick rigidly to the written score, and the transposed key worked far better for her.

Having said that, she'll be working with the composers in a couple of weeks' time, so I'll keep you posted on their thoughts!

More about working on style in the next blog.

Belting and the money notes

2010-01-12T17:58:00.002Z

I'm at the Jacques Samuel studios in London's West End for the first of my coaching sessions.

Today seems to be troubleshooting day, and I thought I'd share one particular session on this blog.

My client was having problems with the money note in a song (the song title escapes me at the moment - must be middle age creeping in).

The second half of the song sits up around F and G, and the final note is a long held G on the word "go". since he has easy high A's, he couldn't work out why the G was so taxing. So we broke down the task into its separate components.

The word components:
The g of "go" didn't seem to be causing problems, but the vowels were. He was trying to close down onto the second vowel of the diphthong (like the conscientious singer he is). So we experimented with different vowels for the diphthong - Ah Oh (as in cart hot) worked best in this case, but you may need to experiment yourself for a better personal choice. Some vowels may need to be modified in belting to get the sound you want without losing too much of the word.

Doing "Gah-oh" worked superbly for him - giving him a really open and exciting belt sound, a clearer first vowel, and helping him avoid closing down too much for the second vowel. This change pretty much solved the problem, so there were really only two tweaks left.

The note:

The G isn't really in his belt range, it's just underneath, so vocally it feels a little odd. Even though he wasn't in a vocal belt setup, by putting him in a physical belt position (body braced, head up "to the gods", the sound got just a little thicker and easier without him weighting his voice any more. It also looks good!

The ending:

Coming off a belt note can be tricky if you're not completely balanced. We explored different tone offsets, including glottal offset (which sounds like a truck into a brick wall, frankly, but could be useful for shock value), and chose the slight pitch bend downwards for best effect. So his pattern was hit the note in 'belt position', hold it absolutely straight until the last few seconds, add the vibrato, and drop the pitch around a tone just as he offset the sound.

Working well so far...

And for more applause (!) we added a delay to the word of a couple of beats, and a gasp offset right at the end.

Shockingly corny I know, but it builds the intensity of the performance without having to do it vocally. And in this song, corny works!

Client was pleased that the fix was so straightforward (and quick). Well, that's 25 years of experience, and that's what you pay me for!

Tricks of the trade...

***Update. Client just emailed to remind me that the song is "She Was There" from The Scarlet Pimpernel. End of senior moment***

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

2010-01-11T12:49:00.001Z

Well, the first West End vocal coaching trip was nearly scuppered this morning. Although there's no snow in the West End at the moment, our drive still has six inches of crispy, crunchy powder and looks stunning. No problem getting to the station (although even the four-by-fours are driving at 30mph).

The problem came at the station - the first train had broken down at the previous station, the second train was going to push it but couldn't get coupled, and the third train was cancelled. So we stood on the station platform, not knowing when the train was going to arrive, with no buffet and no toilets!

Still, I'm sitting on a train now, admiring the astonishing scenery, and we'll only be half an hour late for our first session (thank heaven for little mobiles).

It's a mix of clients for both of us this week, with actors, singers, spoken voice people and an opera singer or two.

The Vocal and Performance Coaching Calendar is working well - clients are now contacting us knowing exactly when our available sessions are.

Update: Good grief! Another train cancelled on us! Apparently even the London intercity trains aren't immune. I love English winters - no-one seems prepared for them, even though they happen every year.

British optimism?

But hey, our timetable allows for the vagaries of the weather, and we're still only going to be half an hour late.

British pessimism?

The new Vocal Process Coaching Calendar

2010-01-06T12:35:00.009Z

We're settling into the new house nicely - this picture is the view today from my office (it's one of the reasons we moved!)
Because of the move, Gillyanne and I have a new online Singing and Performance Coaching Calendar.

When we moved out of London, we wanted to make sure that our clients had access to us for vocal techniques lessons and specialist audition coaching.

So we've booked our West End studio up to April 2010. And you can now see when we're available for lessons and coaching sessions, live and online.

The link is on the Vocal Process website - just go to http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ and you'll see the live private coaching calendar link on the homepage.

We're happy to give sessions of an hour, an hour and a half, two hours or more if you have something specific and urgent you want to work on.

At the moment, we have clients flying in from Sweden, Spain and Israel for intensive coaching, as well as all our current West End clients.

If you're interested in booking a session with either of us, just drop us an email via the Vocal Process website. We'll look forward to working with you!

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD
The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released
The Voicebox Videos DVD goes into its third pressing
The Vocal Process website has 300+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

And they're off!

2009-12-07T14:48:00.002Z

It's moving day today. The van is parked outside the house and we're standing in a slightly bemused huddle as we watch our surroundings disappearing into the cavernous maw.

Actually, I think it's been fun. And since we're moving from a four-bedroom house to a six-bedroom house, we really don't have enough furniture!

We're really looking forward to living and working in such a peaceful and beautiful environment. Gillyanne and I have signed up to write books 3-6 in the Singing Express series with co-author Ana Sanderson. Singing Express is designed to introduce healthy, simple singing concepts to 6-11 year olds and their teachers. There are new songs, song vehicles (vocal chants and exercises based around one aspect of the song), backing tracks, video films, cartoons, tips and advice. Book 1 is already out and Book 2 is being filmed this week.

