The Failings of the Modern “Voice Coach”

SING from the diaphragm! Project your voice into your mask! Sing into your head cavity! Sing out of your forehead! WHAT?? After centuries of artful singing, voice teachers continue to teach these—and other—misguided techniques? And to make this situation even more ridiculous, not only has science shown these practices to have NO basis in reality; trying to learn them actually inhibits and even erodes vocal ability. This nonsense must end!

Far too many singing students have been brainwashed by their teachers into believing in this harmful mythology and, as a result, have been taken, in short order, from artistic promise to vocal bankruptcy. It’s hard to fathom all the shattered dreams and abandoned careers—not to mention the incalculable loss of talent. Who knows how many Frank Sinatras, Ella Fitzgeralds, Luciano Pavorottis, and Stevie Wonders have been lost because of ruinous vocal training?

Misconceived and confusing ideas about how to train the singing voice have always flourished down through the centuries. The advent of commercial music in the 20th century, and the evolution of various kinds of non-classical singing, eventually produced the pop singing teacher—the “voice coach”—who specializes in teaching non-classical singing. It’s no wonder that singers who have little or no voice training at all are often in better condition vocally than those who have studied under today’s voice coaches. This accounts, at least in part, for the noteworthy fact that during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s there were many excellent singers/recording artists who had never studied singing formally, whereas in subsequent decades, where vocal instruction was more popular and available, there were far fewer. Indeed, in addition to the other reasons why exceptional singing is at a low point, the spread of virulent forms of vocal coaching today has to be seen as one of its principal causes.

Why haven’t the celebrated singers and singing teachers over the many centuries of artful singing formed a consensus as to the best way to train a singing voice—any voice, operatic or otherwise?

Pop, rock, country, R&B, jazz, blues, and gospel, for example, all have their own musical styles with characteristic vocal requirements. And even within a particular genre, the rich variety of vocal characteristics that could fall under its heading, is varied enough to defy general, intelligible descriptions. What should a typical pop singer sound like, for instance? Or an average rock singer?

Why are most voice teachers unable to teach their students the best way to improve their singing voices? Despite the voice training that they may have undergone, most voice teachers begin as natural singers and never had to learn to sing; that is, they never went through the difficult and eye-opening experience of learning about the mechanics of voice production voices and how best to use their voices in song. In many instances, young, natural singers gain their ability by simply imitating other singers and find this to be a relatively fast and easy way to practice and learn the art form. Since most voice teachers begin as ignorant, natural singers, they are in the bizarre position of trying to teach a complex process that they, at best, only partially understand. This form of teaching in virtual blindness has a long, unfortunate history and is largely responsible for the battering the noble art form of singing has taken throughout the ages.

What makes the singing environment different today, however, is that the scientific basis of singing is well understood and this understanding should have guided the so-called voice coach to the correct approach to vocal training. A uniform vocal building regimen is the only way to create a strong and reliable foundation for singing, because no other process increases muscular performance. Without a clear idea of a foundation for singing and a uniform method of creating it, voice instructors are typically in the dark about what the real concern of voice teaching should be and often wander into the world of song interpretation—voice coaching—and think that this is where their answers to proper voice teaching exists. Unfortunately, song interpretation presupposes (or should presuppose) a capable and reliable voice; as a result, students often learn songs without improving as singers.

(Excerpts from my ebook, A Revolution In Singing)

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