Singing and Instrumental LESSONS! :)

Great points!
BTW IMHO if Tamplin during the Webinar...
Had a few featured Strong Pop singers, it would have been a further enhancement.
Overall viewing it was worthwhile nonetheless.
Thought provoking.

I do feel that most of the singers called on, were forcing their voices a bit.
Too much throat/not enough Support etc. A useful Supplement is to also "Sing Along" with Records, where the Lead Singer has a similar Voice Type.

I'm aware-supposedly-Corelli was mostly self taught.
From records!!
Chris
P.S. Got clips? Love to hear ya!
I did a little recording last night, on my Elly Studio.
But was kinda drained from our 100-ish temperatures here lately!

EDIT: @ Vincent. I meant "Legato Line"...
In the context of reasonable control of choosing a good Straight tone note or Vibrato. For hopefully more artistic phrasing/choices.

I've thought that too - what's with the lizard tongue!

If I did that I think I'd freak out all the ladies in the crowd!

Also, if you watch his "critique" of "Famous singers" on Youtube - he kinda never really gives it up for them and takes little snipes at their technique.

I heard him criticizing Sting as being "pitchy"
I thought Ken .... you have so missed the point about what makes Sting's amazing!

Another thing I like about the person I am working with is that after we work on a song that I am working on for a bit (the current one is Steely Dan’s “Dirty Work” bc the whole melody is right in the notes where I “break”), she then makes me bring my guitar and play them like I will be performing them. She keeps on me about total performance.

thehightenor great advice. I was very lucky in that regard. I always found myself performing with a handful of people studying with the same teacher. All of us had very different voices. Throughout all of these performances we were always pushing each other to be better. You had to be on your game.

skav thank you for the kind words. At my core I’m a belcanto singer. I did use what I learned in the Melocchi technique to understand what I was missing, which was how to relax my larynx. Before those lessons I sang with a larynx little too high. One of the core techniques of that method is the low larynx, and once I understood the sensation, it was very easy to incorporate that into my singing as a whole. Many of the colleagues I was training and working with, and all trained with the same teacher, didn’t have this issue. Most of them came from old-school musical theater. I came from pop music. So that was something I had to work on.

What I like about the bel canto style is that it lends itself to many styles. The simple act of broadening the soft palate, or as some people say, singing in the mask, allows for an ease to reach higher notes. In this style singing in the mask is not mutually exclusive from singing with an open throat. We do both, but it’s not as rigid system as the Italian school. It’s a lot looser independent on the singer. It also produces a very natural sounding voice. I find in certain systems that there is a homogenization of vocal timbre. You listen to a bunch of these singers, and they all tend to sound the same. The bel canto style is more like an extension of orator’s speaking voice. It keeps the natural sound of the voice. So if you’ve ever trained an actor to speak in a hall without a microphone while reciting Shakespeare, or the like, this style is a bit of an extension of that.

I used to have a Db above high C .... not anymore!

My range has dropped a few notes as I've aged, but the thickness has increased in a way I really like.

I can still make some cool sounds higher up in my mid voice register (ala Mr Sting) but my young high tenor days are behind me

The most important thing to master imho.
Is airflow/ muscle balance.

IME Fricatives are the best way to train getting the air flow right.

When you have the airflow spot on you should be able to repeatedly arpeggiate a major/monir chord Tetrad up and down in your mid range for 35 to 40 seconds continuous sound from one breath.

That always impresses students :-)

I have so many lesson tales... my first vocal coach telling me "stick with songwriting, kid... you'll never be a singer!" is a fond memory! Seriously. I wasn't interested in singing anyway, I just wanted to write tunes, so we switched the focus to songwriting and that was fab. Plus, it turns out that songwriting itself helped me improve as a singer over the years.

I took a single piano lesson from Roger Smith, Tower of Power keyboardist. He plonked a huge fake book down on top of the Rhodes and said, "When you get through this, you'll never play that new wave shit again!" I'm 57 now and still playing that new wave shit!

My fav though was asking Kimberley Rew for guitar lessons. Kim of "Walking On Sunshine" fame. I was living in Cambridge, England and he and I were label mates, and had a friendly connection. He came to my gigs, played on my records and had me round for tea from time to time. I suggested a guitar lesson and he said, "Yeah, why not?" Kim is an astonishing player, he's pure energy when he's playing. The two lessons we had were awkward, though. He's a shy fellow and I'm a terrible guitar student. Everything he showed me went over my head. I showed up for a third lesson and said, "Look, why don't we just play some tunes?" He and I were both much happier to do it that way. We played Beatles and Buddy Holly - and truly, I probably learned far more that way than in the actual lessons.

For me, being around amazing players, paying attention to how they work - and also just absorbing Thang through osmosis has been so beneficial.

It's astonishing how "conceptual" singing is. "Place" the resonance, "lean", "imagine". What a wack instrument. 

Getting farther into Trimble’s ebook….
He’s even talking about great singers where they use…
One of several methods, depending on the Operatic Role requirement!

Trusting that ‘Rocket” effect of Projection, had been a challenge for me over the years.

Nice that we have Pavarotti’s live and recorded performances…
As reference for his superb technique.

FWIW I decided to keep 90%+ of my live singing around Town…
On easy to super easy material.

I’m still expected to Belt a little with a Soul Duo.
But they are Piano and light Percussion based.
So less temptation to “Push”.
Chris

With all due respect to those already posting…
So far….

I’ll keep the Tamplin Subscription.
But how long TBD.
Of course keep Trimble.
Any of the other instructors mentioned so far….

Have scratched all but one (haven’t seen his stuff yet)
Am still sticking to the Bel Canto “Baby Laugh/Cry”) method of breathing in the back/Sing in the front. Of those like Caruso/Del Monaco/Tucker etc… *
Chris
* And do my best to avoid conscious modifications of “above the neck”

The snarl is fantastic on….
Stucatto.

The simplest (very effective) thing any singer can do is the Semi- Occluded Vocal Tract exercises by Titze.

It's amazing how well it places the voice and increases efficiently of the all important air/muscle balance.

Also, I've completely moved away from diaphragmatic breathing and now focus/sense intercostal muscles.
It's made a huge difference to making breathing technique something I no longer think about and feels very natural.

Singing should feel very natural, I dislike exercises that feel contrived, singing is such a natural effortless thing to do.

The pursuit is unblocking what is entirely natural.

I have a 15 year old female student who has the most perfect natural voice I have ever come across, she is naturally unblocked
her technique is perfection as is her pitch - she is what singing naturally is - she's very fascinating in that way.

From day 1 - her very first class - I was relegated to rehearsal pianist - there was nothing I could teach her - just listen and observe in wonder
at the natural talent some people are born with.

IMHO Ken has an exceptional High Baritone.
My guess is that he’s “saving time” for posting vocals.
But obviously… It doesn’t excuse that.

Much better if he re-Keyed any of these songs.
And re-recorded them with his present voice.

Even Domingo switched back from Tenor to his original (when he was starting out… High Baritone.

I’m in love with the Classical Bel Canto Methods!
At least I know enough that at maximum, am a Middleweight Baritone. (With years of further training with a Master )
NEVER could be a Dramatic Baritone in something like Verdi.
Let alone Wagner. LOL!
Anyway…

My sense is there HAS to be some excess Throat tension, going on with Tamplin’s technique.•
Yes it sounds “kewl” and Rawk.

But Robert Plant screwed up his voice in the 70’s that way.
(But the Parties were fun! )
Chris
•Oh wiser Singing Brothers…
Can anyone sing like Tamplin’s heavy metal voice (his way)..,
And NOT have any issues?