BriVocals

School of Voice Production

Background

My own early musical upbringing was varied, ranging from the country and fifties pops my parents enjoyed to Welsh chapel singing. We were all encouraged to perform and to develop our own harmony singing, with my brother playing guitar and my sister and I harmonising. Later my brother and I discovered progressive rock and spent hours listening and playing, he on guitar and I on drums, both singing, until our father decided we should perform in public, which we have done regularly ever since.

My girlfriend then introduced me to amateur operatics, and it was on my first visit to a performance that I became thrilled with the potential of the singing voice. Within two years of joining I was asked to sing lead tenor in "Merrie England", and it was following this gruelling role I realised my voice, at the age of 20, had suffered considerable strain. My doctor sent me to a specialist, who diagnosed singer's nodules and who anticipated irreparable damage if I continued singing with incorrect technique. I was devastated to be told I should stop doing what I loved most. For the next six months I was forced to refrain from singing and speak only in whispers, and then by chance I discovered a retired singing teacher living locally, who was my salvation.

He is sadly no longer with us, and as I nervously produced my songsheets at the first lesson he told me to put them down, struck a note on the piano and asked me to sing the word My". There was a pause, and then he said: "Well, you can't sing, can you?....If you can't sing one note, how can you sing a song? But if you want to, I can teach you." The next few years were a revelation, the highlight being the experience of discovering effortless, natural singing with him, like walking on air. He shared my joy on that occasion and many others, and I grew to love him dearly.

I have never looked back, except to be thankful I found him. Following his tuition I sang lead tenor with local operatic societies for twelve years and was invited to audition with Welsh National Opera after performing with Mid-Wales Opera. I continued to perform rock and pop music, occasionally spilling over into jazz, and I am the living proof that the technique he taught me is valid for all styles of music.

Please say hello with an E-mail to

brivocals@voicetuition.co.uk

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