on line singing course

Hi All...has anyone had anything to do with a singing course offered by Per Bristow... four DVDs for around $100.00. I'd love some feedback...
thanks

Jeffrey - I have not tried it, but I don't put a lot of stock in an online or DVD course for singing because learning to sing is a very personal journey and you need real feedback from someone who knows what to listen for and be able to tell you how to work on the problems.  you won't get that from DVDs or the internet (unless maybe you do it via webcam or something).

I decided I needed to learn to sing better, so I took voice lessons from a local community college.  they're really inexpensive that way compared to taking private lessons from an individual and you get good classical training in most cases as long as your instructor is good.  

I  took 6 semesters of private voice lessons under the same teacher.  She was the best one at the campus and I learned a LOT from her.  It is classical training, but you can always use classical training to transfer to ANY genre.  The classes required solo performances in front of other teachers and peers and I think that was a very important part of the lessons as well.  I'm not sure you'd get that from regular private lessons.

Cost was about $150/semester and that will vary of course depending on the college.  so for each 9 months of private lessons I paid $300.  that's a bargain IMO.

I'm sorry, Craig!  you don't HAVE to listen to me!  

Thanks Beagle.  That sounds like good advice and we do have a wonderful community college that I haven't really taken advantage of.  (Should be easier now that both kids are out of the house.  And, having that structure of a class would help motivate me to practice.)

BTW, the pyramid in the background of your icon (for a moment there) sort of reminded me of Las Colinas circa 1980s; like someone had dropped a bunch of buildings into an empty field.   ;-)

craigb


Oh I seriously doubt my comment really applies to anyone on this forum!
(Ok, maybe one - just to cover my bases.)

Your comment can't apply to me--I know how bad I sound!  

i got Groove3 James Lugos Vocal Asylum from groove 3.
it was only 9.99 at one point.
hes the vocal coach for american idol.
if you just listen to the scales he is playing this is what a vocal instructor will do and i have had many of them.
the best was a 80 year old gentlemen who was a retired doctor.
back in the early 90' he mentoered me for 3 years,he was about the toughest vocal instructor ive ever had.

verbally abusive,mentaly challenging me,telling me how horrid my voice was.
but it kept me comming back paying 100.00 dollars pre paid for three weeks in advance.

having me take my fingers and pin my tongue down to the floor of my mouth while doing scales upward and downward.

what this feat accomplishes is the tougue is a cheater,it can help you increase pitch just by curling it up in the back of your mouth.
holding your tongue down it forces your throat to build up muscle and strenth and stretches the areas needed to build stamana and power.
he also tought me never to use vibrato when practicing,its another cheater.straight notes held in scales are what builds power.
not quivering your voice up and down like an idiot(as he used to say)
i swear i could write a book on the experience i had with this guy including the time i left his studio crying...lol.

that was after the 3rd lesson.
and i didnt return for the next.
so he called me and said thank you for the money.
as in i paid 3 weeks up front.
it made me so mad i showed up the next time and he was still the same.
it was very obvious he had not parented any children in his life 
i just grew thicker skin and within a year of learning under him i was 10 times better then what i was.
i was a rock singer..a scretcher a screamer.
what he taught me was.you need to lea sing sometimes even if you are hiding behind those scream and garbage your singing.

he convinced me to quit my band and learn with him for 4 years.
i only made it to 3.
he passed away.

and when he did left me everything,
including the best vocal techniques i have to use today.

learning to sing is a state of mind but also requires practicenot just sining to the music once in awhile.
i still go through runs everyday unless im sick.
it all depends on how good you want to b.

the vocal asylum isnt about strict guidlines its about proper habits and general techniques.
its a ballpark figure not really a training course but it is something worth the ten bucks which i think it is right now at groove 3.

Hi,
 
I do and I don't recommend these.
 
As a director who has worked with many actors and actresses over the years, there are some good and bad points here.
 
In general, almost ANY professional should/could/would be helpful and always able to sa, or do something that helps you get better. The only ones that don't are the ones that have fame all over their nose and they don't like you because you don't pay enough!And you don't have enough girls around you to show how good you are!
 
The hard part, is that just about ANYONE can teach you some basics, like breathing ... or one can tell you jokes about Maria Callas! But these can be easy to do, if the material suits you and your voice, but really tough if the material doesn't jive with you. Somethings are always better than others in this department.
 
From a scholastic department, like a Berklee, or equivalent, they can only give you some ... basics ... as they do not have the time, the ability or the people to teach you more advanced stuff ... however, the best part of it is ... that the advanced stuff has a lot more to do ... the words themselves ... than they do anything that I can possibly teach you.
 
Here are some examples: ... you can not teach Bob Dylan about subtle sarcasm ... check out how he says it ... that's not "teach'able" as that is the person he is! Plain and simple ... so, this becomes ... a person that learned how to use his voice and his feelings, with some music ... to make a point ... she knows what she needs, I know what she wants ... and it's not mean, but it droops with ... not nice! ... and that is not exactly "singing" as much as it is "expression".
 
In the end, the "best" singing, is much more about "expression" than it is about the mechanics ... however, you have a say in the strength and depth of your mechanics ... like did you know that your voice carries at 5AM in the cooler air, than it does at 5PM in warmer air? ... now you know why Greek Theater always started early! ... but it has also been a massive vocal exercise that you can use to help open up your throat to allow for more air passage, and prevent you from running out of breath ... every sentence ... which, btw ... is the worst thing that singers do ... not knowing WHEN to breathe so they are not out of breath!
 
To me, from a director's point of view, I'm going to work you with the material until you "live" it ... and you are no longer quoting a script or words ... on a stage!!! ... you are doing something else.
 
Now, I KNOW this works, and I have done it with musicians and their music ... and singing, is no different than "acting", but if you really want to learn about singing and expression, one of these days go listen to Peter Hammill or a Roy Harper, the two pure'st poets out there in music, and what they do with their words. Roy is more total adlib ... and sometimes difficult to follow ... Peter is more logical and controlled, but his emotions go from here to heck and back!
 
I'm not convinced that you can teach "singing", any more than you can teach Bapu to play his "Bass" or Grant can learn to play his "Guitar" or ... Karyn can play her "Cowbell" ... in the end, it is more about "feeling it" than it is ... just play that riff ... well, there are a lot of musicians making money off that one riff, but that's another story ... and you know it!
 
There used to be, in theater, something ... very difficult to teach ... and it is ... "you got to feel it" ... and you DO have to feel it, and if you do, the rest is not important and you will do it right everytime ... no one will question it ... but to get to that point, is often less of an experiment, than it is an inner flow and feeling ... and if you can define that, it gets easier.
 
This is teach'able. But getting you to be able to understand the suggestions and the details and the methodology to get to learn stuff that well? ... you would be just like a lot of graduate students out there playing an instrument ... they might have learned to be pitch perfect and relative pitch very good ... but they have no feeling whatsoever behind it ... because it is all mechanics, not feeling! IN my book, those folks need to get stoned and are in need of some serious psychedelics ... but that's a bit old school nowadays and tough to explain to most folks here!