This is soooooooooo unfortunate.

I am a soprano with a 'big' voice who at an early age was confined to the alto and sometimes the tenor sections of the choir. When I got to college it was very difficult for me to sing higher than d fourth line because of my earlier training. During college and after my voice teachers worked hard with my voice to extend the range. It was like lifting 100 lb weights. I ultimately sang for a few years in the Met Opera chorus. 

As a teacher of high school students I always vocalize the full range of the voice. Just as dance teachers carefully stretch the body, we should carefully stretch the voice when it is young. A well trained voice can sing any style of music including Broadway.

Good luck. 

Yes, Maggie, she is interfering with your job. But I'm sure she feels that doing so is an important part of HER job.

 

The question is whether you know her teaching well enough to respect it, and trust her to be looking after her students' best interests. From your post, I suspect that you aren't quite sure about this. The easy answer, of course, is that her students should not be cast in roles that require range that they cannot sing, rather than rewriting the music to suit their permitted range, but the easy answers are seldom the good answers!

 

I agree completely with Patricia that warmups should cover the entire range, with the caveat that nobody should EVER be asked to do anything the hurts. (That's natures way to say, "STOP! You're doing something very wrong!"

 

Not allowing her students to sing above c'' IN CHEST VOICE seems pretty reasonable to me. In fact I'm not sure I'd let them belt above an a' or bb'. But if she is not teaching them to access and use their upper registers, she is doing them no favor, just as Patricia says.

 

I have nothing against the use of chest voice or belt techniqe in the proper place, IF the voice is healthy, and musical theater is one place where it is expected and accepted. I AM against anyting that strains the voice--which belting does by definition--and can lead to vocal health problems. But the way to help young singers is not to restrict the range, but to expand it with healthy vocal production, which does NOT need to ban the use of chest register. It's part of the human female voice. (I'm sure there are voice teachers who will disagree with this, but my bottom line is the every human voice is unique and different, and has to be taken AND TRAINED on its own abilities and needs.)

 

John

 

 

I think it is wrong for singers to focus on only one style of singing at such a young age.  I do believe in teaching students how to manage the chest voice wisely, since students are going to sing repertoire from musical theater anyway, and it's better to have some guidance than none.  But I believe this voice teacher is guilty of malpractice in that young singers need to try and establish the full potential of their vocal production.  At the college level I have seen many students who struggled to develop their natural ranges after having only used chest voice in high school, and also students who have had to give up singing altogether due to vocal damage.

 

Stick up for yourself, and for the music.  Your students should learn that their voice teacher is limiting their performance options rather than expanding them. 

 

Ben Locke

Kenyon College

Dear Maggie,

  I fully agree with John and the others. This teacher is dooming many of these voices for early demise. There is much here to loathe.

In these tender years, the exploration of the voice is essential and the a young woman's voice does simply not "top out" at the c above

middle c. All of my young singers, over the course of weekly lessons and daily rehearsals which began with real pedigogy not just warm-ups,

were able to negotiate their e-f ish passagio very well. I did not allow them to fear THE BREAK but I did teach every singer breathing, focus

and support. In thirty years of teaching young choirs, I have had perhaps four truly low voices (not just truncated ranges). The rest of the sopranos

and altos were singers of parts as they developed into singers.

S

 It is important to keep lines of communication open with the private teacher/coach.

 

Part of the discussion with her is talking about using light mechanism with all students to give them another tool for their tool kits, thereby making them more marketable.  Singers need to be versatile. Symphony Chorus altos have some very high notes, for example.

 

Yes, typing is restrictive.  I tell most of my young students, "It is too early to call you an alto (tenor, baritone, soprano, bass).  It is our responsibility to fully investigate and explore your _[put student's name here]_ voice.  That is what you are right now, a_[put student's name here]_ voice. When it comes time to put you into a role, or voice part, then we will see what fits what we have found. Your voice is still maturing and won't reach its full maturity for several years.  Even professional singers sometimes change fach in the middle of their careers." 

 

I work my "altos" high and my "sopranos" low, being very aware as you are to  "emphasize proper

 

To all of you who responded to my post:

I am incredibly grateful for the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of your replies. Very helpful!
Many thanks,

Maggie