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Jim Gillette's methods & the lesson tape

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kalapoka

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Hi everyone...

what is your opinion about Jim Gillette's vocal lesson vdo 'Vocal Power'?. Ofcourse he is one of the top vocalists of the hard rock genre and also probably the teacher for Jamie Vendera, but I am wondering if the lessons given in the vdo are great for overall development of a rock voice. Is that tape a self-sufficient, well rounded program? If I use that tape and that tape only, will I grow a good rock voice? So far I see it is quite a bit focused on developing a strong head voice...is that enough?

Also, since it was created around 20 years ago, what is your opinion about the science behind the lessons? are they safe? any risks for damaging the voice doing these exercises? Most of these exercises require you to exaggerate your facial expressions while doing them, (example - keeping a forced smiley face) which goes against the notion of keeping everything 'natural'.

Hope everyone can give their opinions about this.

peace,

Ashique M. Fahim

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I have no idea. I don't own his program. But note that I think every now and then people will praise some instructionals in order to not offend the instructors behind them, because they might be reading this. If you find someone here who owns this instructional, why not email him and ask him in private. The downside to that is that you get an opinion from a single person.

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Hmmm...good point Jonpall...but let's see what the other forum regulars think about this...i would like to hear something from the experts as well...i guess every system has its goods and not so goods...so just expecting to hear some honest reviews....

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<snip>

Most of these exercises require you to exaggerate your facial expressions while doing them, (example - keeping a forced smiley face) which goes against the notion of keeping everything 'natural'.

Kalapoka: I don't have this vdo, but I can respond about the 'forced smiley face', to tell you what it does.

Acoustically, a consistent, broad smile shortens the vocal tract, raising the resonances and making the overall tone quality 'brighter'. This approach is often taken by baritone voices that want to sound like tenors. Its opposite, which lengthens the vocal tract, lowers resonances and makes overall tone quality 'darker' is to purse the lips forward and narrow the lip shape.

All of this is natural. It may look unusual or even unacceptable to some.

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Hi everyone...

what is your opinion about Jim Gillette's vocal lesson vdo 'Vocal Power'?. Ofcourse he is one of the top vocalists of the hard rock genre and also probably the teacher for Jamie Vendera, but I am wondering if the lessons given in the vdo are great for overall development of a rock voice. Is that tape a self-sufficient, well rounded program? If I use that tape and that tape only, will I grow a good rock voice? So far I see it is quite a bit focused on developing a strong head voice...is that enough?

Also, since it was created around 20 years ago, what is your opinion about the science behind the lessons? are they safe? any risks for damaging the voice doing these exercises? Most of these exercises require you to exaggerate your facial expressions while doing them, (example - keeping a forced smiley face) which goes against the notion of keeping everything 'natural'.

Hope everyone can give their opinions about this.

peace,

Ashique M. Fahim

kalapoka,

i think if you (like me) cannot afford vocal instruction with a teacher, you might think of doing vocal exercises off of a few cd's and dvd's, plus i read just about everything i can get my hands on, because some authors will explain things one way and others another which can actually help as well.

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kalapoka,

i think if you (like me) cannot afford vocal instruction with a teacher, you might think of doing vocal exercises off of a few cd's and dvd's, plus i read just about everything i can get my hands on, because some authors will explain things one way and others another which can actually help as well.

Brother, you nailed it. I seriously can't afford vocal instruction with a teacher as of yet...so I am absolutely scouring for cd/dvds wherever I can...living in an asian country doesn't really help either....however I was just wondering if trying out all these different instructions might play against one another and leave me confused, in the same place where i started or most dangerously, damaged. So am trying to find one good solution for building a strong voice in the rock (not metal) genre - some thing in the lines of Bon Jovi. therefore this post.

Thanks for your input man. really appreciate it.

Fahim

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Kalapoka: I don't have this vdo, but I can respond about the 'forced smiley face', to tell you what it does.

Acoustically, a consistent, broad smile shortens the vocal tract, raising the resonances and making the overall tone quality 'brighter'. This approach is often taken by baritone voices that want to sound like tenors. Its opposite, which lengthens the vocal tract, lowers resonances and makes overall tone quality 'darker' is to purse the lips forward and narrow the lip shape.

All of this is natural. It may look unusual or even unacceptable to some.

Steven, thanks a lot for pointing this out...i really needed to hear (or read :)) this...I just don't want to do something which will leave me more mixed up.

One more exercise that this tape has is doing the solfege with exaggerated faces - example 'Do' would be with a somewhat big lowered jaw and pursed lips (this gives it a really dark and heavy timbre, which i like), 'Re' would be with lips pulled back horizontally etc etc. Is this normal and safe?

Fahim

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Some stuff I have and recommend, which I think would suit your voice as well: The CVT book, "Raise your voice" by Jamie Vendera, "Singing for the stars" by Seth Riggs (not complete for rock music but great for learning how to bridge - which is great for rock music ;) ), "The rock 'n' roll singer's survival manual" by Mark Baxter.

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Some stuff I have and recommend, which I think would suit your voice as well: The CVT book, "Raise your voice" by Jamie Vendera, "Singing for the stars" by Seth Riggs (not complete for rock music but great for learning how to bridge - which is great for rock music ;) ), "The rock 'n' roll singer's survival manual" by Mark Baxter.

great list of recommendations...now to figure out how to get them in one of the smallest countries in Asia :D. Payment over the net is probably not an option...

Ashique M Fahim

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  • 3 months later...

I have Vocal Power and it's pretty good, the exercises are great. The video itself is actually pretty funny. Jim is not a technical teacher...he doesn't discuss support or any of that stuff, he just shows you how to do the exercises...and what facial expressions to make.

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Hi everyone...

what is your opinion about Jim Gillette's vocal lesson vdo 'Vocal Power'?. Ofcourse he is one of the top vocalists of the hard rock genre and also probably the teacher for Jamie Vendera, but I am wondering if the lessons given in the vdo are great for overall development of a rock voice. Is that tape a self-sufficient, well rounded program? If I use that tape and that tape only, will I grow a good rock voice? So far I see it is quite a bit focused on developing a strong head voice...is that enough?

Also, since it was created around 20 years ago, what is your opinion about the science behind the lessons? are they safe? any risks for damaging the voice doing these exercises? Most of these exercises require you to exaggerate your facial expressions while doing them, (example - keeping a forced smiley face) which goes against the notion of keeping everything 'natural'.

Hope everyone can give their opinions about this.

peace,

Ashique M. Fahim

hi. i bought jim gillette's set. it's got some good exercises on it, but not much more than that. i was expecting much more from it in terms of methodology.

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