VoSci Articles

The journey of learning a musical instrument is a lifelong odyssey that offers rich rewards at every stage of life. From the blossoming imagination of a child to the evolving passions of a teenager and the reflective ambitions of an adult, the pursuit of musical mastery is more than an artistic endeavor—it’s a pathway to personal growth, cognitive development, and emotional well-being.

Ear training, also called aural skills, are often overlooked in the pursuit of vocal excellence, and is a cornerstone of a well-rounded singer’s education. To sing with precision and emotion, one must have an acute awareness of pitch, harmony, and rhythm. Ear training hones these auditory skills, enabling vocalists to accurately reproduce the music they hear, improvise with confidence, and harmonize effortlessly with other musicians.

Singing warm-ups are an integral aspect of a singer’s routine, pivotal for maintaining vocal health and warding off injury. These exercises are not merely about “heating up” the muscles but also about refining and aligning the singer with optimal vocal technique.

It’s important to demystify a common misconception about vocal warm-ups. The term itself can be misleading. The principal muscles involved in phonation, such as the thyroarytenoid, cricothyroid, lateral and inner arytenoid muscles, are always active, as they play a role in protecting the lungs by facilitating the opening and closing of the vocal folds with each breath we take.

The realm of vocalists and voice teachers is a tapestry woven with a multitude of teaching philosophies and methodologies, a fact that is as enriching as it is complex. This richness has, however, given rise to a considerable challenge: a lack of standardized terminology across disciplines, including singing teachers, speech-language pathologists, vocologists, and voice researchers. The history of singing is ancient, with the earliest formal singing techniques documented in the 13th century. It was not until the 19th century that the invention of the laryngoscope provided a window into the physiological workings of the voice, offering a scientific lens to view what had been, until then, primarily an art form passed through oral tradition.

Here at VoSci we have our Singing 101: Interval Training which combines both of these concepts, played for the student so that progress can be quick, effective, and on demand. We have 3,456 exercises spanning four octaves with ascending & descending intervals up to two octaves and my favorite Up / Down / Up and Down / Up / Down exercises that will challenge even the most skilled singers. I hope you will take the opportunity with yourself and your singers to work on your intervals. Perfect intervals unlock a world of music and improve the speed at which music can be learned.

Everyone knows that the proper way to breathe while singing is diaphragmatic, belly breathing. Except is it really? If you are a classical singer singing opera or art songs, yeah, it really probably is. If you are singing modern musical theatre, rock, pop, folk, or anything else, the answer gets much more vague. To understand this, we need to look at the costs and benefits of how we can breathe. In addition to diaphragmatic breathing, there is also thoracic, clavicular, and balanced breathing.

The world of singing is fraught with overlapping and misleading terms thrown about, typically with little or no explication. This can create a lot of confusion for beginning students and even for professional teachers. I am fortunate to have weekly chats with a mentor and colleague of mine to discuss our teaching and various pedagogical queries we might have. Most of the time, questions come up because of an article or video that has been carelessly thrown around terminology or used extremely antiquated terms that leave significant room for interpretation. These interactions are a large part of why I produce the Singer’s Term of the Day posts and write articles like this. So today, let’s look at descriptors for the state of the vocal folds during phonation.

I like to think that online lessons are good; I have been teaching students online for years. However, many students and teachers believe that online lessons are somehow less successful than in-person lessons. Let’s take a look together at the pros and cons of taking and teaching singing lessons online.

The Vocal Athlete: Cool Down

You did it! You just sang through a whole show, it was amazing, you were amazing.

But now what? Well, looking at our elite athletes it is now time to cool down and stretch. The verdict is still out on this one, some research is suggesting that a cool down routine can help alleviate vocal fatigue, tension, and swelling the next day; conversely, if you are young, fit, and singing with good technique you likely are not experiencing these symptoms. But despite our best efforts none of us are perfect all of the time, so maybe we should just get in the habit now.

The Vocal Athlete: Practice
Practice, practice, practice. One of the most important things a vocal athlete does is practice; consistent, focused, and planned practice. This is one of the areas where the correlation between athlete and singer makes the most sense. Elite athletes are always training through strength and cardio training as well as mental training. This is all without the time spent practicing their specific sport. There are no parts of this that singers do not engage in, in some way. Let’s look at each part a little closer to see how it’s the same or different

You are a Vocal Athlete; just ask the internet!

Over the past decade or two, this concept of a vocal athlete has become increasingly mainstream for many reasons. There are many ways in which being a singer, and especially training to be a singer, is similar to being a baseball player, football player, or any other athlete. There are, unfortunately, also many ways where this comparison falls short, which can lead singers down the wrong path. So prevalent is the concept of a vocal athlete that even some voice teachers can be led astray.

Bias (n): a particular tendency, trend, inclination, feeling, or opinion, especially one that is preconceived or unreasoned(1) I am biased. I am biased in a great many ways; right now, I am talking, as I usually am, about singing. Like the vast majority of voice...