I am an internationally renowned, European Tenor and Voice Research Scientist with 30 years experience and recently moved to GTA. I have rehabilitated the voices of renowned CD recording singers of opera, lieder, oratorios, popular music, musical, jazz, country, folk and rock, radio speakers, actors, commercial airline pilots, politicians etc. According to major newspaper reviews, world famous conductors, TV and radio shows I have been one of the best lyrical Tenors in Europe. Call 416-238-3585 for a free voice analysis.
Singers often run into difficulties keeping up with the vocal demands of their repertoire and schedules, and sometimes have to cancel concerts or even tours as a result of hoarseness, vocal fatigues, increased strain to reach higher notes, a reduced vocal range, a reduced ability of the vocal folds to approximate, tighten, separate and/or relax and the often resulting vocal cord nodules. Even world famous singers have been victims of voice cord nodules. See wikipedia “voice cord nodules” for an incomplete list of such singers. For singing lessons, voice repairs, voice coaching, non-surgical voice repairs: Call 416-238-3585.
Apart from musical genre and vocal range that necessitate a focus on certain muscle groups of intrinsic and extrinsic value, it is the one-sided/specializing focus on certain muscle groups in most singing techniques, while neglecting antagonistic muscles, that often lead to a break of the physiologically necessary equilibrium, co-ordination and synergistic effects between all pertaining muscle groups in the vocal organ as a whole, and thus resulting in non optimum vocal sound and health effects. To find out what particular muscle groups are insufficiently trained in your case call 416-238-3585 for a free 1-hour voice analysis.
If a singer can sing high notes only in forte (loud) but not in piano (soft) he/she is producing the high note by using undue air pressure. This will create a counteraction in the vocal folds leading to a forced approximation of the vocal folds. Air is being pressed and the vocal cords are closed similar as if one is preparing to lift very heavy weight. While in body building one is made aware of the damaging effects of such and is told to breath out (and not hold one’s air to press while lifting) some coarse singing techniques seem not to be aware of such detrimental effects that can occur in such instances. Whether such air pressure is produced intentionally or to compensate for muscles that are responsible to tighten the vocal cords and thereby producing higher notes without undue air pressure is not being discussed. The point is, however, that the muscles that open and relax the vocal folds are in such above named instances always not sufficiently trained (innervated with nerves) to counterbalance this stimulus response reaction.
Such singers can be easily diagnosed. When such singers sing high notes, the thereby produced side effects, red faces, hoarseness, vocal cord nodules, increased strain to reach higher notes, are only a few indicators of above scientific facts. A singer who can produce high notes only in forte and with an undue amount of air pressure, has demonstrated a reduced ability of the vocal cords to relax, stay open and swing.
Tenors or Sopranos who can sing only forte when singing high notes are sometimes forced by the composer to sing mezzo forte or piano. Such a Tenor will automatically escape into the falsetto, or head voice each time a high note has to be sung in piano and does not seem to be able to sing a high note starting with piano and then gradually increase the volume to mezzo forte, forte, fortissimo, and gradually back to forte, mezzo forte and finally piano WITHTOUT ESCAPING INTO THE FALSETTO VOICE.
While one cannot really compare the anatomy of the voice with other body functions, an oversimplified analogy for the above would be a bodybuilder who only trains the biceps without ever focusing on her/his antagonists the triceps. After a while this imbalance will be visible. In singing/speaking such imbalances often originating from a voice technique that demands one-sided use of certain groups of voice muscles. To find out what particular muscle groups are insufficiently trained in your case call 416-238-3585 for a free 1-hour voice analysis.
While it is with medical devices possible to “see” certain voice muscles, a singing teacher teaching a certain technique has to solely rely on her/his ears. Unfortunately even extreme beauty of the voice can often be misleading and is not a reliable indicator for healthy voice techniques, otherwise the great Enrico Caruso would not have been the victim of voice cord nodules, in his late career, due to an inability of his vocal cords to approximate.
A singing technique should not require the singer to constantly think about how to sing. Particularly while performing, the singer has to have enough attention units free to focus on the musical message and emotional expression, rather than vocal technique. This can be achieved by innervating and building a synergistically working muscle/nerve channel network, a vocal organ whose opposing muscle groups are collaborating in equilibrium. The best singing techniques that achieved great results for a particular singer can turn into a detrimental one. Why? To find out what particular muscle groups are insufficiently trained in your case call 416-238-3585 for a free 1-hour voice analysis.
Singing techniques were invented to produce a certain sound quality of a certain genre. It is of course much easier to damage one’s voice with yelling hard rock, than with singing a sophisticated bell canto technique, to make an understatement. However, a yelling Wagner singer, even with a premium technique, might risk the formation of specialized muscles and potential voice damage, if she/he neglects the needed antagonistic muscles that for instances Lieder necessitate.
To find out what particular muscle groups are insufficiently trained in your case call 416-238-3585 for a free 1-hour voice analysis.
