Extracts from David Jones; the voice teacher.

com

Extremes in Teaching: Questioning Instruction

As stated before, most singers come to my studios having been taught in an extreme
manner or with a technique that is out of balance. These extremes are discussed in detail
in my article “Damaging Vocal Techniques” which can be found on this web site. Why
do some teachers teach out of balance? Why do they have difficulty hearing what issues
are causing an imbalance? As I said, there are some schools that encourage and teach an
imbalance in instruction. This can be explained by a cultural expectation or by the
effects of language. Instruction can simply be a direct mirroring of what an instructor
was taught in his or her early training. 

Unfortunately it is rare to find a true diagnostic ear and most young

singing artists or teachers are not allowed the privilege of
experiencing apprenticeship.  In truth, we often learn more from hearing
the study of others than in our own lessons. If the opportunity to audit
is not made available, then the singer (and especially a young
developing teacher) is missing a critically important part of study and
development. The fact is that a young teacher learns the craft of
becoming a diagnostician by sitting in a voice studio and hearing
a master teacher instruct for hours at a time.  Any young teacher needs
to listen to approximately 300 to 400 hours of excellent teaching in
order to develop healthy diagnostic ears. ‘Hearing feelings’ is the
critically important phrase here. In other words, a teacher must learn to hear what
physical problem exists and know what physical adjustment is necessary to correct that
specific problem. Even if young teachers attend master classes, these classes are most
often extended coaching sessions, not sessions on vocal technique or voice building.

So the out of balance saga continues to create problems for the young teacher or singer.
The following list represents instructional situations that are out of balance or
incomplete.

Valid Examples of Incomplete or Inappropriate Teaching:

 Teaching only a high palate to the point that that singer is reaching for every
high note, disconnecting from the lower body.
 Working with a lowered larynx to the point that it becomes depressed with the
root of the tongue.
 Trying for the competitive ‘big sound’ by over-blowing the cords with too much
breath pressure.
 Driving the ring into the voice by pinching the throat and tensing the tongue root.
 Taking too much breath under the rib cage making it difficult to manage the
outflow properly.
 Supporting the voice using an extreme abdominal function of pushing
out or pulling in OR pulling down on the rib cage which causes a tremendous
amount of pressure on the folds.
 Listening to one’s own voice too much, which invites pushing.
  Singing with a smile technique which closes the acoustical space by raising the
larynx too high.
 Working on overly-relaxing the body to the point that there is no support of tone,
no holding back of breath pressure with the body.
 Overly-darkening the vowels with the back of the tongue.
 Teaching a flat or retracted tongue posture which puts pressure directly on the
vocal cords. (Some teachers hear this as color.)
 Hyperextension of the lower laryngeal muscles in an attempt to gain a false sense
of an open throat. (Interior pharyngeal wall actually closes.)
 Using a muscular ‘hook’ for the upper male voice. (This also closes the interior
pharyngeal area.)

Balanced Teaching: Making Opposite Concepts Work Together

This article is designed to bring the attention of the singer

or singing teacher to the concept of balance in singing. 
Healthy singing is most often based on opposite concepts
working together to create a balance.  What are these
opposites? The following list is designed to help the singer
or teacher in their thinking of balanced concepts:

 Low breath/Tall spine. (Hip sockets and knees

slightly bent.)
 High and wide soft palate/Low larynx.
 Laryngeal tilt in the middle register/ Lifting of the soft palate.
 Open back wall of the pharynx/ Tongue arched and forward (ng position).
 Antagonistic pull between upper and lower abdominal muscles/Solar Plexis
gently turns as lower abdominal muscles slightly resist, coming in only toward
the end of the phrase.
 Feeling overtones in the head (forehead) and lower body (chest) simultaneously.
 Working the ‘ng’ ring/ Acheiving a perfect closure of the vocal folds while
consistently singing with a released larynx.
 Vowels altering in the throat but keeping pure vowel sound with the tongue
position.
 Pharyngeal vowel forms/ ‘ng’ ring over the vowel forms.
 Appogio (leaning of the body)/ opening of the lower back
 Sternum resists forward at the onset or attack/ Back muscles expand slightly
down and out to hold back the breath pressure.
 Loose jaw/ Engaged soft palate.
 Open throat/ Small passaggio or ng ring
 Open throat/ Closed cords (on the thin edges).

After studying the great masters such as Garcia and Lamperti, Lindquest strived to
combine opposing concepts to achieve balance in singing. This was achieved using vocal
exercises that help the singer to experience the reflexive response of singing healthily. In
the following list, I have outlined some exercises that create balance for the singer. 

Some of the following exercises represent a brief preview of what is contained in my

instructional double CD, “An Introductory Lesson with David Jones”, offered on the
home page of this site.
1…2….3….2…..1…..2….3….2…..1

Kiu……………    eh………………      x

(The ‘k’ lifts the soft palate. The ‘i’ before the ‘u’ creates brilliance in the tone. The
release of the jaw after the ‘k’ allows the larynx to drop in a lower position. Keeping the
‘e’ in the ‘u’ position balances the open and closed vowel functions.  Ending the exercise
with the ‘x’ brings the tongue forward. All of these concepts work together to create the
perfect throat space for singing.) This is an old Garcia exercise.

1…    3…  5…  3…  1

Zao…  o…  u…  o…  a

(The ‘z’ closes the cords automatically. Going to the rounder vowels as you ascend
begins the slight tilt of the larynx down and forward in the upper middle register. The
‘u’ vowel helps to align a narrow feeling thus establishing the release of the upper
passaggio.)

1……...5……...oct……..5……..1

Kaw…  Ko……. Kiu……  Ko…… Kaw

(This exercise is designed to balance registration from the lower pitch to the upper pitch.
The vowels are also strengthened reflexively through the use of the ‘k’. The vowel
changes are designed to drop the weight of the lower voice as the singer ascends. This
exercise should be done with a gentle chew in order for the larynx to release.)

     1……...2…….3……..4….....5…….4…….3…..2…..1

     Daw…. Me….Ni…… Po……   Tu……………………..

 (While executing this vocalise, the singer should insist that the tongue pronounce
separately from the jaw as in Italian. Beneath these syllables, the jaw should gently chew
as well, releasing the larynx. The ‘p’ and ‘t’ should not be exploded but almost imploded
so that breath pressure does not over blow the vocal folds. The descending ‘u’ scale
insures that the larynx stays slightly down while the singer descends.)

While many teachers and singers struggle for balance in singing, it is critical to address
all the issues at hand. There is validity in the statement “A little knowledge is a
dangerous thing.” In order for any singer or teacher to achieve their complete potential,
they must learn to exercise the complete voice, not just part of the voice.
Congratulations to those gifted teachers and singers who pursue establishing a complete
knowledge of the voice. 

Finally, good luck in your vocal journey. The art of teaching and singing is a life study.
We can balance the concepts consistently if we view all the possibilities and do not loose
sight of the whole picture.