Mark, I didn't say breath support is everything, but without enough air, you can't succeed with any of the other techniques of singing. To combine what you said about relaxation and what Grab followed up on with a "buzzing feeling", when you are relaxed, and have yourself set up correctly, and have enough air to support the sound with, you can feel a buzzing vibration on your lips when you sing (that buzz vibration still is not "vibrato"). GUEST warbler, a GOOD teacher will be able to demonstrate, lead, and explain these things (a bad teacher will ruin your voice). There are resonating chambers in your skull, in the sinus cavities; a singers whole body is ultimately the "instrument", not just the vocal folds.

I was lucky five years ago to find an excellent teacher, and she charged me only $10 a lesson, since she believed that it was more important for people to have long term access to lessons in order to learn everything and develop the physical exercises. Because I gave her some seeds and plants for her yard, made a webpage for her, and helped her on the computer, she will not take any money for lessons and thinks SHE owes ME! I am seeing her struggle financially in this backwater rural town, but she keeps coaching me for free, she won't take payment. She also teaches the local home school student chorus for free. She could be charging at least $100 a lesson if she was in a city, but the singing is more important to her, (and getting her son through high school in a safe place to live).

A good teacher will bring out YOUR voice. Don't worry about sounding "operatic". I've said this before, and I'll say it again, learning skills that preserve your vocal folds from harm, develop the tone, the agility and range of your voice, will not turn you into an opera singer. It will make you be able to sing whatever kind of music you want to sing, with more pleasure for you and your audience, and preserve your singing voice far into old age.

A sample -Alice Flynn