Category: Technique

Estill – my discoveries on my course of online study

Michelle HarrisLeave a comment

Many of us can thank these covid times for providing access to courses we may never have been able to take had they not gone online.

I began my journey in Estill having been targeted by one of those Facebook ads which spies on your interests! The Voice Explained advertised an Introduction to Estill in a 3 hour slot. Since my days at the Royal Academy of Music, when classical and operatic singers were encouraged to join in with the newly launched Music Theatre Course for a few sessions, I had a recollection of various singers on those courses being inspired and excited by classes run by the same Anne-Marie Speed (she still teaches on this course at the RAM) and I felt that now was a good time to understand a little more so that I could feel informed about vocal techniques I had long believed were unsafe for the voice.

I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to become a learner again! The stand-alone introduction impressed me so much that I felt it was impossible not to continue with my learning and enrol for a 5 day course where all voice qualities described were demonstrated and experienced and the physiology of the voice was looked at in detail to literally provide a checklist to understand and build that quality. For me, someone who deals meticulously in technique and aims for precision, it was mind-blowing!

The Estill model was created by Jo Estill, a trained opera singer who strove to make teaching singing technique more precise. Sadly Jo died in 2010 but her research provides the inspiration behind its wisdom. The baton for this (and I quote Anne-Marie Speed) ‘model of functionality’ has been well and truly taken up by Anne-Marie. In the years since she attended her introduction to the model in 1992, Anne-Marie has mastered the techniques in order to pass on this extremely logical and quite frankly, genius way of working and now has trained over 70 master trainers , some of whom assisted on the online course in leading smaller break out groups to work through the ‘figures’ in each voice quality.

To say I began this journey with a degree of scepticism would be an understatement. I am a perfomer and singing teacher who has seen a few things and methods of teaching which have left me wondering if I have missed the thing that everyone else seemed to be raving about! However, it was clear from the outset that the passion, care and specific knowledge backed up with science was utterly real and could not be denied. Anne-Marie has an amazing charisma which is matter-of-fact and utterly engaging. It was also refreshing to come across a voice practitioner who was non-judgemental; a trait which put all of us at ease from the off.

It became very evident that leaders also had experienced a rigor in their training which gave confidence to the participants and made the days so enjoyable and informative. Level 1 involved carefully going through the parts of the vocal tract which have functions for creating sound. We explored isolating each part and worked on each one of those in small groups of around 5 for a 40 minute session. During that session, the figure was explained, demonstrated and each participant in turn worked with individually to master control. Clear instructions were given as to how to achieve the isolations asked for. Vague directions were not allowed! It was fascinating for me to see how some people who were not singers create those sounds because of the clarity of the model. For me, someone used to changing and manipulating the spaces in the vocal tract, there were also revelations.

The final 2 days were spent applying the different vocal tract controls to producing specific types of sound. I LEARNT HOW TO BELT! I’m not saying that I will suddenly be switching my own focus to music theatre, but as Anne-Marie pointed out, keeping the vocal apparatus flexible and understanding the various figures and using these can enhance different genres. Especially interesting for me was the description on opera – going through the figures to get to the sound was absolutely fascinating and suggested to me ways of maximising my own resonance and sound intensity.

I found myself wishing that my own course at the Academy had included Anne-Marie’s classes and challenged perceptions I have held for some time. I have some absolute nuggets of pure gold to apply to my own singing and the way in which I teach my students. It was also enormously reassuring that Anne-Marie’s dog Rufus took as much pleasure in singing operatically as my own canine trainee, Bubbles does!

It is my belief that anyone interested in voice (actors too) would benefit from the incredibly precise world of this vocal model. If you are a vocal student anywhere, or someone who relies on their voice, spoken or singing,with a wish to use your voice with longevity, do yourself a massive favour and invest in taking this course in Estill – I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

And breathe….

Michelle HarrisLeave a comment

In the course of my teaching I work with a wide-ranging clientel, from those who are advanced students of singing, aspiring to a professional career in performing, to those who simply want to sing better. I have taught children as young as 7 and adults who are well into their 70’s. I have taught in classrooms and on courses and run workshops. It actually does not matter who your students are. They have one thing in common.

Breath is literally the life of their music. Finding ways to manage breath are not just as simple as putting a breath-mark in the score and breathing at that point. The way you approach that inspiration (and I use the word in more than one sense) is totally key to the success of the next phrase. If your previous phrase has finshed with your breathing out-of-control and in a panic, this affects the ability to move forward. Conversely if you are still holding breath at the end of the last phrase, just topping up can mean that you create tension in the voice and also are unable to control much of the air you have taken in.

One of my friends and colleagues over the years has been Paul Esswood, the counter-tenor. We once discussed the breath issues surrounding the alto aria ‘Esurientis’ from Bach’s Magnificat, which has an impossibly long instrumental-type phrase where breathing seems wrong. He attributed his ability to sing this phrase in one breath to preparation, at least a couple of breaths before the breath on which it is sung.

In addition to the mechanism of breathing-in, there is the emotional and communicative element of the music to add into the mix. Then, in performance, there are possible nerves, and other issues demanding our concentration. It is no wonder that almost all of us singers find difficulty with breathing at some point.

A wise singing-teacher once told me that the most control one has in singing is when one is not in control. In my humble opinion, she was right. The more you trust in the simple physical process and the emotional connections to your breath, the easier breathing, and singing becomes. If you have to ‘think’ too hard and there is a delay in the action, this causes a lack of fluency, adds inappropriate tension and control is lost.

To arrive at this simple state however, is a more difficult process! It requires one to re-train lazy abdominal muscles to support the breath-pressure one needs and also then relax to allow full breath replenishment, align posture, release tension in the throat and facial muscles and understand the massive importance that the exhalation has to the next breath and therefore the resulting sound that it is then possible to produce.

Phonation tubes can have an impact on teaching students about how to release breath consistently and in a controlled manner. Because it is possible to see that breath being released in the form of bubbles, and, at this point, sound is of a secondary concern to that release, this feedback is invaluable. Some students have remarked that they can feel what they should be doing with their diaphragms in a real way for the first time, because until you know what you are doing, it feels hit-and-miss. The back-pressure provided by blowing the bubbles into water makes this magic happen. There is no sound to be desperately concerned about ( even the most gorgeous voice sounds like a gurgling baby’s) so it helps direct attention to what is happening within the body, which means that undesirable shoulder movements, chest-caving, protruding heads and other destructive tensions are clearer and therefore more easily rectified.