Don't do KMM's job, and he won't do yours.
By Kevin Michael Murphy(Actor-Voice Teacher)
As both a voice teacher and an actor, I sometimes find myself in an awkward position. I'm in rehearsal for a show, when a singer is having vocal trouble. Oftentimes, the musical director steps in with advice on how to remedy the situation. Mostly, this advice is pretty simple and rather vague.(take a breath here, sing an alternate lower note there, etc.) Let me say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. It can solve the problem, and the singer's own technique and vocal journey remain unscathed.
Sometimes, however, the musical director starts to give the singing actor a voice lesson. And sometimes, just sometimes, that musical director's impromptu voice lesson is chock full of awful advice.
Here's the thing. Most often, musical directors are brililant piano players and brilliant musicans. Being a brilliant musician, however, does not necessarily make you a brilliant vocal pedagogue. Giving someone improper vocal instruction can cause them physical and sometimes even psychological harm. I know this seems extreme, but it's true.
Musical directors are required to come up with a product. They want a solid, clean, musical sound that is stylistically appropriate. They are looking for a result. That said, they sometimes don't know the process a singer must go through to get to that result in a healthy way. I repeat, in a healthy way.
As a musical director, what can you do to help set your singers up for success?
- Try simple adjustments. (Add a breath before a difficult high note, make sure they have good posture, encourage them to add a lift to the sound.)
- Encourage the singing actor to review the material with his/her voice teacher.
- Contact a voice teacher colleague for advice if the problem persists. Sometimes a vowel adjustment or some other tool can help immensly. (For example: At the end of "So Much Better" from Legally Blonde, Elle's last lyric is "than before..." Singers frequently go flat on this pitch because they are pronouncing the "r" in the word, before, too soon. When we pronounce an "r" sound our soft palate depresses dropping the sound back. If we are subconsciously thinking of that final consonant our mouth will begin to shift and resonance becomes increasingly difficult).
- Learn how to properly warm up a voice. Again, contact a voice teacher colleague for some tips. If the vocalizes you are doing have no purpose, you're wasting your time. I would recommend encouraging singers to do their own vocal warmups prior to rehearsal.
- If someone is having trouble matching a pitch, that doesn't necessarily mean they are tone deaf. More often than not there is another problem. Aggresively pounding out a note over and over again will do nothing to solve the problem, and will make the singer feel like crap.
I must say it is rather encouraging to see that more and more Broadway shows are employing voice teachers to oversee the vocal health of the cast. While this is impractical for most other productions, I do believe that with some awareness, musical directors can help their singers acheive the sound they want in a healthy and efficient manner.
KEVIN MICHAEL MURPHY loves both making people laugh, and teaching them how to sing. www.KevinMichaelMurphy.com www.NYCVocalStudio.com
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