Jeffrey Allen's Secrets of Singing: Male (Low and High Voice)

Rating:
Summary: ITS REALLY COOL... IT IMPROVED MY VOICE
Review: Being a non-singer my self and very curious if this Book/CD will help me, I purchased it couple of weeks ago. After 2-3 wks of practice, my voice changed and it got better (no kidding). What I did, I dubbed the CD to a cassette and bring it everywhere I go. Thanks Mr. Allen for the great help. : ) I really recommend this book to everybody, novice (like me) or professional alike.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: I am a guitarist. Not a singer. I've always wanted to learn to sing along with my guitar but singing has always been very foriegn to me. I am used to seeing what I am doing right in front of me on the guitar fretboard. With singing, you can't see anything. It's all about feel. The author of this book takes a visual approach to teaching singing. He gives you ways to imagine the flow of your voice through all of your passageways. This helped me out alot. I'm only part way through the book so far but I have noticed a big improvement in my abilities already. The cds are good. I practice on the way home from work in my car. Which probably isn't the best way to practice and is probably not the safest thing to do but when you have limited time like me I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. I am by far not an expert on singing. Not even close to be exact. All I know is that this book has increased my ability to sing even without the aid of a vocal coach. The book recommends that you work with a coach and not to rely solely on your own judgement. I would have to agree with that statement. If you really want to be a professional at singing, you can't learn from books alone. I'm just doing this as a hobby though so I don't mind picking up a few bad habits here and there from teaching myself.

Rating:
Summary: Great Method!
Review: I am a vocal method aficionado, and Jeffrey Allen has put forth an impressive effort. He groups each of the exercises into a section dealing with a different part of vocal technique, along with visualizations. The visualizations are probably the most interesting part of his program, and they actually work. This is a big book, that actually applies to all styles of music from rock to musical theatre. The idea behind this book is that it gives you a solid foundation of technique to tackle any vocal challenge. The appendices that go into detail on the different aspects of the voice are invaluable and explain how the singing voice works in a detailed way. Buy It!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best I have bought
Review: I bought this book over a year ago and have regularly used the CDs to practice. Comes in very handy on my way to my teacher to warm up whike driving. Since this book I have bought over a dozen books on singing most of which came with some form of audio. By far this is the best of the bunch, though no book is "Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask" level. The two instructional CDs are quite well done and are truely helpful for the right student (assuming you have the ability to match pitch with the piano key). Of course no amature singer who is serious about his/her voice should ever totally rely on printed and/or recorded material to realize his/her pottential. A well chosen teacher can never be replaced by a book. That said the scales on the Cds and the accompanying explanation in the text which is in an every day language can be of a lot of help. For the right person this could work as a whole bunch of lessons in between lessons from the teacher adding speed and confidence to the process of learning.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best I have bought
Review: I bought this book over a year ago and have regularly used the CDs to practice. Comes in very handy on my way to my teacher to warm up whike driving. Since this book I have bought over a dozen books on singing most of which came with some form of audio. By far this is the best of the bunch, though no book is "Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask" level. The two instructional CDs are quite well done and are truely helpful for the right student (assuming you have the ability to match pitch with the piano key). Of course no amature singer who is serious about his/her voice should ever totally rely on printed and/or recorded material to realize his/her pottential. A well chosen teacher can never be replaced by a book. That said the scales on the Cds and the accompanying explanation in the text which is in an every day language can be of a lot of help. For the right person this could work as a whole bunch of lessons in between lessons from the teacher adding speed and confidence to the process of learning.

Rating:
Summary: Honest singing instruction, no hype.
Review: I have tried a dozen books/audio sources seeking instruction to improve my voice. This is truely the best by far, especially for improving range. The CDs should not become the only source of learning. No book or audio is a substitute for a carefully picked teacher, who should help especially with proper placement of larynx and with getting your swallowing muscles out of singing's way. However the piano accompaniment on the CD along with instructions are valuable to give your throat muscles the workout they need for development of a well anchored voice. I had lost the CD so I ended up ordering another one. My volume, quality and range have improved significantly in the last 6 months of use. If you are consistent with your practice the higher notes that feel difficult at the begining start to fall into place. If you are already a good singer the CDs will be a great source for vocal warm up. The theory covered in the book is also quite good but that can be found in any other book on singing. I have not known Jeffery but he has had an impact on my voice.

