Introduction to the Method

Lesley’s approach to singing is based on practical and applied vocal pedagogy. What does that mean exactly? You can’t improve what you don’t understand. Vocal pedagogy is simply the study of how the voice and body work and how to teach singing based on this knowledge. It is a more scholarly approach because it includes some knowledge of physiology.

If the approach isn’t knowledge-based, things can easily go awry—it won’t stand up to basic scrutiny if the teacher isn’t aware of basic physiology concepts pertaining to the body and the vocal mechanism. The key points include basic anatomy as it relates to singing (which part does what), breathing and breath support, posture, phonation, resonance (projection), vowels, articulation, registers, register changes, range extension, tone quality, vibrato, voice classification, and vocal styles, to name a few.

Sound in general is based on two fundamental points—vibration and amplification. For singers, we know them as phonation and resonance. These are the only two things we get to play with to improve your tone. Both points can be mastered to varying degrees depending on your goal. With Lesley, you’ll study both and gain concrete knowledge of the steps required.

Posture is another important aspect of singing for two specific reasons—it affects both breathing and resonance. We study posture in relation to these points, which in singing is called alignment.

I’m seeing, all too often on the internet, teachers who confuse these fundamental points and ask students to do strange things based on their misunderstanding, like “sing from your diaphragm,” “open your throat,” and “attack in the mask,” to name a few. As your knowledge of your voice increases, these concepts don’t stand up to basic scrutiny and even become comical.

For more information or to book a private lesson, please go to the contact page.