Secrets of Singing: Male (Low & High Voice) [With 2 CDs] [Paperback]

Jeffrey Allen (Author, Composer)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1994

A complete step-by-step guide, Secrets of Singing provides everything needed to gain technical and musical vocal mastery. Some of the highlights include: Basic principles of singing, mastery of the upper voice, achieving the power of an open throat, and phrasing and diction on a professional level. The package contains two CDs (one for high voice and one for low voice) and an almost 400-page information-packed book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0769278043
• ISBN-13: 978-0769278049
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 8.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #296,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, May 26, 2000

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"shofar" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of Singing: Male (Low & High Voice) [With 2 CDs] (Paperback)

This is the best instructional book on vocal technique that I have come across. I do a lot of singing at church and I already have many exercises that I do, but the manner in which the author describes how your vocal instrument should feel, the shape of your lips, the imaginary route that the air takes on its way out your mouth, up to the imaginary target for the projection of your voice is outstanding. I feel much more confident of my own voice when I have been practicing the easy to understand techniques that the author furnishes. Novice and pro alike can benefit greatly from this book.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Helpful book, but: don't use it without a vocal coach!, November 15, 2001

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"vocalknowledge" (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of Singing: Male (Low & High Voice) [With 2 CDs] (Paperback)

I'm a singer from The Netherlands. I bought this book in order to sing better. I did all the exercises and read the complete book. I have to say: it gives an answer to a lot of questions about singing. But when I decided to take lessons, my vocal teacher had to begin all over again with me. I thought I was doing things right, yet I had created a lot of tensions in the larynx area instead. So my experience is that you definitely have to have a coach who corrects you. This book is a good manual for experienced and trained singers, but not for beginners! It also speaks to much in imaginary terms like 'singing into the mask', etc. I also think that the yawn-feeling, as described, can be interpreted very quick in a wrong way, so that it causes very easy extra tensions. That sort of things is for beginners very hard to understand by themselves. I was trained in Europe by the Koblenz-method (abspannen = let go of the belly muscles in order to fill with air automatically) and the Pahn-methode (Nasalieren = singing nasal as a tool in order to use the larynx area relaxed). This kind of things I don't find in the book. At the moment I am researching the Speech Level Singing method (SLS) by Seth Riggs and I am still waiting for a good book about the EVTS-method. I heard a lot of good things about it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book DOES help fine tune your voice...no joke., May 8, 2002

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Swedish "ghotifunk" (Utsunomiya, JAPAN) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Secrets of Singing: Male (Low & High Voice) [With 2 CDs] (Paperback)

I haven't even mastered one of the tens of excercises on the included CDs, (you pick one of two depending on your voice), but already I can tell my singing has improved. Allen takes a scientific approach to singing, focusing on sound flow, breathing and other physical ways to project sound. He also looks at singing from a curiously metaphysical (is that the right word?) point of view. He takes it beyond the mental aspects and talks about "imagining" the flow of sound. Controlling the movement of sound waves with your mind, mentally focusing sound waves-he takes an interesting approach that makes learning to sing intriguing, as well as fun. Once you grasp his ideas, you almost immediately hear a change in your voice. His many pointers and tips and tricks and exercises (vocal, breathing and physical) are often times a lot to remember, but at no point does he rush the learner. Nor does he mince words. Many of these kinds of books are filled with random, useless banter-the reader is left questioning why he or she wasted money on it at all. Not Jeff Allen's book. He is clear and to the point, and his studies are actually based on his experience-techniques that actually work.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who really wants to learn how to fine tune their singing voice. From professional singers to those looking for Karaoke confidence it is a great tool to have.
There is a lot of info in this book but you won't get better overnight. Simply reading it will not improve your voice. You have to dedicate yourself to the exercises and techniques to see a change.
That said, though, I give this book 5 stars. Thanks for the tips, Mr. Allen.