Set Your Voice Free

Rating:
Summary: A great book to learn by!
Review: I am a professional jazz/blues and gospel singer here in Japan. I am currently singing at a 5-star international hotel here and also have contracts in many jazz clubs and concert halls. For For jazz aficionadoes, my second CD was produced by Hugh Masekela. Aware of my own weaknesses, I am constanly looking for ways to improve my singing and be the best I possibly can. There are two books that I highly recommend, one is "Singing for the Stars", by Seth Riggs, and the other is this one, "Set Your Voice Free".

The exercises are fantastic and very easy to understand. I also enjoyed his commentary on the strength and weaknesses of singers we admire. It's so easy to think that just because one is famous and making millions that one must be perfect...not so, and Robert Love explains it. Some of his lessons are similar to Seth Riggs, but then he studied with Seth Riggs (lucky thing), so it's understandable.

My voice has certainly gotten better since employing some of the exercises described in this wonderful book. I am booked to sing spirituals(in a semi-classical style...something I thought I would never do...)in a large concert hall next year in March. I thank Mr Love because after reading his book I realized that I have many 'voices' and can develop all of them in a rich manner. My resonance has improved incredibly! I also teach scores of students and I can proudly attest thatmost of them have advanced greatly, and it is many thanks to some of the exercises in this book. The trill exercises are wondeful, don't sneer at them, an I always do the "goog" and "gug" exercises, great way to smoothen the bridge.

I highly recommend this book for pros and for aspiring singers!

Rating:
Summary: Set Your Voice Free has dramatically improved my voice!
Review: I have always been very self conscious about speaking in public and I never thought I would be comfortable singing in any environment. After reading Set Your Voice Free, I have noticed a dramatic change in both my speaking voice and my newly found ability to sing along with my favorite music on the radio. I have read the book several times and done the excercises on the CD and I am very happy with the results. The book also has some great tips and some fun insider information about famous celebrities. This book really helped my voice.

Rating:
Summary: I recommend this book
Review: I picked this book up on a whim, and I was very pleased to read that someone had put together a book that contains much of my own philsophy of teaching voice. I'm only giving it 4 stars because the name-dropping throughout the book is irritating at best, and as some others have noted, his descriptions of what the vocal folds are doing during vibrato, etc. are not very scientific or accurate; however, the descriptions do help with visiualizations and it truly isn't necessary to know the science to learn to sing well.

Other things I like about the book are:
-connecting the speaking voice to the singing voice
-encouraging people to train their own ears by recording themselves
-exploring the middle voice
-the "do-it-yourself/imitation" approach; this works for many people

It's good that a CD is included; it really helps people hear the difference between doing it wrong and doing it right.

This is a good place to start if you want to learn to sing.

Rating:
Summary: Love has talent -- but hard to apply for a struggling singer
Review: I was so into this book and was totally convinced that Roger Love would help me find my voice. I went so far as to meet him in person to get a one on one session. After 2 months of reading the book I found no improvements whatsoever in my voice. I was doing all the exercises, trying to breathe correctly -- and I just couldn't do. So I figured, if I met him in person, maybe he'd show me what I was doing wrong. So I paid the heavy sum to meet him personally and thought -- this is it -- I'm on my way. He did tell me what was wrong with my voice -- but no real tricks on how to fix the problems. I figured I paid this vocal genius the money -- now tell me the secret -- show me how to find my voice. The lesson unfortunately didn't help either. The guy is indeed talented, knowledgeable of his craft and I have great respect for him as a singer (his voice was unbelievable), but as a student, I couldn't grasp his teachings. I have been singing since I was in high school, which is close to ten years ago. I picked up some bad habits along the way, so I was trying to mend them and learn to sing the right way. It just didn't help me at all. Finally, I gave up on the book. I searched for vocal lessons elsewhere. I found a teacher who helped my voice tremendously in just one lesson using a technique started by Seth Riggs, known as "Speech Level Singing". It's working for me so far and I suggest maybe trying a book using this technique. But honestly, I think it's best to get a person one on one -- cause books can be vague. Learning to sing really takes professional guidance. There is so much involved in doing it right (which roger DOES actually go into extensively in this book)-- breathing, posture, position of larynx, type of foods you eat, drink (best to drink just plain water -- no teas, caffeine -- a tip from Roger), I mean -- so many factors, it's best to have someone right there guide you. Well, I hope this helps. Good luck. It's a tough road.

Rating:
Summary: Strong recommendation
Review: I've been focused on becoming a better singer for close to a year now with so-so results. During this time, I came to realize that speech rolls over into singing quite a bit. With this in mind, I picked up the book "Set Your Voice Free" a few weeks back in order to become better with speech and see if I could improve my singing abilities. What a revelation! I not only found the information I needed to help in speech, but also a wealth of information on singing. I had heard before of "Middle Voice" and how important attaining the proper setup for it is, but until I read this book, I never knew what it actually "felt" like. Now, the reason all of the gigs I've had were hit and miss became very clear to me as I realized that middle voice was what I was really after all of those times I'd tried finding that freedom and power that would only come once in a blue moon. I've only been studying this book for a few weeks now, but I feel I'm moving forward at warp speed. We had a gig a couple of weeks back, and our band received wonderful response. I know a lot of that was due to the new found knowledge I'd gained in freeing up my voice and finding middle. This was after only one week of applying the information I'd found within this book. I have a long way to go, but I feel I'm on the right path (finally) due to Mr. Love's clearcut teaching methods for turning around bad habits and reinforcing proper ones in both speech and singing. I strongly recommend this book to all speakers/singers, or anyone who wishes to gain more freedom in how they express themselves.

Rating:
Summary: Finally A Voice Production Book We Can Recommend
Review: Robert Love's book is excellent for actors. I like the fact that Love uses singing techniques to teach better voice production and control. The reason I am always leary of recommending any "voice production" book is that I fear the aspiring or even working actors getting hung up on "listening" to their voice. Although we all know a basic knowledge of voice is necessary, it could be deadly to an actors craft if they focus on voice production. However, we are putting a star next to Robert Love's book and recommending it on our web site Home page at Acting On The Web. This is a first! But "Set Your Voice Free" I feel truly deserves this high praise and placement for it will help not hinder actors in their craft. Thanks Robert.

Frank Cavestani
Director