Newport Beach, California     

(949) 723-4473

 

Frequently Asked Questions
 
How often should I take a lesson?
Once a week is adequate for beginning and intermediate students. More advanced students and those who are preparing for recitals, auditions and competitions usually take lessons more frequently.
How long does it take to learn to sing?
Beginners who practice intelligently on a daily basis can expect to notice improvement at around six months. It often takes a year or two or longer for a student to establish good habits and develop a reliable technique. Singers who are serious about their art study all their lives.
I'd like to sing classical music, but I also want to sing rock/pop. Will I learn how to do both?
A good classical technique will teach a singer how his voice works and what to expect from his voice at any given time. The goal of classical technique is to find the most true, free and resonant tone of which the particular voice is capable, and a tone that will carry over an orchestra without additional amplification. This approach to singing takes time to master.
To a certain degree, pop techniques may be applied more quickly as they often bypass the establishment of the most acoustically correctly produced tones. Singers who want to sing pop/rock sometimes are not willing to take the time and trouble to learn a foundation classical technique before they begin working on pop/rock stylings. If a student wants to sing everything perfectly, immediately, he may have difficulty finding the patience to study and learn the necessary basics inherent in a good classical approach. 
I want to sing LOUDER. Can you help me gain more power?   
If you study a classical technique you will learn, through many processes, how to sing more loudly. It does not happen quickly. If your goal is to sing more loudly within a few lessons, classical technique is not for you. 
I want to increase my range. Can you help me ADD high notes?   
It is impossible to add notes to your range. The physical structure of your vocal mechanism -- the length of your vocal cords, the size of your larynx, and more -- dictates the range of your voice. The top and bottom notes of your range are built-in to your instrument. If your range is small, you simply have not learned how to access those built-in notes. In certain extremely rare cases, an underlying medical condition may diminish voice range.
Most people who are using their voices effectively can count on a range of from 2 to 3 octaves. This is normal and this is sufficient, and there is nothing wrong with normal and sufficient.
A NOTE ON RANGES IN CHILDREN (ages 5 - 8):  The range of the true child voice may be limited to anywhere from 7 to 12 notes, depending upon the child's age. Young boys are able to sing higher than are young girls. Separate from the true voice, children use their voices in a child version of the flageolet range (squealing at play, for example). This higher extension should not be developed for singing at such an early age. 
A NOTE ON RANGES AND CAPABILITIES IN OLDER ADULTS WHO ARE BEGINNERS OR RETURNING TO VOICE TRAINING:  If you have not sung for a number of years or have never studied voice seriously, you may find some limitations. Older voices usually are not as flexible or resilient. Training the voice involves the entire body. As we age, our breathing capacity is diminished and we must work much more diligently to keep the body musculature strong enough to support a good voice technique. The execution of extreme high notes or lengthy coloratura passages, for example, requires Olympic athleticism. While you may not debut at the MET in the near future, you still can find a great deal of pleasure, improve and refine your technique, learn some of the world's most wonderful repertoire, feel sated in the knowledge that you are doing something special that not everyone can do or is willing to attempt... all while receiving positive reviews from those who hear you and appreciate your talents.
What is the right age to begin serious voice study?
Simple and true answer as handed down over many generations: Girls at about age 14 or 15 and boys at about age 18. In spite of the wisdom of time, students are beginning formal voice instruction at younger and younger ages. 
Younger students should participate in QUALITY group or private music instruction that may include (for the very youngest children) Orff Schulwerk, Dalcroze Eurythmics, (for younger to older students) Kodaly sight-singing training and or choral singing OTHER THAN what has become known as "showchoir" singing (only because the children are pitched into a screaming competition with each other in MOST cases and musical training and skills are abundantly lacking). Though the quality of programs is ever-changing and, unfortunately, diminishing all over the world - due to a pervasive quick-fix mentality, an array of general baseless fears, and "selling" a program over offering something of quality to those who have the capability of understanding and appreciating quality philosophy - you might begin to look for quality programs by contacting University music departments and private music and arts academies. My personal feeling is that the public schools for the arts are not the route to go. When the "showbiz" notion overrides the art of making music for the sake of making good music, a program is off-axis. A natural competitive environment exists in any group musical environment where humans are involved. But the student is better off envying the good singer than she is envying the singer who "got the part" because she sang the loudest.
The growing, changing and developing voice can be susceptible to strain and damage from singing too loudly, and too loudly too often, yelling, singing in an inappropriate range and more. That said, younger singers may begin to learn the principles of correct breathing, singing legato and with musical phrasing, enunciation, pronunciation of other languages, etc. Songs should be of a gentle nature and in reasonable keys and ranges. Many traditional American and International folk songs fill the bill quite nicely.
Damage done to a young voice may not show up until some years later. It manifests itself as reduced range, register breaks, a raspy quality or in other ways. It is not always possible to correct the problems, as the mechanism has already grown tired from the continual strain and bad habits are ingrained.
The texture of a young girl's voice is usually light in quality and not as rich, or reedy, as the voice of a young boy her same age. This is assuming the young girl is singing in her natural voice, and not singing in an 'affected' chest-like voice, in an inappropriately low range. By approximately age 14, this child voice begins to vanish and the more mature voice emerges. While a girl may be singing all along employing good technique, the new voice will require new approaches to singing properly.
Generally speaking, young boy's voices are richer sounding throughout their youth. This reedy quality (like that of a clarinet) gives the boys an early advantage over the girls. Between the ages of from as early as age 10 (sometimes, though rarely, even younger) and into the later teen years, boys experience a voice change that can be abrupt or slow and awkward. The voice may go lower, then higher again. It may take many avenues before it begins to settle. Even after the voice seems settled, it continues to change. Boys may be in their early twenties before the real voice starts to show itself. GREAT care must be taken to exercise the voice only as its present condition warrants.  
 
A conscientious younger student may succeed with voice lessons, given the following considerations:
Intelligence, curiosity and creativity.
A studious nature or the ability to focus on the task at hand.
Basic knowledge of notes on a keyboard or a willingness to learn the notes.
Access to a keyboard as a practice aid - and the ability to play the melody line.
Disciplined practice habits.
Willingness to practice assigned material as directed and adhere to the training as prescribed by the teacher.
Willingness to accept and complete ancillary listening, reading and writing assignments.
Strong family support.
A note to parents of younger children
I strongly recommend parents steer their musically inclined children who are too young for formal voice training toward piano, violin or another stringed or reed instrument -- wherever the most interest lies. A child who is interested in the sound of the singing voice will also be interested in the sound of other musical instruments. The instrumental musical training will give the student a good foundation when he takes up singing at a later time. If the child loses interest in practicing an instrument, he will also lose interest in daily vocal practice.
Singing takes MORE discipline and is potentially more frustrating than playing an instrument because of the 'invisible' nature of the vocal instrument. Do not be mistaken.
Our modern lives and the media are permeated with a perception of fast results and easy stardom. The notion of developing as an artist is not reflected upon as favorably. The end result of this cavalier treatment of the arts is a dumbing down of a society that is increasingly more detached from the value of fine art in its many forms to a civilized society. 
I am an older singer. Is it too late for me to learn how to sing?
Do you think it is too late for you to learn to do anything else? Have you noticed it is sometimes most difficult for us to embark on the most desirous journeys? We complicated human beings make such fear-based excuses for not doing the things that might bring us our greatest pleasures. 
If you love singing, or you love the thought of singing an Italian or French Art Song or German Lied or a great aria, you owe it to yourself to do what is in your heart. While you may not become a singing sensation in a few easy lessons, you will learn and you will have fun. Failure is not an option.

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