BEL CANTO VOCAL TECHNIQUE
Welcome to the Shigo Voice Studio
Bel Canto, meaning beautiful singing, is an operatic vocal style originating from the courts of Florence and Venice. It features both the vocal technique and principles of this style.
The Bel Canto style of singing developed in three waves. The first wave emerged during the late Renaissance, with the teachings of Palestrina, Caccini, and Pistocchi. The second wave developed during the Italian Baroque, with the instruction of Scarlatti, Porpora, and Bernacchi. Finally, the third wave found its full flowering during the Romantic Era within the schools of Garcia and Lamperti.
Shigo Voice Studio's teaching methods are based on Anna Eugénie Schoen-René's documented teachings. She was a student of Francesco Lamperti and a certified exponent of Pauline Viardot-Garcia and Manuel Garcia.
Bel Canto Vocal Training
Bel Canto vocal training begins with learning how to breathe and hold your instrument, then proceeds with the formation of tone, pure vowels, and vocalization.
Opera singers master key Bel Canto vocal techniques; including portamento, legato, sostenuto, staccato, marcato, mezza voce, messa di voce, crescendo, decrescendo and trill, as well as three schools of vocalization: Spianato, Fiorito, and Declamato. This training leads to role study, career development, and artistic and personal fulfillment.
The Bel Canto style has the power to transform not only your voice but also your life, as well as those who listen. You’ll have techniques that create a beautiful, ringing tone that slices through an orchestra with unusual clarity, fullness, and depth.
Flexible Technique
Bel Canto vocal training will enable you to speak and sing in multiple vocal styles without compromising vocal function. It will make your voice flexible, strong, and resilient enough to vocalize with full voice for up to 3 hours without fatigue.
Bel Canto's vocal technique provides the singing actor with a template for complete artistic freedom, expression of emotional truth, and profound interpretive ability.
As a matter of technique, the great teachers of the past warned against two things: singing through the nose and in the throat. What did they teach? The singer who sings from the center of the head and towards the lips—fior di labbra—can sing anything.
Ertinger, Franz, 1640-ca. 1710. A scene from Act V of Lully's opera Amadis premiered January 18, 1684, at the Paris Opéra. Depicts the palace of Apollidon. Portal with inscription Arc des loyaux amants. Three figures; one pushes open the door with a sword, revealing flames.
“Singing is seventy-five percent technique.”
Principles of Bel Canto
The Italian tone is formed in the mouth and controlled by the ear.
The bel canto singer sings from the head down.
The basis of singing is the chest.
The pelvis is the basis of breathing.
Bel Canto involves listening for feeling and a feeling for listening.
The Italian singer has no throat.
AH is the father of vowels.
A perfect vowel combines AH, EE, and OO.
The Bel Canto-trained voice has a bell-like, ringing, and telling quality and carries throughout an auditorium without effort or amplification.
Benefits of Bel Canto training
Absolute vocal technique.
Prevent vocal problems and nodules.
Extend vocal range to two octaves and beyond.
Equalize registers, heal breaks and increase dynamic range.
Sing and speak with one voice.
Sing with great ease, freedom of expression, and beauty of tone.
Sing without amplification and without losing your voice.
Vocalize in multiple genres without losing your way.
Establish the foundation to become a great artist.
Sing with a youthful-sounding voice for your whole life.
Bel Canto solves problems
Do you have multiple degrees but not fundamental techniques? Have you had many teachers but been left with the same vocal problems? Can you name all the muscles of the larynx but cannot sing? Is your teaching system failing you and your students?
Did you go to a conservatory and end up hating music? Have you lost the joy of singing? Have Young Artist Programs used you up? Do you want to be able to make a beautiful tone that moves your listener? Do you want to find your unique voice?
How long does it take to learn Bel Canto?
Learning Bel Canto is like learning a language: the quicker the ear, the faster the progress. Technical mastery precedes the study of repertoire and roles. Classical singers, especially, make a long-term investment. Learn Garcia and Lamperti's vocal techniques and submit your New Client Application.
Aveele, Johannes van den, d. 1727. A scene from Act I of Lully's opera Amadis premiered at the Paris Opéra on January 18, 1684. Proscenium and curtains, five performers at the edge of the stage, and the palace of the father of Oriane in the background.