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Acting in Plays, Singing/Question about my vocal fach

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Expert: - 1/31/2012


Question
Hi Sean,
I actually have some doubt about what voice category I really am. As I think I am in the “gray area” for my voice.
I am a musical theater singer in San Diego, but I learn the classical technique to sing. I am now 28, started my voice training in 23.5 with no voice training background before. My voice teacher said I was a tenor when I just started, but about 8 months ago when I started doing chiropractic work on my neck and started to understand and practice more about "appoggio" (I hope I spell it right?) she was uncertain about my vocal fach. Most of the times I sing baritone roles for musical theater. And I was actually placed as a baritone in La Jolla Symphony Chorus, a pretty big local chorus 3 years ago after they heard me sing and do some vocalizing tests. I can hold a note down to Low F-sharp (recently starting be able to reach to low F and even to Low E when just wake up), can hold a note up to a High B-flat (can vocalize to High B and squeeze to High C), even though not very strong tone in both ends. But I can’t sustain in tenor tessitura, blending with a head voice is a must to me start around E4 (passaggio?), otherwise my voice would strain and very easy to get flat, and my voice feels most comfortable when I sing the high baritone materials.

And recently I read another article from a voice teacher that talks about distinguishing the lyric baritone and the tenor voice:
http://www.voiceteacher.com/vocal_fach.html
I emailed him as well, he said that I am definitely a lyric baritone because of my timbre. And he mentioned about “lyric baritone can sound tenorish if their larynx is slightly high or release the support”, I actually do have a slightly high larynx when I sing and I don’t think I support my voice that proficiently yet. And I also emailed to opera singer and voice teacher Joseph Shore, he thinks I’m a light lyric baritone base on my recordings.
My voice teacher also introduced me to a chiropractor in order for me to reduce tension in my body to get to the upper range easier, even though I do think it helps a bit for that, I think it comes to me way more obvious is that my voice is getting even fuller and juicier in the low and middle range. Hence this further make me think that I might be actually a lyric baritone, but I am not sure whether I am right or not.

Here are some of my audio samples:
The Christmas Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY-ZREvp37A
Seussical "The Military": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQjNDcGZag4
Beatles' "Yesterday": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsbFChouF-w
Josh Groban's "Awake": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2MK5bIonbs
Schubert's "Fischerweise" vowel practice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vImZk1g3ePA

And here are two audio samples when I just started chiropractic work about 8 months ago:
Letting you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VZQTYXHEt8
Fiddler on the Roof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJPiQ4rXxcI
And two more samples before I go to chiropractic and understanding appoggio:
Mi Morena: http://www.4shared.com/audio/3RofXSCg/MiMorena_Demo.html
Chinese song: http://www.4shared.com/audio/JBFo8Vg5/sevenHundred_c_.html
What I heard is that the more recent recordings have more warmth and legato in my sound especially between different notes than the past recordings, and it sound bigger. But in fact my throat feels way easier than before and the sound is fuller and more "baritonal" than before, so this also makes me wonder a bit.


It would be very helpful me if you have time to listen to my demos and reply my email. I want to know whether I am a lyric baritone that hasn’t achieve the full baritone timbre by properly lowering the larynx, or a tenor that hasn’t learned to sustain in tenor tessitura. Thank you very much.

Answer
Hello, Billy –

Thank you for the question. I appreciate all the information.
I took the time to listen to all your recordings.

Assessing a voice through some variety of studio recording is a very different experience from having that same singer working with me in my vocal studio. But for now and considering your material and delivery, it's easy to agree you are probably a lyric baritone. However, all my lyric baritones exercise to a fully-voiced High B-flat without going into falsetto. Some go higher. It does not follow that they are tenors in disguise. So, before I sign-on about you being a lyric-baritone and then start training you as such, I need to work with you through your upper register and at forte level. In person.

At 28, no matter if you are a baritone or some variety of tenor, then you should own at least a solid and reliable High A-flat by now. I can pull that note out of you in the first lesson and you would be able to produce it again the following day without my being there. That is basic stuff – "a walk in the park" – when it comes to choosing and trusting a vocal coach and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I don't waste my clients' time and money discussing the position of their larynx. From one end of their range to the other, the tone is either placed correctly or it's not. If it's not, then we drill the exercises a certain way until it is. Simple. Then it's about applying that corrected placement to the specific material. That is at the core of my job as a professional vocal coach.

Getting rid of all that stifled and muffled tonality of yours must start with adjusting the placement and formation of every vowel you sing – in every phrase of every tune you will ever learn or re-learn, and then perform under a solo spotlight in front of the local critics.

I am a vocal coach to working singers in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm also the Music and Theatre critic for SanFranciscoSentinel.com and Classical music reviewer for Examiner.com: www.examiner.com/user/4557381/articles

Check out my recent interview with popular TV host, David Perry, on "Ten Percent":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKeeTYTYMAI

Below are links to my articles and youtubes on San Francisco's entertainment and cultural scene:

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http://www.examiner.com/classical-music-in-san-francisco/tchaikovsky-s-other-one

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http://www.examiner.com/classical-music-in-san-francisco/blomstedt-and-de-waart-

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http://www.examiner.com/classical-music-in-san-francisco/unfaithfully-yours-clas

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http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=166876

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http://www.examiner.com/classical-music-in-san-francisco/a-spectacular-christmas

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http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=166619

CD: SANCHO PANÇA – 18th Century Opera  ★★★
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http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=165722

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http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=161026

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Best regards,
Seán Martinfield  

Acting in Plays, Singing

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Sean Martinfield

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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 Editor of 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 the LGBT Frameline Festival, International Film Festival, Silent Film Festival, Jewish Film Festival, etc. For private vocal instruction, I can be contacted through SanFranciscoSentinel.com. Look under: Seán Martinfield, Sentinel Editor and Publisher.

Experience

As a vocal coach, I work primarily with singers and actors throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. My students range from absolute beginners to working professionals, from pre-schoolers to senior citizens. The vast majority of my clients 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 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 a number of major components to my work as a vocal coach. The first is to identify the client's vocal category and to strengthen and maximize the vocal range accordingly. Then it's about teaching a reliable vocal workout that will enable the client to gain better control of their musicianship. That includes scale work to expand the vocal range and to improve placement, breath control, and diction. Then we work on material for the audition portfolio, the immediate job or assignment, a recording session, etc. My task to is to better equip singers and actors who are hoping to or relying upon their performance skills and vocal endurance to maintain a career in the Performing Arts. My clients regularly appear in cabarets and musical productions throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Some have worked in New York and gone on National Tours. For more information, Contact me at: Broadwaybelters@yahoo.com

Education/Credentials
San Francisco State University – BA in Theatre Arts; graduate work in Theatre, Philosophy, and Comparative Reiligion. Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley – Graduate work in Ethics

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