Vocal Integration™
The Methods

AURAL IMITATION - The most-obvious form of training, and the way we all learn to speak.  Sounds are  both played and demonstrated to allow the client to develop finite muscle coordination.  By accurately repeating the sounds, vocal habits are established that solidify into technical efficiency.

PASSIVE COORDINATION - Traditionally the most-common form of vocal training (though significantly more complex in Vocal Integration™), vocalises or patterned vocal exercises are repeated by the singer to help develop neuromuscular control and efficiency, not unlike personal training.

FUNCTIONAL VISUALIZATION - Have you ever wondered why the second someone tells you to "relax" you feel tense?  It's like trying to not think of a "pink elephant" the second someone mentoins it.  The same is true for trying to "open your throat" when you sing.  Try and open it, and the very awareness causes tension.  Functional Visualization is a method of controlling many of the specific muscle groups in the larynx, mouth, inner tongue, thorax and pharyngeal cavity that are "non-proprioceptive" (i.e., unable to be actually felt) by focusing on strengthening the brain's signal to them utilizing extremely specific visual suggestion/instruction.  A far cry from the vague "put it in the mask" and nebulous "feel your diaphragm" instructions many established singers are used to, Functional Visualization can help established singers gain advanced control over even the most-insidious vocal gestures.

CONCEPTUAL EDUCATION - In this method, the cruicial anatomy, physiology, physics and science of the singing voice are explained via comparative analogy and applied to real-time examples.  Phrasing, registration, diction, vocal range, volume, endurance and singing mastery are explained through the lense of how the body is built and how its structure relates to the laws of physics.  "Once you know how to build a car, driving it is the easy part."  - Dale Earnhardt

STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION - Specific to the voice, this form of physical therapy breaks up microscopic tissues hindering the length and flexibility of the crucial singing muscles.  The most innovative and effective method of training in the series, Structural Integration focuses on alleviating the causes of tension in the tongue, throat, larynx, neck and jaw directly instead of learning ways to "sing around" them.  Without exceptional flexibility, a dancer would be extremely limited in her mode of execution.  Likewise, a singer without internal flexibility inside the throat and around the larygeal muscles suffers a similar fate.

SUBCONSCIOUS RECALIBRATION - Much of the singer's sound is a reflection of his/her self-perception.  Just as the ego manifests itself into physical reality through the uncontrolable adrenaline rush we call "stage fright," a performer's behavior (and even vocal muscle behavior) is significantly modified by factors including their upbringing, psychological influences, perceived talent (or lack thereof), traumas and countless others.  The body behaves largely in the way we expect it to.  It is crucial, therefore, to instill and solidify a self-perception that counters negative or innaccurate views.   By doing so, the singer often finds the immutable challenges or "walls" in their training disappear and the physical training becomes significantly more effective.