Raise Your Voice 2nd edition
by Jaime J Vendera
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Our Price: $29.95 Availability: Usually ships in 1 to 3 weeks Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
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Book Reviews of Raise Your Voice 2nd edition
Book Review: At least 30% good advice
Summary: 4 Stars
Vendera presents himself as a sort of Anthony Robbins of singing, and his book is full of positive vibes. Viewing singing as a lifestyle, he has packed this edition with advice on everything from fitness to diet to oral hygiene. The singing portion of the book contains warm-up exercises for vocalists and a series of vocal routines - a variation on the traditional scales - for falsetto and normal voice. They will probably help increase your range a little. The book also contains a password for Vendera's web site, which has some audio files and videos. I found these useful, because they helped explain exactly how to do the routines.
Before reading this I read Vendera's brief book on "breathing for singers," which really paid off. Breath is at the center of most vocal programs, but Vendera devotes only one short chapter to it here, which seemed a bit unfair. Why should the reader have to buy two books? Worse, Vendera's lifestyle advice and product recommendations often struck me as merely his personal preferences. Sometimes he touts his own products, at other times megadoses of vitamins, minerals, and metals no doctor would recommend. Even if I wanted advice on fitness, diet, or martial arts in a singing book, I'd pick books by experts in these areas. I can't imagine any athletic person working out on a trampoline (which offers little resistance) or any rock singer taking on Vendera's monkish lifestyle: no drinking, no coffee. Sometimes the vocal advice is far from conservatory-level wisdom. I doubt if "visualizing my core of resonance" would improve my vocal tone, but a physical technique might. The advice on lowering the larynx, a struggle for most singers, was disappointing and brief.
In spite of these flaws, this book is probably worth its hefty price tag. The exercises appear to be useful, and it's fun to have the online material as a bonus. I would skip the videos of Vendera breaking wine glasses with his voice.
Book Review: A Singers Investment
Summary: 5 Stars
This book has helped me greatly as a singer.
It has helped restore my confidence and clear away the confusion I struggled with for sometime trying to understand my own voice and performance.
Having had previous training before purchasing RYV2 I was well aware of how hard it is to find a great teacher. In my experience, it's like a needle in a hay stack to find a teacher that is dedicated to "the student" and is willing to invest in "your interest" and "style" as a singer, but most of all one that really knows what their talking about!! Jaime is "that" teacher, he's very real and completely unselfish with his vocal coaching. (something I have found most other teachers are not)If you watch one of Jaime Vendera's video's on YouTube you'll catch my drift. When I first read RYV2 I was blown away by the amount of information incorporated in the book. This book doesn't miss a beat. It gives you the keys to unlock the truth of solid vocal technique, to preparing your entire being for the busy life on the road as a performer. I can not tell you enough how much this has helped me!! The detail in this book is second to none. There are simple laid out guides & remedies in this book that have helped me with my own vocal health, something I am truly thankful for.
Another fantastic aspect of RYV2 is the members forum. Jaime has set up a online forum for us students to use. So when you are reading the book and doing the exercises you can go online into the forum post any questions you have and get the help you need. This is really really awesome!!
To do what we do as singers is challenging enough. But to be able to find a teacher & book that covers your essential core needs as a vocalist, is rare!!
Despite past training RYV2 is one of the best investments vocally I have ever made.
Thank you Jaime, you are truly a Godsend!
Book Review: Effective at substantially increasing your range...
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been trapped in my chest voice my entire life. (For a baritone male, that's typically a 1.5 - 2 octave range around F2 on a piano to F4 just above middle C.) The book has lots of chapters on things like vocal health, diet, exercise, etc., but the real meat of the book are the 3-4 chapters that teach technique (along with the matching audio files that can be downloaded from his site). Strategy-wise, he has you do exercises with your falsetto voice that train your vocal chords to "zip-up", then "transcend" your falsetto voice into your "head voice", then open up your tone so that you can sing in your "full voice". In a little over a month, I've made some really good progress...added about a useable octave to my range, most of which is useable (although I've still got plenty of rough spots near the intersection of chest voice and head voice, that will come with practice). The 4th chapter covers singing with grit, etc.
Don't fool yourself into thinking that learning to sing in your head voice is easy, because it's not. The good news is this: It's difficult to LEARN, but it's easy to DO once you've trained your vocal chords in how to do it. Being successful takes having the right knowledge (Jaime provides that) and lots and lots of practice (you have to provide that). Eventually, I expect to have a very full and powerful 3.5 - 4 octave range. It'll probably take me 3-6 months to get there, but I'm really happy with my progress from 1 month. In the big picture, 3-6 months isn't that long when you consider that it's a skill you will be able to keep the rest of your life. This book is WELL worth the money.
Cheers,
Gruuve
Book Review: For a Solid Vocal Technique and a Well Structured Program
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved reading Raise Your Voice 2nd edition after I had already read the first edition. I like how Jaime explains in simple terms how the voice mechanism works and how his vocal exercises support the theory. I also like how structured his program is. I think that is a great motivational tool for students to get started and become dedicated to learning how to sing. I come from a classical singing background and I was thoroughly impressed by how similar the techniques were to what I had learnt in university; that's what attracted me to RYV in the first place. As a vocal coach myself, I needed something in writing that I could refer back to and I often use RYV to teach my students.
What I love the most about RYV II, is how Jaime was able to get professionals from different fields including rock stars, health specialists and other vocal coaches to participate to the book. Being one of those contributors myself, I was really happy to help and show my support to a book and strategies I believe in 100%.
Valerie Bastien
Teacher and Vocal Coach
www.voiceyourselfintheclassroom.com
Book Review: Useful resource for any singer
Summary: 5 Stars
I sing in a band that covers a variety of songs from Guns n' Roses to Journey to Marvin Gaye. I have always been able to sing high notes, but they would take quite a bit of effort and by the end of a four hour show, my voice was very fatigued and many times my band would have to deviate from the set list and play songs that were easier to sing to accomodate this. I knew there had to be a way to improve this issue and that is when I found out about Raise Your Voice.
The exercises and techniques in this book made it much easier to reach the notes needed to pull these songs off. This instilled confidence in my vocals, which gave me much greater comfort on stage and led to much better and fulfilling performances.
The training program outlined in this book are what I was most interested in, but the wealth of knowledge and experiences the author shares are an added bonus. Topics covered range from taking care of your body and voice, to tips for live performance, to recording in the studio, to mental preparation. What a great book!
Thanks for sharing Jamie!