Metropolitan Cantor Institute Vocal Course

Introduction

Every person is capable of singing well. Naturally, some people have a more pleasing quality to
their voice and seem to sing with an unconscious ease. But the development of good vocal
technique can lead anyone to competently and confidently lift their voice to God.

Learning to sing well is a journey. The goal of this course is to accompany you on this journey
by teaching you how to sing with a freely produced, rich, open and resonant sound - the kind
of sound that can lead and inspire a congregation to pray.

This course is organized into the following Nine Lessons:

1. Posture: How to align your body to get the most from your voice.
2. Exercises and Warm-ups: Getting ready to sing.
3. Breath: How to support the voice with a consistent air flow.
4. Vocal Health for Cantors: How to care for your voice.
5. Sound Production (or Phonation): How the sound takes shape.
6. Resonance: Creating the warmest, most pleasing and fullest tone.
7. Articulation: The essentials of good singer’s diction.
8. Integration: Putting it all together.
9. The Case for Professional Instruction: Reasons for engaging the services of a qualified
voice teacher.

The number assigned to each lesson does not necessarily denote a concrete order of study. None
of these lessons exist in a vacuum – each element of good singing depends on all the others.
That means you will often need to refer back and forth between lessons.

Work slowly and carefully through each of the lessons. Be patient and tenacious so that you can
break old habits and establish new ones in their place. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Finally, always keep the “big picture” in mind. The Sacred Liturgies deserve our very best
efforts. We should always practice thoroughly and seek to develop our skills to their highest
level. All of this work and study is for the good of our beloved Byzantine Catholic Church and
for the honor and glory of Almighty God. May He abundantly bless you for your willingness to
commence this journey.

P. S.
What is not covered in this specific course are issues related to pitch matching, the basics of
music theory and solfège. As for the latter, the systematic study of solfège singing (Moveable
Doh, La minor) is an invaluable aid in the study of plainchant. It never fails to dramatically
increase accuracy in intonation (tuning) and ease in reading music. We heartily recommend that
all cantors study solfeggio.