Voice Technique 101
Voice study is the secret to success for many contemporary vocal artists. Voice Technique 101 is an introductory course designed to teach you how to make your voice sound more powerful, how to use vocal technique to expand your range and expression, and how to become more confident in vocal performances. This course is a fantastic starting point for anyone wanting to make the most of their voice.
Through guided study using video demonstrations, animated illustrations, and hundreds of recorded examples, the course explores how to sing with more freedom, sing simple harmonies, have better breath control, and understand how to take care of your voice. Each week, you will work with melody prep tracks designed to teach you melodic independence as well as sing-along tracks with rhythm section accompaniment. You’ll learn effective warm-up and practice routines, and ways to address performance anxiety, move on stage, and use microphones. As the course progresses, you’ll gain the skills to sing in various styles with greater facility and awareness.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Sing with consistent, accurate intonation
- Develop coordinated breath support to help stamina and increase control
- Demonstrate a free-tone quality with minimum tension
- Establish beneficial practice habits to help growth and development
- Take care of your voice
- Use simple melodic embellishment
- Sing in harmony
Syllabus
Lesson 1 Developing Good Breath Support
Lesson 2 Developing Your Vocal Sound
Lesson 3 Anatomy/Health
Lesson 4 Developing an Effective Practice Routine
Lesson 5 Simple Melodic Embellishment
Lesson 6 Effective Diction for Singing
Lesson 7 Singing Harmony
Lesson 8 Advanced Breath Management
Lesson 9 Performance Polish
Lesson 10 Flexibility, Control, Stamina
Lesson 11 The Essential Building Blocks of Vocal Training
Lesson 12 The Grand Finale
Requirements
Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements
- A healthy voice and the capacity to match pitch and sing in tune
- Ability to read music recommended but not required
Required Textbook(s)
- The Contemporary Singer: Elements of Vocal Technique (2nd Edition) by Anne Peckham, Berklee Press/Hal Leonard
- Vocal Workouts for the Contemporary Singer by Anne Peckham, Berklee Press/Hal Leonard
Software Requirements
- A basic audio recording tool that will allow you to record yourself and save the recording in MP3 format. You will have a tool to use for this purpose inside the learning environment. Alternatively, you can use software like Audacity (PC) or GarageBand (Mac).
Instructors
Author
Anne Peckham is a singer, voice teacher, and author, whose work has influenced popular singing pedagogy worldwide. A professor in the Voice department at Berklee College of Music, Anne teaches private voice lessons and develops curricular materials for “Elements of Vocal Technique,” a required course for all vocal students. Her work at the college, which has included Berklee’s Musical Theater Workshop and the Berklee Concert Choir, has helped enrich the musical experience of hundreds of students over the years.
Anne has traveled extensively as a voice clinician and adjudicator for song and choral festivals in North America, Mexico, and Europe. Her master classes and vocal pedagogy seminars for students and teachers embrace the foundations of good vocal technique, while building skills in rock, jazz, pop, and R’n’B music. She is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and served as vice president on the Boston chapter’s board of directors.
Anne sang with the Tanglewood Festival chorus for four years, performing on two recordings with the Boston Pops, including a featured solo in their televised Gilbert and Sullivan presentation, which aired on PBS. She has performed with regional theater companies, has worked as a professional soloist with area church choirs, and performs frequently in recital and cabaret venues. In 2006 Anne appeared in the TV reality series Trial by Choir, a show featured on the Learning Channel. Additionally, she was featured on the children’s television show Fetch in 2007.
Anne is the author Vocal Workouts for the Contemporary Singer, The Contemporary Singer: Elements of Vocal Technique, Berklee in the Pocket: Singer’s Handbook, and the instructional DVD Vocal Technique: Developing Your Voice for Performance.
For more information, please visit: www.annepeckham.com
Instructor
Sharon Brown has been a singer, conductor, and teacher in the Boston area for almost 25 years. She is currently an associate professor in the Voice department at Berklee College of Music, where she teaches vocal technique classes, the musical theater workshop, and vocal pedagogy, as well as private students. She has also taught at Simmons College, the Boston Conservatory, and Northeastern University. Her performing credits as a mezzo-soprano include many years with Boston Lyric Opera Chorus.
She has also sung with Boston Academy, Intermezzo Chamber Opera, and Salisbury Lyric Opera, in addition to singing oratorio with several orchestras in the area. As a conductor, she founded and led the Boston Conservatory Women’s Chorus for seven years, and just recently retired after 20 years as the music director for the Fisk Methodist Church in Natick. She also conducted the Simmons College Choral for four years and led the Masterworks Choral in two of their “Summer Sings.” She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in vocal performance from the Boston Conservatory, where she studied with Elisabeth Phinney.
Instructor
Boston born and bred, Cassandre McKinley started a career in film and television upon entering her freshman year of high school. By 16, she had already signed with a New York talent agent, began taking weekly private voice instruction, and attended a long series of intensive music programs specializing in voice performance. After high school, she attended The Boston Conservatory where she majored in Musical Theater and minored in Voice. Cassandre’s accomplished career now spans over three decades as a professional singer, dancer, actress, voice-over artist, and print model.
Instructor
Eirini Tornesaki (aka Erini), from Crete, Greece is a vocalist of jazz, contemporary styles and Greek traditional music who blurs the lines between genres and explores intercultural dialogue through music. Eirini, who was born and raised in Heraklion, Crete, Greece, is a former Cirque Du Soleil singer and is currently an assistant Professor at Berklee College of Music and the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. Eirini’s curiosity for music from around the world led her to England to study Contemporary Vocal Performance at the age of 18, and then on tour as the principal vocalist of the show Kurios by Cirque Du Soleil for 3 years. Eirini completed her Master’s Program with a full scholarship at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. Eirini has performed in Canada, USA, Cuba, Panama, Colombia, United Arab Emirates, Cyprus, Greece and most other European countries and has collaborated with artists including Danilo Perez, Terri Lyne Carrington, George Garzone, Louciana Souza, Daniel Hope, Bary Manilow, James Bay, Nick Pitera, Classico Latino, Mario Frangoulis, Vasilis Skoulas, Pantelis Thalassinos, Christos Zotos, amongst others. Eirini had her Carnegie Hall debut in June 2017. She has also performed at TD Garden (Boston Celtics), Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club in London, Panama Jazz Festival, Abbey Road Studios, amongst other prestigious venues, and has presented workshops and lectures in universities including Harvard, Princeton, Tufts amongst others. Eirini is based in Boston, MA and performs around the world as a soloist and a collaborative vocalist.
What’s Next?
When taken for credit, Voice Technique 101 can be applied towards these associated programs:
Associated Certificate Programs
- General Music Studies Professional Certificate
- General Music Studies Advanced Professional Certificate
- Voice Technique and Musicianship Professional Certificate
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