Revised October 19, 2024
I recently had two local voice teachers ask me how I became comfortable teaching contemporary vocal techniques like belting. In both cases, the teachers had heard several singers make noticeable improvements after taking voice lessons from me.
Like many voice teachers working today, I studied classical voice in college and my pedagogy training focused entirely on classical vocal technique. To make up for those limitations, I have spent the last 15 years attempting to educate myself about contemporary singing. I would like to share some of the resources that I have found most helpful.
Mary Saunders-Barton / Bel Canto Can Belto
A NYC-based voice teacher, Mary has been teaching contemporary musical theater vocal technique for several decades. She recently retired from Penn State University, where she was head of voice for the BFA program in Musical Theatre and program head for the MFA in Voice Pedagogy for Musical Theatre. (Unfortunately, the MFA program no longer exists.) Mary teaches privately in NYC and leads workshops throughout the United States.
Her two instructional videos — Bel Canto Can Belto: Teaching Women to Sing Musical Theatre and What About the Boys: Teaching Men to Sing Musical Theatre — are a wonderful introduction to her work. They are available at www.belcantocanbelto.com.
Mary has also written a book with Norman Spivey called Cross-Training in the Voice Studio: A Balancing Act.
Matthew Edwards / Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM) Vocal Pedagogy Institute
A leading teacher of commercial and musical theatre voice, Matt Edwards is artistic director of the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute and associate professor and coordinator of Musical Theatre Voice at Shenandoah University. The CCM Institute offers summer training programs in teaching and singing commercial and musical theatre styles. The program is divided into three sessions, each of which takes place over three days.
Read more at www.ccminstitute.com, www.edwardsvoice.com (Matt’s website), and www.edwardsvoice.wordpress.com (Matt’s blog). Matt also has a book called So You Want to Sing Rock N Roll: A Guide for Professionals.
I read an earlier version of this book, and it was extremely helpful to me when I first began teaching musical theater. The revision is bound to be better, as the musical theater world changes quickly.
Amanda is an NYC-based voice teacher and Clinical Assistant Professor and Program Head of Musical Theater at Pace University. She has also served as a vocal coach and consultant for Broadway shows (The Lightning Thief, Be More Chill).
I have seen Amanda lead musical theater master classes and it is always a treat.
Jo Estill was an American voice teacher and voice researcher whose Estill Voice Training attempts to distill and organize vocal concepts into thirteen “Figures for Voice Control” and six “Voice Qualities.” The system is complex with a strong emphasis on vocal anatomy and physiology. It is used by voice teachers and by speech and language pathologists who specialize in voice therapy. The Figures are essentially anatomical elements that affect vocal tone. They are combined into various “Voice Qualities,” vocal sounds which can be found in musical styles ranging from opera to pop or rock.
In its most basic form, Estill Voice Training is taught over five days as “Level 1 (Figures for Voice Control)” and “Level 2 (Figure Combinations for Six Voice Qualities).” More info is at www.estillvoice.com or in the book The Estill Voice Model: Theory and Translation.
The most prominent proponent of Estill Voice Training is Broadway voice teacher Joan Lader. In 2016, Joan – whose students have included Patti LuPone, Kristen Chenoweth, and Sutton Foster – received a special Tony Award for her work as a voice teacher and voice therapist.
The Vocal Athlete is the leading singing voice pedagogy textbook for contemporary voice. The authors do an excellent job of distilling descriptions of various techniques (Estill, Seth Riggs, CVT, etc.) that teachers tend to seek out when training to teach non-classical voice. The textbook has a companion spiral-bound application and technique book.
Elizabeth Ann Benson’s book includes interviews with 26 CCM pedagogues: Irene Bartlett, Mark Baxter, Tracy Marie Bourne, Dane Chalfin, Kim Chandler, Matthew Edwards, Robert Edwin, Cate Frazier-Neely, Marcelle G. Gauvin, Elisabeth Howard, Gillyanne Kayes, Wendy DeLeo LeBorgne, Jeanette LoVetri, Edrie Means Weekly, Kathryn Paradise, Lisa Popeil, Jeff Ramsey, Seth Riggs, Trineice Robinson-Martin, Marci Rosenberg, Cathrine Sadolin, Mary Saunders Barton, Jan Shapiro, Kimberly Steinhauer, Margareta Svensson Riggs, and Kevin Wilson.
If you’re trying decide whose work or training program to explore next, this book is a great place to start.
Virginia-based singer and actor Maddie Tarbox (musical theater voice faculty at Shenandoah University) describes herself as an evidence based voice specialist, and she has a gift for making complex vocal ideas simple and actionable. She has created a wonderful course for voice teachers on contemporary voice technique. Mechanics of Mix and Belt, which I took in 2024, is an incredibly helpful explanation of how to belt and teach belting. I also love following Maddie on Instagram and TikTok.
My colleague Shannon Coates has complied a wonderful list of contemporary voice resources in a variety of formats. (Her own online course, The Vocal Instrument 101, is a great training program as well.) Her list includes links to quality:
podcasts
YouTube channels
blogs
social media influencers
Finally, I enjoy following these voice teachers who are knowledgable about musical theater and contemporary vocal technique:
Please note that this blogpost contains some Amazon Affiliate links.
