CREATE YOUR OWN VOICE
By  Breck Alan

The voice is an instrument, an acoustic instrument to be exact. And like any other acoustic instrument, the voice has specific properties that make it tick. What is unique to the voice is that you cannot buy it off the shelf like any other instrument you wish to play, but must build the instrument yourself. The voice cannot be explained so simply as" being a muscle that gets stronger the more it is used." The voice is not a thing, but instead several individual mechanical components inside your body. The goal of voice training is to develop a deep connection with your instrument…your body…your voice.

Most systems of vocal training are oriented in a coaching fashion, where students begin singing right away and are given only the vaguest tips on how to improve technically. And while there can certainly be a lot to learn from a vocal coaching situation, i.e. repertoire training, sight reading, performance skills etc., these subjects can not be compared to vocal mechanics training. In the past, the only place to get really decent vocal mechanics training was from a good opera program. The drawback being you received training via a style, and that usually meant no matter what type of music you might later sing, you would probably sound like an opera singer trying to sing something else.

So what's the answer? The answer is a system of voice training based on technique and not style. A system based on the ear as the first component of the voice, and then linking the ear to the series of physical feelings connected with producing sound from the body. The result is your own personal style of singing vs. singing on auto-pilot using muscle memory or pure imitation as the outcome of song and vocal coaching. This is the Art of Body Singing.

Copyright © 2003 Breck Alan

This article is based on information contained in the new paperback edition of the book "The Art of Body Singing "TM  Volumes I-IV written by Breck Alan.  You can purchase this and other books at a 10% discount at the SHOP section of this site. 

Breck Alan has over 20 years of professional training, teaching and performing. He writes a regular column for Singer Magazine. His music has appeared on HBO, Nickelodeon, in several large independent films, and on hundreds of radio stations and stages across the country. He has been the lead vocal teacher at several music schools, and has had a full private practice from Austin to LA. Breck has studied at the New England Conservatory in Boston, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and privately with some of the finest voice and music teachers in the world. Breck currently teaches in New York City.

Email: breck@breckalan.com  
Website: http://www.bodysinging.com