VocalQuarters
… with renowned voice coach Diana Yampolsky
Good technique is certainly a crucial for any aspiring vocalist worth their salt but it should never be allowed to smother self-expression. To become a fully rounded singer you must make sure there’s still room enough to allow creativity to blossom, as our Toronto-based vocal maestro explains.
As a world-renowned vocal coach, voice repair specialist, and author, there are few things Diana Yampolsky doesn’t know about the human voice and how to get it to perform at its peak.
Having helped a myriad of stars achieve their vocal potential, including Our Lady Peace singer Raine Maida (US Top 10, Canada No.1), Canadian Idol winner Brian Melo (Canada Gold), singer-songwriter Anjulie (US Dance No.1), and recent Interscope signee Cindy Gomez, she is on hand to help you too whatever your ability! According to Ms. Yampolsky, while 25% of a singer’s performance is grounded in talent, 75% relies on coaching.
- how to achieve the perfect balance between the technical and creative aspects of singing
by Diana Yampolsky
“Her performances now lack the magical quality they once had. It’s as if the shadows of her coach and choreographer are cast across her every movement.”
In previous columns, I have talked about the importance of correct vocal technique, both in terms of performance and the health of your voice. This time I wish to talk about a problem that is a danger to anyone taking part in any of the creative arts - an over emphasis on the technical aspects.
I must first stress that I am not downplaying the importance of proper technique - it forms the basis of any good vocal performance and is absolutely mandatory for anyone who wants to maintain a healthy and fully functioning voice. The world is full of singers who lack the technique to give even a moderately good performance, much less a truly great one.
That said I also hear too many performers that although technically perfect sound stiff, uninspired and boring. As any of my students can attest, balance is a word that comes up time and time again over the course of my instruction. To be a great singer you must find the perfect balance between the technical aspects and the creative aspects of singing.
In addition to my love of music, I am also a huge fan of figure skating and to illustrate my point I would like to use a personal observation made while watching that graceful sport.
One evening I was watching a figure skating competition when the commentator announced that the next skater would be Tara Lipinski. As a keen admirer of her skating I was immediately excited by the prospect of seeing her. However, as I watched her performance, although impressed as ever by her undeniable skill, I found myself puzzled by what I was seeing.
Her performance somehow felt underwhelming and at first I was unable to understand why. After all, she had performed some extremely difficult jumps flawlessly and had not fallen or even faltered in any way. As I analysed more what I had just seen deeply it occurred to me that Tara was now skating differently than when she had first burst on to the international stage.
Her performances had become stiff and over-studied. She was technically perfect, but the spark and energy of her earlier performances had gone. Where she once ‘flew’, she now appeared shackled by all of the technique her coaches had taught her. I still enjoy watching her skate but her performances now seem to lack the magical quality they once had. It’s as if the shadows of her coach and choreographer are cast across her every movement.
It is a problem that also exists in vocal instruction. Technique can be stressed to such an extent that it cancels outs the creativity and improvisation within the vocalist. Without that students no longer derive any joy or self-expression from singing and all that remains is a capacity for stilted performances that are pitch perfect but flat sounding.
The methodology I employ when teaching my students is a two-stage process that includes what I call structure/structure followed by structure/freedom.
When I start teaching a student, I emphasise technique completely. This, the structure/structure stage, is essentially an introduction to, and constant reinforcement of, the mechanics of vocal production. Once a student has mastered this stage, they are ready to graduate to the next stage, which I call structure/freedom.
At this stage I encourage the student to fully explore their voice and their creativity. Having mastered the technical side of singing at the structure/structure stage, they can then explore their voice without any risk of damaging it or singing off key etc. At its most basic, the advance from the structure/structure stage to the structure/freedom stage is that of a technically sound singer becoming a complete performer.
When you were young you were taught your ABCs and learned how to write a grammatically correct sentence, but this most likely did not make you a William Shakespeare or a Margaret Atwood. The same is true when it comes to singing. Proper technique will ensure that you are in tune and that your projection is good, but it will not automatically make you a singer in the class of Luciano Pavarotti or Celine Dion. Instead, a basic grounding in good technique will provide you with a launch pad to explore your own individual voice and creative impulses.
When I listen to a singer I want to hear beautiful singing not perfect technique. I want the singer to have correct technique but I do not want to be consciously aware of it. A singer must have the proper technical elements in place – support, placement, projection, etc. - but they should be invisible to the audience. Students need to master technique to the point that they can run the technical aspects of singing on automatic pilot. They can then devote their total mental capacity to more creative aspects such as improvisation, nuance and putting real emotion into what they are singing.
A term that I like to use with my students is one that should be familiar to those of you that read music: ‘rubato’. This is a term from tempo terminology that composers use when they want to indicate that a piece of music should be sung in a creative style. It literally means to ‘rob’ the time values by holding back or speeding up at will to colour a phrase - to sing in a flexible, expressive style. I like to tell my students to sing with more rubato when I sense their performances are beginning to sound overtly technical.
Needless to say, there is a need to find a balance in your singing between the technical side and the creative elements. Both are equally important and are essential to becoming a truly great singer. I go into more detail on this subject and others in my book, Vocal Science: Flight to the Universe. Until the next time, make sure to add some rubato to your performances and remember that singing is a creative art form.
Besides writing a regular column for HitQuarters, Diana Yampolsky is available for a special Q&A session to answer any specialist questions you might have about vocal performance, technique, care etc. Please send any questions to Diana here
Read On ...
* How NOT to Become a Singer
… and work harder at doing it
* Vocal Parts – Vocal Assembly
… and how that contributes to total vocal performance
* Vocal Science - Flight to the Universe
* Vocal Insurance – Secure Your Investment!
* The Technical Elements of Vocal Style
* Psychology of Performance - Pavlovian Conditioning
* Vocal Speaking - The Cutting Edge
* Introductory Interview with Diana Yampolsky
