Dealing with and refuting a conservatory vocal minor

marbalicious

Hello there,

 As you can guess I've been having a bit of a debate with a friend who minored in vocals at Oberlin and I'm having a bit of trouble refuting him, predominantly because of my lack of knowledge in the anatomy of the voice. I highly suspect that the information he has been fed is either false or obsolete, the reason being he claims that women do not have adam's apples, which anyone can refute by simply looking at any woman's neck, alongside the claim that the third area of the voice is called throat voice, resonating in the throat, which to me makes no sense as that will just give you a muffled sound

Also any other claims that "classically" trained singers/teachers make that are detrimental to the develop of one's voice that you could bring up and refute would also be appreciated.

Thanks again

highmtn

marbalicious,

You will never be able to convince your friend that they are wrong if they have already convinced themself that they are right. 

Both men and women have a larynx.  A woman's larynx is anatomically the same, but smaller in diameter.  The vocal cords are shorter.  The trachea in a woman is a smaller diameter.  It is correct that the term "Adam's Apple" is in reference to the large lump seen in many men.  A more stout man may not have the pronounced lump, but that person still has a larynx.  You might correctly say that a plump person, male or female has no "Adam's Apple" because there is no prominence on the throat. One could humorously say that women have an "Eve's Apple" that is not very visibly predominant.  Call it what you want to and be OK with that.  It's just terminology.  Terminology should be to help us understand, not to show others that they are wrong.

Perhaps what your friend is referring to as "throat voice" is what others refer to as "Call Voice". 

Your friend probably knows a lot about the voice.  Perhaps they don't like modernized versions of vocal study and implementation.  That is a choice they are allowed to make, what they like and what they dislike. 

Be happy and confident in the knowledge that your KTVA training is well-founded in Bel Canto principles at the fundamental and rudimental levels. In addition to that KTVA goes far beyond the boundaries of classical training and extends into modern applications that exceed and excel into realms unattainable through the limitations of the old ways.  Your friend may never learn safe and effective ways to exponentially grow their voice past their current limitations and learn to SAFELY belt, wail, rock out, AND sing classically until they choose to look outside of the closed world they currently refuse to see or hear beyond.

Let's hope that their curiosity will help them to open their eyes, ears, and mind to a wonderful universe that they presently don't want to acknowledge.

Bob