We're also planning some brand new training retreats for the Spring and Summer. So if you'd like to join us in our wonderful house and garden (see the previous blog for a photo), and you are serious about working on your voice and performance skills, keep your eyes peeled for more news, or just join our eZINE mailing list.

Got to stop now, I'm surrounded by people brandishing bubblewrap - I assume it's for the computer...

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD
The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!
The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.
Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

On a tree by a river...

2009-12-06T14:22:00.001Z

If you recognise the quote from a song in the title, award yourself one D'Oyly.

It's from Tit Willow, courtesy of Koko in the Mikado, and it's there for two reasons:

One is that I'm an incurable Gilbert and Sullivan fan, and spent a couple of happy seasons working with the D'Oyly Carte in London.

The second is that we're moving house, with a garden that has a willow tree by a river.

The river actually runs through the garden, and through the river itself runs the Welsh/English border. The house itself is about 10 feet into Wales, and is on a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

So why the move? Are we retiring?

Absolutely not! In fact our schedule is busier than ever. We've been on the lookout for a training retreat for years, and this year we had the opportunity to upsize to a six-bedroom house in the most beautiful setting (that's part of our garden in the photo). For photographs and more details, have a look at the Vocal Process eZINE edition 40 (visit the Vocal Process homepage and click on the amazing appearing box to get your copy delivered straight away).

We'll be back in London every fortnight coaching in the West End, working with actors, singers, teachers and performers, offering technique lessons, audition coaching and repertoire, and vocal rehabilitation. We've put the dates for our singing lessons up to April on a new live online diary, and the spaces are already booking up. You can see what we're doing from January by going to the Vocal Process Private Consultations page and clicking on the live coaching calendar link.

Incidentally, we're running a "competition" in the eZINE (edition 40) for Christmas. You can either to send us a Happy House Move email or to add a caption to a photograph of Jeremy and Gillyanne. The prizes are a copy of Gillyanne's new book Singing Express 1, and any one of the Vocal Process DVDs.

Check it out, and send us an entry by December 20th!

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD
The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!
The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.
Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

Little boxes, little boxes

2009-12-05T13:58:00.006Z

There's been a long silence on my blog, and now I can tell you why.

We've been negotiating a house move for almost six months, and finally the day has arrived.

It's only really because we have the packers in to put the house in boxes that I've got time to sit and write today.

More about the house in a later blog, but first let me tell you - if you ever move house, be kind to yourself and pay the removal company to pack for you!

For the last week we've been fretting about having things put away or collected together in one organised pile to make things simple. I was all for packing the house before the packers arrived (you know, you clean the place ready for the cleaner?).

Anyway, the packers arrived at nine this morning, and by 12 they had a third of the house packed (and we're in a four-bedroom house at the moment!). In fact, we went shopping, and came back to find another room completed.

One of the fascinations of moving is discovering things you've been saving that you haven't used for years. In my case it was 23 years of accounts and diaries. And letters and programmes and floppy disks...

Fascinating to read and remember the jobs I've had in the past. My first job (Carmen Jones at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield), my first West End job (The Sneeze with Rowan Atkinson), my first Musical Director job (Notre Dame at Sadlers Wells and the Oxford Fire Station), and the hundreds of contracts I'd done as a rehearsal and audition pianist (Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, La Boheme, Rigoletto, Carmen Jones, Moby Dick the musical, and a host of others.

Once I'd got over sitting in a heap reading my past life, being astonished how I survived on such a small income, and even getting emotional over some of the stuff (and people) I've worked with, it was time to shred. Needless to say we had to buy another shredder. Very satisfying, particularly shredding the people you don't like.

Of course, professional removal firms don't have any emotional attachment to your stuff, so as far as they are concerned, they just wrap it and put it in a box.

It's an exhilarating time, if you leave the packing to the professionals!

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD
The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!
The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.
Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

What they don't teach you at college 1

2009-09-23T13:02:00.001Z

I'm back at the RSAMD next week to work with the new intake of BA students. And it started me thinking about the practical things that I wasn't taught at music college. One topic came up last night in our Hatstand Opera "Bite At The Opera" performance at the Tenby Festival:

How to rehearse in a new space.

Many students coming out of music college assume that how they sing is how they sing, and that's all there is to it. But they are completely missing the point of live performance, and also the focus of the onsite rehearsal. For me the point of an onsite rehearsal isn't to practise the things you should already know and don't. It's to begin working together as a group that day towards a common goal, to tweak anything that needs tweaking, and to find the good and bad points about the space you are working in. In fact, every time you move to a different location, you have a different set of acoustical problems to deal with.

Hatstand Opera is known as the "go anywhere" opera company, and since we don't normally work with a sound system, we carry our own acoustics with us. We have to deal with different spaces and acoustics almost every performance.

Last night, the stunning St Brides Spa Hotel in Saundersfoot, South Wales was our venue, in a beautiful though tricky space - a long, fairly narrow room with a lowish ceiling and an entire wall of glass looking over the harbour.

And the room was packed with 100 people dining (they'd sold out).

Our particular lineup that evening had been working as a team for more than 13 years now. So we know each other's quirks and foibles, and we know the repertoire backwards (one day I'll learn it the right way round, but I always was different to other people).

