“The Changing Voice, a Jekyll and Hyde Monster”

As most of us know, when we hit puberty and those hormones kick in, we not only change personalities, but also our bodies change and, for singers, embarrassment strikes out of left field.  As boys, we are no longer sopranos and without warning, disaster strikes fear in the heart of us.  For girls, the voice cracks, as well, but only if the voice is low by nature.  I tend to categorize young Jeckylls and Jeckllyns as “long-necks” and “short-necks”.  That is, if you are short, and have a short neck you will be a tenor or mezzo and long necks make basses and sopranos. This is because the length and thickness of the vocal chord.  Of course this is not scientific, but in my observations, that seems to be the trend.   Then again, there are those “odd” fellows who throw a monkey wrench in my theory.  Just think about it.


The changing voice is a challenge to teach, because not only do you do the exercises that will eventually clean up this catastrophe but also the student is sometimes reluctant to sing too much because it sounds terrible and it will crack and it plays havoc on our ego.  So I have to devise a program in my mind to help the student get over this problem and participate with me and the lessons and after a few months, the planned exercises are working and he/she is determined to get over this problem as quickly as possible.  It might take a year, maybe two or three, but the student sees the light at the end of the tunnel and he/she is willing to work over the problems.


What I do with the changing voice is make sure that the head register gets stronger and stronger, because the pull of the chest register is prevalent.  Whichever register is stronger, I work on the opposite register, making sure that the balance between the chest and head is achieved.  I generally know what this caterpillar will become…I just have to have the patience and expertise and work the weaknesses and strengths.

A case in point, our FEATURED ARTIST this month is Marco Del Rio. Check out the video of Marco performing live at a Mariachi Conference in San Jose, CA.  He began studying with me when he was 11 years old, a soprano voice for sure.  I knew that his voice was going to change within a year and he was going to be a tenor (short neck), so I worked on the head register to put the strength in place so when the voice started to change he would not have a “cow” and I wouldn’t pull out the little hair that I had.  The program was in place and the exercises were chosen for his type of voice.  As a soprano, he sang with a lot of mixed chest at the top and little by little his voice changed and dropped and he lost his top.  He was distressed, and since he already was singing professionally as a soprano, his self esteem went way down, but I persevered, encouraging him by letting him know that we all went though this caterpillar/butterfly, Jekyll/Hyde syndrome and we survived.  He idolized Stephen Carrillo of Mariachi Cobre and I let him hear Stephen when was 12 years old and he immediately felt kinship with Steve and he accepted the fact that he also would live to sing at another sunrise.


NEXT FEATURED ARTIST: DON LAMKIN---DON’T MISS IT!