Warning: If you're not a singer, then this will DEFINITELY be boring! lol
As I gain more notoriety as a vocal coach, I find myself being asked more and more questions about whom I studied with, how long did it take me to reach my current level of 'expertise,' and how I ended up developing "The Arceneaux Approach" to singing. So here's the story of my voice...
At the age of 12, I began to realize that I enjoyed singing a lot more than the average person did. Unfortunately, at the time, I didn't actually sound much better than the average person did. So, I decided that I would practice until my voice was perfect. I joined both my church choir and my high school choir, and I even formed a singing group with some friends. On top of all that, I would practice for hours on end, every single day. Then one day, at the age of 14, I received THE WORST piece of vocal advice ever: I was told by a choir director that, "Singing is like lifting weights. You push until your voice gets tired, and then it heals back even stronger." Now at this time, I had no prior formal musical training whatsoever. As far as I - an inexperienced 14 year old - was concerned, this choir director was an expert. So, not only did I listen intently to her advice, but I put it into practice every single day. At choir rehearsal, at school, and at group rehearsals with my friends, I would belt out with all my might until I was hoarse (or at least a little husky). Of course, it didn't feel too pleasant, but I really thought that it was the only way to strengthen my voice... until I began to notice that I was going hoarse faster and faster with each rehearsal. Finally, the inevitable happened... I woke up one morning, barely able to speak. At first, my parents told me it was just a cold or sinus infection, but I didn't feel sick at all. I went to a throat specialist and was diagnosed with nodules - callouses that develop on the vocal folds from misuse, that make it difficult for the folds to close properly to produce sound.
The doctor told me that I had two options - surgery or voice lessons. I chose voice lessons. Before this happened, I had always thought of voice lessons as being reserved for opera singers or Broadway stars. So I wasn't exactly excited about working with a voice teacher. After all, I surely didn't want to sound like Pavarotti... I wanted to sound like Wanye Morris, from Boyz II Men! ...still... The fact remained that I couldn't sound like either one of those guys, if I had no voice at all. So I began reluctantly studying voice, at the age of 14, under the guidance of David Malisaint. David Malisaint taught a singing method based on the same principles of Seth Rigg's Speech Level Singing technique (SLS). This is the same vocal technique used by such vocalists such as Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, the late Luther Vandross, Josh Groban, Beyonce, Anita Baker, Mario, Shanice Wilson and many others.
This technique barely focuses at all on breathing or the diaphragm. SLS strictly focuses on training the vocal folds themselves. My work with David Malisaint was life changing. With him, not only did I make a full vocal recovery, but I learned that I didn't have to yell in order to reach high notes.
My lessons with David consisted almost entirely of vocalizing through various scales. From start to finish, throughout the entire hour, I would sing scales... with occasional water breaks (room temperature water, of course). I was confused at first, because I had been led to believe that singing for extended periods of time automatically caused vocal damage. I had damaged my voice once already, and I was paranoid about it happening again. David would tell me, "It's not how long you sing; it's how you sing." He was the first to teach me that singing scales could be therapeutic and that - if done right - it could even restore a hoarse voice. In fact, he ended my doctor mandated vocal rest and demanded that I vocalize daily for AT LEAST 20 minutes.
Every scale and syllable had one purpose - to strengthen the transition between my chest and head voice registers. That transition area, referred to as the "passagio" or "mixed voice" was the foundation of my studies at that time. The idea was that, if that bridge between my chest voice and head voice was strong, then my entire voice would be strengthened. One huge help in understanding this approach was the practice of doing scales at a pianissimo dynamic level (very soft volume). This took the weight off of my chest voice and allowed me to blend seamlessly into my head voice. Before my studies with David, I would always strain and then flip into a weak falsetto. After a few weeks of vocalizing with him, however, I could sing seamlessly throughout my entire range - there were no flips, cracks, or breaks.
I studied at David Malisaint's studio for about two years. There are 2 main lessons that I took away from my work with him: 1) Daily vocal exercise is of the utmost importance. 2) Healthy/free high notes result from "releasing" your voice into your upper range, rather than "pushing" it there.
Everyone noticed the change in my voice: I began to get solos in my church choir, I became the lead singer in my R&B group, and girls asked me to sing to them in the courtyard at lunch (seriously... lol). But my studies weren't over yet. Yes, my voice was healthy now. My tone was clear, and I had a fairly wide range. However, my voice lacked the POWER of the singers that I looked up to. I wanted to be able to belt with force and intensity, and I knew that there had to be a way to accomplish this vocal feat. My work with David made me realize that there were people out there who knew things about how to remove limitations from the voice, and I became determined to find those people.
...Read Chapter 2: "My Adventures In The Pretentious World Of Classical Music"