Once the red scales [link] have been established and are comfortable for the student we can move on to the blue scales. The blue pattern should be introduced around the same time as the A major scale, so that momentum can be continued between the scales. Making the transition this early in a student’s…

Before you read this post, make sure you check out my posts on breathing and quantifying the breath which both deal with the initial phase of singing. The intake of breath is the basis for all of our vocal technique, but a good, supported sound is the next step. I will once again use a couple of terms from

Since I tried to make this system build up in skill level as much as possible it made sense to begin with the scales that start on the open strings. Once my beginning students have spent time with the red pattern…

There are countless books with exercises that are good for warming up the voice. Some of these books even give examples of sets of exercises to do, but they don’t go into much more detail than that. It can be helpful to see a sequence not only in terms of the exercises themselves but also in terms of the range used. In this post I’ll detail my personal sequence and how I modify it for my private voice students and choirs I work with.

Intonation is one of the biggest issues string players face. Getting the left hand fingers to the proper positions at the right time can be incredibly complicated. There are so many different scales and keys and exercises that have the potential to confuse and misguide us. The more I have worked as a string player and a teacher the more I have come to realize...