Voice Technique: About Lars Woodul, DMA

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Recent Motor Learning research in attentional focus voice technique shows the singer how to place the focus of the her attention on effect-oriented action with cues external to the body, rather than attention on actions of specific muscle groups. I employ this approach with substantial results in improvement in coordinated singing. Using these external cues in a manner organized to suit the individual needs of a student can produce relaxed and flexible breathing with coordinated abdominal support, an open throat and released larynx, more efficient vocal production, a greater and more flexible range with easier register transitions, and wider expressive range and the ability to respond to text. The resulting “effortlessness” is a key component in establishing the correct coordination in fine motor control that is the major physical requirement in artistic singing. It also avoids building habits that create hyperfunctioning and limiting tension.

I have also found this approach improves teacher-student communication by diversifying the vocabulary with which to describe vocal technique. Tools that integrate well include physical discipline founded in Alexander Technique and exercises based in yoga to establish postural support with freedom to move and act, develop flexibility and power in the breath support system that are compliant with the demands of the voice. I have traditional goals and criteria for assessment: a healthy and functional voice, built on principles as identified in traditional bel canto style and modern voice science, namely flexible and coordinated breath support and control, an optimally functioning larynx free of unnecessary tension, well-balanced registration, focused resonance, and clear articulation. I assess students’ growth in their ability to sing repertoire best suited to their skill levels and circumstances, with confidence, ease, and expressive range.

Drawing an important distinction between learning and performance, we can teach singers in a way that dramatically improves their ability to learn, which in turn will improve performance. For over 20 years, researchers in the field of Motor Learning and Performance have published data from experiments in athletic motor control that has affirmed that the use of attentional focus has much stronger results in immediacy, efficiency, and permanence of the acquisition of the skill they are attempting to learn. Among many researchers who arrived at similar conclusions, Land, Frank, and Schack[1], found that using external attentional foci:

• Promotes greater accuracy
• Reduces effort of attention and working memory
• Reduced muscular and brain effort
• Provided an “overall better performance outcome”
• Reduces the risk of “choking” under pressure

Years before this research in external focus of attention, William Vennard[2] described the “forward placement” of the tone in terms that clearly conceptualized an externalized focal idea for correct of tone production. It must be noted, however, that this is merely a sensation and one that is experienced and described differently by singers and voice techniques singing teachers alike. The voice teacher’s task is to connect in the student of singing an often-momentary physical sensation with a perception of sound that can be equally transitory. 

[1] William M. Land, Cornelia Frank, Thomas Schack, The influence of attentional focus on the development of skill representation in a complex action, in Psychology of Sport and Exercise, Volume 15, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 30-38)

[2] William Vennard, Singing: The Mechanism and the Technic. 1967, Carl Fischer. p150

Dr. Lars Woodul has taught private voice lessons for over 25 years, and served as adjunct professor at The College of New Jersey, Montclair State University’s Cali School of Music and Wagner College, among others, where he taught undergraduate and graduate applied voice, vocal pedagogy, opera workshop, and performance practicum. He began his teaching experience as a college graduate in choral music education, when he taught general and vocal music curriculum in elementary and secondary schools.

He earned his doctorate in Voice and Opera at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he researched and developed dramatic performance techniques of 20th century American Opera, Music Theater, and chamber music. He also studied music and drama in the opera studios of the Boston Conservatory and Yale University School of Music under the renowned directors John Moriarty, Tito Capobianco, and Rhoda Levine. He studied voice with Arthur Levy, Ted Puffer, Trish McCaffery, and Richard Cross.

Dr. Woodul completed the certificate in vocal pedagogy with the New York Singing Teachers Association Professional Development program under the instruction of international voice science and pedagogy experts. He continues his professional development in voice science and pedagogy as a member of NATS and The Voice Foundation.

A seasoned stage performer in opera, Dr. Woodul has performed over 30 principal baritone roles in over 120 performances, and many professional concert and recital performances in the United States and abroad. He studied and performed as a fellow at the Israel Vocal Arts Institute, and creating roles for such world premiers as The Secret Agent and Enemies, A Love Story with the Center for Contemporary Opera, Marc Blitzstein’s Sacco and Vanzetti, David Soldier’s musical adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s A Soldier’s Story with Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, and Seymour Barab’s License to Marry at the York Theater. 

He also continues his professional and creative development studying Viewpoints® training under director Anne Bogart with SITI Studios, and as theater director in participation with the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation Observership Program.

A complete CV is available upon request.