Benefits of Vocal Agility

Bergen Bel Canto Studio
Benefits of Vocal Agility

Why Gaining Flexibility is Important to Your Career and Your Voice



You should learn to move your voice flexibly because:

1. Lots of opera roles require the ability to execute rapid fioritura.  Can you afford to have fewer opportunities?
2. Oratorio and sacred music is often melsimatic, and requires a flexible voice. Many singers earn a large proportion of their performing money from church work, can you afford to be less marketable in this field?
3.Singers who can’t sing florid music often make a mess of simple ornaments. Do you want to be one of those singers?
4. It is easier to learn this now than it will be at any point in the future as your voice matures.
5. You know that wobble you sometimes have? By learning to slim your voice in order to move it around you learn how to control that wobble that sometimes occurs on your sustain.
6. Having a flexible voice will extend the length of your career.
7. When slightly larger voices that maybe didn’t move fast naturally and yet have learned to do it sing florid repertoire it is exciting and impressive.
8. When larger voices than you can sing coloratura faster and cleaner than you, you simply look unskilled
9. Your voice isn’t actually too big to sing runs and if you can’t do it you have technique issues to solve.
10. Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland!

Am I actually only competing with myself?

Singers often ask me if they are really only competing with themselves or whether they are actually competing with all the other singers out there.

My answer? You need to think of it as developing yourself as a marketable artist, not competing with anybody else.

You are, or should be working every day to be the best you, you can be. You are learning how your voice works, what music presents you best, how to connect with your characters and your audience.

You are learning what clothes and hairstyles look best on you. You are living a healthy life style and making smart choices every day, which result in you being rested, energized, groomed, in shape, and looking your personal best.

You are learning what the business demands and you are making sure that you learn your music to a standard that industry professionals demand, not just what makes your Grandma happy.  You are presenting yourself as a put-together professional with a unique personality not as a kid who is conforming to his or her peers.

You don’t book a role by being more like the character than the rest of those who audition, you book a role by finding the character within yourself and being that character in such a convincing way that those who hear you, cast you.  You don’t win a competition by singing better than the other singers, you win by singing your music so well that the judges choose you!

No matter how much you focus on the “other” singers, you cannot be them and you cannot control what they do and who they are. Comparison just puts the focus on the wrong person!

If they are taller, louder, richer, über-prepared there is nothing you can do.

Comparing yourself with others also fosters resentment and that damages your ability to have good relationships with your colleagues which is certainly not helpful for your career.

The only thing you can do your best every day to become the artist that only you can be. If you have not put the work into you it is easy to focus your frustration outward but what you need to do is own up to the fact that you have not actually been doing your best. Whether you acheive your goals or not if you can say to yourself that you actually did everything you could to make things happen, you will be at peace with yourself. 

Michelangelo thought that every block of stone had a statue inside it and it was the task of the sculptor to discover it.

“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.

FAQ for Adult Beginner Voice Students

Frequently asked questions about voice study for adult beginners

1) I am past the traditional age that people start careers, and I have yet to begin singing lessons.  Is it too late to become a singer and have some performing opportunities?

 We live in an exciting time when all the rules are changing. Musical artists all over the world are creating music and promoting themselves to the public in record numbers. That means you don’t necessarily have to be chosen by a label or cast by a casting director anymore.  You can be the boss of your own independent projects and if you do, you can do whatever you want!  Studies have shown that the older demographic do purchase music and perhaps have a higher proclivity to do so than younger audiences. I predict in the not so distant future, several major artists who are middle aged or older will emerge and become successful.
  Of course young or old, most people who train to become singers do not actually end up singing for a living much less becoming stars.  But that does not mean that you can’t sing and perform if you work hard to create opportunities for yourself.  The system is not set up to work in your favor, but if you are motivated, and creative, you can perform.


2) But can I learn to sing well or is it too late?

