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About Sean 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

You are here: Experts > Arts/Humanities > Performing Arts > Acting in Plays, Singing > amateur singer

Topic: Acting in Plays, Singing

Expert: Sean Martinfield
Date: 5/12/2008
Subject: amateur singer

Question
hello, i am a typical high school student. i am undergoing some training but i need a few pointers from professional other than my parents who are very good singers... unfortunately, i didnt get the right genes..

i have always wanted to sing well like in gatherings when we have fun and sing karaoke.. unfortunately, i have searched online and through people how to sing properly and how to hit the high notes,. but everything one person says contradicts what someone else said and before you know it im back at square one where i started off.

i get the basics of how to sing.. i would like to ask you about breathing. when you sing higher notes, people have said that u reduce the amount of air that flows through your voicebox. how would you achieve this? is this the only factor in singing high notes? also, i have learned through people on TV that their high notes come from their stomach muscle.. how do you use your stomach to reach up higher? would you tighten your muscles when u sing higher and try to get the notes out right?

im trying to go for a soft ballad and R&B type of singing.

being from a culture (korean) where singing is a favorite recreational activity, it is hard not to learn how to sing, especially when you are required to do so.

Answer
Hello, David –

Thank you for your question.

No one can learn "How To Sing" with a few pointers on an Internet bulletin board such as this one.

High notes require just as much air as any other note. No matter where it occurs, i.e., at the beginning of a phrase, the middle or the end, if the high note is a climactic one (as in f = loud) then it needs lots of air. Don't listen to a bunch of crap about "reducing the amount of air that flows through your voicebox".

Your high notes don't come from your "stomach muscle". Again, more crap. The smart singer is one who exercises their abdominal muscles in anticipation of being photographed for a 3-page centerfold. Get yourself into that kind of condition and along the way – when it comes time to demonstrate your carefully learned and rehearsed upper register – you will notice how much better you sound.

My job as a professional singing teacher is to first identify your vocal category, i.e., tenor, baritone or bass. Training starts after that. No matter what genre of music you prefer, the key of your chosen song must be appropriate to your vocal category.

Finally, I believe that everyone can learn to sing. I also know that not everyone wants to sing in front of an audience – no matter their race or culture.

I am a professional singing teacher and vocal coach in San Francisco. If you are in the Bay Area, contact me through Craig's List –
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/lss/669655592.html

Take a look at my You Tubes:
Lorena Feijóo - A Look at "Giselle" with Seán Martinfield
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33-a6Oa-0j4

SAMSON & DELILAH – Meet Seán Martinfield
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Sean+Martinfield&search=Search

I am also the fine arts critc for the San Francisco Sentinel. Below are some links to recent articles and reviews:
Seán Martinfield
BLACK & WHITE BALL, 2008 – At Davies Symphony Hall, May 31st
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=12808

SAN FRANCISCO BALLET’S 2009 SEASON – Includes World Premiere of All-New Swan Lake by Helgi Tomasson
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=12715

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM – Now at The Curran Theatre
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?cat=10

A CONVERSATION WITH MAESTRO HELMUTH RILLING
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=12494

RICHARD C. BARKER – Named Chair of San Francisco Ballet’s Board of Trustees
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/

SAN FRANCISCO CONCERT CHORALE PRESENTS – THE BACH EXPERIENCE
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=12305

7 SINS – EXTENDED AT THEATRE RHINO THROUGH MAY 17th
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=12270

ANTIQUE ROADSTERS RACE FROM NOB HILL – THE 2008 SAN FRANCISCO MILLE
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=12210

LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN – Restored Film Noir Classic at SF International Film Festival
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=12196

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL – At the Orpheum, San Francisco
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=11906

CHERYL BURKE DANCE – Dancing with Gavin and Jennifer
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=11873

CHERYL BURKE RESCUES THE METRONOME BALLROOM
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=11150

SAN FRANCISCO BALLET – Program 6 – An International Salute
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=11592

DALE CHIHULY – Lighting-Up At The de Young
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=11432

At the Asian Art Museum – DRAMA AND DESIRE
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?cat=10

SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY – 14th Season with Michael Tilson Thomas
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=11074

MELISSA MANCHESTER – A Conversation with Seán Martinfield
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=10419

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA – ON SCREEN AT THE CASTRO THEATRE
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=10898

ANNIE LEIBOVITZ – On her show at the Legion of Honor
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=10764

LORENA FEIJÓO – A Conversation with Seán Martinfield
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/index.php?s=Lorena

SWEENEY TODD – PRIME CUTS FROM DIRECTOR TIM BURTON
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=8434

ANITA COCKTAIL and LEANNE BORGHESI – A 3-Way Dialogue
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=8007

NORMA SHEARER in “MARIE ANTOINETTE” – At the Legion of Honor
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=8783

JENNIFER SIEBEL – A Conversation with Seán Martinfield
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=6361

Best regards,
Seán Martinfield

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