Matthew Hoch - Voice Secrets: 100 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Singer

Voice Secrets

Music Secrets for the Advanced Musician

Music Secrets for the Advanced Musician is designed for instrumentalists, singers, conductors, composers, and other instructors and professionals in music seeking a quick set of pointers to improve their work as performers and creators of music. Easy to use and intended for the advanced musician, contributions to Music Secrets fill a niche for those who have moved far beyond what beginners and intermediate practitioners need. It is the perfect resource for teaching students what they need to know in order to take that next step forward and for reinforcing a set of best practices among advanced and professional musicians.

Clarinet Secrets: 52 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Clarinetist , 2nd edition, by Michele Gingras, 2006

Saxophone Secrets: 60 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Saxophonist , by Tracy Lee Heavner, 2013

Oboe Secrets: 75 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Oboist and English Horn Player , by Jacqueline Leclair, 2013

Drum Kit Secrets: 52 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Drummer , by Matt Dean, 2014

Violin Secrets: 101 Strategies for the Advanced Violinist , by Jo Nardolillo, 2015

Voice Secrets: 100 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Singer , by Matthew Hoch and Linda Lister, 2016

Voice Secrets

100 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Singer

Matthew Hoch and Linda Lister

Rowman & Littlefield

Lanham Boulder New York London

Published by Rowman & Littlefield

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706

www.rowman.com

Unit A, Whitacre Mews, 26-34 Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB

Copyright 2016 by Matthew Hoch and Linda Lister

All images courtesy of the authors unless otherwise noted.

All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hoch, Matthew, 1975 | Lister, Linda.

Title: Voice secrets : 100 performance strategies for the advanced singer / Matthew Hoch, Linda Lister.

Description: Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016009921 (print) | LCCN 2016011077 (ebook) | ISBN 9781442250253 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781442250260 (electronic)

Subjects: LCSH: SingingInstruction and study. | SingingVocational guidance.

Classification: LCC MT820 .H7 2016 (print) | LCC MT820 (ebook) | DDC 783/.043dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016009921

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

To our students, past and present.

Foreword

Have you ever wondered how Rene Fleming could spin those immaculate high notes so effortlessly or how Anna Netrebko can make you believe without question that she is Violetta, Mim, or Juliette when shes onstage? Perhaps youve marveled at Nathan Lanes impeccable comic timing or fallen in love with Kristin Chenoweths vocal pizazz and charming stage presence. Sure, all these performers were born with the goods, but quite a bit of blood, sweat, and tears was expended on the long road to the top. But what exactly does that road look like? How do we even get directions?

In Matthew Hoch and Linda Listers Voice Secrets: 100 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Singer , you might just find that map. Here are one hundred pearls of wisdom describing everything from essential singing languages, breath support, musical styles, and student/teacher decorum to microphone technique and auditions. Best of all, its succinct and easy to understand.

I first came across Lindas work in the excellent book Yoga for Singers , in which she describes ways in which this universal exercise can benefit the body specifically for singing. This theme continues in chapters dedicated to overall health, including diet, hydration, exercise, and, of course, psychological balance. Our bodies are our instruments, arent they? Why not learn how Ujjayi breath can help clear your throat or how meditation might be just what you need to center your mind before auditions? If youve ever heard a singer talk about singing in the masque or using appoggio to support their sound, Voice Secrets uncovers this mystery, along with myriad other technical hills and mountains most successful singers have had to climb. Some tenors were born with killer high Cs, but most have had to work very hard to perfect that all-important money note. But despite how beautiful that note may be, it means nothing if you are a lazy student or a bad colleague. Check out secrets 85 and 86 if you feel a little big for your britches. This being the digital age, I was happily surprised to read about crowdfunding and YouTube!

Linda and Matthew have kept things refreshingly modern in this manual, which is essential for anyone hoping to break into a business that is quite different than it was even a decade or two ago. Theres so much that goes into building a singer, creating a career for yourself or your students, and eventually sustaining this career. The materials available are almost overwhelming, and while we are so lucky to have access to so much, its refreshing to find one source that provides an overview of everything.

Nicole Cabell

2005 Cardiff Singer of the World

Preface

Throughout much of its history, the art of singing and voice teaching has been somewhat mysterious. Perhaps this is in part because of the invisibility of the instrument: one cannot see the voice functioning the same way one can view keys on the piano or fingerings on the clarinet. There is also an attitude, among some, that singing is a God-given ability; one can only marginally improve within a predestined aptitude. While it is certainly true that natural talent plays a significant role in great singing, nature is only half of the story. There are many components in addition to natural ability that make up the training of the complete singer. What is the secret to singing well?

Voice Secrets attempts to untangle the mystique of singing by breaking down some of its most essential elements. In fact, most of these bits of wisdom are not secrets at all. Rather, they are simply elements of advice that the advanced singer should digest and consider in order to sing at the next level. Attempts were made to delineate topics as cleanly as possible, but in the interconnected world of singing, some overlap between chapters was unavoidable. The singer or voice teacher is encouraged to use this book however he or she sees fit, either flipping from section to section as needed or indulging in a cover-to-cover reading.

Because we are both products of classical conservatory training and have been teaching classical voice at the college level for a combined four decades, there is inherently a classical bias to many of the entries in this book. Although the classically trained performer and teacher is the primary target audience for this book and series, efforts were made to acknowledge other styles as well, hence an entire chapter devoted to contemporary commercial music (CCM) singing. In the ever-expanding world of vocal music, we viewed engaging in a discussion of nonclassical styles as essential information for twenty-first-century singers to consider.