Speesh Level Singing

Foreword

The wide diversity of singing styles that exists in the world today demands a singing technique—a way of using your voice—that can be applied in the performance of all those styles. If a singing technique can't be applied to every style of singing, something is wrong with that technique. That's the premise we began with when Alfred Publishing Company's editors and I discussed thedevelopment of a totally new kind of book about singing. We wanted to do something that had never been done before—publish a book that actually taught people how to sing. But where would we find the author? There was only one person I knew of who could fill such a tall order—Seth Riggs, considered by many to be the best and most successful voice teacher in the United States. He is certainly thebusiest. No other teacher, past or present, has ever matched his phenomenal track record. His students are a veritable "Who's Who" of singers, actors, dancers, and entertainers throughout the world. When you first meet Seth Riggs, you are overwhelmed by his dynamic personality, his flair for the outspoken, but most of all, his sense of purpose—his "mission" to clean up the mess being made of singers'voices by voice teachers in schools, colleges, and private studios everywhere. The day I met with Seth about the possibility of putting his method in writing so more people could benefit from his work, his initial reaction was, "Impossible,— you can't learn to sing from a book!" Well, I could understand his point of view. When Seth Riggs teaches, it's strictly on a one-to-one basis. He quicklydiagnoses a singers's vocal problems and then prescribes specific exercises to correct those problems. It's a very individual process, one not easily adapted to the printed page. But we decided to give it a try. It had to be done. I proceeded to do my research and to observe him closely over a period of several months, trying to find a general or systematic approach to something that, there was noquestion about it, was working miracles! The first time I sat in on a lesson, I thought I had gone to singers' heaven! Seth had his students doing incredible things with their voices—things you would have thought only those with a great natural gift could do. In the weeks that followed, most of the students I observed weren't even part of the "star" clientele he has become so famous for. But theysounded like stars. Like so many others, these singers—young and old—had struggled unsuccessfully for years with other "voice teachers" to increase their range and * See Appendix for a listing of his clientele on pg. 138.

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improve their tone quality. With Seth Riggs, however, the results were very different, and achieved in a very short time. You see, the Riggs method is application.Although he likes his students to understand the basic principles underlying his method, he feels that just telling you how your voice works does nothing to help you sing. You have to know how to get it to work! Well, finally the "impossible" had been accomplished. The manuscript was complete, as well as an audio tape that actually demonstrates how to do the exercises used in the training program. Yet,something wasn't right. Oh, it was all there—the theory, the exercises, all the facts. But that special quality of the man you experience between the actual moments of instruction—his charisma, if you like—was missing. To remedy this, we included a section entitled "The Author Speaks Out," in which Seth talks more informally about his method and responds very frankly (that is his way) to thecontroversial issues surrounding the teaching of singing in this country and abroad. I am confident that readers of this book will appreciate and utilize its direct, no-nonsense approach to developing a workable vocal technique—to begin Singing For The Stars.

The Editor

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Preface

Sing from your diaphragm!" "Place the tone forward!" "Open your throat!" "Keep your tongue down!" "Give it...