Regardless of what point you are at in your career, voice lesson by a voice research scientist who had a most successful professional singing career can help another professional/semi professional singer/speaker/actor gain knowledge of how to achieve a more balanced vocal muscle equilibrium and thus help increase vocal beauty, vocal range and vocal endurance, so that she/he may continue to perform without running into vocal problems.
Singing lessons, voice repairs, non surgical voice rehabilitations, also before and after surgical removal of vocal cord nodules, proactive prevention of reoccurrence of pathologic voice injury will also be provided to singers of all musical genres, radio speakers, actors etc. Research and rehabilitations will be conducted in collaboration with Otolaryngist and/or Laryngologist.
Call 416-238-3585 for voice repair and or voice lessons.
Each genre like opera, lieder, oratorios, pop music, musical, jazz, country, folk and rock poses a risk for unhealthy singing habits. In opera, Wagner, is known to having damaged the voices of numerous great singers unfit for this Fach. Heavy metal yelling and Rock screaming leads the list in damaging voices. Learn how to sing correctly within your genre. Call 4160-238-3585.
While posing the least risk, even Lieder, can be sung with an incomplete, unbalanced, voice technique, especially if the German consonants stop the natural flow of the voice. Dietrich Fischer Diskau, Fritz Wunderlich, Peter Schreier have been a prime example of perfect Lieder singing applying a superb singing technique required for this genere/Fach. To find out what particular muscle groups are insufficiently trained in your case call 416-238-3585 for a free voice analysis.
If correctly executed by the singer the vocal technique called Bel canto has been embodying the beauty of a well-balanced vocal organ, provided that respective antagonistic voice muscles needed to sing Oratorio and Lieder had not been neglected. If such antagonistic muscles had been neglected the signer is unable to produce a nice “mesa di voce” during the performance of oratorios. A by the composer intended piano and or mezza forte becomes a “Wagnerian war scream” unsuitable for church music, especially during high notes. To find out what particular muscle groups are insufficiently trained in your case call 416-238-3585 for a free voice analysis.
To avoid one-sided voice muscle growth, with all the undesirable effects, it is of most importance that a singing teacher, teaching opera, also includes Lieder and Oratorios into the vocal teaching program, while it is mandatory for a vocal teacher, teaching, singers of Lieder and Oratorios to carefully include lyrical opera arias into his/her vocal teaching regimens.
Being trained in laryngeal anatomy and physiology (participating in European voice research projects involving 300 singers with phoniatrists) AND having studied operatic singing provides a rare combination. During my own career as concert and opera singer I was praised by major newspaper reviews, world famous conductors, TV and radio shows to be one of the best lyrical Tenors in Europe. I have rehabilitated the voices of renowned CD recording singers of opera, lieder, oratorios, pop music, musical, jazz, country, folk and rock, radio speakers, actors, commercial airline pilots, politicians etc.
If you are experiencing reduced vocal range, hoarseness, vocal fatigues, increased strain to reach higher notes and laryngeal inflammations/illnesses due to smoking, voice cord cancer, recurring infections etc. had been ruled out by an in Canada licensed Otolaryngist and/or Laryngologist, than it is likely that poor singing technique and habits are the cause of the aforesaid. For singing lessons, voice repairs, voice coaching, non-surgical voice repairs or a free voice analysis: Call 416-238-3585.
If a singer can sing high notes only in forte (loud) but not in piano (soft) he/she is producing the high note by using undue air pressure. This will create a counteraction in the vocal folds leading to a forced approximation of the vocal folds. Air is being pressed and the vocal cords are closed similar as if one is preparing to lift very heavy weight. While in body building one is made aware of the damaging effects of such and is told to breath out (and not hold one’s air to press while lifting) some coarse singing techniques seem not to be aware of such detrimental effects that can occur in such instances. Whether such air pressure is produced intentionally or to compensate for muscles that are responsible to tighten the vocal cords and thereby producing higher notes without undue air pressure is not being discussed. The point is, however, that the muscles that open and relax the vocal folds are in such above named instances always not sufficiently trained (innervated with nerves) to counterbalance this stimulus response reaction.
Such singers can be easily diagnosed. When such singers sing high notes, the thereby produced side effects, red faces, hoarseness, vocal cord nodules, increased strain to reach higher notes, are only a few indicators of above scientific facts. A singer who can produce high notes only in forte and with an undue amount of air pressure, has demonstrated a reduced ability of the vocal cords to relax, stay open and swing.
Tenors or Sopranos who can sing only forte when singing high notes are sometimes forced by the composer to sing mezzo forte or piano. Such a Tenor will automatically escape into the falsetto, or head voice each time a high note has to be sung in piano and does not seem to be able to sing a high note starting with piano and then gradually increase the volume to mezzo forte, forte, fortissimo, and gradually back to forte, mezzo forte and finally piano WITHTOUT ESCAPING INTO THE FALSETTO VOICE.
Singing lessons opera, Singing lessons lieder, Singing lessons oratorios.
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