Customer Reviews

Vocal Technique - A Guide to Finding Your Real Voice: Book with Two CDs (Essential Concepts)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Some people will not like my review of this book. However, that doesn't change the truth of what I'm about to explain. Dena Murray's book is marketed as a "vocal technique" book for contemporary music, however the "technique" this book does focus on is more the classical training: Keep your larynx low, you're throat open, focus on placement of the Italian vowel sounds, and practice scales to improve pitch and work the registers. This is nothing new, this is the formula that has been applied to train opera singers for many generations and if you want this information then Dena's book does an ok job of putting that form of traditional training together in a nice package here. I say 'ok' because I believe there are better books out there; the techniques that helped me the most are not found here.

Considering that this book is marketed towards popular music vocalist and not traditional/classical singers, I'm giving this two stars. My problem with this book is outside of theater, I think the classical approach, while proven- has become a bit stale. Modern research by Thomas Appell and others have shown the science behind the human voice, we all do not have two registers as Dena states. This is probably what she was told years and years ago and that's why she teaches it, but if you read Appeal's book you'll discover a detailed report of the science of the human voice. Dena seems to dodge middle voice altogether, in this book she says "there is a middle voice, but you need to develop chest and head first". this is the classical training school of thought. Dena's approach is what you want for opera and theater vocals. It's also ok foundation. If your practice the scales she provides and the techniques she presents you're voice will improve. But that's not the bottom line here. There are other systems that will get you there faster, more modern techniques that teach style along with technique.

Dena's classical roots are also revealed in her classification of the registers, you simply calls the head register "falsetto", which implies ignorance. Since falsetto implies a technique (low tension which blows the chords appart to produce an light airy sound), head voice can most certainly also be full voice and not falsetto. This was one of a few red flags found in this book to me. Ms. Murray may be an excellent teacher, she is definitely a good writer, but a lot of her information is just beyond subjectively wrong.

SLS (Speech Level Singing) is a system developed by Seth Riggs, it's a different approach to vocal training than the classical system presented in this book and by classical instructors that's geared for popular music. SLS is not a gimmick as it now the leading system for popular music. Used for almost two decades now by amazing vocalist like: Michael Jackson, Keith Urban, Ozzy Osborne to name a small few. SLS focuses on building middle voice instead of giving it a back seat for months (or years) as Ms. Murray's approach would. "Middle voice" which is really just a SLS term for sweet notes found where the chest and head voice meet is crtical for popular music, you hear popular artist focus there (and seldom jump into head).

Some other problems I have with the material: C1 is presented as "middle C", I would have thought this a misprint except Ms. Murray goes on to talk about it. In case you're wondering "middle C" is commonly known as C4 on a piano. The most disturbing problem I found with Ms. Murray's material was information on vocal range, on her diagrams she shows a tenor should be able to sing from F2 an octave and a half below middle C up to G5, an octave and a half above middle C. This supports her comment that "everyone should have a three octave vocal range", which isn't true. In opera parts written for the Tenor will span from Bb below C3 up to "tenor high C" which is C5. That's just a tad over two octaves and most parts are written from C3-C5. Also almost all popular music for male tenors is between this range as well (actually most popular music stays within an octave and a half).

If you follow her advice you're likely to find yourself feeling inadequate with your range and you're "true voice" will emerge very clean with no color of style. If you want to sing opera this is perfect, if you want to be a rock or pop vocalist you may want to use this material as a foundation that's ok, just realize it's a very light foundation and if you stick with this you'll be a very generic singer. I actually think quite a bit less of the Musicians Institute series after reading this book. To her credit, it's possible Dena Murray's classroom material is distant from this book. There really is no implied connection by her own written words, but it is part of the MIT series, so my comments are not without merit.

My advice: See books by Seth Riggs, Roger Love, Thomas Appell and Jamie Vendera. These guys have current techniques that can be proven. While this book may give you a foundation suitable for move to the next level in any genre, there are better places to start for popular music vocalist.

I've used many vocal method books, some with tapes or CDs, over the last few years - Jeffrey Allen, Seth Riggs, even the classic Marafioti, etc., - and this one is the best. The explanations are clear and helpful, giving you simple objectives to concentrate on while singing along with the exercises on the CD. The section on breathing is revolutionary. It is different from the other methods and seems to result in better pitch control.

The exercises on the CDs are very intense and get your cords warmed up & stretched out quickly. I recommend this book for anyone who's serious about learning to sing.

Dena Murray, one of the head instructors at the Musician's Institute in Hollywood California, introduces a book dedicated to the art of vocal technique. As the name suggests, this is a guide to finding your real voice. The book sticks to the basics, in order to uncover your natural voice, and give the singer a foundation to work upon.

