• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • About
  • Symposium
  • Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

The Fastest, Cheapest, Painfulest Way to Get a Voice Lesson

Keven Smith · May 26, 2020

E CHURCH musicians are always looking for ways to develop our skills. That means taking voice lessons and conducting lessons, attending sacred music seminars, and putting in hour after hour of individual practice time. If we’re not getting better, we’re probably getting worse.

What can you do when it’s impossible to work with a teacher face-to-face? Some coaches do offer their services online. But in my experience, it’s difficult to trust that a voice teacher is really understanding how you’re producing sound when they’re hearing you through speakers. Sound doesn’t leave the body at one particular point and travel in a straight line, so speakers can’t replicate the experience of hearing a singer from five (sorry, six) feet away.

This is not to say online voice lessons aren’t worth the trouble. But if you’re leery about the concept, or if you simply can’t find a coach you’re eager to work with online, consider working instead with a highly qualified teacher you probably never thought to ask: you. Simply record yourself singing and then critique the results.

“Oh, but I hate how I sound on recordings!” I can hear you protest. You’ve just proven my point. You know your own sound so well. You know your strengths, and what you need to work on. Why not suck it up and become your own coach for a while?

Don’t think you have to invest in any fancy audio equipment. Even singing into your computer microphone can give you a decent idea of how you’re sounding nowadays. But if you already have a decent microphone and audio interface, you’ll be able to capture your sound with much greater fidelity.

Now, I’ve already mentioned the limitations of speakers when it comes to reproducing a human voice. But you can’t beat the price and convenience of singing into your own computer—and even a poor recording will let you evaluate yourself in several important areas. I like to listen for:

  • Vowel quality. Are you forming pure vowels, or do some of them sound “fudged”? Is your [i] vowel too tonguey? Your [u] vowel a little unfocused? I like to record myself singing a particular vowel with several slightly different tongue positions just to see if I can tell a difference.
  • Resonance. Again, your recording may not capture all the nuances of your sound perfectly, but you’ll be able to tell if your sound is changing drastically in certain registers or on particular vowels.
  • Vibrato. Is it there at all? Does it sound natural? Is it too fast or too slow?
  • Phrasing. Are you singing through lines, or stalling out? Are your breaths well-timed? Do you end phrases gracefully?
  • Dynamic contrast. I tell my choir all the time, “You’re never doing as much contrast as you think you are!” (I’m also quick to point out that I’m as guilty as anyone.) A home recording session is a no-risk opportunity to really “go for it” on dynamic contrast. What felt like too much as you sang it will probably end up sounding just right on the recording.
  • Pitch. We’re often unaware of how a recent technique change has affected our intonation in certain registers. Recording yourself can expose these little problems.

There’s still no substitute for working with a highly qualified vocal coach. But failing that, the next most qualified coach may already be living in your house.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Recording, voice lessons Last Updated: May 26, 2020

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

About Keven Smith

Keven Smith, music director at St. Stephen the First Martyr, lives in Sacramento with his wife and five musical children.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

23 May 2022 • FEEDBACK

From a reader: “I wasn’t looking for it. But, I stumbled across your hand-dandy arrangement of Pachelbel’s Canon. Jeff, this is the greatest thing since sliced bread! I had to play a wedding on Saturday. The bride requested the Canon. There were 11 bridesmaids! The organ loft is a football field away from the communion rail. It’s so difficult to play and keep checking the mirror. Your arrangement is absolutely genius. One can skip and choose which variations to use. The chord names are handy so that when my eyes are off the music, I always know where I am at. A thousand times thank you for sharing this arrangement!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

There is a lack of that kind of organization which favors mature judgment. Move on, move on, get it out. Schemata are multiplied without ever arriving at a considered form. The system of discussion is bad … Often the schemata arrive just before the discussions. Sometimes, and in important matters, such as the new anaphoras, the schema was distributed the evening before the discussion was to take place … Father Bugnini has only one interest: press ahead and finish.

— Cardinal Antonelli (Peritus during the Second Vatican Council)

Recent Posts

  • 23 May 2022 • FEEDBACK
  • PDF Download • “A Canon Choirs Love!”
  • On Mistakes (Part I of II)
  • 19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”
  • “Gregorian Chant Not In Danger Pope Tells French”

Copyright © 2022 Corpus Christi Watershed · Gabriel Lalemant on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.