So, much of our rehearsal time is spent working out the staging and the acoustics of the room. We will sing bits of the pieces, usually working from the end of the show backwards to prime the voices for the beginning. And we'll be checking for dynamic levels, sweet spots and dead areas, and delays.

As well as the low ceiling and long room, for this performance the singers were literally in the middle of the audience and were going to have to do what we call a "Lighthouse gig" - revolve as they sing to include every member of the audience.

Also, our performing spaces were dotted around the room and were mostly made up of corridors between the tables, dodging around 4 pillars, and squeezing between the chairs to reach the next spot. Oh yes, and an exit through the fire doors during O Soave Fanciulla to sing the final high Cs on the balcony overlooking the harbour (and scaring the neighbours). We also discovered a slight delay in the acoustics - the moment the singers went further than 8 feet from the piano, they were starting to sing behind the beat.

In addition, there was no way they were going to be able unleash the full power of their voices due to the size of the room and proximity of the audience. I still think people are quite thrilled and amazed at the power of an unamplified operatic voice - and most of the time our singers aren't going full out!

So the order of the evening was:

keep moving while you sing
turn as much as possible to include everyone in the room
rework the choreography while you're singing to make sure you don't hit anyone
no "racking up" until the money notes
be careful about singing towards the windows as the sound will bounce back
sing ahead of the beat if you're more than 8 feet from the piano
and of course, remember the words

While all this sounds very complicated, we're used to doing it, and we had a great night. The audience loved what we did, and I got to wear the blond wig again. In fact they liked it so much that they were standing at the reception afterwards trying to book seats for the next year's performance (and we hadn't even been booked!).

Next year I'm going to arrive early and spend some downtime in the hotel's sumptuous spa. I wonder what the acoustics are like in the swimming pool?

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD
The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!
The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.
Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

Hands-on vocal technology in York

2009-09-22T15:24:00.003Z

We’re giving a How YOUR Voice WORKS course in York on Sunday November 22, and we’ve invited two special guest presenters to join us.

Professor David Howard and Ms Jude Brereton from the Electronics Department of York University will be talking about and demonstrating vocal acoustics and how they affect our singing (both inside and outside)

Professor Howard is well known as a tv presenter, acoustics expert and allround voice boffin (even more than me!). Jude Brereton is an acoustics and voice researcher, and is helping us organise the course in York. In fact, Jude will also be joining me later in 2010 as co-presenter on the Computer Voice Training course, bringing her hands-on knowledge of voice analysis programmes to the table.

The day in York is very much a hands-on, do-it-feel-it-understand-it day, with practical exercises, vocal and musical information and the latest vocal knowledge to improve your singing. We’re including a recommended vocal and physical warmup in the day, and there will be three main topic headings –
BREATH, RESONANCE and STAMINA!

True to our practical voice science nature, we will also have a number of stations available where participants can try out the electroglottograph, and watch their voices on spectrographic analysis programmes. David and Jude will be on hand to guide you through the programmes, and it promises to be a fascinating day.

The first time we ran this course, the event was sold out several days before, with a waiting list. The York venue is actually smaller than the Cambridge venue, so we are more likely to run out of spaces early!

You can find out more and book your place on the course by visiting the dedicated webpage at http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/howyourvoiceworksYork.htm

We’ll see you there!

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD

The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!

The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:

the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)

86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

Thoughts on breathing

2009-09-22T10:41:00.006Z

Last year Gillyanne was interviewed by Rena Cook, the Editor-in-chief of the Voice and Speech Review.

This is the major publication of the Voice and Speech Teachers' Association in America that comes out once every two years.

Well, the VSR has just been published, and parts of Gillyanne's interview have been included. We've got a copy of it in this month's Vocal Process eZINE (edition 38), and the topic is breathing.

Rena questions Gillyanne about her take on breathing for Musical Theatre (or Musical Theater if you live in the US), and it makes for interesting reading.

You can get your copy of Vocal Process eZINE 38 free from the Vocal Process website - just go to the homepage and click on the magical appearing box. We'll send you the current copy of the eZINE and put your name on the list for future editions.

We'll also include the latest Cheer emails, a collection of music and language-based jokes and misquotes that come out every week (see the previous blog for more details)

eZINE 38 is due out this Thursday (24 September) and includes details of our courses for the next six months, a report on the sellout Cambridge How YOUR Voice WORKS day, and some phenomenal feedback from our presentation for the Wellcome Trust in London.

and of course, the interview!

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD

The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!

The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:

the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)

86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

Classical Music and Music Teacher

2009-09-18T20:00:00.002Z

Just a quick blog to let you know that I've got several things being published this month.

Hornblower's Diary in the Classical Music magazine has already put in some of my soprano jokes, and is planning to publish some of the Opera Titles That Never Made It next week.

And the Music Teacher magazine is going to be including my article on dealing with nasality in young singers, provisionally titled Teacher Nose Best.

And talking of terrible jokes, I've had a great response to my latest set of emails - Good Cheer!

I put together a whole host of jokes and sayings on music, singing and the extraordinary (mis)use of the English language. They're going out every week under the title Good Cheer from Vocal Process, and are free to anyone receiving the Vocal Process eZINE.

If you would like to join the Cheer list, just pop across to the Vocal Process website and click on the magical appearing box on the homepage. You'll receive your copy of the free Vocal Process eZINE by return, and the first Cheer email will be following soon after.

