Monday, November 09, 2015

How Do I recognize which singers have VOCAL FREEDOM?

When a singer has true VOCAL FREEDOM, a number of physiological aspects of his or her singing will be evident to the trained listener. The singer’s vocal mechanism is not overcome with years of phlegm buildup. The singer’s breath, vocal cords and resonators will be operating in effortless synchronicity with one another. The singer will move about the full register of his or her voice without stumbling at the "bridge" (in Italian "passagio"). These are all very technical aspects of singing, but I must tell you with all earnestness that you will not notice these physiological aspects when a singer with true VOCAL FREEDOM performs.

When a singer has true VOCAL FREEDOM he or she won’t give a thought to a single technical or physiological aspect of singing during performance– not even a fraction of a thought. And neither you nor I would notice the technicalities, either.

When a singer has true VOCAL FREEDOM, the first thing that you or I would notice is that the singer has immediately caught the attention of the audience and touched them deep within their hearts. That singer is focused on TELLING THE STORY, and we are hearing that story without anything getting in the way.

VOCAL FREEDOM allows the singer’s true art to come through to the listener. VOCAL FREEDOM is achieved by allowing the subconscious mind to coordinate the singer’s physiology without having any effort of the conscious mind (and especially the self-conscious mind) impede the flow of expression.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The path to vocal freedom has been the most important choice I have ever made in my life. Through Frank and Edwins guideance in singing I have experienced so much freedom which is also helping me in other areas of my life. I didnt know this before but everyone has this gift inside them and I originally worried what people would think of me if I said I would like to be a singer, a real one that is.
I have discovered another world which is quite rich - classical composers I never knew before and now love, I even read about them and the great artists, they are truely inspiring and it is my dream to bring this art alive and inspire others also.
I am so lucky to have this school available to me in Dublin, I'd cross mountains and rivers to get here (like in the Guinness ad recently).
Both Frank and Edwin continuously demonstrate for their students and it is really exciting each time I move forward in expressing myself in a truer sense. I am also grateful to the students I study with in Bel Canto School because they also have helped me many times in my study by the progress they make themselves and from which I also learn, their encouragement and especially the joy they express when I use my singing Knowledge to its fullest. All this has been made possible by Frank Merriman who has dedicated his whole life solely to True Story Telling and being Real.
I understand that Frank is working on a book that will soon be complete and I am really looking forward to this as the rest of the world will have an opportunity to learn what I have been lucky to discover. Heres to more great animated Story Telling.
Caroline Cunningham

Anonymous said...

Hi Frank

I am enjoying your website and I am reading that you have written a Book about Vocal Freedom and what you teach. Can you please tell me when this Book will be coming out, I would love to read it.

Thank you

Frank Merriman said...

Dear Caroline and Anonymous:

Thank you so very much for your kind words. I appreciate your participation in this blog site and I hope you will come back often to share your own experiences with singing and the ways that singing makes your life richer. Everyone has something important to contribute.

You are both correct that I have been doing quite a bit of work to write about my contributions to the art of Bel Canto singing and my (nearly) forty years of experience teaching singers to free their gifts. This blog is one of my efforts to make the information about Bel Canto and Vocal Freedom available to as many people as possible, and I am working other things such as articles and longer works-- a book is a real possibility but I have nothing to announce in that vein. Up until recently all of my contributions to the pool of knowledge about singing and artistry have been in spoken form only-- in speaking engagements, lectures, master classes, radio appearances and so forth for over thirty years. My focus has always been on imparting real knowledge to singers rather than drawing too much attention just to myself.

In time more of my written work will be available in various forms. But for now THERE IS A BOOK THAT I WANT YOU TO READ.

You won’t find it on any bookshelf or in any bookstore. The book is inside yourself. If you learn to read that book you will be a very rich human being. Therein lies the true key to great singing, and it belongs to YOU!!

Keep singing and telling your story! YOUR gift is very important.

--FRANK