Ep.49 Singing Lessons? When to QUIT your teacher!
Why doesn’t every voice teacher teach their students how to sing successfully in and through
the First Bridge?
I’m about to make a few singing teachers very mad at me.
Hi! I’m Chuck Gilmore with Power To Sing.
Virtually every video I’ve recorded has had some connection to the First Bridge in
the voice. This area of the voice is also known as the “passaggio” or “middle”
or “my break area”.
I’ve talking about this before. I started taking voice lessons when I was 16 years old.
My first teacher had her masters degree in vocal performance.
My second teacher was a Master’s candidate in vocal performance at my university and
the star tenor in the department. He thought I could sing higher, but he didn’t know
how to get me there.
Later one of the professors told me he wished he knew how to get me to “open up my voice”.
I actually thought I was born with a bass voice that was only designed to sing to the
E above Middle C.
20 years later I met Seth Riggs and began studying with one of his teachers at that
time. Her name is Debra Bonner. Within 6 weeks I was singing past the E above middle C and
well into my head voice.
My whole life, I never knew it was even possible. I wasn’t a gifted singer who could easily
sing though the first bridge.
Since 1996 I’ve studied with over a dozen teachers all who’ve UNDERSTOOD THE FIRST
BRIDGE and knew how to TEACH ME TO SING FROM CHEST VOICE THROUGH THE FIRST BRIDGE AND INTO
MY HEAD VOICE AND BACK DOWN AGAIN.
Until you learn to do this without strain, cracking, breaking, or breathiness, you’ll
always be limited. You’ll always have this obstacle in your voice. It’ll always be
at the top of your chest voice.
To many students give up because they don’t realize there is a way to sing in and through
the passaggio. It becomes a true passageway into your head voice and back down into chest
voice.
It becomes fun to sing in the bridge and higher into head voice. You look forward to the songs
and the notes that you’ve feared all your life.
Why doesn’t every voice teacher teach their students how to do it? How to bridge?
All teachers have had students who don’t practice, or ignore their teachers, or give
up before being successful.
I’m talking about teachers who don’t teach their students how to bridge.
Here are some possible reasons:
They don’t know that it’s possible to eliminate the break in the voice.
They think everyone has a break and you just work around it.
They don’t know about the First Bridge or the passaggio.
They know about it but they don’t know how to teach their students how to “bridge”.
They’re a gifted singer themselves who never had to learn to bridge...it always came naturally
to them. They don’t think it’s necessary. They
teach their students to push harder or louder, or use falsetto.
There may be other reasons. Personally I’d like to believe that every voice teacher is
well meaning, and trying their best.
But, students, if your teacher isn’t helping you learn to bridge with specific exercises
to master the first bridge then you will always have that limitation in your voice.
If they are telling you to yell louder, or push harder, or go into falsetto or sing breathy
so it doesn’t crack, quit. If you are not being actively taught to bridge, and making
progress with each lesson, quit.
You’re wasting your time and your money and you should quit your teacher and find
someone who can help you.
Find a teacher who’s teaching their students how to sing in and through the first bridge
of the voice without straining, cracking, breaking or falsetto. Find a teacher who can
do it themselves and knows how to help you do it.
That’s all I have to say about that. For now.
Each of the vocal types in the Knowledge Center in PowerToSing.com have exercises designed
to help you sing in and through the First Bridge of your voice.
Do you know your vocal type? I’m not referring to whether you’re soprano, alto, tenor or
bass. You vocal type generally describes what happens when you sing through First Bridge
of your voice.
Visit PowerToSing.com and take the vocal test, which I call the PowerTest. Take the quiz
and discover your vocal type.
Then visit the Knowledge Center and watch the videos about your vocal type. Download
the free exercises designed for your vocal type and start practicing. They’re designed
to help you improve your voice quickly.
I’m Chuck Gilmore with Power To Sing. You can sing higher with beauty, confidence and
power.
I’ll see you inside the next video.
Subtitles by the Amara.org community