Stylistic Approaches & Vocal Programs/Training

[lifelonglearner]

So I've been frequenting this forum for a while and there are a few questions that I had which maybe some of you veterans on here can help me understand:

 

A little bit about myself before I begin:

 

I've been singing for about a year and a half. My first teacher did the usual scales, breathing exercises, sing songs you like type formula to try and help me get better. I went to her for 10 months, but unfortunately I didn't improve at all. The only thing that got better was my range, but that didn't translate into better singing. 

 

My second (and current) teacher has helped me leaps and bounds in terms of my progress. In only a month, I made more progress than I did with my other teacher in a year. I've been with him for almost 5 months now with good progress. The only thing is though, we don't do any scales, breathing exercises, nothing of the sort. We just sing songs. Now, I believe he does have formal education on singing and he is well-versed on the terminology, but none of that constitutes what we would call a "lesson." I've been making great results but my concern after perusing this forum is, won't my progress come to a halt sooner or later if I don't include vocal training exercises and just focus on singing? Or will I just keep "getting better?" I feel like singing is like any other sport, as you get better there is a greater amount of attention to detail as you get more proficient. 

 

Anyways sorry for the long-winded story. My questions are:

 

Stylistically, I would like to have an R&B, Pop, Contemporary type of sound, but I also wouldn't want to restrict myself to just a few genres. So based off of this, would it really matter what vocal program I chose to work with? Cause I was reading Robert's earlier posts about how 4 Pillars isn't a "rock program" but training for vocal athletes and my goal is to sound similar to this: 

 

 

Can this be achieved with 4 Pillars? Or is there another program which could help me out more stylistically speaking?

 

Second question:

 

I've heard that the exercises performed in most of the programs share similarities. So, with that being understood, would it matter which program I choose because the "training" is almost the same but the styles of singing people choose to approach are different?

[VideoHere]

Hi "Lifelong"

 

I just want to comment on your mention of how you felt you didn't learn anything from the first teacher.

 

More often than not you won't always be aware of any improvements you make from vocal training until later on.

They could show up when you least expect it and sometimes there are residual benefits you may not realize as well.

 

Sort of like when you lose weight, you may not see it, but others look at you a notice right away.

 

If your main goal is stylistic improvement, you most likely should seek out a vocal coach, who is more focused on performance and performance related skills.

[lifelonglearner]

Hi "Lifelong"

 

I just want to comment on your mention of how you felt you didn't learn anything from the first teacher.

 

More often than not you won't always be aware of any improvements you make from vocal training until later on.

They could show up when you least expect it and sometimes there are residual benefits you may not realize as well.

 

Sort of like when you lose weight, you may not see it, but others look at you a notice right away.

 

 

Well that may be true, and I might have gained things like a slightly better understanding of pitch and tone, but outside of that there were no improvements to my actual "singing" which was the problem. Mr. Lunte even advocates for improvement in 30-90 days, I didn't see any in 10 months. That's isn't a slight against my teacher, but whether you're singing, acting, running, dancing, whatever, 10 months and no improvements whatsoever is akin to spinning your wheels for me. 

[Danielformica]

hey lifelong the only thing that will translate to singing songs is singing songs. scales will help with range resonance support. but singing songs comes with practice. i would do 20% vocalise practice 80% songs

[lifelonglearner]

hey lifelong the only thing that will translate to singing songs is singing songs. scales will help with range resonance support. but singing songs comes with practice. i would do 20% vocalise practice 80% songs

 

 

Yeah that's what my current teacher says. But that doesn't mean that vocal exercises don't have their place though, right?

[VideoHere]

Another thing that will help is to simply do a lot of listening and as Daniel said, trying to sing songs and try to imitate (without losing yourself) other artists.

 

I always wanted the early "Black" sound, so I sought out songs and studied the early black singers.

 

Still, training is one thing, singing and performing is another.

 

You train to expand your capabilities.  When you sing you are demonstrating those capabilities while telling a story. 

[Danielformica]

no thats why i said the vocalises need to be done but you want to be a better singer not vocalizer

[Robert Lunte]

Good points Dan... I agree. 

 

Lifelong, training and singing, although they kind of cross breed into each other, they are two very different things. Training, ... if you have a great training content and clarity as to how to use it can do a lot to build the necessary strength and coordination ... and understanding of how the singing voice works. This is very important. Vocal training is basically like hitting the gym, it helps tremendously. However, it is not going to carry you over into the "goal line" for a touch down with singing necessarily. You will find that after training, you can do more things with your voice, singing will probably get a lot easier... but still, to really take it all the way "home", you have to sing songs... Dan's point. Songs present a level of "negotiation" of vowels, resonance, consonants, endurance that only training can fail to cover completely. Apart from the fact that with singing, you also train interpretation, "feel" and the more artful aspects that are needed. 