 In a healthy person, there is no physical barrier to becoming an excellent singer, even for individuals commencing voice training well into their adult years. In fact, there are actually many advantages to having a voice that is mature and yet has not endured the wear and tear of the demands of a professional career. I personally know of many and have even trained a few older singers who began seriously singing well into middle age who have developed excellent techniques and who possess voices that sound surprisingly fresh.
  But it is not just about voice, singers are musicians and for those who do not have experience playing an instrument, you have to learn to be a musician from scratch and it is a tall order.
 Engrained bad habits as well as certain psychological barriers, which are often found in late starters who have singing career goals, can make progress difficult.

3) Am I a beginner? I have sung for pleasure my whole life and have even taken a few lessons.

 If you do not have a functioning basic technique and the requisite musical, interpretive, stylistic and language skills to sing your repertoire, you are considered a beginner when you enter the door of a qualified singing teacher.


4) I have already invested some money in lessons, in producing my debut CD and some creating some performance opportunities, but I am severely in the red. How much more investment will have to make before I see a profit?

 As a civilian you do not understand the requisite investment needed to reach professional artist level, where you can hopefully expect remuneration for your singing. Years of investment in time, effort and instruction are needed on any instrument to be a competent amateur. Many people ask this question without even having made the substantial personal investment to be a competent amateur. No one should expect any compensation for the initial investment they make to achieve basic fluency on an instrument or voice and that generally takes a few years.
  Most amateurs musicians who work to achieve a level of competency do so because they enjoy the process of learning their instrument or how to sing and out of a love of music, just because you may have a desire to be a professional does not mean anyone will pay you before and until you have marketable skills.
  I invite you to compare your investment to what others who are engaged in full time study are investing to gain some perspective.
  Many people who have asked me this question have not, over their entire lives, put in an investment of time and money that a singer in a full time music program pays in a single month.



5) You spoke of psychological barriers for adult beginners. What are they?

 In the case of the adult beginners I have taught who have music career goals and/or already been promoting themselves as artists I have found that in some cases normal instruction is met with resistance each and every step of the way because making improvements means that they were not good already. By definition “beginners” have a lot to learn, sometimes everything to learn and this state is incongruous with the state of selling yourself as an artist to the public.
  In some cases constructive suggestions are met with suspicion: For example a suggestion for a new technique to free up the upper range might be met with “but everyone on my Facebook  Fan page says my high notes are the best part of my voice.  Instruction to improve intonation elicits “but nobody ever told me I sing out of tune.  Attempts to correct mispronounced foreign words are met with “natives who speak the language have never pointed out any problems”.
 It can also go far beyond not taking initial constructive criticism well, it can be rejection of actual improvements. When a new technique is mastered and a positive change that makes singing is mastered, it can elicit fear, sadness and worry, instead of a focus on their future as a better singer.


6) I do not want to be an opera singer. I want to have a career as a popera/pop/rock etc. or concert singer.  Lots of singers who perform in these styles are not perfect, or sometimes not even good; do I have to wait until I am perfect to sing in public? I am already XX years old.

No artist is perfect and every performer needs to gain performing experience along the way. There are, however, certain minimums that you should meet before performing anywhere in public that is exposed if you have career aspirations. As someone who has been in the music industry for decades, I can advise on the appropriate venues for performance for you are and as a teacher I think it is part of my job to do so. You are free to take that advice or not.

 As far as contemporary singers not being good, you would be surprised at how skilled and how much training most professional performers in the entertainment industry actually have. Their job is to make it look natural and easy, but much of the time a lot of work has gone into developing their craft.  Of course there are plenty of people without any ability who are famous for just being famous. I offer lessons in how to be an excellent singer not “Being Famous” lessons.

7. I have been passed over for roles in my local community theater and the director cast a young actor who just graduated from Tisch School in the part/ the local conductor didn’t give me the Messiah solos but instead brought in a young hot shot singer from AVA , the leader of the big band passed me over and brought in a jazz voice major from Berklee  College of Music  to sing with the band, what can I do about this age discrimination?

