Singing Voice Training with David Delaney

Speaking and singing: the same exact physiological mechanism…

The approach to singing voice that I was taught and that I now pass on to others- no matter what style they wish to sing (pop, rock, broadway, opera, rap) comes from the Italian School of Singing Voice Training called the Bel Canto School.  In his book, Caruso’s Method of Voice Production (1937)Dr. Mario Marifiotti establishes historically that there was a split in this tradition when Opera began to demand true emotion versus beautiful tone (when the focus is on beautiful tone, the words can’t always be understood and words are curcial to singing).  In this book he says that when real emotions were suddenly being asked for, many singers lost their voices because without scientific and physiological approach to singing, force caused eventual vocal fold problems (or what used to be called vocal chord problems) .

So these singers who began to have these vocal difficulties, in order to continue to earn a living, and understandably, began to teach.  This is where the Bel Canto School split into a non-physiological versus a physiological approach.

I was fortunate enough to have studied Margaret Riddleberger from 1979 through 2001.  I was an actor/singer in New York City and after graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, I was looking for further singing-voice training because of the fierce competition and level of talented individuals I was coming up against in auditions.   Margaret is one of the inheritors of this physiological approach, which she and I then developed further through my studies and research into functional anatomy, massage, movement, and the field of psychology and trauma resolution.  Over a twenty year period, we accumulated an anatomical model which describes exactly what happens psychologically in order to develop a strong, clear resonant voice that is never forced and thus will NOT produce vocal problems.

Singing is singing is singing…

Anyone who sings can benefit from this approach to singing voice, no matter what style or form you sing because it is scientific, though equally important it is rooted in the vocal art developed and scientifically modeled in the Bel Canto School in Italy.   We are not the only ones who teach this approach but we are the only ones who can show anatomically exactly what needs to happen (and not happen) in order to discover the higher use of the voice that many never discover on their own because of physical defense mechanisms.

Below are the basic principles of physiological voice production, without which, no-one can achieve a relaxed and natural singing voice. This is based on my 30 years professional experience.  This approach is also known and taught by others approaches as ‘talk-singing’  because speaking and singing are the same exact physiological mechanism.

Dr. Mario Marafioti’s principles:

First Principle

Voice is speech, and is produced by the mouth, not by the vocal cords. The vocal cords produce only sounds (primative vibrations) which are transformed into vowels and consonants by a phonetic process taking place in the mouth, and giving origin to the voice.

Second Principle

The full extension of the natural range of the voice is produced only by using the minimum tension of the vocal chords and the minimum breath required for each tone. This establishes a correct mechanism of voice production.

Third Principle

Breath is an indispensable factor in voice production, but it is not the essential power which develops the voice as it is taught today. On the contrary, the function of singing develops the breathing apparatus and its power,  just as any physiological function develops the organ from which it takes origin. Therefore, singing develops breathing, not breathing, singing.

Fourth Principle

Resonance is the most important factor in voice production. It furnishes to the voice volume and quality, and emphasizes it loudness. To rely on resonance rather than on force is essential for producing a big and pleasing voice.

Fifth Principle

Speaking and singing are similar functions, produced by the same physiological mechanism; therefore they are the same vocal mechanism.

The speaking voice acts as the substantial factor of the singing voice and constitutes its real support. Singing, it its very essence, is merely speaking in musical rhythm; hence no correct singing can exist without a correctly produced speaking voice.

Sixth Principle

There are no registers in the singing voice, when it is correctly produced. According to natural laws the voice is made up of only one register which constitutes its entire range.

Dr. P. Mario Marafiotti’s Principle of Voice Production from his book, Caruso’s Method of Voice Production: The Scientific Culture of the Voice, (1937) Published by Dover Books