AboutSean Martinfield Expertise I am a professional vocal coach in San Francisco. In addition to answers from a previous web site (Askme.com - where my "tag" was "VocalCoach") I have published over 2000 responses related to vocal training - particularly as it relates to Musical Theatre and Opera. I have 24 years of experience as Personal Trainer to singers and actors in the San Francisco Bay Area. I sang professionally for 20 years and know what it means to live the life of a musician. I can determine your voice category, i.e., Tenor, Baritone, Bass, Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto, Alto Belter, etc., and how to broaden and strengthen your range. Need an audition song for a Broadway Musical? I will give you suggestions that are appropriate to your vocal category and to requirements specified in the audition notice. I have also created a vocal methodology, "The Belter`s Method". It will enable those in Musical Theatre to practice more efficiently because it focuses on the demands of professional performers as well as to those auditioning for school and community productions, and as University and Conservatory performing arts majors. If what you want is a better voice and more control over your career moves and choices, contact me. Also, as the Fine Arts Critic for SanFranciscoSentinel.com, it is my privilege to review productions at the San Francisco Opera, Ballet and Symphony, as well as Broadway National Tours booked into San Francisco's Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theatres. I also review works by A.C.T (the American Conservatory Theatre) and Magic Theatre. I cover select films, tributes and retrospects, and various international film festivals – particulary those booked into The City's opulent Castro Theatre – including both the San Francisco International and Silent Film Festivals. For private vocal instruction, I can be contacted through craigslist.com. Look under Musicians, then keyword: Martinfield.
Experience Distinctive celebrity voices and how they are used and promoted by the Entertainment Industry have always fascinated me. Drawing from all eras of film and animation, television, radio, Broadway plays and musicals, opera and a few politicians ? a huge bounty of actors and singers have had a profound effect upon my life, influencing all the choices I made with respect to my education and my dual careers as a professional singer and vocal coach. I am curious about what is promoted and, consequently, the competitive aspects of the Performing Arts.
I am a Theatre Arts Graduate from San Francisco State University. During the years of my attendance, the school enjoyed the reputation for having the best Theatre Department on the West Coast. My academic training equipped me as an actor, enabling me to prepare for professional auditions and to compete successfully. I learned how to take direction and to apply my skills during the rehearsal process. Along the way I learned to identify my assets as a performer, to market my particular abilities and to find the audiences interested in my particular product.
During my freshman year, I also began studying opera. For the next eight years, I trained as a baritone, learning the classical vocal methodology known as "Bel Canto" with well-respected coaches including Mr. James Schwabacher, then head of the San Francisco Opera's Marla Training Program. Because mastering the technique of Bel Canto is absolutely dependent upon its application to Italian opera and, consequently, perfect pronunciation of the language, I studied Italian as well as French and German with private coaches. I have performed the roles of ?Guglielmo" (COSI FAN TUTTE), "Marcello" (LA BOHEME), "Valentin" (FAUST), "Enrico" (LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR), "Dr. Miracle", (THE TALES OF HOFFMANN), "Top" (THE TENDER LAND), " Mr. Gedge, the Vicar" (ALBERT HERRING) and "Dr. Caius" (THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR). During these ten years, I also appeared in many classical recitals singing the standard classical Baritone repertoire. It was Mr. Schwabacher's training that expanded my upper range, turning me into a working tenor. My last appearances as a classical tenor were with conductor and pianist Robin Kay, performing Schubert's DIE SCHÖNE MULLERIN.
I then re-trained my voice, dropped the Bel Canto methodology, and went on to sustain another 10 years doing standard American repertoire including Broadway, Jazz, Blues and Standards. Throughout this period I appeared regularly on the San Francisco cabaret circuit and was a featured soloist with Bay Area bands, orchestras and choruses. I continued producing my own solo concerts, the last being at the New Conservatory Theatre.
As a vocal coach, I work primarily with singers and actors throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. My clientele ranges from absolute beginners to working professionals, from pre-schoolers to retired Senior Citizens. The vast majority of them come to me through recommendation. I know how to identify any singer's vocal category, i.e., soprano, tenor, alto, baritone, etc. I know how to muscle-up every singer's vocal range and to expand it beyond conventional definitions. I have developed a vocal methodology for those who want to know how to belt, THE BELTER'S METHOD. As a singer who spent half of his career doing Bel Canto, I know for certain that classical or Italian methodologies do not work in Standard American music. Bel Canto cannot be "adapted" to meet the needs of contemporary American music, including the demands of the Musical Theatre.
