Mix Margaret Dylan Jones

Category: Singing, speech, vocal health

Title(s): Bristow Voice Method/The Singing Zone

Subject: DVD singing lessons, online course
Origin: Per Bristow

Products included:

•  Sing With Freedom DVD set
•  Sing With Freedom digital version
•  The Singing Zone membership (site)
•  Ear Training
•  Rhythm School
•  Sight Reading

Reviewed by Margaret: 2 June 2010, revised 17 April 2011.
Rating: excellent, useful for anyone

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Bristow Voice Method/The Singing Zone

Sing, Speak & Perform
with Power, Confidence and Freedom

PROS

I'm very impressed with this guy. In his videos he talks about all the aspects of singing and learning to sing which I've heard about or taught to my own students for decades.

Per Bristow is not only a master singing teacher, he's a master communicator. The videos are fun, easy to understand, comprehensive, and make you feel like you're having a one-to-one lesson with him. It always feels like a privilege. (But see the Cons & Conclusions at the end, and my site disclaimer & voice disclosure.)

This comprehensive voice program includes breathing for singing (quite a controversial subject I've been very interested in since the 1980s), a musicianship program, how to sing without strain, and lots of other good  advice from a great teacher.

It's directed at singers of all ages, styles and levels. This home-study training program is useful for professional singers, up-and-coming artists, and hobbyists.

Per Bristow is a top teacher, with great depth and breadth to his understanding and experience, now spilling all the beans. And more than simply telling it as it is, he expertly guides you, step by step, to real improvements.

Top

To help you access all the features of your vocal instrument a teacher needs enormous insight into human nature and where you’re coming from. Per Bristow’s teaching is based on the real fundamentals of physiology, psychology, and his own wonderful gifts as a teacher.

Have you experienced vocal discomfort, physical pain and lack of confidence? Per claims his course will improve your vocal fatigue, hoarseness or weakness. He’ll get you singing those high notes, and give your voice the depth, richness and power you would like.

He can do all this and more. I don't doubt you will gain a newfound freedom to your physical and inner voice.

My name is Margaret D. Jones. I’ve taught hundreds of singers in dozens of styles at many levels for decades, but I’m so impressed with Per Bristow that I’m recommending his program to my own singing students.

Perhaps you don’t like the tone and quality of your voice…you feel reserved and uncomfortable expressing yourself…or you have difficulty singing on key or in harmony. Then this is for you.

The Bristow Voice Method is taking the world by storm as the leading home-based study course.

Top

I know myself there are many strange ideas out there, COMPLETELY WRONG ideas, about the voice which have caused a lot of trouble for singers. Most people have come to believe that singing training is about singing scales. Most people believe some esoteric form of breath-control is needed to sing. You may have been told to stand with good posture, sing through your mask, open your mouth on high notes, or -- what Per considers the most destructive instruction of them all: feel as if you’re yawning. He's quite right that, unfortunately, these notions often create restrictions rather than the freedom we seek.

His course will help you:

• sing high notes with less effort than ever before without your voice 'breaking'

• sing long notes and phrases without running out of breath

• release strain and tension, keep your voice healthy, avoid damage, and more.
  

You'll know how to warm up effectively, and you'll gain awareness and knowledge of your own voice so you can coach yourself in the future.

Per says: "The real magic happens when you experience a shift within you... When your CONFIDENCE SOARS... you experience a newfound sense of FREEDOM... you discover the secret to rapid learning... you become more SPONTANEOUS, CHARISMATIC and ALIVE in every way.

"Now you become a captivating performer. Now you become an empowered human being. And now singing becomes REALLY FUN!"

CONS

My own speciality is turning around voice problems and fixing the vocal health issues of singers and speakers. And I teach singing, too.

Top

While Per Bristow's advice will often help with these problem situations, and it won't hurt anyone's voice, it's not targeted at recovering damaged voices.

Most students find they really need someone to hear them sing, and speak, and to observe the way they use their body to make vocal sounds. This is true for singers and singing students at any level with perfectly healthy voices, as well as those with noticeable problems. (If you're in Perth give me a call, my students say I have "ears in the back of my ears.")

Improving vocal health or solving certain singing issues requires a look at an individual's vocal history, via interview and the taking of notes. None of this is possible with videos.

CONCLUSIONS

This is a wonderful home-study singing course, all on its own. I can't imagine anyone doing it better, it covers so much ground in a really well thought out way. Most people, regardless of their level, experience or lack of experience, will be glad they took it up.

It's also great in combination with live lessons with your local teacher, if that teacher is in tune with Per Bristow's own profound knowledge of voicework.

The musicianship sections (Ear Training, Rhythm School & Sight Reading) ensure you become a more well-rounded musician. Training in these aspects is not usually provided by singing teachers, so they make a really useful bonus.

This excellent programme is highly recommended -- useful for anyone.

How do I know this product?

My experience of the Bristow Voice Method comes from one of my students. I'd never heard of Per Bristow until Gladys (see pic above) brought the method to a lesson one day to ask me if it was OK to use. I spent several months assessing it with her help.

Click Bristow Voice Method & The Singing Zone to go to Per Bristow's site.

Disclaimer: I am an affiliate marketer of this product. While only some of my reviewed products earn me a commission, ALL are highly regarded by me. I won't recommend anything I don't believe in. More reviews will be posted here soon.

Mix Margaret Dylan Jones, singing teacher.
MusB, DipEd, LTCL, ATCL, AMusTCL, AMusA.

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