I just got back from Italy, Greece, Croatia and Malta. It was fantastic. I haven’t been able to post much lately due to travel, but hope to be online more regularly now that I’m back in town. There are many opinions about what age is appropriate for young singers to start studying voice. The truth […]

One of the oldest tests of vocal technique is called the “Messa di Voce.” In English the translation would literally be “placing the voice.” Basically, the Messa di Voce is performed as follows: a tone is begun at pianissimo (very soft) and then slowly and smoothly swelled to fortissimo (very loud) and then diminished slowly […]

I get so many emails asking how to develop the ability to sing riffs and other quick and florid types of passages. In classical vocal music this florid singing is known as coloratura. Any type of quick singing obviously requires flexibility in the vocal instrument. The only way to develop the ability to sing quickly […]

Breath support is a main focus of most vocal training methods. I think most singers over-do it. The voice needs balance between the flow of air and the resistance of air by the vocal folds. This balance can only be achieved by allowing the breath to be regulated automatically by the body while maintaining a […]

Have you ever looked inside a grand piano? The strings look similar to a harp. The strings that produce the low notes are long and thick, and they gradually get shorter and thinner, until the strings for the very top notes are quite short and thin. This demonstrates an acoustic law. The low notes are […]

There is one primary difference between SLS and many other popular approaches to teaching singing, and that difference has to do with what are called “Cause and Effect Exercises.” Some common methods of singing will involve teachers asking their students to do things like “Imagine a ball floating on a fountain of water,” “Act like […]

Many singers who study with me who sing styles of music not associated with a full vibrato wonder why I insist upon developing a smooth steady vibrato in their lessons. Why bother if they aren’t every going to use it? This is an excellent question. I can’t remember who said it, but I love the […]

The first thing we do in at the start of a first voice lesson is have the student sing a series of five tone scales on the vowel “ah” throughout their range. We do this to learn a few things about the student, such as their vocal range, how they navigate their bridges, whether they […]

I have been teaching singing for a very long time now. My roster of students varies. I teach professional performers who are wanting to keep their voices in shape, people who are aspiring to be professional performers and I also teach hobbyists – people who just like to sing for fun. I teach students of […]

If you look inside a piano, you will see a set of strings that looks like a harp. The low notes are created by the hammers hitting strings that are very long and thick. The strings gradually get shorter and thinner until the very high notes are sounded by the hammers hitting strings that are […]