Customer Reviews

Coffin's Overtones of Bel Canto

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After studting Mr. Coffins technique for over a year, I am amazed at the difference it has made in my range, tonal quality, and overall ease of singing. A bit difficult to just dive into, the book is perhaps best approached with the assistance of one who knows it well. All singers should be trained this way!

Dr. Coffin took my broken voice (caused by incorrect teaching by former teachers), put it back together within my 2 years graduate study with him, and added an octave to my upper range. I enjoyed 30 years as a professional singer and am still singing well at age 65. My private voice students voices are developed quickly and remarkably using Dr. Coffin's exercises. I can't recommend this book enough. One must learn the International Phonetic Alphabet and apply it in the exercises and the book can be quite technical, but years of application in my voice as well as my students has me completely sold on it's merits. This book is for the serious voice student who is willing to work at his/her craft.

this version is missing the chromatic vowel chart that the old version I got from a reject from a library has. This is a shame because that chart is really necessary to fully comprehend and apply the content of the book. I had to purchase the chart seperately which brought the cost to a much higher level than anticipated. My second hand library withdrawn version was better value for the buck.

My voice teacher works with me out of this book, and she recommended that I buy it myself. I learned a great deal from all of the technical knowledge contained within its pages, though the reading can be a bit dry. At any rate, I think the book is worth its own weight in gold just for the exercises, which are specialized for either the male or female singer. I must agree with J.R. Knowles' review, though, in that it is best to have a teacher who can guide and listen to the singer through the exercises.

Also, ordering this book off of Amazon means a discounted price on top of not paying extra for Coffin's vowel register chart. The chart, normally $16 or $18 separately, comes with!

Please note that I am only a young vocalist and, of course, have limited experience. However, from my research, Berton Coffin is/was an acclaimed vocal pedagogue whose studies contributed much to the study of vocal production, and thus this book is recommended by professionals. The book certainly helps me in developing solid vocal technique and understanding the voice.

It is obvious that Dr Coffin has done a tremendous amount of research and experimentation, and I have little doubt that his method works. But, this is not for a beginner, and I would go as far as to say that this is not for self-study (not that singing ever is), but that one would need to be guided through the exercises by a teacher well-versed in this technique. The use of the international phonetic alphabet means that one has to do a tremendous amount of work before even starting the exercises, and this makes the whole thing a very daunting task indeed - I would have to be absolutely convinced that the expected results would be worth this great pre-effort, and I have not heard enough reports to convince me that following another system is not as productive with much less work on what amounts to (in my opinion, seeing as other highly successful systems, don't include them) side-issues. Having said that, if I could find a teacher well-versed in this method, I would love to study it.