As always with Vocal Process emails, you can unsubscribe at any time, so you won't be inundated with emails, and we don't pass your details on to anyone else.

So feel free to brighten your week with some Vocal Process Cheer

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD

The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!

The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:

the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)

86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

Hallelujah!

2009-09-18T17:52:00.001Z

Last Saturday we ran our first How YOUR Voice WORKS choral day in Cambridge, sponsored by the prize-winning Cambridge Chord Company.

We're used to a good response to our courses and products - after all, our first training DVD sold out within six hours. But we weren't expecting to have to close the booking several days before because so many people wanted to join us!

We ended up with over 90 participants who had signed up from many different choral backgrounds - including barbershop, classical, gospel and show choirs.

We had stated on the publicity that this was a solid technique day, and that we wouldn't be singing lots of songs. However, we needed something that everyone might know, that would work very quickly, and that we could mould to various technical tasks.

About 10 days before the course, I decided to use the opening of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. It works a treat, can be additionally "arranged" for the TTBB or SSAA barbershop lineup, and is blisteringly fast to learn.

What I genuinely didn't realise was that the BBC and English National Opera have just got together to create a UK-wide project in November and December which "encourages people to find their voice and discover the joy of singing through the Hallelujah Chorus".

Nice to be able to say to the Beeb "been there, done that, and we'll be selling the t-shirts soon...

Incidentally, we had some amazing feedback from the day, with 95% of our respondants saying they had gained from the course, and 75% saying it had changed the way they voice their voice.

Result!

PS We're running How YOUR Voice WORKS in York on November 22, and we'll have two special guest presenters joining us with some voice measuring toys to play with. More details later!

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD

The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!

The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:

the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)

86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

How Your Voice Works in Cambridge

2009-08-30T10:11:00.004Z

We're doing a brand new singing training course at one of the Cambridge Universities in a couple of weeks' time.

How Your Voice Works is aimed at choral singers and hobbyists who want to improve their voice and singing, but don't have the time to get regular singing lessons.

We giving them a full day of hands-on techniques - the vocal tips we use every day in our singing studio.

It's being sponsored by one of the UK's top prize-winning choruses, Cambridge Chord Company (they were Llangollen Eisteddfod Choir of the World). The Saturday is open to everyone, and on the Sunday we're giving the chorus a full day's private coaching.

I've posted details on the Vocal Process website, so if you're in Cambridge on September 12, check out this page and book a place now, before they all go!
(We've had 40 people signed up already...)

http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/HowYourVoiceWorksCambridge.htm

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD

The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!

The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:

the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)

86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

120 Opera titles that never made it (the first 60)

2009-08-15T10:01:00.004Z

Here's an article for the opera devotee (I'm going to publish this one in two parts, as it's so long).
Opera composers are busy people, but sometimes they don't get the title quite right the first time.

Here's a list of 120 opera titles that didn't make it past the dress-rehearsal:

Bizet: Vanmen

Bizet (again): Les pecheurs de prawns

Monteverdi: L'Incontinenzione di Poppea

Handel: Dynorodelinda

Handel: Semoline

Gluck: Inceste

Mozart: Mitridate, re di Pontypridd

Mozart: Il bartender di Siviglia

Mozart: Die Zauberbanjo

Beethoven: Infidelio

Spontini: La Vest (string)

Rossini: FakeTancredi

Donizetti: Spag Bolena

Bellini: Norman

Wagner: The Flying Dutchcap

Verdi: Limpelio

Verdi: Rigomorto

Verdi: Un balloon in maschera

Wagner: Der meistercrooner von Nurnberg

Wagner: Das Rheintanzanite

Wagner: Die Shufflekure

Verdi: FirstAida

Mussorgsky: Boris Reasonablunov

Strauss: Die Fledersquirrel

Wagner: Damntheguttering

Saint-Saens: Samsung and the Lilo (the perfect opera for the beach)

Verdi: Simon Boccaafricanamerican

Delibes: Shishme

Massanet: Personon

Strauss: The person of no fixed abode baron.

Tchaikovsky: The Queen of AfricanAmericans

Verdi: Realstaff

Rimsky-Korsakov: Happyko

Debussy: Pelleas and his smelly sandals

Verdi: Madama Slug

Lehar: The Smeary Window

Delius: The Village Romeo and Julian

Dukas: Ariane et Barbe-ginger

Richard Strauss: Powercutta

Wolf-Ferrari: Ill secretion di Susanna

Rossini: Il Turdo in Italia

Puccini: La Fan Chiller del West End (air-conditioned theatres)

Richard Strauss: Der Pansykavalier

Richard Strauss: Ariadne auf Neasden

Bartok: Bluebeard's End Terrace (with off-street parking)

Richard Strauss: Die Frau ohne Scheissen

Massanet: Donkey Shot

Gershwin: Porky and Butch

Menotti: The XXL

Britten: Bertie Sprat

Menotti: The iPhone

Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors and the Social Worker and the Registered List

Verdi: Inani

Tchaikowsky: YouGin? OneGin!

Bellini: I Impuritani

Krenek: Jonny Spielt Banjo

Janacek: Katya KabtoBrixton

Rossini: La Donner Del Lager

Poulenc: La Voix Grenouillante

Catalani: Where's Wally?