 

You need to do both!  If you train with me or my program, you will do both. A TVS lesson consists of training, strength building, coordination work, etc... and... singing songs. Which of course is going to refer back to some of the things you learned in the training to help you. 

 

Regarding your question referring to if "The Four Pillars of Singing" can help you to sing like this artist in "Remember" (which is a great tune BTW... I enjoyed it)... well, the short answer is OF COURSE!  Let me tell you, I have a lot of soul and R&B singers in my student body... Im getting more and more of these kinds of artists that want to sing in this lighter mass, R&B style... 

 

Here is the source of your confusion... Stop thinking about style so much when your thinking about training. Training is about building strength, getting coordinated and learning how the voice works... its not so much about learning a "style" of singing. People make this mistake way too often and your selling your opportunity with me short if you conclude that. Now... am I a rocker?  I suppose, when Im singing, I sing rock... but I sing other things as well. But don't confuse my choice of style as a singer, with the product "The Four Pillars of Singing". 

 

People get confused about this that I actually have produced 2 videos on the issue to clarify... please watch these videos!

 

 

 

I also recently published this video that makes the point about '>TVS training content. Here you can get a glimpse of what its really about. Notice, Im not talking about "style" coaching, its about training... and specifically, the content that people need to really get serious about training and practicing.

 

 

So, I hope that helps clarify some points for you... feel free to send me a private email on this forum system or to my personal email and I will be happy to answer any other questions you may have regarding "The Four Pillars of Singing". 

[lifelonglearner]

Another thing that will help is to simply do a lot of listening and as Daniel said, trying to sing songs and try to imitate (without losing yourself) other artists.

 

I always wanted the early "Black" sound, so I sought out songs and studied the early black singers.

 

Still, training is one thing, singing and performing is another.

 

You train to expand your capabilities.  When you sing you are demonstrating those capabilities while telling a story. 

 

I understand. Thanks for your help 

 

 

no thats why i said the vocalises need to be done but you want to be a better singer not vocalizer

 

Very true! I guess I didn't fully understand what you were saying. Thanks Dan! 

 

 

Good points Dan... I agree. 

 

Lifelong, training and singing, although they kind of cross breed into each other, they are two very different things. Training, ... if you have a great training content and clarity as to how to use it can do a lot to build the necessary strength and coordination ... and understanding of how the singing voice works. This is very important. Vocal training is basically like hitting the gym, it helps tremendously. However, it is not going to carry you over into the "goal line" for a touch down with singing necessarily. You will find that after training, you can do more things with your voice, singing will probably get a lot easier... but still, to really take it all the way "home", you have to sing songs... Dan's point. Songs present a level of "negotiation" of vowels, resonance, consonants, endurance that only training can fail to cover completely. Apart from the fact that with singing, you also train interpretation, "feel" and the more artful aspects that are needed. 

 

You need to do both!  If you train with me or my program, you will do both. A TVS lesson consists of training, strength building, coordination work, etc... and... singing songs. Which of course is going to refer back to some of the things you learned in the training to help you. 

 

Regarding your question referring to if "The Four Pillars of Singing" can help you to sing like this artist in "Remember" (which is a great tune BTW... I enjoyed it)... well, the short answer is OF COURSE!  Let me tell you, I have a lot of soul and R&B singers in my student body... Im getting more and more of these kinds of artists that want to sing in this lighter mass, R&B style... 

 

Here is the source of your confusion... Stop thinking about style so much when your thinking about training. Training is about building strength, getting coordinated and learning how the voice works... its not so much about learning a "style" of singing. People make this mistake way too often and your selling your opportunity with me short if you conclude that. Now... am I a rocker?  I suppose, when Im singing, I sing rock... but I sing other things as well. But don't confuse my choice of style as a singer, with the product "The Four Pillars of Singing". 

 

People get confused about this that I actually have produced 2 videos on the issue to clarify... please watch these videos!

 

 

 

I also recently published this video that makes the point about

'>TVS training content. Here you can get a glimpse of what its really about. Notice, Im not talking about "style" coaching, its about training... and specifically, the content that people need to really get serious about training and practicing.

 

 

So, I hope that helps clarify some points for you... feel free to send me a private email on this forum system or to my personal email and I will be happy to answer any other questions you may have regarding "The Four Pillars of Singing". 

 

 

That really did clarify things Mr Lunte! I really appreciate all your help and I did sent you a email on the forum. I really hope to extend my vocal abilities as much as I possibly can! Just wanted to ask some questions before I dove into anything. 

[Robert Lunte]

Well Im glad to hear that!  Nice to know that these videos are communicating properly for me and elevating confusion on this point.