It is important to be able to distinguish possible age discrimination from what is not age discrimination. Discrimination occurs when someone decides ahead of time to hire a younger person who is less qualified than an older person on the basis of his or her age. Theatrical casting based on an actor’s age is also not considered to be age discrimination.
The example in your question indicates the selection of someone with more training and therefore probably  a higher skill level than what you presently offer.  This is not age discrimination.  . 
  I bring this to your attention because believing that you have been passed over just on account of your age when it is not the case will not help motivate you to become a better performer. Understanding exactly how competitive your own skills actually are should motivate you to develop the skills you need to have the best chance of getting the performing opportunities you desire.


8. I am going to be honest.  I want to sing on Broadway/at the Met/ be a famous Rock star and win a Grammy, can you get me there?

 I help people to become more skillful singers, they work on getting themselves wherever they want to go. In my studio we talk only about preparing the skills needed to achieve the next logical step along the journey. I have often said that in the case of show biz, there is an inverse relationship between the size of dreams and amount of experience.  The least experienced performers often have the loftiest goals and pursuing those goals teaches them over time what is realistic and achievable. It is not my place to discourage anyone nor is it ethical to take money from someone by feeding unrealistic expectations. 

9. Music professionals such as teachers and coaches I have hired as well as my church’s choir director and organist have found flaws in my singing such as out of tune notes and mispronounced wordsare they just being jealous,negative and mean? My friends and family, as well as people who hear me in church and facebook fans tell me I am just wonderful. Who’s opinion counts?

The opinions of professional musicians reflect whether you have the skills needed to perform music to a high standard  and the opinions of your  friends, family and the public count career-wise to the extent that they support your music by attending and paying to hear you.
Remember professionals who hear you, who are not your teacher and members of the public who are musically educated are very unlikely to give you unsolicited criticism because it is not proper etiquette to do so.  Always hire a teacher/coach/conductor to vet the demonstration recordings or recordings you release or videos you post before you bring them before the public.  The average recording engineer these days is not a trained musician and may miss glaring mistakes or not bring them to your attention because they want to keep your custom.



10.  So is the bottom line that I should not quit my day job and start  a music career in mid-life?

You should absolutely not quit your day job; you will need it to fund interesting musical projects you may wish to do.
 If your goal is to make money, the arts and entertainment field  offer you the worst odds of any profession, If your goal is to receive unconditional love, you have come to the wrong place too because the love from an audience is conditional upon your delivery of a quality performance of the kind that interests them.  If your goal is to make music then by all means do not count yourself out because of a late start!

How to learn an opera role

1) Study the libretto as if it were a play to obtain a full understanding of the drama. If the libretto is based on a play or book read that too.
2) Learn to speak the lines you will be singing with correct diction. If you do not speak the language work with a diction coach
3) Research the best edition of the score and use that to learn the music accurately.
4) Work with your teachers and coaches and implement their suggestions.
5) Listen to the great historic recordings of the roles in order to understand the implementation of the performance practice.
6) Listen to recordings of singers that have voices similar to your own singing the role because there you will find clues as to how to make the role work for you.
7) If you don't know much about the composer of the opera you will be performing and are not already very experienced performing their music read as much about the composer and  listen to as many recordings of their other compositions as you can so you have a deeper understanding of his /her work and you understand where the opera you are performing fits within the composer’s oevre.

Now you are ready to attend the first rehearsal with the company!

Professional and Aspiring Professional Singers: Break your Addiction to Excuses and Say Hello to Success

Excuses. I have heard them all, many, many times. I have even made a few excuses in my time.  They are a self-protective shield that sits between you and what you can achieve as a performer. Read the list of excuses and see if you recognize your own excuses on the list. Perhaps you actually believe your excuses and maybe they are somewhat true. True or not, if you want to be a successful professional, it is time to free yourself from your excuses and leave them behind.  

1) If the environment I sang in was better I would have been great 

 "The acoustic was faulty", "the monitors were insufficient, and I couldn’t hear myself". "It was too hot" or "it was too cold".

You are responsible to learn how to adjust your hearing to various acoustic conditions.  A good technique helps you to sing by sensation, not by listening to yourself. If you can’t perform in real world conditions, you can’t perform can you?
If you can’t sing in air con you can’t have a performing career in the US!  If you can’t sing outside in freezing temps, don’t agree to do so. If you can’t perform under hot lights, get out of show biz!  Ever notice the sweat pouring off of your favorite star? They sing ANYWAY.
Get experience, do your best in every circumstance. Don’t blame the environment. Learn to function in it.