(continued in the next blog)

Jeremy Fisher trains singers and performers to find and maintain their best. He's the author of Successful Singing Auditions, and creator of the Voicebox Videos - featured on the BBC and broadcast to 44,000,000 people. He was commissioned by the DANA Centre at London's Science Museum to create a video on singing with a camera down his throat. Jeremy is fascinated by bringing technology and innate skill together. http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD

The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:

the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)

86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!

120 Opera titles that never made it (the last 60)

2009-08-15T10:00:00.002Z

(...continued from the previous post)

Donizetti: Excretia Bogia

Wagner: Parsimonious

Bellini: Poliutio (a murky tale)

Richard Strauss: Salame

Rossini: Fullyramide

Walton: Sir John in Hove

Puccini: Candied Angelica

Sondheim: Onis Todd

Handel: Tamburino

Nyman: The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hag

Shostakovich: Snot

Stravinsky: The moving ho(e)

Britten: The Turn of the IKEA fitment

Mozart: Cozzie, fan, tutu (an opera about ballet)

Weber: Der Freiup

Verdi: I LombardDirecti (the loan arranger)

Verdi (really, it's too easy): Windy Miller

Mozart: Le Nose di Figaro (It's in for a long run)

Verdi: The Hilton Otello (a place to lay your head)

Verdi: The Sicilian Vespa (fast, economical and stylish)

Weill: The Rise and Fall of the City of MDF

Berlioz: Beatrice et Benedictine (the sorry tale of a love that tippled over into addiction)

Hindemith: Cardillac Arrest

Rossini: La Cenebuytoletola (following the demise of the rental market)

Britten: Deaf in Venice

Meyerbeer: What's that din (or Pardon My French)

Busoni: Trainee Nurse Faust (the doktor will be along shortly)

Prokofiev: The Duennythingforcash

Stravinsky: The Fire extinguisher Bird (Health and Safety)

Thomas: Cheese and Ham Omelet

Humperdinck: Hans Werner Henze und Gretel

Weill: Miserable End

Weill: The Seven Deadly Singers

Maxwell Davies: Eight Songs For A Mad Baritone

Ravel: Quinze minutes Espagnole (at time and a half)

Mozart: The UnimpressAria

Lalo: Le Roi D'Yfronts

Rimsky-Korsakov: KönigskinderSurprise (there's a hidden toy inside each one)

Reimann: Leer (a king with a roving eye)

Donizetti: Lendus di Chamouleather

Wagner: Longandgrim

Verdi: The Scottish Widow Play

Poulenc: Les Mammals de Tiresias (coming soon on ZooTV)

Donizetti: Maria's Too Hard (the stirring tale of a prizewinning Scottish female boxer)

Rossini: Mose is an Eedjit (a great tenor role)

Bellini: Abnorma (the subject of a Channel Five documentary)

Britten: Noye's Incontinence

Monteverdi: Orfullo

Dvorak: Rusalkaselzer

Wagner: Siegincarcerated

Richard Strauss: The Talking Woman (well, the Silent Woman is mythological...)

Walton: Sir John in't Loo

Bellini: Il Piranha (starring Marina Callous)

Massenet: Silk Thaiis

Puccini: Tosser

Verdi: La Travelscrabble

Wagner: Tristan and 'is older sister

Berg: Catsick

Sullivan: HMRC Pinafore (investigation pending)

and finally

Puccini: PerDiem (Touring Dough)

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD

The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:

the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)

86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!

Dealing with nasality in singing and speaking

2009-08-07T16:00:00.001Z

Our latest Vocal Process training DVD is now available.

The new training DVD, "Nasality and the Soft Palate", deals with the annoying issue of nasal singing and speaking. Nasality happens when air (and sound) leaks into and down the nose when it's not supposed to. The results of this can make your voice sound dull and muffled, you might lose control of your top notes, and your diction will be affected. In fact, slight nasality is quite common in a number of dialects.

We've set up a Nasality and the Soft Palate webpage about the problems of nasality, and the techniques that you can learn to overcome it. The Nasality and the Soft Palate DVD contains techniques, tips and practice sequences to overcome nasality, improve your high notes and get clearer diction.

We pre-released this new Vocal Process training DVD to the people on our free eZINE list, and the response was amazing.

"I would recommend it to anyone who is serious about developing his/her voice."

"The content of the DVD is super useful & I shall be using it with many of my private students."

And a few sentences from Anne in the US: "I am a Certified Master Teacher of Estill Voice Craft and I found the presentations on the DVD to be very helpful to me in learning an effective way to present the skills. I would absolutely recommend the DVD to the entire singing world. Thanks for all the wonderful products you have developed, they are all great!"

Incidentally, the Nasality webpage also contains a 10-second test to find out if you have slight nasality in your singing voice. Check it out!

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD

The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:

the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)

86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!

Review of the "opening the throat" DVD from Vocal Process

2009-08-07T10:00:00.017Z

There's news on our Constriction and Release - The Techniques DVD.

This is the training DVD that shows footage of the Singing and the Actor Training course with Gillyanne and me. It sold out within six hours if launching, copies have so far travelled around the world, and it's now in its third pressing.

