by Michael Mayer | Jul 1, 2012 | David Jones, Fach
I know I’ve been out of touch for a while and some of you are noticing. I know this because you’ve told me. So I’m going to get back to business and share with you what is new with me. In late May I had a pretty exciting experience. My mentor, David...
by Michael Mayer | Jun 29, 2012 | Balanced Function, Fatigue, Glottal/Cord Closure, Q&A, Raspy Voice
Hi Michael I’d love to ask a question. I’m a soprano, hedging towards full lyric with coloratura. I always lose my voice after singing. It feels like my cords get swollen and my voice goes up in pitch and gets scratchy and I lose my tone and lower end; and...
by Michael Mayer | May 16, 2012 | Vocal Abuse, Vocal Health
I have a research paper coming up, and my subject of choice is vocal abuse in modern society. In order to be able to write about this, I not only need to know examples of vocal abuse and what the consequences are, but also WHY certain activities cause fatigue or...
by Michael Mayer | May 7, 2012 | Q&A
There are some things about singing that I am not completely understanding. I studied voice for 4 years as a baritone. This past fall, I went to grad school and switched to tenor, as I knew that I was never really a baritone. What I am not exactly getting is how to...
by Michael Mayer | Apr 28, 2012 | Testimonial
I received this testimonial from a college singer that I have worked with 3 or 4 times. She has a regular teacher at school and wanted to see me to figure out a few things that just weren’t working for her. She told me about her experiences with some of the...
by Michael Mayer | Apr 18, 2012 | Singing Success Tips
Singing Success Tips is a series of posts discussing non-vocal aspects of being a successful singer. “You can avoid reality. But you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.” – Ayn Rand I saw this quote the other day and thought it is...
by Michael Mayer | Apr 3, 2012 | Testimonial
This is a testimonial from a professional soprano in London. We have worked together for three 2+ hour sessions. We had a break and now are starting back up again. I promise she is real, but her Manager advised that she not have her name published. I am totally OK...
by Michael Mayer | Mar 17, 2012 | Classical Singer, Singer Spotlight, Tenor
In recognition of St. Patrick’s Day I’ll highlight the most well-known Irish singer, tenor John McCormack. From Wikipedia: John Count McCormack, in full, John Francis Count McCormack (14 June 1884 – 16 September 1945) was a world-famous Irish tenor singer,...
by Michael Mayer | Mar 8, 2012 | Dark Resonance, Open Throat, Yawn
This is the title of a section from the book “Vocal Wisdom” that was my main inspiration into vocal research. It is an organized collection of quotes from lessons with Giovanni Battista Lamperti. It is interesting that even in that time (1891-1893) there...
by Michael Mayer | Jan 6, 2012 | Dark Resonance, Facial Resonance, Low Larynx, Open Throat, Video
My previous post stirred up quite a bit of activity. That’s great. Pretty much everybody who commented was of the opinion that the demonstration of how to sing opera was severely misguided. That is also a very good thing. But I want to go deeper into this topic...
by Michael Mayer | Dec 25, 2011 | Uncategorized
I received this story in a newsletter and wanted to share it. There is something inspiring in it, at least to me. Plus, it tells the story of how one of the most loved Christmas stories came to be. Hope everyone had a nice holiday....
by Michael Mayer | Dec 18, 2011 | Free Production, Natural Singing
I came across this on YouTube while looking at different vocal instruction videos. I’m just sampling what is out there because I’m working on launching a video instruction service. I saw the headline “How To Sing Opera – Lesson 1 – The...
by Michael Mayer | Dec 7, 2011 | Balanced Function, Low Larynx, Q&A, Uncategorized
I am an old man, nevertheless I still enjoy singing and I can throw down a good Di Provenza or Valentin Aria. My question is that all my life my singing teachers and fellow singers kept telling me that the voice should be placed high and forward. So I tried to place...
by Michael Mayer | Nov 16, 2011 | Facial Resonance, Placement, Q&A
I have been having contradictions about “voice placement“, some encouraging forward placement during singing, while others even stating that there is nothing like placement, either forward or ‘backward‘. Plus, I have been trying to train my soprano and tenor singers...
by Michael Mayer | Sep 11, 2011 | 9/11, Uncategorized
Today is the tenth anniversary of the day the world changed. At least that is what many are calling it. And I guess it is an accurate description. It certainly changed my world. You can never really know what things would be like if your life took a different path,...
