I wouldn't think there would be all that much difference between voice teachers in the UK and the US. but maybe there is. Or maybe I've just been lucky. When I was taking voice lessons off and on through the 1950s, most of the teachers around were retired singers with established résumés as performers, or people with training who, for their own reasons, had chosen to teach rather than perform.

I just checked the listings in the local phone book yellow pages, and there are a lot more voice teachers now than there were in the '50s. And they seem to cover all genres of music, from classical to "contemporary" (whatever that is) to jazz, pop, rock, and even "folk." I cringe to think what their idea of "folk" might be! And judging from the pictures in some of the ads, many of them don't look old enough to have had much experience at anything! Caveat emptor!

Both teachers I took from were older and had retired from active singing careers. And both were open to various kinds of music, knowing that many of their students were not looking for careers in classical singing, so they were willing to work with the kind of singing that their students were interested in. This didn't require much of a stretch on their part because the fundamentals of voice production are the same for all kinds of singing based on Western European music traditions—which includes British and American folk songs and ballads (some may quibble with that statement, but I'm on solid ground and can defend the point 'til Sunday breakfast if need be).

I did find teachers whom I suspected would have tried to force me into a preconceived mold, such as the four teachers at the University of Washington with whom I talked before I decided that I would be better off going back with Mrs. Bianchi, who knew what I was about and was willing to work with me along those lines. George Street was the same, and we worked with the songs I was learning at the time. He was a stickler for making sure I knew what the songs were all about and that I wasn't just singing them from rote.

If I were having vocal problems or felt that my voice needed a "tune-up," I would probably go to my old high school friend with the big voice, Barbara Johannsen (married name, Barbara Coffin). She has retired from opera and is now teaching, although she takes occasional gigs from time to time. She teaches a very popular evening class at the U. of W. entitled "Anyone Can Sing," in which she explains basic voice production to the whole class, then works with each individual in front of the class, with the idea that the whole class can learn from listening in (also gets them used to singing in front of other people). She also takes private students, and she only lives a few blocks from where I do. Her own musical tastes are pretty open, she doesn't take herself too seriously, and she has a zany sense of humor. One of her regular gigs is clowning it up at local Sonics basketball games. Example. She's a real snort! Always has been.

Jim, I've gone through your post just above (23 Jun 08 - 02:56 p.m.) several times, and maybe I'm thick, but I don't really see what the exercises are composed of or how they work.

The exercises I use for regular practice consist of such things as loosening the jaw and opening the throat (drop the jaw and wobble it back and forth until I feel it is free and relaxed, then yawn a few times, which opens the throat and relaxes it—and also fills the lungs).

Then I practice some breath control exercises. There are several good ones. A quick inhale that feels like I'm "breathing from my stomach," which is anatomically impossible, of course. When you breathe fully with your diaphragm, it pushes everything below the diaphragm down and it feels as if you're breathing with your abdominal muscles. Take a few deep breaths like this (but don't overfill the lungs). Then try such things as blowing a thin stream (as if you're blowing at a candle flame enough to make it flicker and flutter, but not enough to blow it out) while counting slowly (one count per second). See how high you can go before you turn blue and collapse to the floor. Twenty's good. Thirty is very good.

Here's a good one George Street gave me:   "While riding the bus, for example, take a breath and hum very softly and smoothly on a comfortable note. Try to keep it from wobbling off pitch. And sustain it as long as you can. Hum so softly that the person sitting next to you doesn't even hear you humming." Mr. Street put it this way: "Anybody can get a loud sound out of a violin by sawing the bow hard across the strings. But what takes real strength and control is to play a smooth, sustained tone very softly. The humming exercise is a great one for the diaphragm."

They both wrote out exercises for me to practice on my own that consisted mostly of singing parts of scales and up and down the notes of a chord. The usual procedure was to start on a comfortable low note, sing the exercise, take it up a half step, sing it again, and so on, until I went as high as I could comfortably go, then back down again by half-steps. I found similar practice exercises on the internet. CLICKY #1 (instructions and suggestions starting on page 4) and CLICKY #2, which I downloaded and printed out. [Sorry. I don't know of any "tablature" for the voice. It really pays to be able to read music, at least a little bit. And it isn't that hard.]

I don't usually practice them all at one shot, and I don't always use the syllables recommended, often just singing on an open vowel (e.g., "OH" and "AH"). Loosening up the jaw, yawning a couple of times, then practicing some of these for a few minutes every day can really get you warmed up and ready.

Keep your throat relaxed and open, and as you sing the exercises (or when you are singing in general), try to feel the tones vibrating in the "mask"—the front of your face and your forehead—as well as through your throat and chest. And never force your voice beyond what it can do comfortable. "Nudge" your range from time to time, but don't beat on it.

At least that's my routine.

It's also a good idea to have someone who is knowledgeable about good vocal technique listen to you sing from time to time to see if they can detect any gremlins in your voice, such as undue tension. It doesn't have to be a voice teacher. A church choir director might do just as well.

Don Firth