Rating:
Summary: Honest singing instruction, no hype.
Review: I have tried a dozen books/audio sources seeking instruction to improve my voice. This is truely the best by far, especially for improving range. The CDs should not become the only source of learning. No book or audio is a substitute for a carefully picked teacher, who should help especially with proper placement of larynx and with getting your swallowing muscles out of singing's way. However the piano accompaniment on the CD along with instructions are valuable to give your throat muscles the workout they need for development of a well anchored voice. I had lost the CD so I ended up ordering another one. My volume, quality and range have improved significantly in the last 6 months of use. If you are consistent with your practice the higher notes that feel difficult at the begining start to fall into place. If you are already a good singer the CDs will be a great source for vocal warm up. The theory covered in the book is also quite good but that can be found in any other book on singing. I have not known Jeffery but he has had an impact on my voice.

Rating:
Summary: This book DOES help fine tune your voice...no joke.
Review: I haven't even mastered one of the tens of excercises on the included CDs, (you pick one of two depending on your voice), but already I can tell my singing has improved. Allen takes a scientific approach to singing, focusing on sound flow, breathing and other physical ways to project sound. He also looks at singing from a curiously metaphysical (is that the right word?) point of view. He takes it beyond the mental aspects and talks about "imagining" the flow of sound. Controlling the movement of sound waves with your mind, mentally focusing sound waves-he takes an interesting approach that makes learning to sing intriguing, as well as fun. Once you grasp his ideas, you almost immediately hear a change in your voice. His many pointers and tips and tricks and exercises (vocal, breathing and physical) are often times a lot to remember, but at no point does he rush the learner. Nor does he mince words. Many of these kinds of books are filled with random, useless banter-the reader is left questioning why he or she wasted money on it at all. Not Jeff Allen's book. He is clear and to the point, and his studies are actually based on his experience-techniques that actually work.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who really wants to learn how to fine tune their singing voice. From professional singers to those looking for Karaoke confidence it is a great tool to have.
There is a lot of info in this book but you won't get better overnight. Simply reading it will not improve your voice. You have to dedicate yourself to the exercises and techniques to see a change.
That said, though, I give this book 5 stars. Thanks for the tips, Mr. Allen.

Rating:
Summary: This book DOES help fine tune your voice...no joke.
Review: I haven't even mastered one of the tens of excercises on the included CDs, (you pick one of two depending on your voice), but already I can tell my singing has improved. Allen takes a scientific approach to singing, focusing on sound flow, breathing and other physical ways to project sound. He also looks at singing from a curiously metaphysical (is that the right word?) point of view. He takes it beyond the mental aspects and talks about "imagining" the flow of sound. Controlling the movement of sound waves with your mind, mentally focusing sound waves-he takes an interesting approach that makes learning to sing intriguing, as well as fun. Once you grasp his ideas, you almost immediately hear a change in your voice. His many pointers and tips and tricks and exercises (vocal, breathing and physical) are often times a lot to remember, but at no point does he rush the learner. Nor does he mince words. Many of these kinds of books are filled with random, useless banter-the reader is left questioning why he or she wasted money on it at all. Not Jeff Allen's book. He is clear and to the point, and his studies are actually based on his experience-techniques that actually work.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who really wants to learn how to fine tune their singing voice. From professional singers to those looking for Karaoke confidence it is a great tool to have.
There is a lot of info in this book but you won't get better overnight. Simply reading it will not improve your voice. You have to dedicate yourself to the exercises and techniques to see a change.
That said, though, I give this book 5 stars. Thanks for the tips, Mr. Allen.

Rating:
Summary: Helpful book, but: don't use it without a vocal coach!
Review: I'm a singer from The Netherlands. I bought this book in order to sing better. I did all the exercises and read the complete book. I have to say: it gives an answer to a lot of questions about singing. But when I decided to take lessons, my vocal teacher had to begin all over again with me. I thought I was doing things right, yet I had created a lot of tensions in the larynx area instead. So my experience is that you definitely have to have a coach who corrects you. This book is a good manual for experienced and trained singers, but not for beginners! It also speaks to much in imaginary terms like 'singing into the mask', etc. I also think that the yawn-feeling, as described, can be interpreted very quick in a wrong way, so that it causes very easy extra tensions. That sort of things is for beginners very hard to understand by themselves. I was trained in Europe by the Koblenz-method (abspannen = let go of the belly muscles in order to fill with air automatically) and the Pahn-methode (Nasalieren = singing nasal as a tool in order to use the larynx area relaxed). This kind of things I don't find in the book. At the moment I am researching the Speech Level Singing method (SLS) by Seth Riggs and I am still waiting for a good book about the EVTS-method. I heard a lot of good things about it.