There are two major components to my job. The first is to teach basic musical skills such as reading music, counting, breathing techniques, development and expansion of the vocal range, phonetics and diction ? specifically as it applies to Standard American English. The second is about presentation ? that is, everything involved with the client's audition and/or actual performance. In short, for any person relying upon their vocal endurance and performance skills to earn a living, my job is to enable them to compete for a job and, when hired, to maintain that job.
Over the years my clients have appeared in all of the available Broadway musicals produced in virtually every theater throughout the Bay Area. Some have worked in New York and gone on National Tours. Most recently, my clients have been praised for their work in AIDA and WICKED.
So, if you want to prepare for "American Idol" or the Broadway stage, contact me through http://www.geocities.com/broadwaybelters
Expert: Sean Martinfield Date: 4/26/2008 Subject: Raing my vocal range
Question I am 19 and in college with a voice proficiency in music ministries. I travel with an ensemble tour group in between semesters, singing and ministering at different churches, and each semester the songs get higher. The Lord has blessed so far and I cannot wait until this summer tour. It is a mixed group (guys and girls), therefore I am singing 2nd Tenor. During this semester I have become comfortable with singing higher parts (up to around F or even G sometimes), but lately it seems like my voice went down a little and it has become harder to hit that. I wonder if I am over singing or I'm not practicing to keep it consistent enough. I know that this is not ridiculously high or anything, but would like to know the true technique in increasing your vocal range. I would also like to know how to keep the consistency on a day to day basis with higher notes. The college I attend teaches great technique, but I was told if I wanted to increase my range it is something that I would have to accomplish on my own. I would like to know proper technique on training myself. I searched for the answer on some past answers you have given, but could not find it. Thank you for your time, and have a wonderful day.
Answer Hello, Jeremy –
Thank you for a great letter. I truly appreciate all the information.
Throughout my entire career as a professional singer a great portion of my regular income was as a church soloist. That means every weekend, every Holy Day, every Feast Day, Christmas Mass at midnight, etc. It also included being hired privately to sing at weddings and early morning funerals. I'm sure you will appreciate the spirit of my saying that I made more money from the "Ave Maria" and "Danny Boy" than any other material I ever performed. Because? I could knock out those high notes at any hour of the day, any day of the week.
You cannot become a properly trained musician on your own. Nor is there enough room on this Internet bulletin board to cover all the ramifications of being a particular voice-type, i.e., tenor, baritone, etc. In any event, as a professional vocal coach and singing teacher I have to hear you in order to properly identify your vocal category and then assess what's working right now and what needs to change.
I was a bit younger than you when I went to my first vocal coach. I had heard this person's clients in performance and realized they were demonstrating exactly what I needed to learn. I was a Theatre Arts major at the time, a trained pianist, an experienced actor, and well-versed in a wide range of Classical, Sacred, and popular repertoire including Broadway and Hollywood. In other words, I brought a great deal to my first lesson. Within six months I made my concert debut. The learning process never stopped.
All my tenors exercise to at least a fully-voiced and balanced High C, most go higher. All my baritones exercise to at least a fully-voiced and balanced High A-flat, most go higher. Obviously, both voice types have to deal with High F, F#, and G. Side by side, singing the same notes, the trained ear can tell who is who.
You are mistaken in believing that your college teaches "great technique" while simultaneously advising that you will have to increase your range on your own. End of discussion.
Last night I attended the San Francisco Symphony's production of Haydn's "Mass In Time of War". It was superb. Each of the singers and every member of the orchestra is highly trained and holds a degree from a respected university or musical conservatory. Here in San Francisco we are very fortunate to have a world class conservatory. The professors in the vocal department know how to train every vocal category and to enable the students to compete in the Classical world – which includes a huge variety of sacred literature.
Ultimately, your concerns have brought you to me. If what you want to do is to brighten the world with the sound of your voice, then you will do everything you can to get into the best conservatory. That includes applying for scholarship money. In order to achieve that – you are going to have to audition with your best material and with the vocal chops you now possess.