We asked Sara Harris, SLT specialising in voice (and past president of the BVA) for her thoughts on the DVD. The whole review will be published on the website, but here are a few excerpts:

"The material presented has been filmed during one of their “Singing and the Actor” training courses. This gives it a nice, informal “fly on the wall” feeling of joining one of their classes.

"This class approach makes it almost impossible not to want to join in and experience the manoeuvres described for yourself, making it a very useful tool for beginners or those wanting to revise their skills.

"Both teachers handle the class with warmth, sensitivity and humour. It feels easy to learn from these two without feeling defensive or criticized.

"This DVD on constriction and release should be a helpful resource for anyone interested in learning about vocal control."

If you want to find out more about the techniques and the bonuses included on the Constriction and Release - The Techniques DVD, visit the dedicated webpage on http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/openingyourthroat.htm

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD
The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.
Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!

Jeremy's larynx gets around

2009-08-06T19:08:00.003Z

Footage of Jeremy's larynx, from the Voicebox Videos DVD has been used on the prestigious training course run by top acoustic scientist Johan Sundberg.

The KTH course "Function of the Singing Voice" takes please every year in Malmköping, Sweden. The course includes demonstrations and lectures on acoustics, phonetics, formants, physiology and much more.

Participants come from all over Europe, and this year includes our own Integrated Voice Module Two participant, Fran James.

For more information on the Voicebox Videos DVD, visit the dedicated webpage at http://www.voiceboxvideos.com/

Dealing with pests?

2009-07-29T16:01:00.013Z

Just found out about the mosquito.
No, I'm not referring to the pesky little creatures that loves us all so much...

I was having a conversation with David Howard at the University of York on Monday, about being able to hear high frequencies.
I've just started using a squirrel scarer in the garden - it's a battery-operated box that emits a high-pitched squeal to scare them off (they've been tucking into the covering on our shed roof).

But there was something I wasn't expecting - I could hear it! The machine is supposed to emit sounds at 18,000 - 24,000 Hz, yet not only could I hear it, I could distinguish a pitch.

Now I'm 47, and at my age I'm not supposed to be able to hear that high. You are supposed to start losing that upper area of your hearing from your early 20s onwards.

Which brought the conversation around to the mosquito. It's a box developed by a British company to be used by councils and companies to scare away teenagers.

Yes, I know the ethos behind it is dodgy, but I did find the idea fascinating. The thought is that teenagers are able to hear 17,500 cycles per second easily, but adults aren't. So if you don't like groups of teenagers gathering around your buildings, just fit a mosquito and switch it on. The oscillating high pitch will drive them away!

I am a bit concerned that the machine treats all teenagers as if they were offenders. What are your thoughts on this?
Having said that, I understand that it has finally been proved that teenagers are chemically so far away from adults that they are actually a different species (I know some parents will be relieved to hear this).

However, it seems like the teenagers are one up on the councils - they can now download a "mosquito" ringtone for their mobiles, so they can call each other in class without the teacher hearing it.

What was I saying about pesky little creatures?

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD
The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.
Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!

Working in the pit as a West End musician

2009-07-23T11:47:00.000Z

Recently I had an email from an aspiring musician who had read my West End rehearsal pianist article and was very keen to join the West End pit musician clan. She was Grade 8 on four instruments and already had experience playing in local theatres and regional orchestras on clarinet, flute, piccolo and saxophone. She had recently moved nearer to London and emailed to ask me if I had any advice for how to start getting theatre work in a new area.

The thoughts I had turned into the following article, recently published in a number of ezines and journals. You are welcome to add it to your blog or ezine in its entirety if the author paragraph at the end is included with its live link.

Seven Key Elements for Working as a West End Theatre Musician

If you're a young musician wanting to break into the world of the West End theatre orchestras, where do you start?

It is impossible to walk into a West End pit job (or "hold a chair") with no previous experience. Therefore, your first task is to deputise for the existing players in a show.

It may come as a surprise that players who hold a chair would need a deputy. You might expect a chair holder to play at all performances, but there is an unwritten rule that says that players can take some shows off. It might be because they have other commitments, taken on before being offered the show. In my case, my first West End depping appeared because the keyboard player on Me and My Girl was also the assistant conductor, and needed a regular dep because he conducted at least one show a week.

If you are looking for musical theatre pit depping work, you need to put yourself into the mindset of a permanent pit orchestra player. If a musical theater orchestral player needs a dep (and they do, quite frequently), there are at least seven things they look for in a musician.

1. Can you do the job? The West End is the highest arena for orchestral pit playing in musical theatre. The players are, without exception, extremely good at what they do. Are you up to the standard of everyone else? When you hit the West End, everyone expects you to be able to play the notes in time, in tune and in style - that's a given. You need to demonstrate that you can play the instruments, play the music and fit in with the existing ensemble with the minimum of fuss.

2. Will you get on with the other players? Remember that your sponsoring musician will not be there when you dep for him. If you get to play a performance, but you irritate the people around you, you won't be asked back. Getting on with your colleagues is as vital as getting on with your sponsoring musician. Will you fit into the social structure? The job is as important in the off-duty moments as the playing moments. Demonstrate that to the musician you're depping for, and you're half-way there.

3. Can you sightread superbly? You'll probably be sightreading or reading music at very short notice - make sure you can do this (and count the bars rest of course). Most deps in the West End get to sit in on a show once or possibly twice, then dep either the following day, or later that week, or occasionally a month later. When you're sitting in, take particular note of the difficult or exposed entries and the solos, those are the things you will be judged on later!