In this 60 page book, Dena focuses on approaching vocal instruction from a standpoint of finding and eliminating "trouble' in the voice. Her expertise lies in the area of taking a voice apart to train or re-train from scratch, in order to teach the singer to strengthen their weaknesses, and free their voice, as opposed to vocal manipulation.

Vocal Technique covers such topics as the voice and how it works, correct vocal placement, vocal registers, and breathing. She states that correct breathing is accomplished when the air flows freely, not squeezed or pushed.

Vocal Technique comes with two CDs. CD one is a series of lessons with guided exercises, illustrations, and tracks for practicing along with. CD two is specifically focused on four vocal exercises, designed to isolate and strengthen the separate registers. Although Dena uses more than 25 different vocal exercises in her practice, for the sake of the book, Dena purposely chose exercises to get the voice flowing. She wanted this book to be simple and easy to understand, as well as educate the beginner, and help each singer begin the path to vocal freedom.

Although this book is excellent for beginners, any vocalist will benefit from Dena's knowledge. If you are having trouble around your break points, Vocal Technique is an excellent book for strengthening the registers and break area. I recommend this book for all vocal enthusiasts.

For any beginner, following exercises in the book may harm your voice. I only recommend this book to the advanced singers who can access their chest voice and head voice(not falsetto) easily.

I have finally learned how to sing! if anyone is serious about learning to sing, they MUST get this book.The content of this book contains SUCH valuable information, information that is crucial to know if you want to be a singer. The Cd's have transformed my voice. At first it felt like my vocal chords were getting a good work out, now they feel strong. I can feel them stretch, I use her Cd's everyday to make my voice stronger and to maintain my newly developed singing capabilities! I was seriously considering giving up singing, then I bought her book and finally learned HOW to sing. It did not take a long time and it was easy and fun.Dena is so knowledgable and has such a passion for the voice, she is also such a wonderful person.
Thank you Dena Murray, You were a God Sent.

I've been through many books about vocal technique and this is the best I have ever read. It's simple to understand and it gives to you a lot of useful and true informations about the voice.
The training program makes sense and the section about breathing is different from any other.
If you are serius about taking care of your voice do a favor to yourself and keep this book with you. It's gold.

Explanation of the singing process is concise and helpful. CD is very good. I saw noticable results immediately. Highly recommend.

This book is user friendly in the sense that it uses everyday language and no difficult terminologies. However, it tries to oversimplified certain aspects of singing such as building your chest voice and your body. There are only 4 scales to practise (plus some little extension to the scales) and you are supposed to improve your singing by just practising those four scales??? In addition, I hurt by my voice by doing the 4th scale which you are supposed to sing by bringing your chest voice as high as possible. As a result, I am suffering from severe sore throat. It's description of what the mouth should be like when singing vowels are not as clear as other books. Unlike other books it gave no advice on auditions, etc. It talks of making your chest voice stronger but did not mention making your head voice stronger. The CD voice is also horrible!! It make me question how good this teacher is if her voice is horrible. I would recommend Jeffrey Allen's "Secrets of Singing" (which is very useful and explain every thing!!). Other books I heard which are quite good are "Contemporary Singer" by Anne Peckham, "Contemporary Vocalist" by Jeannie Deva, and a book by Oren L. Brown. This book may be good for beginners (just maybe, though I am not sure) but for those who are serious about singing, don't buy this book. Anyone who wants my copy can buy from me. I wish I had return this book....

I found this book to be very useful. The author spends time describing the physical process of how the body produces pitches. She concentrates on separating the parts of the body that produces sounds from the parts of the body that resonate the sound. The exercises the work on this separation address how to fix one of the classic problems inexperienced singers have; involving the wrong pats of the body in the creation of the sound. She also describes how proper singing should feel; again aiding an inexperienced singer to know what correct vocal placement and production feels like.
I used this book after spending a great of time studying Seth Riggs very usable book "Singing for the Stars". When studying in this order I found the Dena's book gave me a better understand of what correct breathing and placement should feel like which immediately improved my understanding of how all the notes in may range should feel. The two books together allowed me to improve my technique, save my voice from the adverse effects of improper vocal technique and greatly improve the range of material I can now effortlessly (seemingly) sing. I recommend both!

Bonjour, I live in Switzerland and I am writing a review for the very first time.
I am doing so because I finally found a book on vocal technique that makes sense musically and is in line with the law of nature. Moreover, since any book on music has its own limits, I was lucky enough to be able to initiate with Mrs Murray, online vocal lessons that are an incredibly effective complement to the book. Everything read in the book suddenly takes place in your own voice with the Dena's powerful ear (even though she's sitting six thousand miles away!!!). I therefore highly recommend to go through the book once on your own, then, if necessary, to take one or two lessons to secure the points you're not so sure about. Enjoy!