Singing With Style: Jazz Vocal Warm Up & Vocal Style Singing Lessons

Susan Anders (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 10, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Zanna Discs
• ASIN: B000KGGGZ2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,377 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Introduction And Warm Up Tips

2. It Don't Mean A Thing Intro: Face & Throat Loosening And Initial Resonance

3. It Don't Mean A Thing Review: AABA1 Hum, AABA2 Tongue Rolls And/Or Lip Rolls

4. It Don't Mean A Thing

5. Stormy Monday Intro: Breathing And Posture

6. Stormy Monday Review: Wah Wah

See all 29 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Cry Me A River Review: 'Nah' Over The Entire Song

2. Cry Me A River

3. Lullaby Of Birdland Intro: Pitch

4. Lullaby Of Birdland Review: 'Dee' Or 'Dah' On Both Slow And Fast Versions

5. Lullaby Of Birdland Slow Piano Version (Vox Right, Piano Left)

6. Lullaby Of Birdland

See all 35 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. It Don't Mean A Thing Style Work: Scatting With Pentatonic Patterns

2. It Don't Mean A Thing Review

3. It Don't Mean A Thing, Style Version: Refrain 1 Pentatonic Scale + Ornaments & Phrasing, Refrain 2 Different Pentatonic Pattern + Ornaments & Phrasing

4. Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me Style Work: Melodic Alterations

5. Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me Style Work: Rhythmic Changes

6. Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me Review

See all 29 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, systematic program for jazz singers, August 17, 2008

By 

Priscilla Stilwell "Music Is Life..." (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Singing With Style Cd 1: Jazz Vocal Warm Up & Vocal Style Singing Lessons (MP3 Download)

I stumbled on this by mistake here at Amazon, and was thrilled, since I am in the process of recording vocal technique tracks, myself. This course is based on jazz style specifically, and is not going to do much for those wanting to sing classically, but should benefit singers of other "popular" vocal styles. The basic understanding of vocal technique is explained well, and the lessons progress quickly, but the important parts are covered fairly thoroughly.

Susan Anders uses an excellent selection of jazz standards for her lessons, and includes accompaniment (instrumental only) at the end of the course in the last (3rd) CD. This will allow for practice, as well as some performance opportunities.

My concern with the course is twofold:

1. Anders sings with the back of her tongue arched up, which makes her voice sound young, pinched and thin. She speaks of an "inner smile", and also talks about lifting the soft palate, in order to allow for proper resonance. However, with this lifted palate and "inner smile", if the back of the tongue is not relaxed, then it ends up sounding just like Anders. That might be the desire of the singer to create that sound, but it sounded whiny and annoying to me. And it is contradictory to her constant urging to avoid tension, since that is exactly what she is doing!

I would avoid the "inner smile" and instead, lift the upper lip off the teeth just a bit (as if biting into a piece of fruit). This will bring the resonance forward and create a bright timbre without the tension in the throat, which should be relaxed.

If you are unsure about the throat being tense, you can mimic a dog panting, with your tongue resting on your bottom lip, with no tension in the point of the tongue. In this position, sing the phrase on the vowel sounds only, or just on "Ah". If it sounds (or feels) more open, you probably need to do this a while to relax the throat and keep the tongue low in the back of the mouth.

2. Vibrato is assumed to be throat-generated vibrato. No details are given on how to develop vibrato, only advice in how to avoid unhealthy throat vibrato. This is actually a "shake", which is a distortion of the pitch. Vibrato, or "spin" is best produced from the diaphragm, as the breath is being supported, and the throat is open and relaxed. The movement of the air will create a "spin" effect to the sound. This also keeps the throat relaxed and open, since it is not being used to develop the vibrato.

Of course, the reason Anders assumes throat vibrato, and does not address diaphragmatic vibrato is because that is the way she produces her vibrato. In actuality, both of my issues work together. If she corrected one, they would both improve.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great warm up, loved the stylyzing section, November 12, 2008

By 

Songster (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Singing With Style: Jazz Vocal Warm Up & Vocal Style Singing Lessons (Audio CD)

There is a ton of good info on these CDs; I learned a lot from the technique section and the warm up works well, and I'd much rather warm up singing jazz songs than scales. Then there's the second half: I've had a hard time finding anything that covers how to stylize your singing, and Susan explains it all in detail. Really helpful. I have a friend who sings rock and soul and she liked the style section, too, even though Susan uses jazz songs as examples. There's so much in here that I think either a beginning or a pro singer would get something out of it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like taking private lessons!, October 31, 2008

By 

Ben (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Singing With Style: Jazz Vocal Warm Up & Vocal Style Singing Lessons (Audio CD)

Great song selection, lots of tips, and what I really liked was the long section about developing your own vocal style. Just as helpful, but way cheaper than taking weekly private vocal lessons!