Customer Reviews

Coffin's Sounds of Singing

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For two years I studied personally with Dr. Coffin in graduate school. He was a genius who truly knew how the human voice works through much research from the standpoint of a physicist and a musician and pedagogist. He repaired my voice, damaged by erroneous former instruction, and added an octave to the upper range. I use this method for my students now and know it works very well when used properly, with proper understanding. The first part of the book should be helpful to all voice students in gaining an understanding of how the human singing voice works.

Now in its second edition, Coffin's Sounds Of Singing: Principles And Applications Of Vocal Techniques With Chromatic Vowel Chart by Berton Coffin is an extensive instructional concerning vocal techniques for the advanced singer. A strongly recommended addition to professional and academic vocal music instructional reference collections, Coffin's Sounds Of Singing is an in-depth informational compendium concerning the production of resonating notes, and is informatively enhanced with interviews with expert teachers, diagrams, exercises and more, clearly marking it as a professional quality reference and instructional aide.

I am enjoying his book very much. The concepts are not new, but are presented in a way that helps my understanding of the voice. I especially like the vowel chart because it is helping me to access parts of my voice that I had not really been able to sing in before.I am able to sing with more ease and freedom in my high range now that I am applying the principals in the book. The information is a little technical in places, but it is also more thorough than other sources. I highly recommend this book.

Coffin's Sounds of Singing: Principles and Applications of Vocal Techniques with Chromatic Vowel Chart

Coffin's much overlooked ground breaking research deserves
appreciation from all modern vocal teachers.
The book is not easy to work one's way through -
but it is worth the effort, as it gives practical advise into
the very core of artistic voice production.
Written in 1976 (revised and expanded in 1987) Coffin does not
take advantage of the computer as a tool for measurement of the optimal
tuning of each individual vowel on each step of all sung notes.
However the accompanying Chromatic Vowel Chart is 'a golden treasure'
with an unprecedented amount of information - all contained in one sheet of paper.
Coffin's acoustical wisdom is presented to us without any demand for mathematic skills. With a humble attitude Coffin cuts right through any mysticism of vocal teaching.