Singing for the Stars by Seth Riggs is not just a book on singing and vocal technique. Singing for the Stars is a complete program for training the voice. It comes as a short book with 2 exercise CDs.
I believe it was originally released by Seth Riggs in mid 1980s and then reissued in 1998. But it is still one of the best vocal training programs out there. It is one of the most affordable ones too! It costs just about 1/3 of a price of one singing lesson from a good vocal coach.
Who is Seth Riggs?
Seth Riggs is called a coach for the stars for good reason. Riggs coached Michael Jackson, Natalie Cole, Luther Vandross, Michael Bolton, Stevie Wonder and many many other top tier artists…
Testimonies of many artists are spread throughout the book. One the one hand they add weight to the teaching. On the other hand they distract from the the main line of the book.
Speech-Level Singing (SLS)
Seth Riggs is known as a founding father of Speech-Level-Singing (SLS), so it is a given that Singing for the Stars is a detailed explanation of Seth Rigg’s vocal method.
There is a lot of controversy around SLS, but most of it comes from misunderstanding, or purposeful twisting, of the main principles and ideas. Singing for the Stars is a very clear and full presentation of the vocal school. To get this one out of the way, Speech-Level Singing doesn’t mean “sing like you speak”!
I believe ideas of SLS were first introduced in the book, and it still remains the best source for it!
Speech-Level Singing doesn’t mean “sing like you speak”!
Don’t listen to the SLS critics… they warp the facts and original ideas to sell their own courses. I came to Singing for the Stars right after one of the very popular (and very expensive) “Bel Canto” courses, and I was amazed to learn that almost everything that was said about SLS was not true. I also found that their programs in essence were not that much different from what Seth Riggs is teaching in Singing for the Stars.
Seth himself says: “Be careful Speech-level singing doesn’t mean “sing like you speak!”. He goes on to explain how singing requires vocal cords to handle much more pressure than they have to when we speak, and how this has to be trained especially so that outer muscles don’t come in to help…
Having said that, I do have one point of feedback for Seth in regards to reference to speaking voice.
Reference to speech make sense if you are habitually speaking with a relaxed natural voice. That was not my speaking habit. I am guessing it probably isn’t the case for many other struggling singers.
That doesn’t devalue the teaching of Seth Riggs. If you read the book carefully you will find that he does say speaking in a “quite, comfortable manner”. That makes more sense as a point of reference… It is just too easy to overlook that it should be quite and comfortable speech. I think what Seth really had in mind is a voice we use when talking to a child (or reading a bed time story) and not necessarily everyday voice that might not be the best reference for many.
I have a lower and darker voice so to be heard and understood I find that I have to extort some effort which in turn led to develop bad speaking habits where my outer muscles were engaging to raise the pitch of the voice a bit and make it less dark and a bit higher. This interference of the outer muscles is a big no-no in SLS and it is a reoccurring theme through out the book.
Detailed Book review
Singing for the Start is a short (just around 100 pages). It is well written so it is an easy read. But it is choke full of useful information, so don’t take it in lightly. My copy is full of highlights!
The book teaches proper vocal technique, voice production to allow you sing freely and clearly anywhere in your range, and with good articulation… This technique is a foundation for any style: be it pop, rock, opera, or musical theater.
The book comes with CD that have good demos, so it came be used without a teacher for learning on your own, but author does recommend finding a qualified vocal coach who is familiar with SLS.
The book contains 3 parts:
- theoretical presenting basic principles of voice production and developing the voice
- vocal exercises and instructions for developing technique
- song application and technique maintenance
Let’s look at each part in detail.
Part 1: Basic principles
In the first part of the book Riggs introduces basic principles of voice production. His presentation is perhaps oversimplified but it give a good general idea on what is happening with the breath, vocal cords, resonance etc. I especially appreciate his thoughts on finding balance.
Riggs also introduces Speech-level singing (SLS) as a school that doesn’t teach you to sing like you speak, but rather aims to release the voice from interference of outer muscles.
