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There are many, including myself, who believe that the human is born to sing, that our voices are primarily melodic instruments. Speech patterns derived from many factors including native language, regional dialects and cultural environment build habits into the coordination of the voice, which can inhibit balance when we want to sing, hence a varying natural ability. In addition, voices always reflect the physical, mental and emotional states of their owners in any given moment, so even a completely natural voice might sound constricted under stress. If you'd like to play an instrument, you find one already built and stressed to withstand its various functions and study how to play it. But, except in the case of the very rare natural singer, our singing instrument, our voice, has to return to natural balances before we can learn to play it with any level of mastery.
The study of singing then becomes a journey of self-discovery as we gain awareness of what we feel like as melodic instruments. The Old Italian School of singing, generally regarded as the source of Bel Canto (which means "beautiful singing"), studied the sensations of natural singers and the physiology of the throat, head and thorax as it relates to muscles throughout the body in order to understand the relationship between actions and the sensations, which they engender. The result was the creation of singers whose technique followed the laws of nature, a coordination, which appeared, because it was, perfectly natural. I have spent my adult life discovering and understanding exercises which make the sensations of natural singing inevitable. That is what I teach.
A vocal coach/accompanist teaches nuances of a particular style of musical presentation, but a voice teacher should help you build your physical instrument. When developed, balanced, made flexible and strong, your voice will respond accurately to produce whatever tone you imagine, whatever the style. Benny Goodman used the same clarinet for swing and for Mozart; Wynton Marsalis uses the same trumpet for jazz and Haydn. The voice is a physical instrument, governed by laws of nature and played by the mind. That's why E. Herbert-Caesari in his landmark book of the same name, called this phenomenon: The Voice of the Mind* and I call my studio: Mind Your Voice! Through proper physical training and self-awareness, the music you sing can be a matter of your choice rather than the limit of your ability.To inquire about private lessons, master classes, workshops and lecture concerts click HERE
*The Voice of the Mind, E. Herbert-Caesari, © E. Herbert-Caesari 1951 and 1963, published in the U.S. by Crescendo Publishing Co., SBN 87597 048 6