How many singers have studied with teachers who told you them singing is actually very simple? How many times have you been told that if you simply just follow the markings of the music with good diction that you will sing at your best? What about instruction on how to be more "sensitive" to the music?

Don't get me wrong--these are all valid comments, but--they are only valid if you have physically attained the vocal skills that are necessary to use your voice with freedom and complete control. For the ballet dancer who has developed his or her art for many years dancing is very simple because it starts to come naturally. If it looks or feels labored and difficult it would not be of a professional caliber. This is true for all art forms and athletic skills (think of Tiger Woods' golf swing!) including vocalism.

Such a simplistic approach to vocal training is not appropriate unless you are an advanced singer, or at the very least if musical interpretation is taught while also teaching you the physicality of vocal production. Singing becomes simple when the different skills needed for healthy singing are ingrained and become second nature. When the "parts" of singing come together to become an integrated "whole" the process becomes very simple and very powerful. According to Richard Miller in his wonderful book "On the Art of Singing", (Oxford University Press, 1996),"Such performance readiness comes only when technical proficiency is ingrained, programmed- so that the singer can confidently know what to expect under all conditions. Only then can performance be called a simple act." Miller goes on to say "...those (musical and artistic) factors cannot be accomplished until the achievement of a unified vocal instrument makes artistic responses possible." I have never seen this concept of teaching voice more eloquently expressed.

Freedom of the voice, unencumbered by tensions is what makes great singing simple. The goal of both voice teacher and the voice student is achieving functional freedom of the voice. The process of getting there is complex and is determined by the needs of the individual singer. A voice student typically needs to work on breath management, posture, release of neck, jaw, tongue and laryngeal tensions, balanced onset, clean vowels, as well as developing and blending vocal registers, and the use of vowel modifications for even timbre. These complex vocal skills eventually need to come together to create a balanced "whole".

As a student of voice, you cannot put the cart before the horse. You cannot work on outstanding musical expression until you have developed an instrument that is responsive and free. Richard Miller goes on to say (and I totally agree!) that most singers are already sensitive people with something to express. The primary role of the voice teacher is to help students develop the vocal freedom to express it. I know that for myself this was very true. As a student I had so much to express but my voice just wouldn't do what I needed it to. When it was inferred that I needed to be more "sensitive" or that I needed to learn how to interpret the music at hand better, this only helped me to feel as if I had painted myself in a "vocal corner"! It wasn't until I started to develop my vocal instrument based on how the voice actually functions, that I began to develop the freedom necessary to express the music that meant so much to me. At that point I could then incorporate some of the excellent musical coaching I received in the past into the singing that my physical self was able to produce. This is the ultimate goal of voice lessons.

Is skillful singing simple or complex? It is indeed both. The process of achieving skilled singing is complex. You know you are well on your way when your singing feels free, powerful, expressive and simple.

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© 2005 Ronni Lederman, VocalFocus.com