Customer Reviews

Discover Your Voice: How to Develop Healthy Voice Habits

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This book may look and seem small, but it is enormous inside. I have studied voice for years, as a hobby, and have had coaching and instruction from numerous vocal teachers and choir directors. I'm a stay-at-home-mom who has found myself in the position of not being able to study with a teacher for a while. Yet I wanted to continue to grow as a singer. I thought I might be at the point where I could do some self-study until the day when I could return to my lessons, and came online to find a book that might assist me with this. There were so many titles and authors on singing at Amazon.com. What to choose!

When this book by Oren L. Brown showed up on my recommendations list, I eagerly read the description of it: Professor at Juilliard, hmmmm, that sounds good. It comes with a CD!! Wow, this might be just what I want. ... Eeek, that sounds like a lot, but I just have a hunch this is just what I'm looking for.

I feel very strongly that this was the best [money] I have ever spent. From the very first page, I was learning, learning. The book was jam-packed with valuable information that synthesized all the fragments of learning about the voice that had accumulated with me through the years. Some of my singing teachers, God Bless their souls, had exercised me and arpeggioed me but never had been quite clear what the heck they were doing. My voice seemed to grow and get better, and my understanding about how to use it seemed to improve, but the whole teaching and learning process seemed so mysterious. Maybe in taking the time to explain what was happening, physically and scientifically, it would have taken away from the exercising of my voice and no one could spend that instruction time. But after reading through this book (which I will re-read again and again) I feel I finally understand all that I and my teachers have been trying to accomplish through these years. I have a comprehensive overview of the voice, and feel confident that I will be able to avoid harming my voice with bad habits after reading through this information. I also am encouraged to know that some things I thought were my limitations can be improved by regular practice. All of my teachers told me I had to practice, but no one ever explained to me what to practice. This book provides exercises and gives you a firm direction and purpose to the practicing you'll be doing.

What I really love is the way the author has such a deep respect and regard and fascination for the human voice. He has analyzed what happens when we sing and has explored it physically, metaphysically, scientifically, artistically.

There was improvement in my singing just from being exposed to the concepts in the book.

I read the book first, before I listened to the CD. I had trouble finding time to listen with my children interrupting, etc., so I put it in my car and have been listening there. I was thrilled and overjoyed to hear the author's voice resonate over the Bose speakers in my car. His speaking voice is one of a person who loves voice. He uses his own speaking voice so richly and well. I knew I was in good hands. The exercises on the CD are demonstrated so clearly and beautifully by the singers, with Mr. Brown's comments and explanations. It is the closest I will come to being able to study with a real person at this time when I cannot get to a vocal instructor. I feel that I could not be in better hands.

In fact, after reading this book, I highly suspect that I know a lot more than many singing teachers do about the voice. I really feel that most of what a singer will need to know is contained in this book. I probably will venture out to some of the other hot authors, but I suspect I will find a mere repetition (in various forms or another) of the concepts outlined in this book .

Excellent book for any singer at any level. The techniques described in the book are based on the author's many years of experience in teaching singing at The Julliard School and in the field of voice therapy. The CD included the book fully illustrate proven methods of vocalization. If vocal control, agility, strength, stamina, and health are of importance, I highly recommend this work.

Wow, I really like this book! As a voice teacher and vocal coach of popular music, students frequently come to me with damaged voices in need of repair. Reading Mr. Brown's stories, I knew I found an author who shared my dedication to healthy singing. Orin L. Brown's warm and direct writing style conveys his true passion for healthy vocal use and his desire to share his great knowledge with both vocalists and teachers. This book is filled with descriptive stories that tell the tales of Mr. Brown's experiences with, discoveries of and solutions for ailing vocal students.

Mr. Brown has written a powerfully informative book about all aspects of the voice. His book provides many interesting case studies, is very enjoyable to read, and includes factoids like "the Western and European singing style uses a low larynx." My one gripe is that the CD is not usable as a practice aid. Every exercise is demonstrated so briefly that you won't get a warm-up at all after singing along. If you don't have a piano, and you want to practice vocalizing at home with a piano recorded on a CD and exercises that methodically start on consecutive pitches, try the Jeffrey Allen book/CD set. That set includes techniques such as messa di voce, also demonstrated (more briefly) in Mr. Brown's CD.

I have been wanting to teach myself to sing for several years, since I can't afford voice lessons, and have tried several books on the subject. This one is by far the best. I first tried books by William Vennard and Richard Miller and found that they were meant for advanced students, not beginners. There are other books for beginners, but they aren't usually meant for classical singing, more for pop (and I find that the authors don't really seem to have much of an understanding of the human voice). I don't know how he does it, but Brown manages to make normally difficult concepts easy to understand. Part of that is because of the CD that comes with it. It helps give a better understanding of what he's trying to explain. I would highly recommend this book for anyone trying to learn how to sing classically.

