Some teachers unconsciously teach technique, personal musical taste, rhythmic and pitch accuracy, and expression all in one unorganized amorphous blob. This is obviously not very effective. So for this blog, I’m going to make separations, and the bridges that bring technique and artistry together will come after distinct separations have been made. Today we talk about technique.
What is it that we do in voice lessons when focusing on vocal technique? Only three things:
- We make a sound more comfortable to produce
- We find a new sound
- Some mix of the two
That is the purpose of vocal technique. Nothing else. Everything else is a matter of taste, musical artistry, correct pitches/rhythms, expression, etc. and these things are more possible when we can make the sounds we want to make with relative ease to the way we made them before.
So when you’re in a lesson, you must ask yourself continuously:
Is this closer to the sound I’m wanting to make?
Is this sound comfortable (or more comfortable than before) to produce?
Your answer to those questions dictates how you give feedback to the voice teacher whose main task (during vocal technique work) is to help you produce new sounds or the same sounds in a comfortable way.
If a voice teacher does not bother to ask you “Did that feel more comfortable?” or “Is that the sound you’re looking for?” or “That sounds like it is more in the (blank) genre do you agree?” or does not give you a chance to speak, RUN AWAY!