Speech Level Singing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Speech Level Singing is a vocal method and voice instruction method developed by Seth Riggs, a Hollywood vocal coach. The essence of the technique is to discover the natural way the voice works when talking and not to do anything drastically different when singing. A voice is less likely to be "worn out". Mr. Riggs has worked with many singers using this method, among the most famous being Michael Jackson, Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Josh Groban, Janet Jackson, and Prince.
In the 1990's, a student and a member of the Speech level singing training group, Brett Manning splintered off and founded his own singing teaching courses, believing the SLS methodology was not as effective as it could be. Though, he still bases his course, Singing Success, on Seth's Riggs method SLS. He simply made some adjustements he thought and thinks would improve SLS.
[edit] Brief Explanation
The main philosophy behind speech level singing is to train your muscles to stop gripping the larynx while coaxing your vocal cords to adduct into a middle, or mix voice coordination. The main exercises are "lip bubbles", "toungue trills", "nay's" "mum's" at various speeds and on different scales. These exercises are designed to condition your muscles to work in harmony and not against each other. The exercises are very similar to those used in Bel Canto.