This book is very good. It makes the (singing) voice clear to understand. Just by simply reading this book, you will start to have wonderful insights about your own voice, which this book is all about.

While the title makes it seem as if the book is some kind of vocal therapy book for medical patients, singers rejoice, this is a thorough manual on the art and mechanics of singing.

While I would never encourage a serious singing student to learn from just a book, if you just can't afford a singing teacher, this is the book to buy! Of course, it may not catch your eye immediately. It doesn't promise you vocal prowess in just 10 easy steps. It doesn't claim to be a revolutionary new method and it does not bask in its own ill-conceived glory like so many other books out there. It is simply a book of time tested foundational knowledge on the instrument of voice.

Each chapter is concise and is backed up by many references, examples and excercises. It is beautifully written and covers all aspects of voice from breathing and posture, to what it takes to be a proffesional singer. There was not one moment in reading the book that I felt like this might have been teaching me incompletley or incorrectly.

It is expensive, but you do not expect to spend 20 dollars for a master class with Pavarotti. Likewise, do not waist 20 bucks for the self proclaiming and inferior vocal instruction books out there. Oren L. Brown knows what he is doing and knows how to articulate it. This book is a culmination of so much knowledge on voice production that I am quite certain that it will improve any broken voice seeking to be fixed.

It's no secret singing is a personal universe of mystery that somehow remains unveiled no matter teachers, discipline, technique, etc. With all other instruments you can actually SEE what's going on in the process of learning. With the voice, everything is how "you feel" about it. You can not see your vocal chords to realize you have a good or bad habit...
The secret is then how to LEARN to recognize if what you feel is right about the way you sing or not. It shouldn't be so hard; you either -for example- feel exhausted after singing an aria or whatever, or feel you can keep on singing for the rest of the day without fatigue. That should indicate something! But the problem is to be able to reproduce great singing sensations in an everyday basis. That can certainly be a lifetime challenge. This book helps pointing out towards sensations associated with freedom and flow of a natural voice; Brown is all about this, in search of a more "primal" sound, connected to the way we speak. Not everything is as simple as that, and singing, depending on the repertoire, etc, etc, needs to a certain extent, some kind of artifice beyond the speaking natural sound of our voices. But this book will put you on the right track if you have been wondering about tensions with the way your vocal production occurs. Highly recommended for connecting singing with a more mundane experience in which emotions need to be part of your singing. Great simple exercises can reveal so much, and in that respect it is a fantastic book. Highly recommended.

Okay, like everyone else, I cringed at the price. I still can't quite understand how a little book and a CD of recorded exercises can be this costly. But, I have noticed that that's just par for the course with college textbooks, and I imagine this specialized text is the same kind of thing.

You know what? In THIS case, I'm actually happy to have spent the money. I recently took a one hour voice lesson with someone who is allegedly "the best around" in my area. It was a one hour lesson and cost 1.5x as much as this book/CD. I was given a recording of the lesson as a "customized for me" vocal exercise CD. But, I left the lesson feeling that I hadn't learned very much, that the exercises had not brought out any new quality in my voice, and that the teacher didn't think I had such a great voice to begin with. I felt a little heart broken and discouraged.

The beauty of this book/CD is that the teacher's voice (it comes through even in his writing style) is gentle, encouraging, and faithful. He has faith that we can all sing, and that it's a practical matter - finding a way to relax and DISCOVER your VOICE.

For some people, like me, singing is really important. It's emotional and, it means something about WHO you are. I feel like it's something I want to be able to do ... well. More than anything. I bring a pretty large degree of vulnerability to the table when I go to a teacher and say, "I really want to be able to sing."

Somehow, Oren Brown's writing style and his speaking on the CD are comforting and reassuring. The material is extremely informative, but more than that, it seems like he has enough faith for both of you, that your voice can be found. For me, that made this book worth the hefty sticker price.

I've read a couple of books and hundreds of articles that have to do with the voice as a prime subject. SO far this book is my favorite. It starts from the vary basics and it goes all the way to advanced facts. Just beware that it is not a book full of exercises, it's a book that is going to let you find and understand your voice from the medical and artistic point of view.

Although a little outdated, this books is full of great facts back guarded with an extensive and interesting bibliography. It has many clear and precise diagrams to help you understand what's going on inside. It explains how the voice is affected from the physical point of view, to the mental one. If you are interested in posture and breathing it also has written some exercises to nail them with no problem.

Mr Brown teachings are based on Bel Canto, and he will mention many singers that may be a little (or more) unknown to the contemporary singer. His CD has very good audio to explain many sounds and a few exercises that need to be heard instead of being read, which is a great add-on to any singer or voice professional.

Overall, this book will not teach you to sing step by step. But is a great resource for anybody who wants to know more about his or her voice. If you want a systematic program to teach you how to sing, I recommend Singing Success by Brett Manning,NOT a book. This book is well worth its price and friendly written, a must have for all vocal teachers, students and even physicians.