00. Introduction
I developed the Vocal Core® to give my students the same clarity in their voices that I have achieved over the years. I have a classical conservatory education (for more information about me, click here).
I sang many oratorio works, opera, operetta and musicals, using my classical technique, but for most of my career I had no idea how my ‘singing instrument’ worked.
For example, if I was in a musical, I could give a musical colour to my voice, but I never knew how to do that and how exactly my singing instrument as a whole worked. I only learned to ‘belt’ much later during the EVT courses.
Years ago I studied EVT and CVT extensively and began to understand how my voice and breathing work, but especially how they work together. By teaching a lot, taking courses, reading a lot and thinking about the voice and breathing, I have developed my own singing method. Together with Dr. R. Rinkel (VUMC), I conducted research into the functioning of the vocal cords during singing in various voice functions (voice masses), and especially while singing in falsetto. The results of our research are very illuminating and have therefore been incorporated into my singing method.
I have called this singing method the Vocal Core® . The Vocal Core® brings a lot of clarity to singing and to the operation of our singing instrument, removing all vagueness from singing. You, as a singer, gain full knowledge and control over your voice and learn to use all the colours in your voice through the Vocal Core®. This allows you to learn to sing all vocal music styles.
The Vocal Core® is a singing methodology based on components from 3 vocal movements:
- Bel Canto
- Estill Voice Training (EVT)
- Complete Voice Technique (CVT)
These three movements are very diverse and, although there are many similarities, cover a very broad palette of information. They are excellent methods/systems, but in my opinion they also contain weaknesses that cause confusion for the student. The method book contains all the information you need to understand the Vocal Core®.
This method book contains links to the corresponding singing exercises. These will help you understand, feel and realize the topics of the method book. The exercises provide extra clarity, because you then really feel what is meant in the method book.
The Vocal Core® method assumes that you first learn to understand your singing instrument and understand the mutual collaborations and can perform them well. Only when this has been achieved do you start singing repertoire. This sequence ensures that you see how clear and tangible ‘singing’ actually is. By taking time to clarify the basic technique, you will be able to correct yourself much faster if something doesn’t work out. If you are an experienced singer, after reading and practicing the Vocal Core®, you will recognize old mistakes more quickly and be able to correct them more easily. You may need help from a Vocal Core® certified teacher with this.
The Vocal Core® only includes the information that provides clarity about the functioning of the singing instrument in the broadest sense of the word. All unnecessary ballast has been left out; this only produces ‘noise’ and makes singing unnecessarily complicated and unclear. The Vocal Core® is therefore very concise and clear, but you get all the information you need to learn to sing fantastically.
Rein Kolpa