Institute for Vocal Advancement

I was originally trained and certified by Speech Level Singing (SLS) International. The SLS organisation was built on the teaching precepts of the great Seth Riggs. Speech Level Singing is the core of my vocal pedagogy, and I do my utmost to study this and understand Seth’s contribution as best as I can.

The Institute of Vocal Advancement (IVA) was a splinter organisation that came out of SLS in the mid-2010s. I went across to IVA from SLS at the time. As I was brought into SLS by a particular teacher, and they went across to IVA, I followed their lead. I was then also certified under IVA during my time within the organisation.

Several years down the line, I left IVA and became independent. The reason was because of vocal pedagogy, i.e. what they were teaching and how it benefitted/didn’t benefit students. I’m going to cover this in the following article, but let’s first go to what IVA has to say.

What is the IVA Technique?

The Institute for Vocal Advancement website describes the technique with the following. Their definition is a little verbose, but we’ll break it down.

The Institute for Vocal Advancement technique is based on 17th and 18th Century principles of singing developed by the Schola Cantorum. Our goal is to train voices to sing in a free and natural manner, smoothly, from the bottom of the range to the top with no breaks or sudden changes in quality. Training in this technique gives the singer access to all dynamics, with tonal clarity and flexibility. Also, training in this technique helps improve a singer’s range, endurance, stamina, breath control, resonance, vocal strength and vocal quality across all styles of music without fatigue or damage to the voice. We accomplish these results by training the singer to find a balance between airflow and intrinsic muscular resistance, all within a resting laryngeal posture.

What Does This Mean for Me and My Voice?

The technique is (for the most part) based on techniques that have been used for centuries by specific very effective voice trainers.

In general, this is the philosophy underpinning what the Institute for Vocal Advancement tries to do. When the voice is trained well, with effective techniques that also respect the way the voice works, we see dramatic results. Not only do we suddenly find that it feels a lot easier to sing, but your voice and vocal tone also sounds better.

This is often very counter-intuitive and confusing for singers, as many singers and coaches seem to insist the opposite. Whether implicitly or explicitly, many seem to think it’s normal to encounter discomfort when singing, and you have to put up with that.

This is just NOT true.

When singers experience what good technique can do for their voices, they are often astounded by how relaxing and freeing it is to sing. Simultaneously they also notice a dramatic improvement in the tone of their voice.

In this regard, I 100% agree with the principles espoused by IVA, at least on paper.

Where I Differ in My Views From the Institute for Vocal Advancement

Having been certified under IVA, I can also confirm all the vocalises (vocal exercises/tools for working on a voice) share much the same toolkit as Seth Riggs developed in Speech Level Singing.

But two carpenters can have exactly the same tools in their toolkit. The differentiating factor is not just in how skilfully they deploy those tools, but how refined and correct is their mental model of what they are trying to build.

If a carpenter has a wonky model of what a finished piece of furniture is supposed to look like and feel like, it doesn’t matter how “skilfully” they deploy their tools – the finished result will not be right.

In my years with SLS and then IVA, I spent several hundreds of hours teaching and applying what I was being taught, in singers voices and my own. And what I found was that the IVA approach to vocal technique was lacking and insufficient for total voice building. At least within the cross-section of singers I was meeting and working with, and within my own voice.

More specifically, I found that the technique led to a less well-developed and well-rounded state of vocal development than great singing requires. The IVA method I was being taught was far too conservative and vocally light in its deployment of the tools Seth had developed (again, in my opinion).

What Exactly Do I Mean?

Finding ease of phonation is of course important, but it must then be accompanied by development of a full dynamic range (i.e. volume and intensity within a singer’s range).

I found that it was fine enough for lighter or middleweight voices, but for heavier voices (such as my own, and many others), it did not go far enough. It is in this regard that the IVA technique as taught, in my opinion, is insufficient.

To give a fair and transparent critique, this was also a common complaint levelled at many Speech Level Singing (SLS) teachers: that they never properly encouraged singers to build and develop their full dynamic range.

In my personal experience and interactions with numerous SLS teachers, this was more a failing of individual proponents claiming to teach under the SLS banner, rather than SLS as a methodology itself. Listen to Seth Riggs or any of his close understudies and you’ll realise maximal dynamic range was CRITICAL to fulfilling every voices’ true potential.

Yes, starting light/towards Speech Level was essential at the beginning of someone’s vocal journey and for developing vocal balance. But this narrow dynamic range is only ever a stepping stone to full development of a voice. It is this small but crucial latter point that I personally felt IVA never delivered in its training with me, and in turn, I could not deliver to my students.

Summary

All the scales, vowels, consonants and exercises will look much the same on paper between SLS, IVA, or any other three-letter acronym vocal technique. There’s no proprietary exercises per se. They are simply tools for building a voice.

Instead, it is down to the trained vocal coach to create a design brief for each singer’s voice inside their own head, and use those tools to build towards that aesthetic. In that regard, the ear and internal aesthetic that each coach is trained to look for is what determines the effectiveness of the tools being deployed.

Think of it like a master woodworker versus an amateur craftsman. The tools may be the same, but how the skilled worker chooses to use those tools is what matters.

What Does Correct Singing/Phonation Mean for Me?

When you get an MOT for your car, the mechanic identifies where your car isn’t operating as perfectly as it should. From there, the mechanic adjusts those elements that are out of balance. As soon as the mechanic does that, the car just runs and drives smoothly.

The same is true with your voice.

That means that not only does it feel easier to sing, and not only does it sound better, but it results in an increase in range. Not only is there an increase in range, but it’s also free from breaks, flips, inconsistencies, etc.

An increase in range is an automatic result of the voice operating functionally the way it is intended to operate. It takes time to smooth out this new range, but it is a by-product of good vocal function.

All this information about muscular resistance is the science-y way of saying ‘we get your voice to work as intended’. Vocal balance is the key here. We don’t want too much muscle, too little muscle, too much air, too little air, too much resistance, too little resistance, etc. We want to train the voice to keep all of these factors in equilibrium. Once we have that balance, we then work on exploring dynamic range within that balance.

How Can I Experience This for Myself?

Singing is NOT something that you can learn just by reading about it. You need to get in a car and do it; the same is true here. But like driving a car, you need an instructor. Otherwise it can be frustrating or even dangerous.

It’s not that we don’t want to tell you how to do it in a blog article, it’s that we cannot adequately describe it in words. It requires specific tools to deliver that experience to you and your specific voice. It’s only by experiencing it for yourself that it begins to make sense.

It really doesn’t do it justice to just describe good technique in words. It has to be felt to be understood. When studying with a high-quality voice teacher who knows how to build and maximise your voice, you should immediately feel the benefits.

I’d Love to Work With You

If you’d like to experience this for yourself, by all means drop me a line and we can get your voice working the way you need it to.