by Michael Mayer | Aug 12, 2011 | Glottis, Phonation, Q&A, Vocal Fry
Had a conversation with another teacher today and she said the following: “When the folds ‘fry’, they rattle against each other – this is why it is also called glottal scrape – and there is a lack of periodicity in their vibratory...
by Michael Mayer | Jul 20, 2011 | Baritone, Classical Singer, Singer Spotlight
Today’s Spotlight is on another singer that sang with Jussi Björling and also recently died. Here is his bio from Wikipedia: Cornell MacNeil (September 24, 1922 – July 15, 2011), was an American operatic baritone known for his exceptional voice and long career...
by Michael Mayer | Jul 11, 2011 | David Jones, Q&A, Swedish/Italian School
Hello Michael. There’s something I’ve wondered about for a while, and it stems from me having been an eager reader of both your blog and David Jones’ online articles for a long while. I’ve read through all of Mr. Jones’ articles at least...
by Michael Mayer | Jul 4, 2011 | Uncategorized
Here in the States we are celebrating the birth of our country. I just wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe celebration with friends and family. I am now back to my normal schedule after being away much of the last two weeks. So if you have been waiting for a...
by Michael Mayer | Jun 22, 2011 | Testimonial
I was humbled but excited to receive this Testimonial from a client yesterday. ——————————————————————— I am a singer in the Los...
by Michael Mayer | Jun 21, 2011 | Mask, Nasal Resonance, Nasality, Q&A
After the discussion about my last post I realized that the question that was asked in the initial email had something to do with the way I reacted. Plus it is a question that I’m sure others probably have as well. So that is the Q&A for today, in context...
by Michael Mayer | Jun 17, 2011 | Career Development, Professional Behavior, Voice Teacher
Some time ago I received an email from someone who found my site. They had a question about a technical issue they were having difficulty with. But they also went on to ask me to validate my assertions so they could “subscribe to my philosophy”. I want to...
by Michael Mayer | Jun 11, 2011 | Glottal/Cord Closure, Passaggio, Q&A, Registers
I was wondering if you could give me some ideas about making a smooth transition from middle voice to chest in a song. I find it no problem if there is a jump down, but extremely clunky if I am singing a scale down. This is made more difficult by the fact that the...
by Michael Mayer | Jun 6, 2011 | Q&A, Rock Singing
I recently started performing with a group here in Georgia and although the band is very loud, how do I sing without damaging my voice so that people in the audience can hear me as the lead vocalist? Thank you, sir....
by Michael Mayer | Jun 2, 2011 | Bass, Classical Singer, Singer Spotlight
I am beginning a new feature on my blog. I’m calling it “Singer Spotlight”. In it I will feature a singer that either is well-known or I feel should be known. I will include YouTube videos to hear examples and I will contribute my observations. As I...
by Michael Mayer | May 8, 2011 | Breathing, Posture, Q&A, Support
While we are still on the discussion of “normal breathing” versus “breathing for the purpose of singing,” I should bring up something that has puzzled me for a while now. One popular method of breathing and supporting nowadays seems to be “belly breathing,” where the...
by Michael Mayer | Apr 28, 2011 | Projection, Q&A
Throughout my vocal training I have had a hard time projecting my voice. My difficulty with this has cost me a few positions in smaller vocal ensembles. My main vocal focus is Jazz and secondary Musical Theatre. I want to make singing a career and would like to know...
by Michael Mayer | Apr 24, 2011 | Promotions
Happy Easter to everyone. As a special promotion I am offering a free recorded consultation for anyone who subscribes to the blog. Just fill in the form on the right side of any page to subscribe. If you want to take advantage of the free recorded consult, email me...
by Michael Mayer | Apr 14, 2011 | Big Voice, Connection, Forcing, Q&A
Hello I am a faithful follower of your blog and advices, I can’t tell you how much you helped me with your writings. It is very helpful to know what we should feel at body levels when singing. I have a couple questions I am very concerned about the size of my...
by Michael Mayer | Apr 12, 2011 | Q&A, Registers, Resonance Line Up
Hello! I took voice lessons for about 5 years…I had a 2 1/2- 3 octave range..was told I was a lyric soprano. I always wanted to sing operatically..I was told the difference is creating a more round sound. How does one accomplish this? Also I have a very hard...
