Dear Mike and Vocalisters:
You asked how I go about teaching voice, especially in light of my obvious interest in what is occurring functionally with the vocal instrument.
In one paragraph of your post you wrote: "Seriously, the perceptions a singer has (and they seem to be different for each singer) are sometimes so far removed from what is measurably going on, I wonder how you make the connection or, do you not make the connection? I will often design exercises for students based on what I understand of the actual workings of the voice and as far as the student is concerned, it's just one more silly-ass thing I thought of them doing that accidently makes them sound better."
COMMENT: Most of the exercises I use or create are based on what I understand to be the functional workings of the voice. Many of these exercises are traditional and have been used by voice teachers for hundreds of years. I use them if I am convinced that they address what I understand about the voice. Off hand, I cannot think of any exercises I use that do not meet that criteria.
The contrast between the perceptions of student and the goals of the teacher is the major communication difficulty in teaching any subject or skill. Body usage is especially prone to this difficulty, and singing is basically body usage.
I structure my exercise work with my students toward giving them a working knowledge of what exercises work for them and WHY they work for them. I encourage them to create their own exercises, if they so desire, based on what they know of the "WHY" of their present exercises.
Our comrades in the voice therapy profession are carefully trained to diagnose vocal speech problems and then use proven and well researched corrective exercises to help patients overcome their vocal difficulties. These exercise are based on knowledge of the healthy function of the vocal mechanism. There is no reason that a similar kind of training could not be developed and promoted for those who teach singing.
We have many such well researched corrective devices (such as onset exercises, for example), which are used by only a small percentage (it appears) of our profession. Instead, many voice teachers prefer to use unproven exercises for no other reason than that is how they were taught. At best, a poor exercise is inefficient, at worst it teaches a practice that can be damaging to the singer.
The idea of targeted exercises based on accurate diagnosis to facilitate the singer and help remove vocal difficulties implies that a scientific knowledge of vocal function be known and understood. The fact that the singer (or the speech patient) may not "feel" the vocal function that is being corrected, is irrelevant. If the singer (patient) can experience results that are positive, the teacher (therapist) will have been successful. It is at that point that most singers will want to know why this or that exercise worked for them.
Regards -- Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA Professor of Voice, Vocal Pedagogy School of Performing Arts Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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