Set Your Voice Free: How To Get The Singing Or Speaking Voice You Want by Roger Love, Donna Frazier Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Set Your Voice Free: How To Get The Singing Or Speaking Voice You Want
Book Review: NO book is as good as this one pretends to be.
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm one of those guys that only sings in the shower or his car, so this was my first foray into singing for real. The thought of removing vocal defects and bringing forth my "true" voice was simply awe-inspiring, and for several months I was serious about practicing the material every day.
I mastered the breathing exercises, and can "slow leak" (make a hissing sound for as long as possible) for roughly 45 seconds without difficulty. I can match his pitch on all but the highest parts of the exercises, and I have a fuller chest voice now. I don't claim to have "finished" the material, by any means, but there has been some progress.
So I'm thinking that if I'm able to hit the higher notes (I loves me some Coldplay), then everything's good. Right? As far as this book teaches, if you can follow the piano, then it's all you'll ever need to do, and that's patently false. It doesn't emphasize the nuances of supporting your singing with proper breathing, only says that it should be effortless. When I take a moment to hear myself singing, I notice the range is wider, but the sound (whether it be my tone, sustain, or something else) is still unpleasant, and this book has no remedy for that.
Roger goes into great detail about the types of vocal defects, like the brassy, gravelly, airy, or nasal voices, and delves into how they're created and fixed... but I don't have any of those. He talks about how to add more color to your speaking voice, so that you don't sound so monotonous... but I don't need help there.
Essentially, he covers more bases than most voice books, but for people who just want to know how to sing pleasantly, his techniques are lacking. Out of 30 tracks on the CD, I probably listened to three, which were the exercises themselves. The rest of it (including a primer on rhythm that involves clapping on beats one and two) was less than useful, and felt like filler.
Roger also spends an ample amount of time using anecdotes that involve famous people to convince you that he's going to change your life (not just your voice!). By all the testimonials from quoted singers and actors, you'd think that this was the most popular guy in the vocal training business. Quite frankly, I could have done without most of the self-touting.
As others have mentioned, his "understanding" of anatomy is also flawed. So if you skip those parts, and you skip the self-touting, and you skip the "fixing defects," and you skip the motivational speaker stuff, then you wind up with a text that provides a few breathing and vocal exercises, and little else.
In short, if you really want to learn to sing (and not all that other stuff) from a book/CD, then this package doesn't fully deliver because it wastes too much content on irrelevant topics.
Book Review: Good, but not enough.
Summary: 2 Stars
It does give you some hints, but it isn't that technical. It's more an "imitate me" book than a "understand it" book. To me it wasn't very illustrative...
The exercises are a little bit ridiculous, so it's kind of hard to try to practice if you don't want to bother any nearby person or neighbor, or if you get easily embarrassed.
Right now I'm reading "The New Voice: How to Sing and Speak properly" and it seems more reasonable, it talks about making your voice before singing, instead of making it as you sing... like in this book.
I will give it a 2, because it does help you improve, but this book doesn't cover the "understand everything that is happening" part good enough for me.
Book Review: If I could only recommend one book on vocals...
Summary: 5 Stars
Roger Love is an elite vocal coach who has worked with many established vocalist such as: Rob Thomas, Eminem and Joe Elliot (Def Leppard) to name just a few... He was trained by "vocal coach to the stars" Seth Riggs and his technique has its roots in Riggs "Speech Level Singing", although Love has earned his own reputation for his unique techniques. Love's techniques have been proven and while Seth Riggs also provides a book and CD bundle on vocal instruction I recommend Roger Love's book first.
This is because Love strips away almost all of theory behind what's going on. He does explain the basics, but his book provides not only a great entertaining read, his stories build courage and motivate and his excerises on the CD, if followed practiced along with the breathing techniques will produce awesome results within a few months for most... He provides a great deal of information on targeting special needs, but this is the area where all the books fall short and where hiring a vocal coach is generally needed.
I give this book a perfect rating because it's wealth of information and has an excellent companion CD... Compared to other books on the market it is an incredible value.
Most importantly, after applying the techniques for only two months.. I started getting postivie comments about my speaking voice "projecting much better", I also let my wife listen to a sample and she commented that my singing voice was greatly improving... Improving you voice is a journey, depending on how much work you need it could take years, OR it may only take a few months to work out your rough spots, regardless of where you are... this is the book to start with.
Book Review: Roger Love, you are a genius...
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been having trouble with my "voice image" for many years now. I was once a professional singer and believe I did a lot of damage to my voice through too many rock and blues numbers. Somnehow this messed up my voice image. My voice became small and weak. I have spent a lot of money on visiting a speech therapist, reading any article I could get my hands on, buying books by Morton Cooper (what a waste of money that was - is that guy for real?)... all to no avail. In my determination I explored my voice and began "listening" to myself discovering a lot of the inconsistencies and problems.
I bought Roger Love's book and realised that this guy really KNOWS voices. A lot of the things I had discovered were confirmed by Roger Love's book and so it all started to make sense. The CD is brilliant and I keep it playing in the car all the time to keep me focused. Does it work? YES! But it requires commitment, practice and most of all "listening". From a singing perspective this book has also taught me more about singing than through those many hours of costly singing lessons!
Book Review: The excercises help big time
Summary: 5 Stars
I only started singing about 5 years ago out of necessity leading worship at my church (previously just a pianist). This was my first voice improvement tool which I immediately went out and purchased after having a mic stuck in my face that very day.
I studied this book intently and have used the excercises pretty consistently since then (a ton at first, mostly in my car which is the most convenient place), and I have seen major improvement. Now I get very nice compliments on my voice all the time, and I once thought I had no singing potential whatsoever (up till my mid-twenties). I can hardly recognize myself now as I listen to recordings of our services.
This book is centered around voice improvement via Love's special vocal excercises, which are touted as can't miss, self-correcting excercises. I think they are very beneficial. There is really lots of good stuff, and its all focused around practical ways to improve the sound and health of your voice.
The other invaluable tool of voice training is mentioned in the text and I can't agree more: a basic tape recorder. If you are going to train your voice, a tape recorder is an absolute necessity for growth. That will really accelerate your improvement more than anything. (Though it can be very difficult at first to listen to your own voice, you will see major improvement if you continue all of the above)
I believe it is also important to have at least intermittently a voice teacher who will give you personal feedback and direction. Sometimes just a few lessons will give you enough info to go on your own for a while.
Most importantly, KNOW that any voice can be drastically improved over time with dedication and patience. Don't get discouraged the first time you listen to yourself, it is just like any other skill, and need not be overly mystified. This book is a great starting point.
Also, with singing (esp. in public) as with everything, fake it till you make it. Confidence is a huge factor in the quality of sound you produce.