Customer Reviews

The Contemporary Vocalist Improvement Course (Book & 4 CD Edition)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a classically trained singer who has been making a living in musical theatre for the past 15 years. As the style of musical theatre has become more pop oriented, I've been feeling like an old dinosaur lately.

So I thought I'd see what this "contemporary" approach was all about, but I admit I had fairly low expectations. I was soooo very wrong. Jeannie's pedagogical understanding of the voice parallels or exceeds that of any of the vocal instructors I've had in the last 23 years of lessons, including my 6 years at a major university. She explained things about breath management, resonance, production and passaggi in a way that made light bulbs go off in my head at every turn.

I was so impressed I ordered her advance series from her website as well, and after 2 months of working with both series every day, I've seen a dramatic increase in my range (finally!), my ease of singing, my flexibility and expression.

I don't know that anything can replace one-on-one lessons, especially for the novice who really needs constant feedback and correction. But for half the price of one big city voice lesson, Jeannie provides enough insight and material for months of exploration and growth for the singer who needs help getting unstuck and a knowledgable push towards the next level.

As a voice teacher, this is the best tape series for vocal performance that I have encountered. The book contains a wealth of information on the basics of singing as well as performance issues. The exercises on the tapes are easy and safe for the voice, concise and helpful. I use this set myself and recommend it to all of my students.

I got the book 2 weeks ago, and I must say that the tips mentioned in the book are excellent - it helps me avoid some very unpleasant on stage and when singing among friends, you'll get to understand how your system works, how the voice is created, and how to use it better, includes four tapes followed by illustrations and explanations.. you won't become a professional singer after reading this book, but you'll make yourself sound A LOT better, and hey, if there is a teacher who promises more than that, I don't recommend choosing him. It is very important to be careful with the voice, since you may cause damage with several things and exercises you'll do - this book shows you how to avoid all the common mistakes.

Jeannie Deva has taken my voice to a level I never thought it could reach. As an actress, my voice is one of my main tools. Jeannie's exercises are formatted in such a way that you never feel like you are doing "work" and before you know it, your voice is limber and resonating in a whole new way. I would recommend Jeannie Deva to anyone who does any work with their voice. She is a vocal savior!

I have sung for many years and find these CD's full of value. Jeannie has crystal clear instructions to guide "placement" and the exercises are long enough to feel you have "worked" the muscles of your voice. I noticed an "open quality" in my voice within the first few times I practiced with this routine. There is enough on these CD's to customise your own practice, for a 10 minutes warm-up or over an hours worth. I would recommend that anyone buying these CD's have a handful of "one to one" lessons with a singing coach first to get basic placement before starting this system.
I am extremely happy to have found this course and am thrilled it has much variety for me to play with. It's well thought through and yo can take it with you!

The course is great! The quality of the sound is good too. However, the cd's were obviously copied from a tape because they mention turning the tape over. Such things stand out to me, though when nobdy else cares. The actual content is very clear and easy to follow, and effective!

I'm a professional singer and absolutely LOVE this program. I bought level 2 through Jeannie Deva's website from one of the previous reviews suggestion. It's a challenge & fun. If you're a singer in any capacity, this course is the very best I've found (& I've tried a lot!)Financially,it's a great deal, considering how one voice lesson is around the price of the entire series. Ms. Deva is the top of her profession. I can not tell you how happy I am that I purchased this!

Deva's book is terrific; it very clearly describes the vocal mechanism with words and diagrams. However, the exercises on the 4 CDs are extremely difficult; Deva even indicates on the 1st CD (which should be the most "elementary") that the singer shouldn't initially expect to be able to even be able to execute a certain exercise. I believe there are methods with much less intimidating exercises for the non-professional singer.