4. Does the fixer know you? West End players are ALWAYS fixed by an MU approved orchestral fixer. It's not possible to play in a West End show otherwise (in fact, it's not legal). Therefore you have to be known not only to the player but to the fixer as well. Check out the list of fixers (the Musicians' Union can give you a list), and contact them too. If your name comes from different directions (personal approach, and recommendation by other players), you're more likely to get onto the dep ladder. In my own case as a pianist, things were slightly different in that I got my name around without a fixer as a solo and rehearsal pianist - but once I got onto two fixers' books, I was in work for six years without playing for anyone else.

5. Do you know the show, the style, the feel of the music? It's not only competitive, the jobs are RARE! Do anything you can to know more than the other potential deputies. Take every opportunity can to see the shows you are interested in (and those you're not), get to know the music, the style, the players. When I first worked on Les Miserables, I was asked back because I'd spent time learning the show before I arrived on the first day, and I knew it better than any other dep they'd had before.

6. What is your playing like? The sponsoring musician needs to know your playing. You're up against other potential deps who have probably been taught by the chair holders themselves. The chair holder already has knowledge of their playing ability and their personality. Rather than taking your instrument in to a show and asking someone to hear you, booking a lesson from the resident player might be a good move. A coaching session or two on pieces, techniques and (maybe) pit-playing advice would give the player a chance to hear and work with you (and be paid for it).

7. It's essential that you play a range of instruments. Almost all woodwind pit parts are for doubling and trebling, and if you can do flute, picc, sax AND clarinet, you've got a headstart. Even with the traditional musicals like Oklahoma, the wind parts are for treblers (usually clarinet/sax/flute, but occasionally for clarinet/bassoon or even flute/oboe).

And finally, expect to do some touring before working on a West End show. It's a fairly tricky career to break into. I had been touring the UK and Europe for some time gaining experience as a pit performer before I received regular invitations to play in a West End show.

If you are determined, focus and dedication go a long way to getting where you want to be.

Jeremy Fisher trains singers and performers to find and maintain their best. He's the author of Successful Singing Auditions, and creator of the Voicebox Videos (featured on the BBC and broadcast to an estimated 44,000,000 people). Sign up for Jeremy's free newsletter containing original interviews, pre-release offers and receive your BONUS free copy of "86 things you never hear a singer say" at http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/

-------------

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release DVD
The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.
Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

A Rhythm and Pulse Exercise for Cool, Swinging Singing

2009-06-24T11:07:00.000Z

Here's the second of the articles I wrote while working in Stockholm last month. Been testing out the exercise recently in my private coaching sessions, on everything from Legally Blonde the Musical to Dido and Aeneas. Works a treat...

You don't have to sing louder or higher to make the music swing - it's all in the beat. Here's a story of a coaching session I gave in Stockholm recently where I used the Rhythm and Pulse exercise to help a singer give a much cooler, stronger performance.

During a musical theatre class, one singer arrived with the piece "What's the Buzz" from Jesus Christ Superstar, the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical. He was performing it well, but his whole body was involved with the (very fast) pulse inherent in the song. He was bouncing with every eighth note and was displaying a highly tensioned body which was detracting from his performance, both vocally and as an actor.

In the song, the ensemble sings "what's the buzz, tell me what's a happenin'" repeatedly, with high energy. His character then has to interrupt them, stop them chattering and calm them down in a very short space of time. He starts with three quarter notes (crotchets) beginning on a high F, which should silence them immediately. Because he was using the same frenetic pulse as the ensemble, his entry was having little impact, and the feel of his performance was not strong enough. Rather than getting him to sing stronger or higher, I took him through the following exercise for finding a different pulse.

1. This involves using your body, so standing is best. Sing the first few phrases of an up-tempo song, such as What's the Buzz. Find the fast energy of the piece and move to it, using your foot, leg, body or clicking your fingers. What's the Buzz has four quarter notes to each bar, but for this exercise I'd like you to move on the eighth notes (quavers). So for example your foot taps on the beat and your fingers click on the offbeat. The important thing is to have some part of your body moving on every eighth note.

2. Now we're going to change the pulse while keeping the "speed" the same. Begin to indicate only the quarter notes - you are now moving in "half time". Keep the energy high, but move only on the quarter notes. Again, you can either move your body to each quarter note, or divide the quarter notes between foot and hand. The speed of the piece stays the same, but the pulse has now changed to a less frantic one.

3. Now begin to indicate only the half notes (minims). Again, keep the speed of the piece the same, and keep the energy high. Now you are only marking two pulses per measure instead of the four or eight previously. The speed of the piece has stayed the same, but the feel is now different, with a bigger scope, somehow funkier.

You can continue with this exercise, using one pulse per measure, or even one pulse per two measures.

In the case of the singer in the masterclass, the use of a different pulse was electrifying. By using a different, slower pulse (the halfnote or minim rhythm) against the rhythm of the chorus around him (eighth note or quaver rhythm) he was able to differentiate himself from them, and stop their beat in its tracks. This easily marked out his character (Jesus) as a man to be listened to, who did not march to the beat of the people around him. By following this exercise, the singer was able to convey that effortlessly.

