I am thrilled to present today’s post, another guest post by baritone, Luke Dailey. 

In this post, Luke tackles some of the controversies we deal with in today in the music world.  Is there one “correct” technique out there? How do we reconcile the significant differences in genres and styles that all live under the “legitimate and healthy vocal technique” umbrella. 

Give it a read! 

What Happened to Vocal Technique?

by Luke Dailey

            The world of western singing is often divided into two categories: classical and contemporary. These two types of singers butt heads a lot over a variety of subjective opinions. Stereotypically, classical singers are musical elitists who won’t accept anything less than the pinnacle of art that is opera. They spend years of training perfecting their technique, ensuring that they know how to always resonate with maximum efficiency. Then contemporary singers enter the field, unafraid to make music out of any and every experience and using their voices in ways that are unthinkable to someone trained in the classical tradition (belting?! Breathy tone!? Vocal grovel?!?!). But for some reason, these new, “unhealthy” techniques are the things that the most famous singers of today are doing, with great success. So the question that I – and many other classically trained young singers – face is: who’s right?

            Okay, that’s not really a fair question. Music is such a subjective experience, so there’s no real “right” or “wrong,” just different approaches.

“But the classical vocal technique has been around for centuries; it’s the way humans are supposed to sing!”

Sure, classical techniques like bel canto have been around for a long time, because the state of the musical world required singers to use their voices with maximum efficiency. There was no such thing as a microphone to amplify a singer’s voice, so singers had to learn to use their body and vocal tract to create as much tone as
possible (while still musical). In order to do this in a sustainable way, singers had to be trained to navigate their voice, balancing the airflow with placement and all the millimeter adjustments of these tiny throat and head muscles.
However, now we do have microphones and other technologies to amplify sounds, so being able to navigate your voice with such intricacy is no longer necessary to be heard. With this, singers are now able to use their voices in ways that were not possible before: more casual ways of using the voice. These advancements open the door to a different world of musical performance.

            This being said, that doesn’t mean at all that the classical vocal technique is irrelevant; it is absolutely still relevant and important. Many successful contemporary singers were taught classical technique at some point, especially in the world of musical theatre. There have been many instances (think Adele) of contemporary singers seriously damaging their voices because of their lack of careful navigation of the fragile vocal cords. Many elements of the bel canto technique that carry over into contemporary techniques, such as breath support and navigating different placements. Using the elements that have been proven to promote healthy and sustainable singing is a very important thing that contemporary musicians should pay attention to, in order to avoid damage. There have even been, in recent years, academic pushes to create more holistic vocal techniques, that work for both classical and contemporary musicians (Katrin Sadolin’s Complete Vocal Technique, for one). So fret not, classical singers, all your work is not in vain.

            And of course, this dichotomy is focused on the world of western singing. There is such a wide variety of vocal techniques in the world – Indian Carnatic singing, Tuvan/Mongolian throat singing, Chinese opera, etc. – that use the voice in completely different ways. These different techniques have different vocal priorities and work towards different end goals. In the end, vocal techniques exist to create different effects. As members of the western classical, Euro-centric world, we have a terrible habit of assuming we are right about most things. With all the various cultures in the world, it’s important to remember that music, and singing, have very different purposes for different populations. Just because something is unfamiliar doesn’t mean it’s wrong.