2)  I didn't do my best because I was sick.

"I had a cold when I made that recording did that audition or had that performance". "If I was well, I would have been great".

Really? You are a professional who has devoted your life to music and you have no recording of yourself created when you were well?  Is it because you are sick so often that illness occurred at every recording session?  If so,  then how you sing when ill is your usual level of performance, and therefore it represents YOU. So don’t use illness as an excuse.  Have you not recorded enough?  Make some new recordings. The music business requires demonstration recordings.

You were sick during that performance? You were well enough to go on!  You are responsible to develop a technique that allows you to perform even when you are not in perfect shape. You are responsible to take care of your health so that you can be a reliable performer.  Moreover, you are responsible to have all aspects of your performance at such a level of excellence that even when you are not at your best you are still excellent.  You are also responsible to know when you are too ill and you need to cancel.



3) Other people/ other circumstances ruined my performance.

 "My Partner was mean to me", "the director/ conductor was unkind, "I was having personal stress therefore I did not perform my best".

Performances happen in real world circumstances.  Pros perform all the time.  Life isn’t perfect, if you need things to be perfect in order to deliver a good performance, you will not be able to perform for a living. In fact, a first-rate professional should be able to perform at a high level even under very extreme duress.

4) The audience ruined my performance.

"I had a poor audience", "I had the wrong audience". "In front of the right audience I am great". "The audience didn’t know me I was the opening act/ the audience knew me and  I can’t perform in front of people I know", "the audience was not supportive", "the audience was disruptive".

Fine performers should be able to perform in front of any audience. Your job as a performer is to be excellent no matter whom the audience is comprised of, or what they do. If you are thinking about what they think, you are not doing your job, which is to have 100% of your mind on what YOU are doing. If the audience is not behaving well, respond like a pro. If they are being extremely disruptive break the third wall and reprimand them. If they are heckling, deliver your rehearsed response, or improvise appropriately. If they are not responsive, perform as if they were responsive.

5) It was the wrong song/role for me. "The song did not showcase me". "I am better at other songs".

If you are better at other songs then choose the other songs for an audition or any other circumstance where you have control. Role not good enough?  Professional performers shine appropriately in any role large or small,in fact the ability to shine in a supporting role is the very skill that often helps performers break through.


6) It was the wrong style of music- I am better at a different style of music.,

 If your goal is to be the next pop sensation why do you only choose to perform classical music. Are you avoiding something by avoiding the repertoire in which you claim to excel?
Perform the style of music that suits you or become proficient at the styles you must perform.

7) Other performers ruined my performance.

"The pianist at the audition was bad" "My co-star threw me off" or in other words, "If other people were competent, I would have been great".
You didn’t get the role because the audition pianist was bad? Well, everybody had to use that pianist, which evens things out doesn’t it? If your audition song was too hard  for the pianist to sight read, poor choice by YOU, huh?  Take responsibility for choosing a song with a more sight-readable accompaniment next time. Tempo wrong? Learn how to communicate tempi  to other musicians. Another singer made an error on stage, which therefore caused you to make a mistake? Learn to get your cues from the orchestra!

8) I wasn’t prepared.

"If I had more time I would have been able to practice more and I would have been great".
Why weren’t you prepared? If you were not prepared  then spending enough time to learn your music it isn’t a priority. Did you avoid practicing because you needed the excuse of not being prepared in order to avoid facing what your actual performance level is at the moment? Do you need to increase your musicianship skills in order to be able to learn music quickly and accurately, a skill that professional singers require? 


These are just some of the most common excuses singers use. Take a look at your own excuses and you will learn EXACTLY what you need to change in order to succeed.

