Robert Lunte : Modern Vocal Pedagogy VS. The Classical Tradition
Robert Lunte discusses the roots of some of the confusion regarding why its so difficult for singers to find a voice teacher that understands thier needs.
Given that Classical influenced voice pedagogy is so pervasive in society, why does the Classical approach fall short of solving the needs of the modern vocalist? Which technique and methodology is best suited for the modern vocalist who needs to be able to perform modern applications? Here are some thoughts on how modern pedagogy is different then the Classical tradition and why modern techniques are best suited for the modern vocalist.
1. The majority of people who have been exposed to singing have their first experience with singing lessons from people that teach methods and techniques rooted in the Classical approach. There are several technical reasons for this:
- The Classical tradition advocates a lowered larynx, resulting in a darker and “weightier” timbre that minimizes the use of masked resonators, which further impedes extending range into the head voice. The modern vocalist is served better by singing with a slightly raised larynx.
- The Classical tradition ignores training head voice skills for men and most teachers just simply don’t know how because head voice adduction is unknown for men in the Classical tradition. (the rare exception being those vocalists that are known as “countertenors”,
- The Classical tradition trains women to use breathy, “choir girl” timbres in the head voice, instead of training adduction or “pressing” the head voice to get more tonal “cut”.
- The Classical tradition definitely doesn’t train or accept any Grott (“raspyness”) in the vocal sound.
2. Every year, thousands of new, University educated musicians graduate with degrees in music education and vocal performance. Many of these people set out, or eventually gravitate to teaching to make a living. To be sure, for every great private voice instructor that happens to be fortunate enough to learn a modern vocal technique to share and pass on to their students, you can find a hundred that learned their skills and developed their attitudes about singing from the Classical “camp”. Consequently, just by the sheer weight of numbers, there is a huge resource of people teaching voice that are Classically oriented.
3. The artistic and performance values are vastly different for vocalists in these two camps. The Classical artist trains to sing the riches and fattest overtones they can possibly produce. They do not break the rules and sacrifice tone and purity of vowels for tricky “stunts” involving range and head registers. The Classical vocalist also holds high value in the pursuit of preserving and accurately interpreting ancient music, to an audience that maintains a high regard for the accurate performance and interpretation of what was originally written by the composer. This results in the audience being more academically critical of the singer's performance and therefore a rigid set of technical and performance expectations must be adhered to by the Classical vocalist. On the other hand, the modern vocalist is more likely working with original compositions, in an uncontrolled, spontaneous environment where freedom and spontaneity of composition makes up a large part of their values. For the modern vocalist, the mission is simply to do what ever it takes to “shock and awe” a modern audience, whose only expectation is to be entertained. The artistic objectives pursued by these two vocal artists and the audience expectations are worlds apart.
You can find a teacher in local Entertainment rags in every major city in the United States advertising voice lessons. Chances are, these instructors are teaching their students habits that, at best, would only serve their students at a Classical recital, choral group or possibly a musical theater production. Too many Classically oriented teachers are providing a service to their students that “ram-rod” the wrong techniques for the wrong applications, then when questioned, go on to insist that their way is the “only way”. Unfortunately, an elitist attitude is at play here.
From my first hand experience, a student is not likely to find to many teachers serving at today’s Universities that “get it” or are even open minded to try. It is my opinion that this attitude has truly become a sad affair, as this is preventing influential institutions from embracing important new innovations and techniques that could be passed on to students. They are denying a relevant and applicable set of tools that would allow their students to be more versatile and better prepared for performing in genre’s outside of the very narrow confines of the Classical art song. Shame!
Before I wrap up this chapter, I want to be clear for the record, I love Classical vocal music and posses an enormous amount of respect for artists who practice this genre. I studied Classical technique for solo voice and was a member of a concert choir for four years at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida and always enjoyed the beauty of singing this ancient music. Great art songs and aria have measures of sophistication in their melody that can not be heard in modern music. And it is hard to beat the level of beauty or the experience of being part of a performance of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” or John Rutter’s “Requiem” with a group of 50-60 other blended voices.
From a technical perspective, there are fundamentals that can be learned from Classical singing lessons that benefit the modern vocalist, such as developing proper breathing habits, an appreciation and skill for text interpretation, singing proper vowels and how to approach music with academic discipline and professionalism. Classical vocal artists should be honored for their dedication to the preservation of an ancient art form and admired for the keen musicianship required to learn and perform the Classical repertoire. However, step outside the protective environment of the University and you will find there is a multi dimensional world of colors and innovation that is painfully completely being ignored.
I’m not saying that Classical singers are failing the mission. To be clear, it’s the teachers of Classical voice that are failing the students. They don’t listen to, or understand the modern vocal genre or techniques and worse, they are unwilling to understand and recognize its merits, contributing to an endless cycle of frustrated students who can clearly hear on their personal music collections that there is merit to the modern genre, but can’t find anyone to help them learn the modern applications.
Summary
The Classical technique and method will likely frustrate modern vocalists, especially in the Rock and Metal genre. The techniques were developed for very different applications, for a different time, for a different genre’ and is frequented by an audience with different expectations and values. Classical singing has its place and will persevere, in all of its elegance and beauty, but the elitist attitude of many of its teachers, is providing a disservice for a lot of people who want to learn to sing in other styles. If your one of these student singers, take comfort in knowing, you don’t have to hurl 16th century techniques at 21st century applications! There is a better way.
Copyright ã 2006 by Robert J. Lunte / The Vocalist Studio
Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. No part of this book, audio CD or DVD may be reproduced in any form, by any means, electronic or otherwise, including photocopying, scanning, downloading, or by any data storage system, without written permission from the publisher.