Complete Handbook of Voice Training


Book Description

Given in memory of James C. Ross, Jr. by Lannes and Peggy Hope.




Complete Vocal Fitness


Book Description

Complete Vocal Fitness: A Singer’s Guide to Physical Training, Anatomy, and Biomechanics is a primer on sport-specific training for vocal athletes. Elite athletes apply cutting-edge research in movement and physiology to customize fitness regimens that ensure peak performance. The principles of sports science that enable them to fine-tune strength, flexibility and dynamic stabilization to meet the requirements of a given sport are invaluable for preparing the body to meet the physical demands of singing. This book will teach you to: Optimize alignment by identifying and resolving postural distortions Balance strength and flexibility throughout your torso to facilitate full breathing and promote coordinated breath management Improve oxygen consumption to enhance your stamina and ability to sustain long phrases Stabilize your spine and major joints in order to continue performing with solid technique while meeting the demands of stage movement Musicians of all kinds benefit from understanding the basics of how their instruments work. This book is also a guide to how the vocal instrument functions. You will find accessible descriptions of the fundamental components of vocal anatomy – laryngeal function, articulation and resonance – explaining their movements, their interaction with one another, their integration with the anatomy of breathing and alignment, and relating them to common non-anatomical terminology often used in the voice studio.




A New Handbook for Singers and Teachers


Book Description

The practices of singing and teaching singing are inextricable, joined to each other through the necessity of understanding the vocal art and craft. Just as singers must understand the physical functions of voice in order to become musically proficient and artistically mature, teachers too need to have a similar mastery of these ideas - and the ability to explain them to their students - in order to effectively guide their musical and artistic growth. With this singer-instructor relationship in mind, Richard and Ann Alderson's A New Handbook for Singers and Teachers presents a fresh, detailed guide about how to sing and how to teach singing. It systematically explores all aspects of the vocal technique - respiration, phonation, resonance, and articulation - with each chapter containing exercises aimed at applying and teaching these principles. Beyond basic vocal anatomy and singing fundamentals, the handbook also covers such understudied topics as the young voice, the changing voice, and the aging voice, along with helpful chapters for teachers about how to organize vocal lessons and training plans. Thoughtfully and comprehensively crafted by two authors with decades of singing and teaching experience between them, A New Handbook for Singers and Teachers will prove an invaluable resource for singers and teachers at all stages of their vocal and pedagogical careers.




Make Your Voice Heard


Book Description

• Focuses on the relationship between voice training and acting • Simple, easy-to-follow exercises to strengthen the voice in just 10 minutes per day • Revised and expanded edition includes new techniques • Replaces ISBN 0-8230-8333-0 Chuck Jones, the leading expert on using the voice to convey character, explains his groundbreaking techniques clearly and concisely in this revised edition of a classic. First, Jones examines acting basics related to the voice: being heard, character choices, and power. Then he introduces daily exercises that release, stretch, and strengthen the voice, in order to increase the actor’s expressive range. For any actor who wants to grow and develop, Make Your Voice Heard offers powerful, practical tools for connecting the voice to emotions—and using the vocal instrument to create new levels of meaning.




Basics of Vocal Pedagogy


Book Description

Basics of Vocal Pedagogy is a comprehensive introductory text for vocal pedagogy classes at the college and university level. Though written primarily for prospective teachers of singing, vocal music educators, choir directors, voice coaches and intermediate to advanced level singers will also find the text useful as a textbook, training manual, and general reference book.




The Private Voice Studio Handbook


Book Description

A nationally recognized expert in teaching private voice, Joan Boytim has compiled some of the most widely used vocal collections in the US. Her clinics about various aspects of teaching voice, literature, and running a voice studio have been attended by thousands of teachers. Now that professional wisdom has been put into a new book indispensible for independent instructors, The Private Voice Studio Handbook. Its chapters address, in practical detail, topics such as - starting a private voice studio; equipment and space; recruiting and accepting students; ideas for the very first lesson with a student; studio policies, guidelines and ethics; teaching music reading; recommended syllable drills and vocalises; lesson plans; practice procedures; choosing repertoire suitable to students' abilities; finding appropriate sacred solos; accounting and record-keeping; tax, insurance and retirement advice; techniques for teaching voice to children and adults; planning studio recitals; and many more. An excellent resource for college and university voice faculty.




Vocal Technique


Book Description

Vocal Technique is a practical, easy-to-read guide to better singing. This new edition offers a stylistically flexible approach that allows soloists and choral singers to vary the elements of technique to sing virtually any style—classical through contemporary (musical theatre, pop/rock, jazz, and more). It is a comprehensive yet concise book covering all aspects of technique, including body alignment, breath control, initiation of sound, vocal fold closure, resonance, register use, vowels, pitch control, articulation, and vibrato. It also features expanded treatment of vocal health and development. Conductors and teachers will appreciate the numerous practical exercises. Grounded in the latest pedagogical and scientific research, Vocal Technique, Second Edition will expand the horizons of both amateur and professional singers.




Your Body, Your Voice


Book Description

In this innovative book, Theodore Dimon, EdD, shows how each part of the vocal organ (breathing, larynx, throat, and so on) works as part of a larger musculoskeletal system that is often interfered with, and how identifying this larger system and understanding in a practical way how it works allows a person to train and improve the voice, whether speaking or singing. Traditional vocal training methods, says Dimon, cannot be effective without restoring the functioning of the musculature that supports the voice. Enhanced with over 50 detailed full-color illustrations, the book discusses the fallacy of traditional breathing exercises and explains that the key to efficient breathing lies in the expansive support of the trunk and rib cage. Investigating the elements needed to produce a strong supported tone, Dimon describes the importance of voice “placement,” or directing the sound to a part of the body in order to produce a fully rounded, resonant tone. He identifies harmful patterns of speech and singing, and offers helpful methods for reestablishing the natural function of the vocal mechanism. Individual chapters cover elements of the whispered “ah,” producing a pure sung tone, vocal registers, the suspensory muscles of the larynx, and more.




How to Train Singers


Book Description

Completely revised & updated here are ready-to-use vocal exercises, drills & performance techniques. Covers breath capacity, proper body alignment, eliminating stage fright, & more. Includes a cassette tape with demonstrations of each technique.




The Voice Over Actor's Handbook


Book Description

This voice over guide will teach you how to break down, understand, and read aloud scripts for expert delivery. Prominent voice over coach John Burr developed this handbook when he recognized that his students didn't understand the fundamentals of the English language and grammar-the first step in analyzing voice over scripts. In this in-depth guide, you'll discover what it takes to become a successful voice over actor. You will acquire the skills to pronounce words clearly, pace yourself through a script, take pauses at appropriate times, and incrementally express emotion. As the chapters unfold, you will learn the importance of understanding the meaning of the script, how to compare and contrast, and how to handle dialogue and quotes. A section on language dynamics instructs readers on deciphering sentences within a script and highlighting the right words and phrases to communicate effectively. It gets into the nuts and bolts of language so that readers can understand how sentence structure and grammar affect delivery. You will learn how to mark a script to ensure a consistent delivery from take to take. The Voice Over Actor's Handbook is the next best thing to having a voice over coach in your living room.