Easy now
Hush, love, hush
Don't distress yourself
What's your rush?
Keep your thoughts
Nice and lush
Wait

—WAIT, Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney Todd

I think of Sondeim’s lyric when approached by a singer who is in a hurry to make their mark yet hasn’t worked out their technique.

Oh, what am I? They ask. What should I be singing?

Their vowels are a mess and something is wrong with their top, but man, are they busy end-gaming. The more talented, the more feverish they are in their desire to nail everything down as fast as possible. As I see it, it’s a result of a Conservatory system that has students delving into repertoire from the get-go. They don’t know anything different.

Yes, it’s part of the human condition to want to know what we are and where we fall on the vocal spectrum. Part self-discovery and part economics: how am I going to be able to make a buck?

Francesco Lamperti pushed questions of Fach away, telling students that the voice—when worked on for quality rather than quantity—would reveal itself. He gave it two years and even wouldn’t allow women to sing into the high register before the two-year mark. I ask you: who has that kind of patience today?

My approach, while keeping my eyes and ears on Lamperti’s Truth, is to work on the voice methodically.

I teach the student how to breathe, how to form a beautiful tone, and then we get to work on vowels—spoken and sung—up and down the scale.

Then it takes as long as it takes, repertoire being is the last thing to think about.

Even professional students get put through their paces, especially those who have serious issues. God forbid I should tell anyone to stop singing for six months to work things out, which is what used to be said to students with serious issues. No. I never say that. Why? There are two reasons. 1) I don’t want that kind of responsibility. 2) Life is a great teacher—stand back and she will do her thing.

If you walk into a forest and get lost, I can give you the tools to get out, but I can’t walk back out for you. There is no airlifting, no teleportation, and no magic. Just work. Simple, daily, work. Ten minutes at a time. Multiple times.

Get one vowel right, then two, then three, four, and five. Then work them up and down the scale over two octaves. Then the modified vowels.

Lamperti said that singing was a matter of breath and vowels.

He was right.