Is KTVA suitable for a Choral Student?

alancr

I purchased the full How To Sing set a couple of months ago. My daughter (11) sings very well. She mostly sings pop, but is also in choir at school. The school is offering paid voice lessons for their student. Since I already purchased How To Sing, my thought was that I could just let her watch the videos and do the diva workouts. For a choral student, do you think this would be a good program? If possible, it would be great to have her be well rounded enough that she could sing different styles, including choral. Any thoughts?

Alan

highmtn

Ken's program will definitely improve her singing. KTVA is primarily about how to be a soloist singer. In other words, choir directors want everyone to blend into one big background. Ken's technique, in general, makes you stand out. That said, most choirs have soloists, and they are usually people who are just "natural" singers. Even if your daughter isn't a "natural" gifted singer, people who hear her after being trained may think she is a "natural-born singer". When not being asked to solo, a choir member is expected to blend back in with everybody else. That's pretty easy to learn to do, as long as you understand what it is the choir wants from you and you give that to them. They want team singers. If they feel she is part of the team and can contribute, it's a big plus.

Also, you can learn Ken's techniques, and bridge into head voice early, instead of stretching chest voice. Choirs want soft, blended voices. They want "airy" singing, which helps the voices to blend. That is not the healthiest way to sing, but it is accepted as the norm in choir situations.

The trick in a choir is to blend-in, and that is done with softer, airy sounds that are less useful for solo singing. Those techniques are fine for background singing, and again, choir is all about blending into the background.

If she trains on Ken's program, she will most likely improve her range by quite a bit. That's useful for choirs, as she will be more versatile than others. She will learn different tones. That will be of value in choir, at times. She will know a lot more about singing than the average choir member, which could be advantageous.

Many people come here, being formal choir students with no other training in singing. This would be the opposite situation.

Learn what the choir director wants out of the individuals in the choir and keep that in mind while expanding the range of the voice and learning better breath control. Give them what they want, and have more to give when they want that. That's the best of both worlds.

KTVA will definitely help with her pop interests. She has to supply the motivation to make it all happen.

: ^)

All the Best.


Bob

alancr

Thanks Bob. She is definitely what I would consider a natural born singer. When she was around 4 years old, she sounded like a trained Disney star. It's just never been much of an effort for her. As she has gotten older, her voice is somewhere between alto and second soprano. Only being 11, I realize that this could change in either direction.

It sounds like you are saying that Ken's program would have some benefits (range, power, support, etc.) that could translate into any style of singing. However, she should also make a point to practice the art of blending, which means adapting to other voices she is singing with. Correct?

For what it's worth, my wife and I both encouraged her to do choir. Not because we would want to push her in the direction of classical music. But rather to give her something else to help improve her versatility, as she is also able to use her pop singing on a regular basis. Thanks for your quick response.

Jodi

Sorry to disrupt you!I want to say,I am working in the theater as an opera singer.The classical music is more difficult than pop music.