Customer Reviews

The Free Voice: A Guide to Natural Singing

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In college, the gentleman I studied voice with was one of Reid's students. He mentioned three books that were to become my vocal bibles: Voice: Psyche and Soma, Bell Canto, and The Free Voice. From the moment I purchased these books, my whole outlook on singing changed--and for the better. Suddenly, everything fell into place for me. I finally understood why people like Pavarotti were in a small select group of singers; they didn't learn to sing overnight by pushing their voices through pieces they couldn't handle.

The Free Voice isn't going to teach you how to sing, but it will help you understand how the voice works. I would suggest if you are searching for a voice teacher, you read this book first and then 'audition' teachers based on what this book has to say. If the teacher is against the theories and methods of this book, they obviously don't know what they are doing and you should move on.

All of the knowledge contained in this book was written by a man who never made it to the sixth grade and who doesn't sing (I got this info from his student, my teacher). Reid is a genius.

This item is available for only $14.95 from www.patelson.com- A store in New York City. So there is no need to pay a higher price...just wanted to pass that along to anyone wanting to purchase this and save some money

If you are a serious vocalist interested in the mechanics as well as the metaphysics of voice this book was written for you.

I found this book to be a clear and consise contribution to the nature of singing. Sure it is a minority view but an increasingly popular one in my opinion. The author is still teaching so the past tense in the last review whether intended or not, is factually incorrect. For the lay reader you have to put the work in to get something out of this book. Try taking notes. Oh and 12.95 for the paperback most places.