I am a CVT student, and I agree that it can be hard for beginners. I bought the book a few years ago, and I was like "yeah, this is awesome, but how do I use it?" So I dismissed it until a few months ago when I came into contact with a teacher who knew a bit about it. Now I'm seeing a CVI certified coach, and it's really awesome. I guess it depends on your preferred way of learning. Some people can just read the book and do like it says. I think I'm more of a learn-by-listening guy - the CVT sound samples help a lot, but they are a bit tough to navigate. What I learn the most from is having my coach demonstrate how to do something and then imitating. And it *does* work immediately! It usually takes a few tries to find the correct coordination, but with a coach to say "use a bit more support", "lower the volume" or "adjust the vowel" I haven't yet found a song passage I can't sing. I've only had two lessons so far though, so that might change of course. And I haven't done any scales or training exercies, I have just been working on a song, and the G4:s, A4:s and the occasional Bb4 *are just there*! And for a guy that's been singing bass in a choir with a previous highest note of F4 and usually straining on everything above C4, that's just crazy. I think a key factor is that I've been singing a lot more recently, but I couldn't have done it without help. Basically I guess I'm saying what a lot of people here keep repeating: get a coach!
I would like to say also, with regard to "experimenting" that I do think CVT encourages experimentation. The basic rules are that if it hurts, don't do it; and if you fail three times in a row, stop and do something easier instead to prevent the failure from getting into muscle memory.
/Emil