Many times the excuse is rooted in, or based upon truth.  So what? It is unprofessional to communicate the excuse, most of the time. Communicating the excuse before hand, or knowing that you will use the excuse afterward gives you the permission to do a less than excellent performance.  And please don’t confuse this with communicating to a conductor that you are on voice rest and that you must mark. As a graduate student I remember a fellow student telling a well-known guest conductor that she was on voice rest and he accepted the answer. Then she proceeded to try to tell him about her throat infection and he abruptly stopped her saying loudly “PLEASE DON’T SHARE YOUR PERSONAL ISSUES WITH ME”. Yes, when someone steps in as a last minute replacement a theater will inform the audience, just as much to explain why an actor is not fully integrated into a production as to tell you their identity. And yes, at the Met, when the great opera artists agree to go on stage despite illness, an announcement in made.  Risking one’s hard-earned reputation by agreeing to go on although ill is not the same as an unknown who makes excuses every single time they sing. It really isn’t.

If you see yourself reflected in this article you probably think I am a hard ass. But the truth is I am far from being one!  If you are like most performers who are addicted to excuses, YOU are probably the one who is tough on others. Imagining that others have in their minds the same critical thoughts you have in your mind when you listen, is what is causing your excuses to flow. I don't judge performers unfairly for their negative. judgmental and overly critical attitudes towards others because these thoughts  come from insecurity and longing for opportunities and acceptance. Singing teachers and coaches know why problems are occurring and are usually very sympathetic. Audition panels are on your side, they want to find someone to hire and hope that it is YOU, the person in front of them at the moment , so they can stop looking and go have a beer or play ball with their kids. Audiences simply want to be entertained. Try channeling the experiences with challenges that you have faced into empathy for other performers rather than excuses for yourself. It you are able to do so, YOU will be rewarded by becoming a more secure performer. When you are more secure you will be able to simply do your best and accept your own best efforts with graciouness and poise.

Remember, nobody expects you to be perfect, they just expect you to do your job well.

Take responsibility and be excellent.

The only right thing to say to people who come to see your show

Last evening I attended, as an invited guest, the dress rehearsal of one of my private voice students in her high school musical. She did an extraordinary job and the rest of what I saw, was what you would generally expect to see at a dress rehearsal, not a final dress, with a collection of enthusiastic teens of various abilities working together to make a show happen. It was a truly enjoyable evening.

Before the run-through, I met and shook hands with the director who commented rather nervously about her appearance and mine, letting me know, in a not too subtle way, that I was overdressed. I didn't think too much about it.  I dress for what I am doing and where I am going the whole day. I am aware that I can have a bit of a 'diva' presence. I am what I am and I didn't think much of it.

After the show, I congratulated my student, and the other kiddies in proximity for a job well done. I then approached the director to thank her for permitting my student to invite me to attend and to convey a couple nice comments about the rehearsal going well and also  about the enthusiam it noticed in the young performers. Instead of simply thanking me for coming, the director seemed embarrassed and talked about how far the show needed to go. When I assured her that I knew all about dress rehearsals and how shows always come together and that everyone was doing a good job,  she responded with  "We'll  you know better but you HAVE to say stuff like that to me that don't you? You are a GUEST".  I was very shocked. The woman had basically called me a liar! I  responded  directly with "I sincerely meant what I said to you", which I did!

A long time ago, one of my very first voice teachers told me and my fellow students that after a performance, when someone congratulates you or compliments you, there is ONLY one proper response "thank you".  Say "thank you" when you think you have done a good job. Say "thank you" when you think you have not done a good job. Say "thank you" when you think the person doesn't know any better. Say "thank you" when you think the person does know better. If you argue "no,  the performance really wasn't good" you are either calling the person insincere or ignorant.  Neither is a gracious response to someone who has attended your performace.

When my student's high school director said "You have to say that" she wasn't right.  I could have chosen to not come up to her.  I could have (BUT NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS WOULD HAVE) chosen to give constuctive criticism, or any number of inapropriate responses.  What I did was give her thanks for the invitation and a few positive and honest comments,  and I left feeling angry because my sincerilty was called into question.