Here is what Riggs has to say about SLS and developing the voice:
You don’t develop your voice by pushing it to its limit. You develop it by gradually conditioning it to work efficiently with a balanced coordination... No matter if you sing high or low, loud or soft, nothing feels different in your throat or mouth.
Coordination first then building strength.
Part 2: Practical exercises
Practical exercises are actually broken into 2 sections.
Section 1: Warm ups and temporary exercises
First section covers warm ups that are used to free the voice and and temporary exercises that are designed to discover proper vocal coordination.
Warm up exercises are limited to like lip rolls and tongue trills. I can’t do tongue trills, so I largely ignored that part, and focused on lip rolls only.
I especially love skipping scales that I first discovered through Singing for the Stars. They seem to work the best to release the voice and allow for free transitions from register to register.
Temporary exercises should be abandoned once coordination is understood… These include exercises like nay and mum (with variations like guh, go, gee) .
These exercise are designed to consciously manipulate larynx position to get a feel for connected voice. I like to think of them as hacks and nothing more… not sure why so many SLS teachers on Youtube make these a staple, or at least they make it look like it.
Remember that larynx should be in a relaxed stable position, so nays and mums are only helpful as a temporary tool.
Riggs clearly says that exercises 5-11 are designed to experience concept of cords thinning and shortening…You must quickly abandon these exercises as soon as they serve their purpose!
Riggs says that again and again: temporarily, this is not speech-level production, discontinue, abandon!
In this section Riggs also introduces a falsetto exercises. He says it is to help muscled up voices. It surely helped mine! Falsetto exercises really do wonders to the voice. I actually found that many vocal pedagogues used falsetto exercises to develop voices. One of them is Berton Coffin.
I use falsetto exercises regularly as a warm up, as well as a cool down exercise.
Section 2: Core exercises
Second section presents exercises that make up the core of the singing practice. Exercises are designed to have a student to connect chest to head and develop one seamless voice without reaching for top notes and without straining.
The section introduces an edge sound (also knows as creaky door or vocal fry), and builds on that sound progressing to open vowels, and vowel pairing. All the good stuff!
Riggs encourages students to add a little cry to help keep voice connected and engage vocal cords properly. Something that is taught by almost every vocal coach out there.
Part 3: Technique Maintenance
Singing scales with perfect technique will not make you a great singer. In this part of the book Riggs discusses how to apply proper technique to songs.
He showcases several songs and provides strategies for dealing with difficult parts of the song.
The books also contains extensive FAQ where Riggs covers various topics not covered throughout the book.
There are also couple pages on basic health and care of the singes’s voice.
And a glossary, which list out and defines important terms. It serves as a great overview and reminder of some of the key points made in the book.
Exercise CDs
Singing for the Stars comes with 2 CDs containing exercises and demos with additional explanation, as well as sing along scales…
Riggs shines again as a brilliant teacher. The instructions are very simple and clear. He explains what to do for each exercise, what not to do, and what to watch for.
The demos and scales are perhaps a bit too fast moving for a beginner. But if you get the idea of the exercise you can practice at your own pace. Just use the CDs as a reference for what you should be doing and sounding like, and come back to sing along once you advance in your training.
Final Thoughts on Singing for the Stars
I bought Singing for the Stars by Seth Riggs with bunch of other popular courses… It turned out to be one of the cheapest and the best vocal programs by far. The book was also recommended to me by coach Daniel as the best self-guided course out there.
For a long time I was jumping between courses and I came back to Singing for the Stars several times. It definitely stood the test of time and my growth as a student of voice, and proved to be indispensable resource.
With all that said I firmly believe that Singing for the Stars is one of the best (if not the best) self-guided singing programs out there. It is well worth the $30-$40 it is going for.
You can find mp3 files with exercises and the book in pdf form online for free, but the book is not that expensive to buy, and it is well worth it.
I got mine on Amazon. The seems to be many bad reviews there, but they came from people who ordered from some shady shop and got a book without CDs. I got the book and CDs the first time without any problems. Make sure the book is sold and the order is fulfilled by amazon and you will be fine…
Buy Singing for the Stars on Amazon.
