Over Lockdown, I tore my vocal technique apart. I questioned everything. Changed a lot. Kept a lot. Fortunately, I was taught well and, even though I didn’t grasp everything at the time, my past teachers’ words are in my ears. Now, I am putting the pieces together to form a whole.
How do I know I am putting the pieces together correctly?
One way to know is to ask myself “does my singing sound like my speech?” One should sing as one speaks. I am not talking about my Kiwi accent! I am talking about the tone quality. Do I sound like me? Or am I trying to be someone else?
Here are some examples I recorded from today’s practice:
Baroque – Porpora – speech to singingRomantic singing – Donizetti – speech to song20th Century singing – Puccini – speech to song
The principle “sing as you speak” is also true for today’s popular song. Here are a couple of examples…
Folk/pop singing – Sting – speech to songJazz/pop singing – Norah Jones – speech to song
I am a professional classical singer with strong crossover ability. I have been in the music business since my graduation from University in 1994.
In addition to singing, I have been trained to a high level in classical guitar and brass. My guitar playing enables me to self accompany; I perform professionally as a self-accompanied singer. My brass playing facilitates my playing of Taonga Puoro (traditional Māori instruments).
I have begun to focus on my YouTube channel now that my studio is full. I have called this channel 'The Complete Singer' because I am not only a singer, but also a teacher and singer-songwriter; I write songs professionally as well as for relaxation.
I believe that old fashioned singing techniques, developed over hundreds of years in Italy, should form the foundation of good singing. I practice exercises daily from books written by Garcia, Marchesi and Melba. In addition to these exercises, I add modern singing exercises. Therefore, this forms the basis of my teaching.
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Deborah Wai Kapohe 