I have used this exercise in many different genres of music, including opera arias (O Zittre Nicht, Questa O Quella), German lieder (Gretchen am Spinnrade), music by contemporary singers such as Duffy or Christina Aguilera, and of course musical theatre pieces from West Side Story to Spring Awakening. Try it for yourself!

Jeremy Fisher trains singers and performers to find and maintain their best. He's the author of Successful Singing Auditions, and creator of the Voicebox Videos (featured on the BBC and broadcast to an estimated 44,000,000 people). Sign up for Jeremy's free newsletter containing original interviews, pre-release offers and receive your BONUS free copy of "86 things you never hear a singer say" at http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/

[You are very welcome to publish this article in its entirety in your own blog, ezine or website, provided that the author paragraph above is included with the live link to Vocal Process. Thanks]

A quiet night in?

2009-05-05T14:24:00.008Z

The world is definitely getting weirder.

Did you know that the human ear doesn't just take in sounds, it actually gives them out too?

The latest idea from the phone boffins is to use the micro tones that are emitted from your ear as a security device for your mobile phone.

Apparently, otoacoustic emissions are produced by the tiny hair cells in the cochlea. We already know that the hair cells respond to vibrations in the air, translating them into electrical impulses for the brain to accept. But it appears that they also vibrate of their own accord, creating tiny sounds that are themselves too faint for us to hear.

It is thought that each set of sound vibrations is slightly different for each individual. Once those vibrations have travelled through the whole ear canal (also different to each individual) to the outside world, the sound becomes unique.

It's the exact equivalent of having a unique set of vocal folds, set inside a unique throat. Both together can make an instantly recognisable voice.

Banks are already looking into using supersensitive microphones on their phonelines, so that their callcentres can confirm that the caller is who they say they are. The question is, can we get conscious control over the signals (and what happens if they're out of tune?).

As with all good ideas, there are a couple of drawbacks...
It seems that the signals change slightly when you've got a cold, and they are also affected by alcohol.

So if you're using otoacoustic signals to unlock your front door, you're going to have to have an alcohol-free night out if you want to get back in!

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release DVD
The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.
Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

Front Foot, Back Foot

2009-05-01T11:14:00.005Z

Here's an article I wrote recently on the fascinating topic of rhythm.
I've been experimenting in my teaching studio with different energy and flow, and the results of this exercise have been, without exception, amazing.

All I can say is, try it out!

Front Foot, Back Foot - Finding the Energy Flow In Music

There are many ways to shape musical phrases - with dynamics, with tempo, with rhythmic intensity or variation. here is an exercise I use with high-energy performers to help them grade their performances. It will work in any musical genre, and will also work for speeches, both in the theatre and in the wedding reception. for this you will need a favourite song, speech or phrase.

First, let's examine the physicality of the front/back foot idea.
Stand up with one foot slightly in front of the other, about shoulder width apart. Stand with your weight balanced over both feet.
Stand on the outside of your feet, so that your weight is pushing outwards slightly.
Now stand on the inside edge of your feet, with your weight pushing inwards slightly.
Move your weight to your heels, then move your weight to your toes.
Finally, stand with your weight balanced on the centre of both feet, evenly distributed.

You may notice now that you have an habitual stance, on the outside or inside edge, or slightly back or forwards. This is the preparation for the front/back exercise.

Move your weight now onto your front foot. You may find yourself leaning forwards, or you may be able to balance successfully without the lean. Nevertheless, more of your weight will be on your front foot, with less on your back foot. This has an inherent emotional and directional feel. The emotional feel is more urgent, faster, more aggressive, more pressing. The directional feel is forwards and either down or up, depending on how your weight is balanced. You might also feel narrower in your upper body, and your breathing might change or feel different.
Now sing your favourite song or start your favourite speech, staying on the front foot. Notice the feeling of your body and emotions as you continue your vocal task, staying on your front foot.

Now do the opposite. Move your weight onto your back foot. You may find yourself leaning backwards, or you might be able to shift your weight backwards easily without the lean. Notice the inherent emotion and directional feel. This feels less urgent, more "laid back", slower, even more accepting. The directional feel is backwards and either up or down, depending on how you are balanced. You might also feel wider and more open in your body, and your breathing might alter.
Sing your favourite song or start your best speech again, staying on the back foot. Notice how your body feels, and what emotions emerge as you continue to speak or sing, staying on your back foot.

Now do the same song or speech, but this time stay balanced upright with your weight equally on both feet. Notice the emotions and the feelings in your body that arise.

These different "directions" can be used very well in music - many pieces have phrases or sentiments that have a forward, urgent feel and others that have a more laid-back, lazier feel,. this form of tension and release in the phrasing is something that experienced performers use constantly. Many comedians and presenters use the front foot/back foot technique to encourage an audience to laugh, applaud or quieten.

It's a very effective way of adding interest and variation to your performing.

Jeremy Fisher trains singers and performers to find and maintain their best. He's the author of Successful Singing Auditions, and creator of the Voicebox Videos (featured on the BBC and broadcast to an estimated 44,000,000 people). Sign up for Jeremy's free newsletter containing original interviews, pre-release offers and receive your BONUS free copy of "86 things you never hear a singer say" at http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk

[You are very welcome to publish this article in its entirety in your own blog, ezine or website, provided that the author paragraph above is included with the live link to Vocal Process. Thanks]