I understand that in the moment, the director was dealing with her own issues, insecurities, perhaps her own difficulty with having a dress rehearsal observed by a professional. Maybe she should not have permitted  or encouraged my student to have guests attend a rehearsal.  Maybe she was unconfortable or intimidated by my presence.  It does not matter.

"Thank you.  "Thank you for coming" "Thank you for your kind words" "I am glad you enjoyed it and thank you for coming".  "Nice to meet you, thank you".  "Good to see you, thank you".

"Thank you". It is he only right thing to say to people who come to see your show.

Sing For The Love Of It, Because Singing to Win Makes You Lose.

What a joy it was to see Carolina Kostner skate an entirely clean program at this past Winter Olympics after falling over and over during her performance at the last one. 
The difference? She was skating for the joy of it, not under the pressure to win.

Sports psychology and performance psychology for singers is identical. When you sing for the love of the music and for the desire to communicate you will sing your best. If you focus on "winning, by which I mean impressing people such as your colleagues, the judges, the audience, the casting director, your family,  your teacher etc, before you sing as wellas during the act of singing, you will never sing your best.

By focusing on the love of singing , you will be increase your chance of “winning”.The ability to do your best is the gift you get for taking your mental focus off of yourself.
Singers and musical performers have a lot to learn from Carolina Kostner's triumph at this past Olympics, as well as the performances of the other skaters. Kim Yuna, the superstar reigning queen and gold metal winner at the last olympics was the favorite and was in the position of defending her title. She was in a position that she had little to gain but a lot to loose in terms of her legacy. She skated a safe program,lovely,but entirely lacking in excitement to maintain her position.

Along came Adelina Sotnikova a teenager who had recently been left off the Russian team and had to fight her way back. She had everything to win and she delivered a thrilling performance that won her the gold.  This "underdog advantage" is what every up and coming singer has on their side, but sadly many times big ambition robs aspiring singers of this psychological advantage.

There is a story about how a then superstar Judy Garland,  and a young and upcoming Barbra Streisand were speaking back stage before a live TV show when Garland confessed she had terrible stage fright.  The expectations on her as the greatest singing star of the day, were not just to sing well, but to be great and this was crippling her. Streisand an unknown had no expectations on her, and could only gain from the broadcast performance. Streisand confessed to Garland that she never felt performance anxiety. Garland, recognizing Streisand's great talent and the probability of her becoming a great star told her "some day you will". Sadly,  it did come to pass that after Streisand became one of the most celebrated and respected singers of her generation, she developed crippling stage fright and could not perform live for many,many years. Finally,interestingly long after her prime, when she was, in reality, no longer the singer she once was, Streisand's desire to perform overcame her anxiety and she was once again able to perform before the public.

My grad school roommate was an elite level concert pianist who had crippling performance anxiety and required beta-blocker medication in order to perform in competitions concerts, degree recitals and even for her teacher and other students in her studio class. She placed and even won in competitions but she never performed at the level she could in the practice room. Never the less, she beat out literally thousands of other young pianists when her artistry gained  her an offer from a top level agent who wanted to take her on his roster.  But my roommate,who happened to be an orthodox Jew, had to make the decision to not accept this position, that she had worked all her life to achieve, because it would have required her to perform on the sabbath. Although she would keep performing and working professionally as a pianist, the decision to tern down the top agent meant she would never make it big as a pianist. After she turned down this offer and nothing was "riding" on her performances, she suddenly lost all of her performance anxiety. She no longer needed medication to calm her nerves when she performed.  She felt her new ability to play was a gift from g-d because she chose to keep the sabbath. I see, though,  that when she had nothing to loose or gain from making a mistake, she could not be distracted from the music by her ambition, but she could have chosen to perform just for the love of it all along.

How do you, as a singer, put your head into the best place possible in order to perform?  First, prepare to the best of your ability, because not being prepared is a source of very rational of performance anxiety. Then, whether you are a great star or want to be one sing ONLY for the love of singing and the desire to share the music, and you will free yourself from irrational performance anxiety.

Click the link below to watch a video about Carolina's journeyhttp://screen.yahoo.com/carolina-kostner-love-rao-141623602.html